Articles for Ford

Ford Motors Ahead in the U.S. While International Cools

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Wednesday, February 1st, 2012 by Trefis Team

Ford (NYSE:F) posted fourth quarter results which portray impressive growth but leave a few grey areas of concerns. Although compared to its past performance Ford has outdone itself, it has not been able to fully capitalize on production cuts which Toyota and other Japanese car makers post Tsunami. The company continued its strong performance of the previous quarter in North America but faced significant challenges in Europe and South America where due to weak demand it has decided to cut its production capacity in the coming year.

Like other auto majors, the Thailand floods impacted its Asia Pacific sales. Ford Credit was a bright spot for the company as it contributed significantly to company’s profit and helped it invest in the future for growth. The company’s revenues stood at $34.6B for the fourth quarter, an increase of 4.5% from the last quarter. This is below expectations since consumer spending was expected to much stronger in the holiday season compared to the last three month period. The company’s pre-tax income for the quarter stood at $1.1B, down from $1.9B in the previous quarter, in spite of a healthy 6.1% increase in the wholesale volumes. Ford competes globally with other major automakers such as GM (NYSE:GM), Toyota (NYSE:TM) and Honda (NYSE:HMC).

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Ford Q4 Preview: Strong Results Expected from Int’l Growth, U.S. Market Share Gains

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Wednesday, January 25th, 2012 by Trefis Team

Ford (NYSE:F) will release its earnings for Q4 2011 on January 27. Judging from its sales numbers in the last two months, we expect good results that should boost the market’s confidence in this stock. The stock has already gained close to 25% in the last three months, and this confidence should be further heightened when it releases its strong sales numbers in China and the U.S., the world’s two largest automobile markets. Ford competes globally with other major automakers such as GM (NYSE:GM), Toyota (NYSE:TM) and Honda (NYSE:HMC).

We currently have a Trefis price estimate of $14 for Ford’s Stock, around 11% above the current market price.

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Ford China Sales Hit Overdrive, Headed to $14

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Friday, January 13th, 2012 by Trefis Team

While the overall Chinese automotive market grew by only 2.5 percent in 2011, Ford (NYSE:F) managed to grow its sales by 7 percent to 519,390 units. While Ford China sales volume is only one-fifth that of its rival GM‘s (NYSE:GM), Ford is aiming to capture larger share of the market by introducing 15 new vehicles by 2015 and ramping up its domestic production by adding four new plants in the country. But macro-economic concerns and unfavorable government policy can upset Ford’s sales ambition in the near-term.

Our price estimate of $14 for Ford’s stock is around 15% above the current market price.

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Foreign Auto Makers Get Fewer Incentives in China as Country Promotes Competition

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Monday, January 9th, 2012 by Trefis Team

As auto makers start to announce positive strong growth from China, the country announced the end of its seven-year policy to attract foreign investments in order to promote a “healthy” level of competition and to protect local manufacturers. Since it is in China’s interest to acquire the latest fuel-efficiency technologies, it has exempted foreign investment in fuel-efficient technologies from this new policy. These new rules, which will go into effect from the end of this month, impact auto-manufacturers such as GM (NYSE:GM), Ford (NYSE:F), Honda (NYSE:HMC), Toyota (NYSE:TM) and Daimler (NYSE:DAI) all of whom have major expansion plans in the country. We don’t expect any meaningful impact in the near term production, though it could slow the expansion of production facilities for these auto makers.

We currently have a Trefis price estimate of $26 for General Motors, the largest auto-maker in China with plans to boost production capacity by 25 percent to 40 percent over the next two years in the country. Our price estimate for GM is more than 30% above the current market price.

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Ford Reiterates its Strategy in India as EM Boost Growth

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Monday, January 9th, 2012 by Trefis Team

Ford (NYSE:F) indicated that it’ll continue with its go-small strategy in India at the recently held Delhi Auto Expo 2012. After the runaway success of its compact car, Ford Figo, which led to impressive sales growth for the auto-maker in India in 2011, Ford has unveiled a compact SUV, EcoSport. With this new SUV product, Ford will also introduce its EcoBoost engine in India, which should help sales in a country where consumers are conscious about a vehicle’s mileage. Ford EcoSport will compete against GM‘s (NYSE:GM) Chevrolet Captiva, Honda (NYSE:HMC) CR-V, Toyota (NYSE:TM) Fortuner, etc. in India.

