Ford in strategic switch away from traditional vehicles
US carmaker Ford Motor will move away from producing traditional cars in favour of trucks and SUVs, its new CEO has said.
Jim Hackett took over from Mark Fields as boss of the manufacturing giant earlier this year, and said he would be shifting its focus away from cars while also investing in electric vehicles and tech services.
Ford is part of what is known as the ‘Big Three’ of US carmakers, along with General Motors and Fiat Chrysler.
At an investor meeting on Tuesday, Hackett rushed to assure shareholders that it was making strategic adjustments to keep up with competitors. He said the company had been slow to make such adjustments but was now moving in that direction.
"It's uneconomic and we were too much focused on the now. Now we know there is a future around propulsion that we have to pay attention to,” Hackett said.
Hackett also pledged to cut costs at Ford during his time in the charge in order to boost profitability, saying he would trim $14bn from its costs over the next five years.
"We have too much cost across our business," he said.
The CEO added that he expects one-third of its vehicles to be electric, with a further one-third being powered by hybrid engines.