Ford says electric vehicle losses will continue for three more years

A Ford F-150 Lightning charging cable connected to the truck owned by John and Rachelle Reigard, in Mt. Juliet, Tenn., July 10, 2023. Ford Motor reported a big loss for 2025 because of its troubled electric vehicle division, which it has significantly scaled back. (Brett Carlsen/The New York Times)

By NEAL E. BOUDETTE

A few years ago, Ford Motor jumped out ahead of other established automakers by quickly rolling out three electric vehicles that it hoped would help it sell more cars and increase profits.

Instead, the company is paying a high price for its early start.

On Tuesday, Ford said its electric vehicle division lost $4.8 billion in 2025 and was expected to lose $4 billion to $4.5 billion in 2026. The company also said the division would continue losing money for at least two more years.

“We are now targeting break-even around 2029,” Ford’s chief financial officer, Sherry House, said Tuesday during a conference call to discuss the company’s financial results.

Including the loss in 2025, Ford has lost more than $16 billion on its electric vehicle business since 2022.

In December, Ford announced that it was scaling back its electric vehicle plans. It stopped making one model, the F-150 Lightning pickup truck; scrapped plans to produce an electric truck at a plant it was building in Tennessee; and canceled plans for an electric commercial van.

Instead, Ford plans to make a version of the Lightning that includes a gasoline engine that can recharge the truck’s batteries on the go. The company will use the Tennessee factory to make a gasoline-powered truck and will make hybrid and gas-powered delivery vans at a location in Ohio.

Ford said it still plans to make a medium-size pickup that is supposed to sell for around $30,000. That truck, expected in 2027, will use new components and production methods that Ford has said will cost a lot less.

It also ended a partnership with a South Korean partner, SK On, that was supposed to jointly produce batteries. Ford has taken full ownership of a factory in Kentucky, and SK On now solely owns a plant in Tennessee.

Ford took charges of $19.5 billion against its fourth-quarter earnings to cover the cost of changing its strategy.

Overall, Ford lost $11.1 billion in the fourth quarter and $8.2 billion for all of 2025. The electric vehicle losses were offset by substantial profits in divisions that make internal-combustion vehicles and sell vehicles and services to commercial customers.

Ford said it expected its financial performance to improve significantly in 2026. The company said this year’s adjusted earnings before interest, taxes and other items were expected to be $8 billion to $10 billion. In 2025, Ford said its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes and other items were $6.8 billion.