The electric and petrol versions of the Ford F-150 – it seems – will continue to exist under the same umbrella for a while longer.
Based on ReutersJim Farley, Ford CEO, told attendees at the Wolfe Research conference: “We have no plans to decouple our electric business or ICE (internal combustion engine) business. .”
Last week, a report from Bloomberg claims the automaker is considering cutting off its EV or ICE arms.
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Jim Farley
Some activist investors have suggested the automaker should turn to the traditional internal combustion engine business or the budding electric vehicle business to access the spectacular valuations currently available to investors. manufactures electric-only cars, such as Tesla and Rivian.
Ford, which sold nearly 4 million cars in 2021, has a market capitalization of about $66.6 billion ($92.8 billion), while Tesla, which has delivered about a million EVs last year, valued at $789.6 billion ($1.1 trillion).
It should be noted that any plans to split Ford in two could loosen the Ford family’s control of the brand. The family now owns about 2% of the carmaker, but controls about 40% of voting rights through preferred voting shares.
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Tesla Model X
Farley said the automaker must “beat ICE’s best players,” as well as improve “Nio and Tesla” in the electric vehicle market.
The CEO acknowledged the automaker was underperforming, saying there was too much “waste” in its ICE business, noting that “we have too many people, we there’s too much investment, we’ve got too many complications, and we don’t have expertise in asset transfers.”
On the EV side of things, Farley says the company needs “to have real professionals who can drive that scale.” Earlier this month, Ford polled Alan Clarke, Tesla’s head of new vehicle engineering, who has been in the business for about 12 years.
He joins other Tesla alumni at Blue Oval, including his new boss, Doug Fielddevelopment head Model 3.
With Mustang Mach-E successfully launched the crossover and F-150 Lightning Amassing numerous pre-orders, Ford has repeatedly ramped up investments in electric vehicle development and expects to be able to produce at least 600,000 electric vehicles per year within 24 months.
To make these plans a reality, Ford has been busy negotiating long-term contracts for the raw materials required by electric vehicles, including lithium, rare earth metals, nickel and copper.
