By Nora Eckert
DETROIT (Reuters) -Ford Motor is reshuffling its electric vehicle plans, killing its three-row SUV and delaying its next-generation pickup while adding a new pickup and van to its future lineup as it adjusts to slower-than-expected EV growth.
The automaker will take a special non-cash charge of about $400 million for the write-down of certain assets for the previously planned three-row SUVs, which may also result in additional expenses and cash expenditures of up to $1.5 billion.
The slowdown in demand for EVs has caused automakers such as Ford, General Motors and others to delay or cancel plans to avoid spending heavily on vehicles that consumers are not buying as quickly as anticipated.
Ford CEO Jim Farley has been touting the company’s skunkworks team in California, which has been developing an architecture for affordable EVs. The first vehicle on that new technology will be a mid-size electric pickup released in 2027, the company said Wednesday.
“The work of this highly talented team has evolved into a critical enabler of our electric vehicle strategy. These electric vehicles will be lower cost, and not compromised in any way,” Farley said in a statement.
Ford shares rose 1.4% in premarket trading.
(Reporting by Nora Eckert, Editing by Louise Heavens)
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