Production of Ford’s SUV Explorer model in Europe will be pushed back by about six months, its Germany boss Martin Sander disclosed in an interview at the IAA Mobility Show 2023 in Munich this week.
Instead, production at Ford’s Cologne site will start during the summer 2024.
Delays to the Explorer’s market launch, which was planned for early 2024, were first announced in August.
Reasons for the delay were to comply with UN regulations for the drive train. In a previous statement Ford said it “is embracing the incoming technical standard for electric vehicles (UN Regulation 100.3) because it is consistent with our internal philosophy to deliver safe, high-quality vehicles to customers around the globe.”
In the latest update, Sander said the automaker was waiting for a new generation of Volkswagen battery technology to be available, Reuters reports.
He also added that discussions were underway concerning what the delay meant for Cologne’s workforce.
The all-electric Explorer is Europe’s only crossover SUV and will be built using Volkswagen’s modular electric drive matrix (MEB) platform.
The Explorer was announced earlier this year, promising to be a “complete reinvention of the Ford brand in Europe.”
