Ford boosts investment plan for EVs and self driving vehicles, reports loss

Ford boosts investment plan for EVs and self driving vehicles, reports loss
# 05 February 2021 10:51 (UTC +04:00)

Ford Motor Co on Thursday more than doubled the amount of money it plans to invest on electric and autonomous vehicles, to $29 billion, even as it posted a fourth-quarter net loss of $2.8 billion, APA reports citing Reuters.

The No. 2 U.S. automaker also said the global semiconductor chip shortage could lead to a 10% to 20% loss in first-quarter production, resulting in a potential hit to operating earnings of $1 billion to $2.5 billion. But its shares gained 1.5% in after-hours trading as the fourth-quarter operating results and 2021 profit forecast were above Wall Street’s expectations.

“If EVs continue to quickly gain favor, especially with commercial customers, we want to be clear that we will not cede ground to anyone,” Chief Financial Officer John Lawler told reporters on a conference call.

Ford said it was “doubling down” on connected electric vehicles and said it will invest $22 billion in electrification through 2025, nearly twice what it had previously committed to EVs. Ford also said it would invest $7 billion in self-driving, or autonomous, technology development over 10 years through 2025 – $5 billion of that from 2021 forward.

“We are accelerating all our plans,” Chief Executive Jim Farley said, including increasing battery capacity and adding more electric vehicles in its future portfolio.

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