Ford wants to become the world’s largest electric car maker, overtaking industry leader Tesla and larger rivals including Volkswagen, its chief executive said on Thursday.
Jim Farley outlined the US carmaker’s significantly revamped ambitions in a tweet, predicting a wider selection of battery vehicles would propel the group past more established competitors.
Ford has been late to release a range of electric vehicles when compared to rivals including General Motors and VW, but it is banking on new products — including its electric F150 Lightning, the Mustang Mach-E and the planned electric Transit van — to accelerate sales.
The Michigan-based group expects to produce 600,000 battery vehicles a year globally by the end of 2023, Farley said on Thursday, which is twice the level in Ford’s current plans.
But the number still lags Tesla’s expected sales volume by 2023, which is forecast to be above 1m EVs, leaving Ford’s path to becoming the top producer unclear.
Farley said the US carmaker aims “to become the second bigger EV producer within the next couple [of] years”.
He added: “Then as the huge investments we’re making in EV and battery manufacturing come onstream and we rapidly expand our EV line-up, our ambition is for Ford to become the biggest EV maker in the world. ”
Ford still sells few electric vehicles, but it is close on the heels of US rival GM, going from selling essentially no EVs last year to about 18,900 in the first three quarters of 2021. GM sold about 20,800 EVs last year and 24,800 between January and the end of September this year.
Tesla is estimated to have sold about 200,000 vehicles last year. GM previously has said that it plans to beat the company in the US.