DEARBORN, Mich. — Ford Motor was one of the first automakers to spotlight Americans’ increasing desire for sport-utility vehicles and similar roomy models.

Now, the company is scrambling to catch up with the trend.

On Thursday, Ford outlined a plan to introduce a number of new S.U.V.s over the next three years in a bid to reinvigorate its business and shore up sagging profits.

“S.U.V.s are going to play a really fundamental role in Ford’s business,” Jim Farley, the company’s president of global markets, told an audience of reporters and automotive analysts. By 2020, he added, S.U.V.s and pickup trucks would combine to make up 90 percent of the vehicles Ford produces in North America.

The new models, rolling out in 2019 and 2020, will include hybrid and battery-powered variants, high-performance models and a new series of rugged, Jeep-like vehicles designed for off-road use.