Ford put the world of auto consumers on notice last year with a tweet hinting that an electric vehicle was on its way.
In late 2019, when the news of the Mustang Mach-E SUV began to sneak out, Ford revealed it would follow a model pursued by marques like Tesla, as it was announcing the car in advance of its final production, and accepting orders for a late 2020 introduction.
Good news for the supply chain became a tough challenge for marketing: “We had to build excitement around something that did not yet exist,” Lisa Schoder, head of Ford’s US...