#FordMotorCompany

Ford hasn’t had the best luck with profitability on its electric vehicle business, but the automaker is not shying away from aiming at the cheaper end of the EV spectrum. CEO Jim Farley recently confirmed that the company would purse sub-$30,000 electric models with its next-generation product line, and said that its existing models would become better in the meantime.

The Ford Motor Company is offering a limited appearance package for the 2025 model year of the Mustang, stating that there will be just 1,965 examples to commemorate the car’s introductory year. As previously teased by the automaker, the model will receive special badging, decals, and wheels that hearken back to the original.

Striking Ford employees are heading back to the assembly line today after the United Auto Workers (UAW) union reached a tentative labor deal with the company late on Wednesday. While the agreement has yet to be ratified by union members and all details have yet to be made public, we know it includes a 25 percent wage hike over the life of the four-year contract, improved benefits, and the elimination of some of the tiered wages the union had been fighting against.

Ford’s Bronco is becoming more expensive, as the company is dumping the base trim for the 2024 model year. The Big Bend edition will now represent the cheapest way for one to procure the SUV. Though cheap may not be the operative word, as this choice shifts the Bronco starting MSRP from $36,785 to $41,025.

On Monday, Ford Motor Co. opened the Cologne Electric Vehicle Center in Germany. Founded in 1930, the facility first produced examples of the Model A intended for the European market. Though the site is probably more famous for manufacturing the Ford Capri and every single generation of the humble Fiesta.

The factory has more recently been the recipient of a $2 billion investment to prepare it for the automaker’s push into electrification. With retooling having concluded, Ford says the plant should boast an annual production capacity of 250,000 electric vehicles.

Ford Motor Company has a decades-long relationship with Formula 1 that includes a record for being the third-winningest engine manufacturer in the sport’s long and storied history. Given its success, it’s not surprising to see the announcement that Ford is returning to Formula 1 as an engine manufacturer in 2026.

Recalls are a fact of life for automakers and car owners, but some brands tend to rack up more than others. The NHTSA released a useful tool that enables drilling down on recalls from across the industry. In 2022, Ford Motor Company took the cake, with 67 recalls potentially impacting millions of vehicles.

Ford has had an incredibly busy past few years. The automaker has announced a new Mustang variant and released its first electric pickup truck in the F-150 Lightning. That type of execution takes coordination and planning, and any slipups can lead to significant quality control issues, and Ford CEO Jim Farley has his finger directly on the pulse of the problem.

The new Ford Bronco may be one of the most hotly anticipated vehicle releases in decades. The Blue Oval still has a list of orders to fulfill for the SUV almost two years after its release, but analysts are already looking ahead to the Bronco’s second generation. 

The transition to EVs is a big deal, not just for automakers but for their dealers. Training, product marketing, and service are all enormous obstacles for dealers to overcome to sell and support electric vehicles effectively. General Motors offered to buy out Buick dealers that weren’t willing to put in the time and, more importantly, money. Ford laid out similar requirements to its dealers, asking for a financial investment of more than $1 million in some cases, and CEO Jim Farley recently touted the program’s success.

Ford Motor Co. is recalling over 660,000 2016-2019 model year Explorer sport utility vehicles over the suspect roof rails the company initially claimed were probably fine. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration got involved last year, following a string of complaints of the rail cover loosening and sometimes being jettisoned from the vehicle, and recommended the automaker bring them in for repairs.

But Blue Oval felt that was unnecessary, claiming the odds of one decoupling were extremely low and likely to be battened down before anything happens. Besides, they’re just fiddly little pieces of trim and unlikely to do much damage. Obviously, opinions have changed since then with documentation from the NHTSA confirming Ford is moving ahead with the mostly voluntary recall.

Ford has released the new Police Responder version of its ever-popular F-150 pickup. Intended for government use and timed ahead of the spring bid, the automaker is clearly hoping it’s something law enforcement will be interested in since it should be an ideal pick for rural police departments, government agencies concerned with wildlife/nature, and border control operations.

The manufacturer already sells the F-150 SSV (special service vehicle), making the Police Responder sort of a deluxe version. It comes with upgraded skid plates, Goodyear Wrangler Enforcer all-terrain tires, an electronic rear differential (found in the FX4 Off-Road bundle), and a new torque-on-demand transfer case that automatically swaps between rear- and four-wheel drive depending upon terrain. It also comes standard with the 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6’s 400 horsepower and 500 lb-ft of torque, 10-speed automatic, and a higher top speed, which Ford says makes the Responder pickup “pursuit rated.” But it’s a term we’ve grown skeptical of ever since the automaker applied it to the Police Responder Hybrid Sedan and F-Series Police Responder from the 2018 model year.

Another day, another automaker making promises about electric vehicles. Today’s company is Ford, which has vowed to make all European automotive sales electric-only by 2030.

This comes with the footnote of having the ability to soften that promise with plug-in hybrids. But, since this is all about corporate virtue signaling, that’s not what automakers tend to lead with. The industry wants to focus upon net-zero carbon emissions, sustainability, and other buzz terms that allow something to sound environmentally friendly without our needing to check if that’s actually the case. By the time 2030 comes around, only a few dozen people are even going to remember these promises if they’re not kept anyway — giving companies another opportunity to move the goalpost.

Mark LaNeve is departing Ford after nearly four decades of sales and marketing in the auto industry, having held a number of leadership roles at General Motors and Volvo Cars in North America.

The Ford Motor Company is asking automakers to join it in supporting Californian vehicle emissions targets aimed at supplanting the rollback that was supposed to become the national standard. General Motors has already abandoned its support of the Trump rollbacks, which offered concessions to appease environmental groups but ultimately targeted more lax fueling regulation while seeking to eliminate California’s ability to self regulate as a way to curb its influence. But industry leaders are under the impression that a President Biden would attempt to swiftly transmission back to Obama-era regulatory targets or simply adopt the California model that’s been at odds with the national standards established by the Trump administration.

Considering how aggressive the Biden-Harris energy/environmentalism platform is, it certainly seems a plausible scenario and certain automotive executives feel that it would be best to go into 2021 aligned and supportive. The matter is even scheduled to be brought forward during Tuesday’s virtual auto trade association meeting.