The US car giant Ford wants to invest more money in the development of smaller electric cars instead of large vehicles.
He assumes that this will also be an industry-wide trend, said Ford boss Jim Farley on Tuesday. It turned out that although customers were interested in electric vehicles, many did not want to pay a high premium for them. At the same time, the Ford boss reiterated that the transition to electric cars was inevitable from the company’s perspective.
During the corona pandemic, the numbers were rising rapidly at the time Electric carSales fueled inflated expectations about future demand, Farley said. Investments should now be more closely aligned with actual interest. The cheaper Tesla model and vehicles from Chinese manufacturers would be “the ultimate competition” in the future. Tesla is expected to begin production of its new vehicle at the end of 2025.
Ford also wants to save money by foregoing functions that are of little interest to customers. As an example, Ford manager Kumar Galhotra cited the automatic parking system, which “very, very few people use.” So Ford could remove the function – and save $60 per vehicle, which amounts to around $10 million a year.
The electric car division’s operating loss rose to $1.57 billion in the last quarter. In contrast, the commercial vehicle business generated an operating profit of $1.8 billion. Beyond that, Ford earned $813 million from combustion and hybrid vehicles.
Hybrid drives have become a bestseller for US car companies in recent months – also because they are cheaper than battery-powered vehicles. At the same time, Ford emphasizes that more electric models are also being purchased for commercial vehicles.
Ford posted a loss of $526 million (around 489 million euros) in the last quarter. In the same quarter last year, a profit of around $1.3 billion was recorded. However, Ford management emphasized that the weeks-long strike by the US union UAW had cost the company $1.7 billion. Meanwhile, sales grew year-on-year from $44 to $46 billion, as Ford announced after the US stock market closed on Tuesday.
Works council: unique overall package for Ford Saarlouis
The works council, the IG Metall union and the US car manufacturer Ford have agreed on regulations for the future of the 3,750 employees at the Saarlouis site. As works council leader Markus Thal announced at a staff meeting on Wednesday, he signed a 28-page key agreement with the management of Ford Germany. In addition, IG Metall and Ford signed a corresponding social collective agreement.
The agreements include, among other things, the continued employment of 1,000 employees until the end of 2032, severance payments and bonuses, the formation of a transfer company and qualification programs. In addition, the end of production of the Ford Focus, originally planned for May 2025, is to be postponed by half a year.
“There is no comparable overall package in any company in Germany,” argued Thal. IG Metall wants its members at Ford to vote on February 22nd, whether the overall package will be accepted or whether an indefinite industrial action should take place instead. Around 98 percent of Ford’s workforce belongs to the union.
In the works council’s opinion, the agreement represents the second best solution after the failure of the investor question. “From our point of view, all points were negotiated to a maximum in an intensive process. That’s why we as the works council also recommend its acceptance.”
Ford shares rose 5.63 percent to $12.75 in premarket trading on the NYSE on Wednesday. The numbers were above analysts’ expectations.
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