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A century-old Ford has finally started the transformation of escape electrification.
After a period of wobbling, Ford made the final decision:
Split the electric vehicle and fuel vehicle businesses and operate independently.
Moreover, the two departments have a clear division of labor, fuel vehicles are responsible for making money and blood transfusions, and electric vehicle business paves the way for Ford's electrification transformation.
How to dismantle the electric vehicle business?
Ford's electrification transformation, business and personnel have been greatly adjusted, and the two major departments of fuel vehicles and electric vehicles operate independently.
In the electric vehicle business, Ford CEO James Farley personally led the way, and there were electric car veterans recruited from Tesla to assist.
After Ford split the fuel vehicle and electric vehicle divisions, they were called Ford Blue and Ford Model e.
Ford disclosed that after the split, Ford Blue will be mainly responsible for the fuel vehicle business, and Ford's current major fuel vehicles, such as mustang, F-150 and Bronke brands, are under this division.
The Model e focuses on the electric vehicle business, including Three electric vehicles currently on sale and pre-sale for Ford, the Ford Mustang Mach-E, the E-Transit van, and the F-150 Lightning pickup.
At the same time, according to Ford's plan, Model e will also be responsible for the research and development of some intelligent networks under Ford's model, including the Lincoln brand.
In addition, Stuart Rowley, chief transformation and quality officer, one of the core figures of Ford's electrification transformation, also said that because The Ford Model E electric vehicle business is still in the growth stage and requires a lot of capital investment, Ford Blue, which is responsible for fuel vehicles, will become Ford's profit engine and undertake the task of transfusing blood for the electrification transformation.
Regarding the rumors of the listing of the electric vehicle business, Ford said that There is sufficient financial support within Ford and it is not considering the separate listing of the electric vehicle business at present.
With the restructuring of business units, Ford's senior management has also ushered in large-scale personnel changes.
Ford officially disclosed that Ford's current CEO Jim Farley will shift his focus to the electric vehicle business and concurrently serve as the president of Model E.
Ge Haohua, President of Ford North America, is president of Ford Blue and is responsible for Ford's fuel vehicle business.
The above-mentioned Stuart Raleigh, former president of Ford Europe, will serve as model e's chief transformation and quality officer.
Doug Field, former Ford's chief technology and embedded systems officer, will serve as Model e's chief electric vehicle and digital products officer.
It is worth noting that Doug Field has not been in Ford for a long time compared to the above-mentioned Ford veterans, and only joined Ford in September 2021.
However, Field has been deeply involved in the intelligent electric vehicle industry for many years, has experience in the development of electric vehicles, originally worked for Apple, served as vice president of Apple's car project Project Titan, and is the chief engineer in the de facto sense of Apple's car project.
In addition, Doug Field served as Senior Vice President of Engineering at Tesla, where he led the development of the Model 3.
After splitting the fuel vehicle and electric vehicle businesses, Ford also offered a timetable for electrification.
According to the plan, Ford will achieve the goal of producing more than 2 million electric vehicles in 2026, accounting for 1/3 of global sales, and by 2030, achieve electric vehicle sales account for 50% of its global sales, higher than the previous plan of 40%.
In terms of profitability, Ford has raised its profit forecast and operating margin, and plans to increase its operating margin from 8% to 10% by 2026.
To achieve this goal, Ford said that it will cut $3 billion from structural costs by reducing production costs as an entry point, mainly in the fuel vehicle business.
Overview of Ford's electric vehicle business
At present, There are 8 new energy models for Sale or to be delivered by Ford.
Among them, three pure electric models are the Ford Mustang Mach-E (commonly known as the Ford Electric Horse in China), the electric version of the classic pickup F-150 , the F-150 Lightning, and the commercial vehicle E-Transit.
The Ford Mustang Mach-E is now open for delivery.
In terms of sales, the official disclosure said that In 2021, Ford sold a total of 64,262 new energy vehicles, accounting for 3.4% of Ford's total sales last year.
Among them, the Ford Mustang Mach-E has become a blockbuster model in the North American market for one year, with sales of 27,000 units in one year, occupying the third place in the 2021 US pure electric model sales list.
The Mustang Mach-E, also recently, was named the most popular model in the United States in 2022 by consumer reports ( Consumer Reports ).
At the same time, in terms of capital investment, Ford is not stingy, and the official disclosure will invest 50 billion US dollars (about 315.9 billion yuan) in the electric vehicle business in the next 5 years, while Ford's previous budget was 30 billion US dollars (about 189.5 billion yuan).
On the one hand, heavy investment, research and development of explosive models, but on the other hand, the century-old car company Ford, in terms of electrification transformation, also showed a conservative side.
The Popular Ford Mustang Mach-E in the United States has entered the domestic market but showed a lukewarm situation, officially opening deliveries in China in December last year, with only 352 deliveries in January.
Although the official explanation is that the weak sales volume is caused by the instability of the battery supply chain, the conservative tone of the Mustang Mach-E has also been criticized by the outside world for being stagnant.
In the decision to separate the electric vehicle and fuel vehicle businesses, Ford is also wavering, and has changed several times in just one month.
As early as February, foreign media Bloomberg exposed that Ford will separate the electric vehicle business, and even once rumored that the electric vehicle business would be independently packaged and listed, but just over a week ago, the rumor of separating the electric vehicle business was denied by Ford CEO Jim Farley.
This time, the official finalization of the separation of the electric vehicle business.
In a short period of time, the official attitude has changed many times, and the outside world can also see how determined Ford's internal determination to electrification is.
In addition, Jim Farley also said that the separation of the electric vehicle business does not mean that Ford abandons the fuel car, and he also emphasized:
Ford has not given up on the internal combustion engine and will invest in the internal combustion engine.
one more thing
While separating the electric vehicle business and placing special emphasis on continuing to invest in the internal combustion engine, why is Ford hesitant and conservative in the electrification transition?
The answer may lie in Ford CEO Jim Farley's speech:
We want to beat the old players, we want to beat the new players。
I want to defeat both old rivals and new forces.
The internal combustion engine singles out the old rivals, electric vehicles, naturally to deal with those "new players".
And here the new players, Jim Farley also specifically pointed out:
It's Tesla and Nio.
So do you think that the electric car track, the old Ford can do these two new car-making forces?
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