Unlike in the U.S., European governments have expanded their push toward an all-electric-vehicle future.
The European Union has measures in place to create a 55% fleet-wide CO2 reduction target for new passenger cars by 2030. That milestone is on the way to a 100% reduction target by 2035.
The only way to meet these targets is to greatly increase the number of EVs on the road.
“Automakers are on track to meet the EU CO2 performance targets for new vehicles, relying mostly on electric cars as a compliance option,” a recent International Council on Clean Transportation report says.
Europe is the second-largest electric vehicle market in the world, accounting for nearly 18% of global EV sales in 2024. Sales rose 24% year over year in the first quarter, according to the Nickel Institute.
“Among the major markets, EV uptake has been strong in Germany and France and has recently increased in Italy and Spain. Several smaller markets show particularly high EV market shares,” the report says.
Despite this environment, Ford Motor Co. (F) is having trouble moving EVs on the continent, and on Tuesday, it made a decision that will make it even harder.
Ford to slash 1,000 jobs in Germany due to falling EV sales
Ford is cutting 1,000 jobs at its Cologne, Germany, Electric Vehicle Center as it looks to resize its EV business.
Ford said European drivers weren’t buying as many EVs, and governments across Europe aren’t investing in EVs and EV infrastructure like they once were.
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“As a result, Ford will adjust production at the Cologne plant to a single-shift operation beginning in January 2026,” Ford said in a statement.
The company is tacking these job cuts onto the 4,000 jobs that last year Ford said it intended to eliminate across Europe by the end of 2027.
Ford’s EV troubles expand past Europe, however.
Ford loses billions on its EV segment
Model e, Ford’s electric vehicle segment, has been bleeding billions of dollars for years.
It lost $5.1 billion in 2024 after losing $4.7 billion the year prior. Ford expects Model e losses to increase to $5.5 billion in 2025.
U.S. EV sales are climbing, but America is a distant third behind China and Europe in terms of EV sales.
Americans bought 1.5 million EVs in 2023, while the Chinese bought 8.2 million.
According to the International Energy Agency, European consumers purchased 3.2 million during the same period.
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Speaking with author Walter Isaacson during a panel at the Aspen Ideas Festival on June 27, Ford CEO Jim Farley said he’s made as many as seven trips to China over the past year, observing the Chinese market.
What he saw left him stunned.
“It’s the most humbling thing I have ever seen. Seventy percent of all EVs in the world, electric vehicles, are made in China,” Farley said, according to Business Insider.
“They have far superior in-vehicle technology. Huawei and Xiaomi are in every car. You get in, you don’t have to pair your phone. Automatically, your whole digital life is mirrored in the car.”
U.S. EV sales are still rising, but there’s trouble ahead
Total U.S. EV sales through the first half of the year set a record at 107,089, a 1.5% year-over-year increase.
EV sales during the period are up, despite a second quarter that was actually down slightly year over year.
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“Lower EV sales last quarter underscore the market’s ongoing challenges, as growth in the auto business ebbs and flows on consumer demand,” said Cox Automotive Senior Analyst Stephanie Valdez Streaty. “The year-over-year decline in Q2 was only the third decline on record, and a sign of a more mature market.”
The strong first quarter was a rush to get ahead of the phasing out of the $7,500 federal EV credit that expired this month.
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