Ford's Galhotra predicts F-150 could become top-selling hybrid

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. believes that its F-150 pickup could soon become the top-selling hybrid model.

Kumar Galhotra, president of Ford Blue, made the prediction Tuesday at the Automotive News Congress.

Ford later Tuesday planned to unveil a freshened 2024 F-150 that includes an updated hybrid variant. The company is in the midst of an effort to quadruple hybrid sales over the next two years, and Galhotra said the F-150 and the Maverick compact pickup will be key.

Today, roughly 10 percent of F-150s sold are hybrids, the company has said. Ford doesn't break out the F-150 from total F-Series sales, but production data from the Automotive News Research & Data Center suggests that Ford sold 25,000 to 30,000 F-150 hybrids in the first six months of this year if they were 10 percent of the mix. Toyota sold 57,208 RAV4 hybrids in the same period.

Galhotra also said Ford is drastically reducing the number of configurations in which the F-150 can be built as part of a broader push to simplify the business.

He said the number of combinations that can be ordered will go from "over a billion down to a few hundred," which he said was beneficial for customers, dealers and the company.

"There was always this internal tension with the marketing team wanting to always have the opportunity to provide precisely what the customer might want," Galhotra said, noting that a build-to-order retail model popularized by the coronavirus pandemic changed minds. "Now if a customer wants something specific, they can wait for it."

He said reducing complexity helps Ford control costs and better plan investments. Fewer moving parts means faster line speeds and that vehicles can be delivered to customers more quickly.

He said Ford is able to reduce buildable combinations by combining features on specific packages.

"We've bundled them more intelligently," he said. "The customers love it, and the dealers love it."

Galhotra said Ford is working hard to improve quality.

"There's a lot more work to do, but there's been a substantive change year over year," he said. "The sheer slope of improvement is quite impressive."

He said less complexity in the business has helped improve quality. He also said Ford has changed certain quality processes on new launches. For example, he said the recently redesigned Super Duty went through more miles of testing.

Galhotra is among the top executives negotiating new contracts with the UAW. He said Tuesday that "a lot of work" remained in the talks, but the two sides were continuing to bargain.

"As a company, we're fundamentally committed to the American middle class and American jobs," he said, noting he hoped they could reach a deal "that's fair for our employees and UAW leadership."