Ford Motor, which had once hoped to race ahead of other established automakers in electric vehicles, is again slowing the pace of its investments and new battery-powered models.
The automaker said on Wednesday that it would delay the introduction of a new large electric pickup truck by about 18 months, to 2027, and scrap a three-row electric sport-utility vehicle.
The company is also reducing the amount of money it plans to spend on electric vehicles in an effort to stem multibillion-dollar losses on the technology, while adding plans to introduce a new electric delivery van in 2026. A new medium-sized electric pickup is expected in 2027 as well, the company said.
“The competitive nature of the market is changing globally,” Ford’s chief financial officer, John Lawler, said in a conference call. “That means these vehicles need to be profitable, and if not, we will pivot and adjust and make those tough decisions.”
Mr. Lawler said investments in electric vehicles would now account for about 30 percent of the company’s capital budget, down from 40 percent.
Ford’s shift comes as the rate of growth in electric vehicle sales has slowed significantly in the United States and Europe, prompting Tesla and other automakers to cut prices. Last month, Ford reported that its electric vehicle division had lost $2.5 billion in the first half of the year before certain expenses were taken into account. The company overall made $3.2 billion.
Just a few years ago, Ford had hoped to have the capacity to make as many as two million electric vehicles a year by 2026, a target it abandoned last year. The company sells three electric models in the United States: the F-150 Lightning pickup, the Mustang Mach-E S.U.V. and the Transit van.
The automaker has three battery plants under construction: one each in Kentucky, Tennessee and Michigan. The company has suspended construction of a fourth that had been planned for Kentucky.
Ford said its Tennessee plant will supply battery packs for a new electric delivery van to be assembled at a plant in Ohio in 2026, and for a new large electric pickup truck that is still in development. The pickup will be built at a new assembly plant that is under construction at the same site as the Tennessee battery plant.