“The fundamental issue is that customer demand is not at the level of the ZEV mandate. We need to work on making it a more practical piece of legislation. But ultimately the issue the government has got to address is incentives.”
Another aspect of the mandate she would like to see amended is combining targets for retail cars and commercial vehicles (CVs). Currently, CVs are required to hit a sales mix of 10% for EVs, rising to 16% next year. Ford, which leads the segment with the Transit, Transit Custom and Ranger, is sitting just below this year’s goal. “I think it would be really helpful to have the targets combined and [that] will just give us a little bit more flexibility,” said Brankin. But she added that “the reality is it is still a real challenge” to hit targets for CVs.
Hans Schep, Europe boss of the brand’s commercial arm, Ford Pro, agrees, adding that the government needs to help the business because it is not “a philanthropist”. Warning about hitting next year’s targets, he said: “We’ve got a plan to hit it, but there’s a lot of balancing going on. The market is not fully there yet. We need government support.”
One criticism aimed at Ford is that its electric car offerings, from the Mustang Mach-E to the Capri, sit in a similar space, which could hinder sales. Brankin disagreed: “I think in terms of size, they are similar, but in terms of style and what they offer, I think they appeal to different sets of customers. We’re really excited to get them into the market and see what happens.”
