Ford Motor
F
recently announced plans to invest an additional $180 million in its Halewood EV powertrain facility in northern England.
In October, F announced an investment of $280 million to transform its Halewood transmission facility to build electric power units for future European Ford passenger and commercial EVs. Production is scheduled to begin in 2024. The current flow of fresh funds will boost annual production at the plant to 420,000 units per year, up from 250,000 previously, an increase of 70% in factory output. This, in turn, will supply powertrains to a large number of European Ford models by 2026.
Ford has been a major employer at Halewood for almost 60 years. The investment will secure jobs for more than 500 people at Halewood who will assist in EV component assembly for the European market.
Ford’s vision for Europe thrives on a business model focusing on commercial vehicles and the electrification of its car range. Halewood is a critical player in Ford’s first in-house investment in EV component manufacturing in Europe. Ford intends to have nine fully electric models on sale in Europe by 2024, with Halewood supplying power units to assembly plants in Romania and Turkey for five high-volume models.
It has been quite some time since Ford has been proactive in the EV race and is speeding toward an all-electric product range. Its bold strides in electrification have made it the second best-selling EV brand in the United States. Ford’s ambitious Ford+ plan, with a deep focus on increasing profitability, exploring the e-mobility future and enhancing customer experience, sparks optimism. Its pioneering rejig plan to split its EV business into a separate unit within the company will unlock growth opportunities.
The firm’s aggressive EV push, with planned spending of around $50 billion by 2026 and target production of more than 2 million EVs by 2026-end (representing 49% CAGR for 2023-2026), augurs well for long-term growth. By 2030, Ford expects EVs to account for 50% of its global sales, cementing its position in the red-hot EV landscape.
The recent announcement is in sync with the auto giant’s plan to go all-electric overseas by 2030.
Shares of F have lost 29.1% over a year compared with the
industry
’s 48.4% decline.
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Zacks Rank & Key Picks
F currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Here are some better-ranked players in the auto space –
CarParts.com
PRTS
, sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), and
Allison Transmission Holdings
ALSN
and
Genuine Parts Company
GPC
, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see
the complete list of today’s Zacks Rank #1 stocks here
.
CarParts has an expected earnings growth rate of 85% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has been revised 72.7% upward over the past 30 days.
Allison has an expected earnings growth rate of 26.1% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ALSN’s current-year earnings has been revised 0.6% upward in the past 30 days.
Genuine Parts has an expected earnings growth rate of 18.1% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has been revised 0.2% downward in the past 30 days.
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