Car makers are U-turning on EVs but car buyers are going to pay the price
While the combustion engines we love have a stay of execution, the future won't be all sunshine and rainbows for car enthusiasts
Lamborghini’s decision to cancel the launch of its first all-electric car - the Lanzador - might not have been the most surprising news you’ve read this year. The switch to electrification has been one of the most disruptive periods in automotive history and the Italian marque is far from alone in axing or redirecting a major EV project. Strategy decisions car firms made a decade ago are now coming to fruition but while some of that produce is fresh and rosy, much of it is rotting on palpitation-inducing balance sheets.
Lamborghini is switching its attention to plug-in hybrids, a strategy Alfa Romeo has also adopted after ‘adjusting its ambitions’ of being an all-electric brand by 2027 to target a ‘multi-energy’ approach. It’s why the current Giulia and Stelvio Quadrifoglios will remain on sale until at least 2027 before a suitable PHEV powertrain can be squeezed in.
Honda has now canceled plans for its 0 Series electric SUV and saloon models. The club has also been joined by Maserati, which dropped plans to produce the all-electric MC20 Folgore. Ferrari, in continuing with its four-door, four-seat GT Luce, appears to be an outlier.
Europe’s automotive powerhaus, Germany, isn’t in a comfortable position. Porsche’s new CEO Michael Leiters is on the cusp of ripping up the plans for the 718 Boxster/Cayman replacement and the larger Cayenne K1 SUV. Both were destined to be all-electric but will now most likely be offered with plug-in hybrid powertrains, too. The Spyder and GT4 sports cars have already been given a stay of execution, with Porsche confirming high-end models will continue in limited numbers with petrol engines.
The decision surrounding the Boxster/Cayman electrification will also impact Audi. The company will take the same platform to build its TT replacement (currently doing the rounds as the Concept C) while its Q9 will share a platform with the K1. Both are now almost certainly going to be offered with V6 and V8 plug-in hybrid engines as well as EV options. Mercedes has also dropped its plans to only sell fully electric cars by 2030, with the new S Class debuting a new flat-plane crank V8. Although the next AMG GT 4-door will still be electric only.
While the decisions to pull a hard ninety right on EV plans might be music to enthusiast ears, they come at substantial costs. Ford has written down $19bn off the back of the low take-up of its electric car offerings on both sides of the Atlantic. Stellantis recorded a €22.3bn loss for 2025. Porsche recorded a 99 percent drop in operating profit from €4bn to £40m for the first nine months of last year.
These are not sustainable losses and while manufacturers have to shoulder some of the responsibility for going all in without a back-up, so too must the ill-informed, knee-jerk headline chasing governments. Legislators forced through poorly researched policy that has resulted in a fleet of cars no one wants, or can afford, to buy.
If you thought the last decade was disruptive, there’s plenty more to come. And what is coming, while more powerful and marginally faster than anything it replaces, will also be larger and considerably heavier. The result is cars that are nominally more efficient, if at all, and are and will continue to be far more expensive regardless of what powers them. This is not the progress anyone was looking for.
