Ford has disappointing news about its Tesla killer

The electric vehicle industry's leader Tesla  (TSLA) - Get Free Report is looking over its shoulder at the competition, while it remains ahead of most other EV companies in almost every category, except pickup trucks. But that situation is likely to change when the Cybertruck begins deliveries at the end of the third quarter, likely in late September.

Tesla led all EV companies in deliveries in 2022 with over 1.31 million and will likely race past that number in 2023, as it recorded about 889,000 vehicles delivered in the first half of this year. The Tesla Model Y sports utility vehicle was the world's best-selling car with about 267,200 vehicles sold in the first three months of the year and had continued leading the pack into May.

DON'T MISS: Stellantis unveils low-priced electric vehicles to rival Tesla

Dearborn, Mich., automaker Ford's  (F) - Get Free Report F-Series internal combustion engine pickup truck has been America's best selling vehicle for 41 years and the best selling truck for 46 straight years.

Ford's F-150 Lightning EV, on the other hand, is not America's best selling electric pickup, as Rivian  (RIVN) - Get Free Report sold the most EV pickup trucks in 2022. General Motors will begin selling its new Chevy Silverado EV, which will offer both 450-mile range and 350 mile range models, in upcoming weeks. And Stellantis will enter the EV truck market with its all-electric 2025 Ram 1500 REV, its first battery electric light-duty pickup truck that will be built in the US, in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Ford Explorer SUV challenges Tesla Model Y

Ford is determined to compete with Tesla's Model Y as it on June 12 opened its Cologne EV plant, Ford's first carbon-neutral factory that was slated to begin producing the electric Ford Explorer SUV after the opening the plant and investing $2 billion. The Explorer was to begin sales in early 2024 with a starting price of about $49,150. The SUV will be Ford's first volume all-electric passenger car built in Europe, one of nine all-electric vehicles Ford plans to introduce in the continent by 2024.

Ford also plans to produce a sports crossover EV at the Cologne plant in mid-2024. It will produce a Puma EV, E-Transit Courier and E-Tourneo Courier small electric vans in Romania beginning in 2024. The ramp-up of EV production is part of Ford's goal to sell 600,000 EVs each year in Europe by 2026 in its Model e division.

Ford delays electric Explorer SUV production

The automaker, however, had a major setback in Cologne on Aug. 10 as it informed workers that it must delay production of the Explorer because of new global safety rules for the vehicle's powertrain, Electrek reported. The company said it would instead begin producing and selling the Explorer in summer 2024.

The Ford Explorer SUV isn't the only new vehicle to have a major setback recently. Volkswagen  (VWAGY) - Get Free Report originally planned to roll out its new ID.Buzz minibus this year, but it needed to change its plans. Volkswagen determined that the all-electric camper was too heavy at 3 tons. The electric camper van version of the ID.Buzz will be delivered instead in the summer of 2024 with a name change to Multivan.

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