The Ford Mustang Mach-E may have made limited progress in a European market where the Mustang brand has little regional relevance. Similarly, sales of its new Capri BEV largely represent starting from scratch for a model name that may have once resonated, but was discontinued in the mid-1980s.
How the US legacy OEM will fare in Europe’s future all-electric market will instead be determined much more by how the ICE and HEV models it sells in volume get on, as and when they become available as BEVs.
That makes the impending launch of an al-electric Ford Puma a significant milestone in the firm’s electrification journey. The Puma is the UK’s best-selling car across the first ten months of 2024, shifting over 40,000 units.
Across Europe’s four largest national markets, that figure rises to almost 100,000 up to the end of October (see Fig.1). So Ford will be selling the Puma BEV into markets where consumers are highly familiar with the HEV version and buy it in material volumes.
The new electric Puma offers up to 376km of range, with a 10-80pc charge taking c.23 minutes on a 100kW DC fast charger, Ford says. It is also trumpeting more front and rear storage enabled by the switch from hybrid to electric powertrain.
“Puma Gen-E is our best ever Puma, with the most fun-to-drive experience yet, combined with an incredibly energy-efficient electric powertrain,” promises said Jon Williams, general manager, Ford Blue and Model e, Europe. “And the new, even bigger gigabox offers unmatched luggage capacity.”
The new car will be built at the assembly plant in Craiova, Romania owned by Ford’s Turkish joint venture Ford Otosan, using electric drive units built at Ford’s facility in Halewood, UK. It is now available to order with deliveries beginning in spring 2025.
But one of the challenges for Ford repeating the success of the hybrid Puma in BEV will be price. In its biggest national market, the UK, the cheapest advertised price for a Puma Gen-E is currently 29,950 ($38,000), a hefty 14pc premium over the lowest price available on a hybrid Puma.
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