Bev Goodman, CEO of Ford of Canada, stated yesterday that the federal government should eliminate its electric vehicle sales targets. In her view, consumer interest levels are not at all aligned with the government's requirements.
"EV targets need to be aligned with what consumers want, and consumers have spoken," she said at the Canada Automotive Summit, organized in Vaughan, Ontario, by the Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association.
The Impact of Fading Incentives
Bev Goodman stated that electric vehicle sales dropped significantly for Ford in Canada at the beginning of 2025, after the federal $5,000 EV incentive was eliminated.
Ford Canada does not publish its monthly or quarterly sales results, but figures show that industry-wide, zero-emission vehicle sales fell to 20,878 vehicles in February and March, representing a 44.2 percent decrease compared to the same two months of the previous year, according to Statistics Canada.
Zero-emission vehicle sales for February and March accounted for 6.6 percent of total vehicle sales in Canada, which is far from meeting the government's adoption requirements.
It should be noted that many had fast-tracked their purchases due to the planned reduction of the Quebec EV incentive in early January, which might slightly inflate the numbers, but nonetheless, it's clear that the withdrawal of incentives has hurt.
The government's ambitious goals
The federal government's legally mandated targets require zero-emission vehicles to represent 20 percent of manufacturers' sales for the 2026 model-year, then 60 percent by 2030 and 100 percent by 2035.
Ford sees those targets as impossible, and it's not the only company that believes this, according to what others have confidentially shared.
Goodman stated that without incentives and other measures that enable and help Canadians switch to electric, such as charging infrastructure, Ottawa is unable to meet its "very ambitious" targets. The same applies to provincial EV mandates in Quebec and British Columbia.
"Ultimately, if those mandates remain, they will have a negative impact on the industry. It will put downward pressure on vehicle sales, upward pressure on prices, and these are real concerns for consumers and the industry as a whole."
As reported by Automotive News, Bev Goodman stated that Ford and other manufacturers producing vehicles in Canada are in discussions with Ottawa as they seek the repeal of the legislation.