With European sales down 14% and no model in the top ten cars sold in France (the Puma crossover is in 14th place), Ford’s first half of 2022 is gloomy. The financial analysis even shows a hell of a hole in the air.
In the first quarter of 2022, the Dearborn manufacturer recorded a decline in its worldwide turnover (30.74 million euros) of 5% compared to the first quarter of 2021. Its margins shrank over the same period from 8 .5% to 5.2%. And its pre-tax profit collapsed by 41%. As for the brand’s stock market quotation, it fell by 30% over one year. Financially under pressure, the American manufacturer nevertheless forecasts for 2022 an operating profit up 15% to 25%.
In Europe, the brand hardly shines on the list of best-selling passenger vehicles (20th position in 2021 for the Puma). Ford, on the other hand, is unquestionably the king of the utility vehicle with the Transit Custom and Ranger models (number 1 pick-up on the old continent). This is why the manufacturer intends to jointly develop all of its ranges towards electrification.
On March 14, 2022, Ford confirmed the presentation of seven all-new electric and connected passenger or utility vehicles by 2024 and is targeting 600,000 electric vehicle sales in Europe by 2026.
To achieve this objective, the manufacturer has completely redesigned its organization and set up a brand new entity, called Model E, intended to design, produce and market all of the brand’s electric vehicles (EV), including utilities.
The Cologne plant in Germany becomes the nerve center of this strategy. From 2023, the brand’s first 100% electric passenger car will be assembled here, a compact 5-seater crossover with a range of 500 km on a single charge. A second crossover, sporty this time, will come out of this same production unit in 2024. Two essential launches when we know that SUVs and crossovers represent more than half of Ford’s passenger vehicle sales in Europe.
The two models have in common to be based on the MEB platform, from Volkswagen. The same one used for the ID range. A win-win sharing. By buying VW technology, Ford avoids huge R&D costs. As for the Wolfsburg manufacturer, by making its technologies available, it is developing an activity in its own right which makes it possible to make the development of the electrical sector more profitable more quickly.
With the Mustang Mach-E, offered since last year, and the E-Puma for 2024, a total of nine electric models will eventually be offered in Europe by the American brand.
In France, Ford skilfully surfs on another buoyant sector: superethanol. With the high price of fuels, in the first half of 2022 many buyers are turning to cars that can run on superethanol. Ford is one of the few manufacturers to offer vehicles capable of running on this fuel.
Result at the beginning of 2022, 54.2% of the 11,745 Puma sold were in its E85 variants. And in the last quarter of 2021, two out of three Fords sold were in the FluexFuel version. By becoming the first manufacturer to offer new E85 compatible vehicles, Ford took the competition by surprise. To the point of being today the only one to offer six E85-compatible vehicles.
