Ford introduced Thursday that it’s delaying the manufacturing of two electrical automobiles, a next-generation EV pickup and a three-row EV SUV. The pair at the moment are slated to reach in 2026 and 2027, delays of 1 and two years respectively. Of their place, the automaker can be introducing hybrids throughout its U.S. lineup.

Ford’s CEO has been telegraphing the delays for months. Final fall, it postponed $12 billion in deliberate investments. Then on an earnings name in February, CEO Jim Farley stated, “Hybrids will play an more and more vital position in our trade’s transition and can be right here for the long term.” That’s the form of sober discuss that shareholders love to listen to.

Wall Avenue is more likely to cheer the transfer, particularly after Toyota reported that its year-over-year gross sales in the US rose 22% on the again of sturdy demand for hybrids. Ford’s shift seems designed to bolster money circulation and near-term earnings, one thing that appears logical for an organization of its measurement, particularly in instances of uncertainty.

However right here’s the factor: Ford is uncommon amongst established automakers in that it performs greatest when considering like a startup, one thing it seems to have taken to coronary heart extra just lately, EV delays however. It succeeds higher when it shapes the market than when it responds to it.

Most just lately, that startup mentality was on show with the Mustang Mach-E, Ford’s all-electric crossover. When the EV began taking form almost a decade in the past, the unique plan was to construct a wonderfully smart crossover powered by an electrical motor on the entrance. The design was aerodynamic, however so uninspiring that one of many firm’s exterior designers questioned who would purchase it. Judging by the look of the proposed design, these doubts had been comprehensible.

However then-CEO Jim Hackett scrapped the plan and gave the staff simply two years to provide you with one thing new. The outcome was a crossover that has helped Ford declare second place in U.S. EV gross sales for a number of quarters in a row.

The Mustang Mach-E wasn’t a fluke. Ford has a file of pulling rabbits out of the hat. Within the Nineteen Eighties, when American automakers had been getting shellacked by Japanese imports, Ford ditched its boxy, heavy designs and conjured up the Taurus, which went on sale in late 1985. The glossy, roomy, and reasonably priced automotive was not like something American customers had seen, and it was a right away hit. Ford offered 1 million of them within the first three years, successful that doubtless saved the corporate from chapter.

5 years later, Ford once more pivoted with the introduction of the Explorer. SUVs had been nothing new, however on the time most had been two-door fashions targeted on utilitarian qualities like towing and off-roading. Automobiles remained the dominant alternative amongst customers. However by including rear doorways and a raft of creature comforts, Ford remodeled the SUV right into a family-friendly hauler. It may need cannibalized gross sales of the corporate’s vehicles, however the resolution to launch the Explorer proved prescient: Not solely did it energy one other decade of progress for the corporate, it predicted a world the place SUVs dominated the market.

There are different examples, too: Ford used a fast-and-lean method when growing the unique Mustang, permitting it to outline a completely new class of quick, costly “pony vehicles.” It did the identical after World Struggle II when it produced what’s now often known as the ’49 Ford, a automotive that broke with styling conventions and pushed the automaker again into the gross sales lead. And don’t overlook the unique Ford meeting line, which whereas not a product, was undoubtedly a product of entrepreneurial considering.

Farley faces completely different challenges at the moment. His predecessors had been mainly mixing and matching designs, platforms and manufacturing strategies whereas the guts of every of these automobiles, the engine, remained largely the identical. Electrical automobiles problem producers to begin with a clear slate, or on the very least rip out that coronary heart with out shedding what made the unique car so nice.

Ford has excelled at these duties: The Mustang Mach-E and the F-150 Lightning are by most accounts not simply wonderful EVs, however wonderful automobiles general.

Nonetheless, they haven’t been the runaway successes that Ford anticipated. That’s partially as a result of they had been too costly — worth cuts have confirmed there’s nonetheless demand for them — and in addition as a result of the charging infrastructure to assist them stays underdeveloped. If charging is stopping Ford from promoting extra EVs, perhaps it wants to handle the issue head on. And if it may well’t worth its EVs competitively and nonetheless make a revenue, perhaps Ford must discover a cheaper method to to fabricate them.

The corporate has already began down the trail, forming a skunkworks led by ex-Tesla government Alan Clarke to develop a low-cost EV. If the staff succeeds in bringing a product to market, a few of that startup spirit is likely to be alive at Ford in spite of everything.