Ford electric commercial vehicles on the way

Ford will resist chasing Porsche, Audi and high-end models from Tesla and instead focus on a range of affordable electric cars for the US, Europe and markets like Australia.

With US pricing of its Ford Mustang Mach-E beginning from $US42,895 ($A61,000) and the flagship version expected to cost more than $US60,000 ($A85,000) there were concerns the US car-maker had turned its back on introducing cheap pure-electric vehicles.

But that's not the case, claims Ford CEO Jim Farley.

Speaking to Wardsauto.com, Farley said: "We are not going after the $100,000-plus market."

He added that the car-maker would focus in introducing electric cars that for Europe and the US will be priced from $US20,000 ($A28,000) and stretch to $US70,000 ($A100,000).

Instead of sedans or small hatchbacks, Farley confirmed Ford would concentrate on a range of battery-powered small SUVs and crossovers, cashing in on what remains a growing segment around the world.

As well as affordable electric cars, Farley said more commercial vehicles will follow the Ford F-150 Electric and the new Ford e-Transit delivery van that was teased recently.

“There's been a lot written about the electrification of our industry and Ford’s bet is different. We’re betting on a full line-up of commercial electrified vehicles," he said.

Farley said four factories in North America, including one in Michigan and another in Ontario, Canada, will switch over to producing EVs to help with the big expansion into electric cars, vans and trucks.

In the same interview Farley announced a new quality drive had begun to address the car-maker's soaring warranty costs that have crippled both its earnings and share price.

“Our warranty coverages in the last few years is up $1 billion ($A1.4bn) to $2 billion ($A2.8bn) depending on the year, and that is not okay," the Ford CEO admitted.

Farley says actions had already been taken on how Ford build its vehicles and on how to boost long-term durability.

"We have a much bigger ambition to improve the quality of our vehicles. We have taken a lot of countermeasures. They will take time,” he said.

Despite the spiralling warranty costs and underperforming market, Ford surpassed Wall Street expectations by reporting a third-quarter profit of $US2.4 billion ($A3.4bn) on revenues of $US37.6 billion ($A53.5bn).

Farley says he hopes future profit growth will be pinned on cutting warranty costs and ramping up production of the F-150, new Bronco and upcoming pure-electric Mustang Mach-E.