National distributor awaiting clarity about Ford Europe announcements.

WHICH, if any, of seven new electric Fords will come to New Zealand and what impact a component issue for an incoming car will have on that model are ‘wait and see’ issues for the national distributor.

Ford Europe this week detailed plans to launch seven new electric vehicles by the end of 2024 – including a battery-electric version of the pint-sized Puma SUV that issues presently in petrol form to NZ and will soon show as a hybrid, as will the Focus.

Any eventual benefits of the electric push have yet to unwrap for Ford NZ, whose only battery-compelled product in local circulation is a version of the Transit van, though hope of it adding the Mustang Mach-E car continues.

“There’s no indication yet … but never say never,” says local brand communications manager Tom Clancy.

While the prospect of fully electric passenger product remains a grey area, the Auckland-based distributor is working on electrification ideals: So, the Escape already presents as a plug-in hybrid and is to be joined by another version with a non-mains replenished system, similar to those earmarked for Puma and Focus.

The latter achieves the petrol-eking system as part of a mid-life facelift, announced some months ago, that also brings additional new technical elements of a new 13.2-inch infotainment screen, and the SYNC 4 infotainment system.

Or maybe not. The conflict in Ukraine is causing significant issues with achieving that infotainment system.

A statement from Ford Europe says that, as result of the war, “… one of our suppliers of parts for the updated Focus has indicated that they aren’t able to satisfy demand for parts.

“These parts relate to the 13.2-inch SYNC 4 screen that is part of the updated Focus. Supply of these parts are being moved to a new location in Europe, but until this is up and running, the 13.2-inch screen with SYNC 4 will not be available to customers.

“We will continue to build the updated Focus with the 8.0-inch screen. We apologize to customers for the inconvenience that this will cause but trust they will understand the exceptional circumstances.”

What that does that mean for the NZ-spec car, expected to release here in June? Again, way too early to tell, says the local guy.

“It would be a bit early for use to know if that would affect our Focus. We will just have to wait and see.”

Ford here is certainly having to deal with semiconductor challenges – as is virtually every distributor, according to industry feedback - but has not had to alter the content of any products sold here, though there have been delays to some models.

With that in mind, while the distributor has identified a mid-year release for Focus (above) and an updated Fiesta ST, it has not pinpointed a specific date for either.

“We’re aiming for the middle of the year but we will have to wait and see what impact this and every other delay entails.”

Ford’s electric push for Europe aims to bring in 600,000 EV sales there by 2026. An image provided for the announcement show the seven new EVs out by the end of 2024 comprise of four sports utilities and crossovers, two commercial vans and two people movers.

At least two of those will be twinned with a Volkswagen; a leverage of the agreement that allows the Blue Oval to use the German marque’s MEB electric car platform.

That underpinning is also for a widening variety of VW Group passenger products, some of which are promised for NZ sale though none have yet to show with distributor representation.

The first local market model that benefits from the brands’ partnership will be the new-generation Ranger, primarily developed by Ford in Australia and set to be here around August, if not sooner. VW has used that model to create its new Amarok, out in 2023.