Ford's E-Transit Van Could Be Its Golden Goose Near Term As Blue Oval Pushes Back New EV Launch To 2026

Ford Motor Co‘s F E-Transit van is one of the only three EV offerings from the Michigan-based automaker in the U.S. and it has been driving the automaker’s EV sales significantly.

E-Transit Sales And Popularity: August marks the 59th anniversary of Ford’s Transit vans. While the Michigan-based automaker started delivering the Transit vans years ago, the electric version of the commercial van is relatively more recent, with deliveries beginning in the first quarter of 2022.

E-transit vehicles touched their highest delivery number in the recent June quarter. The company sold 3,410 units in the U.S., as compared to just 1,744 units in the corresponding period of last year. E-Transit sales accounted for 14% of the company’s overall EV sales in the quarter which touched 23,957 units, second to only EV giant Tesla Inc.

From selling just 718 units in the first quarter of deliveries and accounting for about 9% of the company’s overall EV sales to crossing 3,000 deliveries in the last quarter, E-Transit van sales have seen growing acceleration.

Other Ford EVs: In addition to E-Transit, Ford has two more EVs now in the U.S. – the Mustang Mach-E SUV and the F-150 Lightning pickup truck. While the Mach-E is up against Tesla’s best-selling Model Y SUV in the EV SUV segment, the F-150 Lightning is up against Tesla’s Cybertruck.

According to Kelley Blue Book estimates, Tesla sold 101,301 Model Y units as compared to Ford which sold just 12,645 units of the Mach-E in the last quarter. The EV giant also sold 8,755 Cybertrucks, higher than the 7,902 units of Lightning Ford sold in the three months.

The E-Transit is currently the only Ford EV offering with no rival from Tesla.

Ford’s EV Future: Earlier this week, Ford said that it is killing its plans to build a three-row electric SUV, initially slated for production in 2025. The company also postponed its plans for a new electric version of its F-150 pickup to 2027 and said it will start making a new electric commercial van in 2026.

More details on the company’s EV strategy are now expected in the first half of 2025.

EV Financials: Ford's EV segment recorded an EBIT loss of $1.14 billion in the second quarter owing to industry-wide pricing pressure and lower wholesales despite significant cost reductions in the segment.

For the whole year, Ford expects to incur a loss of $5 billion to $5.5 billion within the EV segment, called Model E.

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Photo courtesy: Ford