In a surprising twist, the automotive industry’s oldest name has announced its plan to split its main business into two entities in a play to separate (and accelerate) its development of electric and internal combustion engine-based vehicles.
The company has announced that Ford Blue will be the entity that handles fossil-fuel powered vehicles, while Ford Model E (catch the Model T reference?) will develop electric cars.
Notably, both divisions will share similar software and embedded systems, meaning that there will be commonalities across the forthcoming vehicles that either company produces.
Ford clarified that its Model E division won’t just focus on producing electric cars, however – it’ll also be focused on selling them. As per a release to the press, the Model E division will “lead on creating an exciting new shopping, buying and ownership experience for its future electric vehicle customers that includes simple, intuitive e-commerce platforms, transparent pricing and personalized customer support from Ford ambassadors.”
It remains to be seen exactly how each division will go about producing their respective vehicles – and whether commonalities will exist across either company or each marque will begin issuing distinct vehicles.
