morgan20

Yea, no surprise but still disappointing. Hopefully the truck itself will arrive on time and be a class leading product

Why did the Ford big shots decide to break out Model e financials in the first place? None of Ford's competitors do this. Even though the head honcho said more than once that Model e is like a startup, the media constantly harps on its financials, just like this one that says Ford's Money-Guzzling EV Crisis

Yea, as I mentioned earlier in this section Ol' Billy Boy does think about scenarios like nearly half of young Americans don't want to own a car, and how that impacts to Ford: For most of my adult life, I worried about, “How am I going to sell more cars and trucks?” But today, I worry about, “What happens if all we do is sell more cars and trucks?” But I don't see much evidence that Billy Boy has been effective getting Ford's big shots to act upon his worry

Yea, the big shots at Ford are well known for giving up on plans quickly. Remember when the head honcho was some Arab Australian named Jacques Nasser? And what happened to his plans? Jacques Nasser’s attempted expansion into consumer products and services included acquiring the UK’s Kwik Fit chain of auto service shops, purchasing scrap yards, and acquiring Norway-based EV company Th!nk, which dabbled in electrified cars, bikes, and golf carts. The idea was, of course, to diversify, and supplement Ford’s core business of building cars and trucks (high investment, low margin) with consumer services (lower investment, higher margin). Unfortunately, for whatever reason, none of Mr. Nasser’s moves ever really paid off. Ford sold Kwik Fit in 2002 – a mere 3 years after acquiring it, and a year after Nasser retired from the company. The company abandoned Th!nk shortly thereafter, and as far as we know, not much ever became of those Ford-owned junkyards.

Remember what Mark Fields said when he was Ford's head honcho in 2015? If you look at the traditional automotive business, it’s worth about $2.3 trillion globally today. Ford gets about 6 percent of this. In comparison, the business of transportation products and services—think of it as revenue spent on miles travelled via mass transit, taxis, ride-sharing, etc.—that’s worth about $5.4 trillion. Today, we—and the rest of the traditional automotive industry—get 0 percent of that business. There are a number of new, nontraditional competitors from outside of our industry that are trying to break in and take advantage of this revenue opportunity. This is making us think differently. For us, we are not just thinking about the number of units we sell, but looking at vehicle miles traveled and how that opens up opportunities for Ford to play a role. In 2025, what percentage of revenue spent on miles travelled via mass transit, taxis, ride-sharing, etc. goes to Ford? I doubt it's more than 0.1%

Thanks for the article. GM's head honcho likes to talk a big game, sure, but the article didn't mention any accounting fraud. How is GM cooking the books? GM CEO Mary Barra described its EV business as “variable profit positive,” in which the revenues from its EVs exceeded the fixed costs of manufacturing the vehicles, including labor and building materials. It did not include costs such as building assembly lines, but it does show that GM is making progress on its EV business. Last year, Barra said the automaker would start making money on its EVs by the end of 2024. But today’s report suggests that there is still some work to do before GM can make good on its promise.

GM announced that it achieved positive variable profitability for its EV lineup in 2024 as sales of those vehicles increased and new, more affordable models were introduced: General Motors launched an EV offensive in 2024. New models, including the popular Chevy Equinox EV and Chevy Blazer EV, finally went on sale, while production ramped up for other EVs that were introduced in 2023. These successes were part of a strong year for GM, which yesterday reported that its full-year revenue improved by 9 percent. But arguably bigger news was that GM said in its letter to shareholders that its EV lineup became "variable profit positive" in the fourth quarter of last year.

The big shots at VW took off rose colored glasses and made the wise decision to cancel ID7 sedan for U.S. and Canada: The car [ID7] that had been assured to land in America (originally in 2024) no longer will. That leaves Volkswagen with the ID4 electric SUV it's been selling for a few years and the hot new ID Buzz electric van. Our last check-in with VW leadership suggests the reason for the ID7's holding pattern: The automaker wants volume out of its products, and especially its EVs. The ID Buzz might not get there, but it's also not really supposed to; it's a pricey halo vehicle of sorts. The ID7's midsize footprint and sedan shape could have been seen as liabilities in the U.S., where something smaller, taller, and more affordable—like the ID4 already on sale here—has a better shot at landing in more driveways.

Hopefully the head honcho's goals mentioned in the last paragraph of the WDRB Louisville Fox 41 article also remains on track to be achieved by 2026 or sooner: “We want their (LAP employees’) work to be building a vehicle that we’re deeply passionate about, where the customers can’t imagine their life without it. And we have opportunity in the two-row crossover market to do that. So, I think they should be really excited about their future.”

This board has discussed the possibility of Ford introducing long wheelbase and hybrid versions of Bronco Sport. Combined with the new all electric compact crossover, Ford should have everything it needs to compete in that market when Escape and Edge are gone

While it's not a secret that Ford is planning to launch an all-electric compact crossover later this decade to replace the Escape, it's not clear if that vehicle will have the Escape nameplate. Me thinks the Escape nameplate is probably not worth keepin' at this point. Chevy's Equinox EV has been mega successful. It offers 300+ mi. of range for $35k. Hopefully Ford's new all-electric compact crossover, whatever they call it, will give Chevy a run for its money

Speakin' of off road, the reviewers are talkin' about Toyota's new 4Runner this morning. Motor Trend said Toyota drops a Raptor-like gauntlet on Ford’s front door

In the past 20 years, most Ford products that were executed well with a strong cult following and quite profitable were body on frame. And most of those were trucks, vans, and SUV. Cars will always have a place in the market, sure, but will cars other than Mustang have a place at Ford? Doesn't seem like it

The initial reviews of Jeep Wagoneer S suggest it needs more development work. This could give Ford an opportunity to beat Jeep when it comes to off road EV. Hopefully Ford's skunkworks has somethin' lined up

Yea, I agree. Bronco Raptor is a beast when it comes to off road capabilities, but its price is almost that of the much more powerful Rivian R1S Dual with Max battery and Performance Upgrade (665 hp)