Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) announced today its restructuring plans to create a badly needed more cost-competitive structure. The main focus is the health of Ford’s passenger vehicle business in Europe, where it incurred significant losses in recent years. Ford is also lagging in the European shift to electrified vehicles and new competition has been highly disruptive. Through Q3 2024, Ford sales are down ~18% in Europe. Ford is not alone in Europe with this EU problem (BMW, Daimler and Mercedes-Benz GM, Nissan Volkswagen Group, Stellantis, among others) and the ongoing Chinese EV trade wars. In Europe – and elsewhere – CO2 regulations and consumer demand for electrified vehicles are not synchronized. The incoming Trump mis-administration in the U.S. is compounding the problem for global automakers.