Stellantis warns of EV ‘bloodbath’ as Ford cuts F-150 Lightning output

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Stellantis boss Carlos Tavares has warned carmakers cutting electric vehicle prices too fast risked a “bloodbath” in the industry, hours after Ford said it was reducing production of its battery-powered F-150 Lightning pick-up truck because of weaker sales. 

Ford said on Friday it wanted to bring the vehicle’s production in line with customer demand, expecting “continued growth in global EV sales in 2024, though less than anticipated”. 

The F-150 has for years been the best-selling motor vehicle in the US, and the launch of the Lightning model in 2022 was seen as an important moment in the evolution of EVs.

“We see a bright future for electric vehicles for specific consumers,” said Ford chief executive Jim Farley. But the group “has capacity available to scale production of gas-powered and hybrid F-150 trucks based on customer demand”. 

Ford has scaled back plans for an EV battery plant, while General Motors and Tesla have paused some of their EV expansion efforts.

Rental group Hertz, which took Teslas on to its fleet in 2021, has begun selling 20,000 EVs, or one-third of its global electric fleet, to buy more petrol vehicles amid strong demand for internal combustion cars. 

Tavares, whose company owns the Jeep and Ram brands that compete directly with Ford and GM, said that slowing EV demand globally was due to high prices, but warned companies against cutting them on vehicles where they already make very little money.

“If you go and cut pricing disregarding the reality of cost, it’s a race to the bottom and that will end up with a bloodbath,” he said. “That is exactly what I am trying to avoid.” 

Stellantis is one of the biggest EV sellers in Europe through its Peugeot, Fiat, Opel and Citroën brands, and is embarking on an EV “offensive” in the US from this year.

Tavares singled out Tesla, which has cut prices…