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Ford is cancelling plans to manufacture a three-row electric sport utility vehicle, potentially costing the company up to $1.9bn.
The US carmaker said on Wednesday the electric SUV would not be able to turn a profit within a year of launch, due to a crowded market segment and mainstream consumers’ reluctance to pay higher prices for EVs.
“These vehicles need to be profitable, and if they’re not profitable based on where the customer is and the market is, we will . . . make those tough decisions,” said chief financial officer John Lawler.
Ford plans to build the SUV as a hybrid instead. It will take a $400mn writedown for equipment-tied manufacturing, with up to $1.5bn more in
future quarters.
This is a developing story
