Ford Aims To Take No. 2 Spot Behind Tesla In EV Sales

Ford has made significant strides in its attempts to be the world's number one EV maker. The Mach-E is rapidly becoming a popular offering among a new generation of buyers, and the Ford F-150 Lightning EV pickup logging over 200,000 early reservations. It appears that this initial success is motivating the company to pursue a bigger goal, overthrowing Tesla from the top of the sales charts.

Ford Is Prepping For Firefight

That announcement came from Ford Chief Operating Officer of Ford North America Lisa Drake during a call with investors on Friday. Looking at overall sales figures, we understand where Ford is coming from, with Ford moving over 21,000 Mach-E's despite the ongoing semiconductor shortage squeezing broader sales. As mentioned earlier, F-150 Lightning reservations crested over the 200,000 barrier, and Drake revealed that 75 percent are from buyers new to Ford.

We do expect within the next 24 months, based on the fact that there's great demand on these products, that we would be the No.2 EV automaker, probably close to 600,000 EVs a year, globally

Drake revealed.

We don;t plan to stop there

Tesla and Volkswagen Will Be Formidable Barriers to Overcome

While we will commend Ford for having all the confidence that comes with this proclamation, the fight for the No. 2 spot (and perhaps ultimately No.1) will not be easy. Tesla is still the undisputed king of the sales mountain, with the firm being on track to sell over 890,000 vehicles in 2021. The Mustang Mach-E is aimed squarely at the Model Y SUV while the F-150 Lightning is slated to do battle against the long-awaited and currently delayed Cybertruck.

But before Ford can even begin to plan for a takeover at the top, they will have to get second place which is firmly held by Volkswagen. Volkswagen is planning its own army of EV models and rapidly expanding the I.D. EV family over the next few years, with the ID.4 currently serving as the spearhead of their EV efforts.

In addition to product, Ford is also heavily investing in other EV-related areas, including battery recycling and battery plants, as well as a massive campus in Tennessee called Blue Oval City, which will be a crucial hub of EV engineering, innovation, and production once it's fully completed.

Photo Credit: Ford Motor Company

Carl Malek has been an automotive journalist for over 10 years. In addition to his specialization with Ford, he grew up in a General Motors household and is extensively familiar with their products too. Contact Carl on Twitter at @CarlMalek3, on Instagram and Facebook for automotive news to send news tips.