Ford could make a Tesla-beater insists CEO (but will it?)

Ford execs have set tongues wagging about a possible Tesla-rivaling luxury electric car from the marque, after CEO Mark Fields described the idea as "consistent with our product philosophy." The tease came as Ford revealed its quarterly financial results, recording $1.2bn in Q3 profit – down a hefty $1.4bn year-on-year – as Fields was pressed into referring to the Silicon Valley EV startup and what investigations into the Model S' strengths his own company had performed. Still, while some have interpreted Fields' comments as telegraphing a true Tesla alternative might be in the pipeline, there's a good chance that too much is being read into the chief executive's words.

"We drove it. We took it apart," Fields told investors and analysts during a financial results call today. "We put it back together and we drove it again."

According to the chief executive – with a little of the hyperbole you'd expect from someone on the management team – Ford could readily build a car similar to the Model S. The company already has the engineer and manufacturing skills to do so, he argued.

However, so far Ford's plays in the electric vehicle space have been more mass market than the well-heeled clientele Tesla targets.

In fact, the company has been progressively slashing the price of its Focus Electric – most recently confirming that a $6,000 price cut promotion would be continued into the 2015 model year, amid rising competition from Kia's Soul EV among others – which targets city dwellers and those looking for a casual suburban runabout with around 76 miles range. Sales have proved underwhelming, however: fewer than 4,000 of the cars have been bought since hitting showrooms in 2011.

While Field's comments have unsurprisingly set some tongues wagging about Ford's potential plans for an EV, the attentions paid by the company to the Model S are hardly unusual. Every major car firm does diligence on its competitors' products: last year, in fact, SlashGear went behind the scenes at GM's teardown lab where cars are laser-scanned, 3D modeled, and cut into pieces both virtually and physically as General Motors tries to figure out where its competitors manufacturing and design processes are up to.

The thought, therefore, that any of the big names might not have picked up a Model S and sliced it down to its bare essentials is a naive one.

Meanwhile, though a luxury EV might make sense – most likely under Ford's Lincoln brand, which currently offers hybrid technology but not a full all-electric car – according to the latest leaks the company's target is more like Toyota's Prius. Chatter back in August suggested Ford was planning for a number of eco-focused cars aiming at the same segment as the Prius for launch from late 2018, using a variety of drivetrains and body styles.

Ford has been working with Samsung on high-capacity battery technology, which could squeeze more power into lighter cells for an overall cut in kerb weight.

VIA USA Today

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