Ford to build hybrid Mustang, all-electric SUV and autonomous ride-sharing vehicle by 2021

Ford is to sell a hybrid-electric version of the Transit van, F-150 pickup truck and Mustang sports car by 2020. The company has also confirmed it will produce a fully electric sports utility vehicle with a range of at least 300 miles, a wireless car charging network and an autonomous vehicle.

Ford also announced it has cancelled plans to build a new $1.6bn (£1.3bn) factory in Mexico. Instead, $700m (£571m) will be invested into adding 700 new jobs at its US assembly plant in Michigan. Here, the factory will be expanded to cater for the production of electrified and autonomous vehicles, along with the Mustang and Lincoln Continental.

The news comes on the opening day of CES, the annual technology show held in Las Vegas and where a number of car makers are expected to reveal electric and autonomous concept vehicles. It also comes days before the Detroit Auto Show.

The 300-mile electric SUV is expected to be a cut-price alternative to the Tesla Model X and Jaguar I-Pace. The car will be built at the company's Flat Rock plant in Michigan and sold throughout the US, Europe and Asia.

A plug-in hybrid version of the Transit Connect van will go on sale in 2019 in Europe, combining a petrol engine with an electric motor. In 2020 Ford plans to release a hybrid of its F-150 pickup truck, the best-selling vehicle in America, alongside a hybrid Mustang, the company's iconic sports car.

Autonomous vehicle for ride sharing

A year later, in 2021, Ford plans to launch a "high-volume autonomous vehicle for commercial ride hailing or ride sharing". The vehicle will first be offered in the US and will also be built at Flat Rock.

To help improve the electric vehicle (EV) ecosystem, Ford has pledged to trial wireless car charging in the US and Europe. The system, Ford says, has the potential to "make recharging as easy as pulling into a parking spot so drivers never forget to recharge." The FordPass smartphone app will be used to help Ford drivers book time to recharge at the special wireless charger-equipped parking spaces.

The move is part of a $4.5bn move into developing and building electric and hybrid vehicles between now and 2020.

Ford chief executive officer Mark Fields said: "As more and more consumers around the world become interested in electrified vehicles, Ford is committed to being a leader in providing consumers with a broad range of electrified vehicles, services and solutions that make people's lives better. Our investments and expanding lineup reflect our view that global offerings of electrified vehicles will exceed gasoline-powered vehicles within the next 15 years."