Q&A with Ford Canada's Bev Goodman: Super Duty calls, so EVs can wait

Super Duty pickups will write the next chapter for Ford in Canada as the automaker navigates a choppy transition to electric vehicles that has introduced new challenges, new competitors but fresh opportunities.  

The Canadian unit marked its 120th anniversary on Aug. 17, recalling a deal struck in 1904 between Henry Ford and the Walkerville Wagon Works of Walkerville, Ont. Ford became the first large-scale car producer in Canada. Walkerville is now part of Windsor.

Ford Canada employs more than 7,000 workers across a its manufacturing and R&D operations. 

The largest site is in Oakville, 40 kilometres southwest of Toronto, where Ford this spring began retooling to build pickups after shelving a plan to assemble large electric crossovers with three rows of seats. The company announced Aug. 21 it will instead build a family of hybrid three-row crossovers.

Marking the anniversary, Ford Canada President Bev Goodman discussed with Automotive News Canada what’s next for the automaker. The responses have been edited for length.

BUILDING SUPER DUTY PICKUPS IN OAKVILLE WAS A BIG SHIFT. WHAT OPPORTUNITIES DOES THAT CREATE? 

It’s a huge opportunity producing Super Duty here in Canada. We’ve always valued our workers in Canada and the work that we do here.

It was a significant shift, but it’s a very positive move for our employees, for our customers and for our dealers. This additional capacity at launch will be about 100,000 Super Duty trucks, … with the potential to grow over time, as well as the addition of multienergy variants in the future. So, creating a flexible production facility is going to provide great stability to our workers in Canada, which is a really positive move for all of us. 

COULD EV PRODUCTION STILL BE IN THE CARDS FOR OAKVILLE? 

At this time, the decision has been to put Super Duty production here, which will have an electrified variant over time. So, we’ve had to shift our plan around our third-row electric-vehicle production, and we don’t have anything to share on this at this time. But as we’ve said, we remain committed to our EV future … and we’ll share more when we’ve got more information. 

MANUFACTURING OFTEN TAKES THE LIMELIGHT, BUT FORD ALSO HAS SIGNIFICANT R&D FACILITIES IN CANADA. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE FOCUSES? 

They’re focused on software and in-vehicle experiences for multiple vehicles for customers across the globe. Things like how customers interact with their vehicle entertainment and infotainment systems, how customers interact with charging information — for example, on a Mustang Mach E. And they were also big drivers behind the development of the all-new digital experience for both Ford and Lincoln in the ’24 Nautilus and ’25 Explorer. 

So, the work that they’re doing is really critical for us as we think about differentiated in-vehicle experiences for our customers.

THE DELAY TO FORD’S THREE-ROW EVS WAS ACCOMPANIED BY A RENEWED FOCUS ON HYBRIDS. WHAT DEMAND ARE YOU SEEING FOR HYBRID MODELS? 

We are absolutely committed to an electrified future. However, we also believe that we need to provide customers choice. And that choice will come from bringing amazing [internal combustion engine] vehicles, hybrid-electric, plug-in hybrid as well as battery-electric vehicles to market over time, so that we can fill any customer’s needs — depending on what their use case is and what their absolute preference is. 

So, we do see [hybrids] as critical components. We’ve said as a company over time, all [internal-combustion] vehicles by the end of the decade will have hybrid options available — which will, again, continue to help us as we move through this transition toward electrification, meeting all customers’ needs, really giving them that freedom of choice.

FORD ENDED ITS MODEL-E EV CERTIFICATION PROGRAM FOR DEALERS IN THE UNITED STATES IN JUNE. IS FORD CANADA ALSO MOVING AWAY FROM THAT PROGRAM? 

Yes. We’ve announced a similar change to our dealers here in Canada.

IS FORD READY FOR THE FEDERAL EV MANDATE THAT WILL BEGIN TO TAKE EFFECT NEXT YEAR?

Our job is to make sure that we are compliant to all regulations in market, and that’s what we’re committed to do, and so we’ll get to where we’ll need to be. 

WILL COMPLIANCE BE ACHIEVED WITH SALES OF QUALIFYING VEHICLES, BUYING CREDITS, OR ALL OF THE ABOVE?

All of the above.

IS FORD CANADA CONCERNED ABOUT BYD OR OTHER COMPETITORS FROM CHINA ENTERING THE CANADIAN MARKET? 

We need to be aware of and watching all of our competition. And there’s no doubt that BYD is a compelling, strong competitor who’s performed very well in China as well as in other markets globally. Our job as an OEM is to make great products for our Canadian customers, and that’s our plan as we go forward. And we’ll compete with any manufacturer. 

IS VEHICLE AFFORDABILITY ON FORD’S RADAR, ESPECIALLY AS CANADIANS COPE WITH A TOUGHER ECONOMY?

Absolutely. It is one of the things that the company is thinking about. [Ford Motor Co. CEO] Jim Farley [has said] globally that building affordable EVs, specifically, and developing new platforms to bring that to market is one of the company’s key priorities.