Galhotra: Lincoln not right fit for Rivian EV

The cancellation of an electric vehicle for the Lincoln brand that was to be jointly developed with startup Rivian may have had more to do with fit than the coronavirus crisis.

Kumar Galhotra, Ford Motor Co.'s newly minted president of the Americas and international markets group, last week said the decision came down to where the vehicle would be best utilized from a segment and brand perspective.

"As we step back and take a more detailed look, Lincoln wasn't the right place to be, but that doesn't mean we're not going to do a vehicle," Galhotra told Automotive News Group Publisher KC Crain during the "Congress Conversations" series of weekly webcast interviews. "We are looking at it right now. It will probably be something different than it was originally envisioned to be."

The EV developed with Rivian, announced in January, would have been Lincoln's first battery-electric vehicle. It was planned to use Rivian's flexible skateboard platform, but neither company had provided details on what type of vehicle it would be, where it would be assembled or when it would go on sale.

Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe was quoted as saying the vehicle would have been "in the SUV space" and "very different" from Rivian's own R1S utility vehicle.

Galhotra said last week Ford remains committed to its EV strategy even as the coronavirus crisis is likely to affect budgets around the industry.

The pandemic has already postponed a number of reveals Ford had planned this spring, including the highly anticipated debuts of the Bronco SUV, the Bronco Sport crossover and the next-generation F-150. With the New York auto show postponed until late August and the 2020 Detroit auto show canceled, Galhotra said the automaker is thinking about new ways to unveil the vehicles, such as with augmented or virtual reality.

"Some of these launches, these quote-unquote 'product reveals,' are going to have to be virtual," Galhotra said. "We want to get the story out there obviously well ahead of the vehicles getting to our dealers. And we may still be social distancing in some respect. We're watching both — a reveal like we used to ... or we do something virtually."