FRANKFURT AM MAIN: US auto giant Ford said Wednesday it was investing one billion dollars in Germany in a bid to make all of its passenger vehicles sold in Europe electric by 2030.

The company said in a statement that "by mid-2026, 100 percent of Ford's passenger vehicle range in Europe will be zero-emissions capable, all-electric or plug-in hybrid, and will be completely all-electric by 2030".

It said it would upgrade its assembly plant in Cologne, the home of Ford Europe, with a $1-billion (830-million-euro) investment to advance the company's "all-electric future".

Ford said its first European-built all-electric passenger vehicle for European customers would be produced at the facility from 2023.

The following year, its entire commercial vehicle range is to be zero-emissions capable, all-electric or plug-in hybrid, with two-thirds of Ford's commercial vehicle sales expected to be all-electric or plug-in hybrid by 2030.

Under European Union legislation that came into force last year, manufacturers' fleets of newly sold cars must emit on average less than 95 grammes of CO2 per kilometre, or face hefty fines from 2021.

To comply with the new EU pollution limits, auto companies across the industry must massively increase their sales of electric and hybrid cars.

German manufacturer Volkswagen said last month that CO2 emissions from its passenger-car fleet had decreased "by around 20 percent" year-on-year, helped by a fourfold increase in the numbers of electric and hybrid vehicles sold in Europe.