23 January 2023

This summer, Ford will axe production of the Fiesta, after 46 years. In 2025, it will ditch the Focus. The S-Max and Galaxy will also cease; the Mondeo ended production last year, and the Ecosport has also been phased out. Why are so many of the brand’s famous nameplates disappearing? Blame electrification, says Ford: a sub-£20,000 Fiesta EV simply isn’t viable.

Ford is instead reinventing its European model portfolio – by electrifying it. By 2026, it plans to sell more than 600,000 EVs a year across Europe, and aims to build 1.2 million EVs over six years at the Cologne plant soon to be vacated by the Fiesta. Key to this will be the launch of three new EV passenger vehicles and four new electric CVs by 2024.

Ford is teaming up with Volkswagen to achieve this. A new electric Ford SUV will be revealed this year – and it’s going to be based on the Volkswagen ID.4 (a sportier sister car, similar to the Volkswagen ID.5, will quickly follow). Ford Model e Europe chief Martin Sander even teased the front end design late last year, indicating it will be more than simply a rebranded VW. It’s going to be built in Cologne, too, rather than a Volkswagen plant.

There’s a surprising UK production element here. Ford diesel engines are built in Dagenham: the company has not yet said what its future plans there are, but it has confirmed a further £150m investment in its Halewood factory, to boost capacity of EV power units and build a new E-PriME prototype production and training centre.

Halewood will make 420,000 power units a year, meaning that 70% of the 600,000 EVs Ford plans to sell each year by 2026 will have Halewood-produced tech. This secures employment for 500 people and allows retailers to tell a good news UK story to future customers.

Ford admits there is a disconnect with the brand in Europe right now. Director of marketing Peter Zillig said customers view Ford as a safe, pragmatic, dependable brand… whereas Ford insiders feel the company is much more vibrant and passionate. “For too long, we have tried to be too many different things to lots of different customers.”

So Ford of Europe now aims to be more ‘American’. This, said Zillig, “means we’re rebellious… restless… uncompromising”. The company has therefore created a new ethos to reflect this, which it calls Adventurous Spirit.

This won’t replace ‘Bring on Tomorrow’ as Ford’s advertising tagline. Rather, it is an internal philosophy the firm will use to reinvent the Ford brand, product portfolio and customer experience in Europe. The Mustang Mach-E electric SUV is the perfect example, said Zillig: “It brought swagger to electrification… Mustang stands for freedom, progress, fast performance and a touch of rebellion – it is Adventurous Spirit in a nutshell.”

Ford has, he continued, identified four distinct types of passenger vehicles that will represent Adventurous Spirit across different customer bases. ‘Wild Performance’ is for the Mustang family; ‘Urban Escape’ is for chic crossovers like the Puma; ‘Active Adventure’ is for the existing Kuga and upcoming electric crossovers; ‘Ultimate Outdoor’ is for tough machines such as Bronco and Ranger Raptor.

The Adventurous Spirit concept is coming to UK retailers, he said; it’s already underway in its test market, Germany. “There, Adventurous Spirit is defining our product range,” he explained. “It is helping our customers transition more easily to electrification with value-adding experiences and richer social interactions.”

Zillig is keen for customers to “rediscover” Ford and says the fact the brand is one of the most well-established in the region is a unique benefit: customers are already aware of Ford – the brand can now surprise them with the manifestation of a ‘new Ford’.

There’s a lot still to understand about Ford’s rebrand in Europe. But there’s no going back: the Fiesta will cease production this summer, along with those other familiar favourites, leaving only the Puma and Kuga SUVs from Ford’s traditional range.

There will be an electric version of the current Puma, while the Kuga is one of Europe’s best-selling plug-in hybrids (and actually outsold the Fiesta in the UK last year). The emphasis is increasingly going to be on the upcoming new electric Ford models though, as what was once Britain’s best-selling car brand becomes something else entirely. The adventure is underway.

Polestar: agency a boon to company car drivers

Polestar’s agency model is proving particularly beneficial to company car drivers, said UK CEO Jonathan Goodman, who are flocking to the startup EV brand in great numbers.

Retailers, he said, traditionally aren’t so interested in company car drivers, and don’t give them the best service. “As soon as they find out they won’t actually be benefitting from any sale, their interest wanes.” Fleet drivers often end up feeling second-class.

Agency for Polestar helps equalise things. All customers are treated in the same way, because a flat-rate commission is delivered on every sale in a particular region, rather than on individual sales. “We treat them far better as a result: they’re made to feel they’re just as important as a retail customer.”

The benefit of this is 80% sales growth in 2022, overtaking Jaguar in sales volumes, plus almost a 0.5% market share and a significant 0.86% market share in December – with more growth planned for 2023 as supply shortages ease and the new Polestar 3 SUV comes on stream towards the end of the year.

“We have set the template for consistent growth,” said Goodman. “We have a strong order bank and demand remains high. Key for us in 2023 will be visibility – the more cars are seen on the road [12,000 Polestars and counting], the more awareness of the brand increases.” Polestar will also open two more Spaces in 2023, at Cribbs Causeway in Bristol (with Wayland) and at Sherborne in Glasgow. By year-end, it will have doubled its retail network.

The opening of its new UK HQ at Bicester Heritage in December will also help the brand grow, added Goodman. Senior management, customer service and commercial teams are all now based there, “which will make discussing issues and planning easier. Ever since we sold our first car in August 2020, we’ve not had a physical office; we all worked remotely. And there’s only so much you can do on Teams.”

Tags: EV, Ford, growth, Jonathan Goodman, Mustang, Peter Zillig, Polestar, SUV