Ford builds e-car in Cologne

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Ford plant in Cologne: First European location for an electric car from the US group

Photo: Oliver Berg / dpa

Ford will build an electric car in Cologne for the European market and is investing a billion dollars in the conversion of its plant there.

This makes Cologne the first Ford location in Europe to be awarded a purely battery-powered car.

Ford announced that the car will roll off the production line in 2023.

The model will therefore be built on the basis of the architecture developed by Volkswagen for compact electric cars such as the ID.3.

The US automaker plans to convert its fleet of cars in Europe to electric cars or plug-in hybrids by 2026.

By the end of the decade, the range of vehicles should then be completely electric.

The commercial vehicle fleet is to be equipped with climate-friendly drives by 2024.

Ford recently accelerated its electric offensive despite high losses and plans to invest around 22 billion dollars in the development of new battery and hybrid vehicles by 2025.

After the successful restructuring of the European business, Ford is now embarking on a fully electric future, said European boss Stuart Rowley.

A year and a half ago, VW and Ford agreed a billion-dollar alliance for e-cars and autonomous driving.

The pact provides for the US group to use the electrical construction kit for compact cars (MEB) developed by Volkswagen.

More than 600,000 units are expected to roll off the production line within six years.

As a result, Volkswagen expects additional sales of 10 to 20 billion dollars.

In addition, talks were already underway about a new delivery contract for a second vehicle.

Then the delivery on MEB platforms from Volkswagen to Ford could almost double.

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fdi / Reuters