Ford CEO Jim Farley caused a stir when he appeared to reveal during a recent conference call with investors that he was going to split the EV business away from the main company. However, Farley confirmed that while changes are coming, they will not involve altering the structure of Ford moving forward.
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Farley's latest remarks came after he caught the world's attention by appearing to suggest that he was open to splitting Ford into smaller pieces with the EV business being spun off from the rest of the corporate structure in a bid to try and enhance flexibility within the company while also improving profits.
Changes Include Commonality Of Components
While it appears that Ford will maintain its current structure, Farley confirmed at a conference hosted by Wolfe Research that his initiatives and efforts will be focused on the internal workings of the company and addressing some of the problems that exist. A big problem is a lack of commonality with Ford's EV offerings currently using different motors and technology. Farley wants to change this by having all of its EV models (i.e., Mach-E and F-150 Lightning) eventually use common electric motors, batteries, and other technologies, which would help enhance production capability while also promoting simplicity.
Farley also revealed that the company would need new types of human talent, confirming that there are too many people in the company, which in turn is impeding Ford's quest to be a battery vehicle-only company. That could hint that Ford may lay off workers in the future, but Farley and company reps stopped far short of elaborating on that further.
Ford Still Aiming For Tesla
While Farley offered a realistic view of Ford's current state of affairs, he also revealed that the company is still focused on bringing the fight to Tesla. That's already evident with models like the Ford F-150 Lightning which not only has a massive headstart on the Tesla CyberTruck but will also bring new technology and capability to EV truck buyers.
Meanwhile, the Mach-E is rapidly emerging as a potent rival to the Tesla Model Y and Ford recently revealed that the 2022 lineup benefits from slight increases in overall driving range with Select and Premium models in rear-wheel-drive configuration benefitting from a 17-mile growth in range for a revised figure of 247 miles. Extended Range models also gained incremental increases in range with Premium rear-wheel-drive models matching the 303 figure offered by the base Model Y.
Photo Credit: Ford Motor Company
Carl Malek has been an automotive journalist for over 10 years. In addition to his specialization with Ford, he grew up in a General Motors household and is extensively familiar with their products too. Contact Carl on Twitter at @CarlMalek3, on Instagram and Facebook for automotive news to send news tips.
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