Automakers rapidly developed electric vehicles without adequately assessing consumer demand, a misstep now worsening a market slowdown further impacted by the end of U.S. government subsidies, former Ford Motor Co. Chief Executive Mark Fields said.
Fields, who led Ford from 2014 to 2017, told CNBC’s Power Lunch program that “the market has not evolved as manufacturers thought,” creating “a problem” for the industry.
He contended that companies “rushed headlong” into EV production without consulting customers on their specific needs for adopting the new technology. This oversight turned what seemed like an advantage for some, such as General Motors boasting a full range of electric vehicles, into a disadvantage.
Market adoption of electric cars is now expected to be slower in the short to medium term than initially planned by these manufacturers.
Fields’ comments follow the expiration of a U.S. federal subsidy for electric vehicles on September 30. The program had offered up to $7,500 for new EV purchases and $4,500 for used ones.
The subsidy’s termination is widely expected to significantly slow the pace of EV adoption across the U.S. market.
Current Ford CEO Jim Farley also anticipates a decline in the EV adoption curve. According to Business Insider, Farley believes the electric vehicle industry will become substantially smaller going forward.
Farley took the helm at Ford in 2020, inheriting several initiated EV projects and significant investments already made in the sector. Fields had been with Ford since 1989 before becoming CEO.