Not long after the public debut of the new Ford Maverick compact pickup, CEO Jim Farley revealed he can foresee a family of vehicles based on the new model, including a battery-electric version of the truck.
Farley told the New York Times he believed the new truck would be a success. He added could see the automaker expanding the on the package to develop a group of Maverick-based vehicles with one of being all-electric. The Maverick is already offered as a hybrid. He also suggested in May that a Bronco EV could be in the works as well.
“The electrification of the industry is a big change, and I think it wasn’t clear until we launched Lightning and Mach-E that Ford was going to be a winner in this new electric reality,” Farley told the Times. “Now investors are betting on Ford, and what they’re telling me is, ‘The strategy is attractive, Go execute it, Farley.’”
If the company did offer an all-electric version of the Maverick, it would be the second battery-electric truck in its line-up, following the recently revealed F-150 Lightning, which is expected to hit dealerships early next year. Not addressed in the interview, if the company’s compact and full-size pickups are offered as BEVs, what’s on tap for the midsize Ranger?
Farley’s style and impact
Particularly attuned to the voice of the investor, Farley said after the introduction the F-150 Lightning last month the company was entering a period after which he would have a strong sense of public and investor support for the company’s plans.
That started with the Lightning’s debut, in fact, telling reporters after the event, “I am looking at this vehicle as a test for adoption of electric vehicles.” He didn’t have to wait long for the public’s opinion as there were 20,000 reservations — at $100 each — for the truck within 24 hours and more than 75,000 within a week.
Investors, who are a bit more fickle than the general public, appear to be pleased as well. On May 20, the night of the F-150 Lightning’s public debut, the company’s stock closed at $12.49 a share. It opened the next day up slightly, closing May 21 at $13.33, a 13.1% increase.
Since then, it’s risen steadily, including a cresting the $16 mark for a brief period on June 3 and has been trading in the $15 range for much of the last 10 days. While the new electric pickup is a hit, that alone isn’t helping curry favor with investors.
Ratcheting up the urgency
Farley told investors and analysts May 26 the company will spend more than $30 billion on electrified vehicle development by 2030, adding much more cash to the company’s efforts.
Last year at this time, Ford had committed $11.5 billion by 2022 to the “cause.” In February, it grew to $22 billion by 2025 and Farley’s added another third to that total surpassing $30 billion invested by that time.
The plan calls for 40% of Ford’s global vehicle sales to be electric by 2030. That translates to about 1.5 million EVs globally. It puts it on pace with Detroit-based rival General Motors, which wants to sell 1 million electric vehicles annually by 2025. Other makers, like Hyundai, Toyota and Honda, for example, have all set similar targets.
Farley calls the accelerated plan “Ford+,” and it not only pushes the automaker to bigger goals for electrification, but also profitability at the same time, he revealed during its Capital Markets Day.
“This is our biggest opportunity for growth and value creation since Henry Ford started to scale the Model T,” he said during the online Capital Markets Day meeting. “Our ambition is to lead the electric revolution.”
