BIRMINGHAM, Mich., April 17 (Reuters) - The U.S. auto

industry needs regulatory certainty from politicians in

Washington and the back and forth as the White House changes

hands doesn't help, but the adoption rate of electric vehicles

will continue to grow, Ford Motor's ( F ) executive chairman

Bill Ford said on Wednesday.

The growth rate on EV sales has slowed, but globally they

are being adopted quickly and Ford will follow even as it hedges

it bets with its gasoline-powered and hybrid electric vehicles,

he said at a Detroit Free Press event outside Detroit.

While not commenting on the race between U.S. President Joe

Biden, a Democrat, and former president Donald Trump, a

Republican, Bill Ford said he wishes the country would pick a

path so the industry can plan better.

"Our planning timeframe is a lot longer than election

cycles," he said.

"We can do almost anything as a company, and frankly as an

industry, as long as we have some certainty towards where we're

headed," Bill Ford added. "The problem is when we're whipsawed

back and forth by politicians. We can't turn on a dime. Just

pick a path and we'll go for it."

Michigan is a key battleground state in the election this

fall and both Biden and Trump have been speaking to voters,

including many industry workers, about the challenges the U.S.

auto sector faces. Trump has charged that Biden's policies will

kill auto jobs and aid China's surging EV industry.

Bill Ford said when he talks with politicians in Washington,

he gets very different viewpoints from the two parties.

He said Republicans question the need for EVs, saying the

U.S. sector trails China and they don't want to use Chinese

technology. Meanwhile, Democrats are pushing the industry to

make more EVs and asking what they can do to accelerate the

process.

The Biden administration last month handed Detroit

automakers a major win by easing proposed rules that would have

forced them to scale back production of gas-guzzling vehicles or

face billions of dollars in fines.

Bill Ford said the transition to EVs will be gradual and

determined by consumers. "We're not shoving anything down

anybody's throat," he said.

Ford Motor ( F ) on Tuesday resumed shipments of its F-150

Lightning electric pickup after an undisclosed quality issue led

to a nine-week halt starting in February.

Earlier this month, Ford cut prices of some Lightning

variants by as much as $5,500, and it previously cut prices on

its Mustang Mach-E electric SUV by up to $8,100 after sales

fell.

Also this month, Ford delayed the planned launches of

three-row EVs in Canada and next-generation electric pickup

truck built planned for production in Tennessee.

Ford CEO Jim Farley has said the U.S. automaker was

committed to scaling up its EV business profitably. It lost

nearly $4.7 billion on its EV business in 2023 and projected it

will lose $5 billion to $5.5 billion this year.