In a recent press release, Ford announced that it had selected a special factory in Valencia, Spain. But I was busy defending my choices, so I learned more about the German plan than the Spanish news.
What we (don’t know) know about Ford’s next-generation platform
Ford is currently one of the most active EV makers outside of Tesla. By selling the EVs that people actually want to buy (read: don’t make compliance cars), the company sets sales records and beats everyone except Tesla in many categories. When it comes to vans, Ford is now heading straight for the entire industry. But for its future success, EVs need to be fully addressed. Fortunately, the company seems ready to do just that.
The details are still sparse, but one of Ford’s efforts is to develop next-generation platforms for a variety of EVs. Today, vehicles like the F-150 Lightning and E-Transit are modifications of existing gas-powered platforms. To be fair, they are actually really good adaptations, unlike previous compliance cars such as Focus Electric. More importantly, it makes sense to do so for these vehicles. Because it provides better service to customers and economies of scale by sharing parts.
But to move forward, the company needs an all-electric platform optimized for future electric vehicles, and that’s what it does. I’m still not sure about the platform, but Ford calls it the “next generation platform.”
Ford’s plans for Europe’s next-generation platform seem defensive
While waiting for details from Ford, we know that the company is planning where to build vehicles based on next-generation platforms, and recent moves seem somewhat controversial. In a recent press release, the company was proud of the Spanish factory being selected, but was also somewhat defensive about the German factory not being selected.
Perhaps our European readers could shed more light on this, but ford was worried that Valencia news would offend the Germans because I could collect it, so in the press release Most talked about Germany in Valencia.
Jim Farley, Ford’s President and Chief Executive Officer, said: “The European automotive industry is so competitive and prosperous that we cannot compromise on incredible products, enjoyable customer experiences, ultra-slim operations, and talented and motivated teams. “
Ford has spent $ 2 billion to convert its Cologne plant to electric vehicle production since 2023, which will contribute to plans to produce 600,000 electric vehicles annually on the continent.
“Ford has a large investment in the electric vehicle manufacturing business in Germany and has promised to be headquartered in Europe,” Laurie said. “We look forward to working with partners across Germany and the region. To secure new products in Europe, we have won product design, outstanding technology and engineering, and optimized. We need to evolve our industrial operations to ensure that we are fully directed to the procuring and electrified world. “
Regarding Valencia, the only thing we learned from the press release was that Ford chose its Valencia plant as “a good place to assemble vehicles based on the next-generation electric vehicle architecture,” and that’s great. It was to be a vehicle set. “Late half of the last decade.” This choice was made after “Comprehensive consultations with the team of Valencia in Spain and Saarlouis in Germany”. So tell us more about Germany again.
The press release was certainly strange, but it’s nice to see Ford have its own plans for an EV architecture and they’re doing big things in Europe. Whatever controversy arises in it, it’s great to learn more about Valencia plants and what they do there.
Featured image by Ford.
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