Our price estimate of $14 for Ford’s stock is around 20% above the current market price.

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Ford Driving to $14 with Top Spot in U.S. on Fuel-Efficienct Line-Up

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Friday, January 6th, 2012 by Trefis Team

Ford Motor’s (NYSE:F) Ford branded vehicles were the largest selling automotive brand in the U.S. in 2011, selling more than 2 million vehicles for the first time since 2007. In comparison, its nearest rival General Motors‘s (NYSE:GM) Chevrolet brand sold almost 1.8 million vehicles in 2011. This shows that Ford’s focus on fuel efficiency technologies have paid back in the U.S., as customers continue to shift toward smaller, more fuel efficient cars and trucks because of continued high levels of oil prices.

Our price estimate of $14 for Ford’s stock is around 30% above the current market price.

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Ford’s Emerging Markets Strategy Lifts Outlook

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Friday, December 9th, 2011 by Trefis Team

Ford (NYSE:F) has outlined its focus upon emerging markets and Asia-Pacific region to drive its growth over the next ten years given the economic slowdown in developed markets. The company expects Asia-Pacific region to drive 70 percent of its growth over the next ten years. To capture the immense growth opportunity, Ford is positioning itself for these markets through the One Ford plan, which aims to increase parts commonality and produce vehicles globally over 13 core platforms. This will help lower Ford’s development costs and will promote its competitiveness through the ability to decrease vehicle prices. Also the company aims to serve the local markets by providing a full line-up of Ford brands to expand customer choice and by focusing upon improving fuel-efficiency, safety and smart technology to provide buyers a better bang for their buck. Ford mainly competes with General Motors (NYSE:GM), Toyota (NYSE:TM), and Honda (NYSE:HMC).

Our price estimate of $14 for Ford’s stock is around 45% above the current market price.

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Mulally Replacement Uncertainty Will Keep Investors Nervous on Future

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Wednesday, December 7th, 2011 by Trefis Team

It has recently been reported that Ford (NYSE:F) is in search for a new CEO to replace Alan Mulally, who has been leading the company since 2006 and successfully navigated the company through the automotive industry crisis of 2008-09 without asking for government bailout, which General Motors (NYSE:GM) needed. Mulally, credited for Ford’s turnaround over the last 5 years, could be retiring from Ford within two years, leaving big shoes for the incoming CEO to fill. News of Mulally’s departure will likely put pressure on the stock as management uncertainty increases. Ford mainly competes with General Motors, Toyota(NYSE:TM), and Honda (NYSE:HMC).

Our price estimate of $14 for Ford’s stock is around 30% above the current market price.

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Chevrolet Electric Vehicles: Safety Concerns Could Cause Car Buyers to Hit the Brakes

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Monday, November 28th, 2011 by Trefis Team

After several years of promoting electric cars in the U.S. and billions of dollars spent by automotive companies to develop electric vehicle technology, electric car sales are under threat because of rising safety concerns. At the center of safety concern is GM‘s (NYSE:GM) Chevrolet Volt, which caught fire after crash tests by The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

The safety concerns revolve around powerful lithium-ion batteries which is used by almost all major electric car manufacturers. NHTSA expects about 70% of battery-powered cars will feature lithium-ion batteries in the next decade. While the NHTSA is currently not concerned about the safety of other electric vehicles, any deterioration in public perception can hurt sales of electric vehicles by Nissan (PINK:NSANY) and Tesla Motors (NASDAQ:TSLA). It can also possibly delay launch of electric vehicles by Toyota (NYSE:TM) and Ford (NYSE:F) (currently planned for next year) because of additional testing requirements. Marketing costs of electric car manufacturers can also increase as they try to allay customer’s safety concerns, which will in turn hurt margins in the near-medium term.

See our complete analysis for GM, Ford, Toyota and Tesla Motors.

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Ford Reaches $14 Fair Value Shifting to Overdrive in China with Fuel Efficiency Focus

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Monday, November 28th, 2011 by Trefis Team

At the recent Guangzhou auto show in China, Ford (NYSE:F) announced its plans for aggressive growth in the country with several planned model launches and ramping up of its production capacity. Ford expects China will remain the largest car market for the foreseeable future, but its sales in China still trail that of its rival General Motors (NYSE:GM) by a wide margin. Ford aims to bring 20 new engines and transmissions and 15 new vehicles by 2015. Over the same period the company aims to improve its fuel-efficiency across its entire fleet by 20 percent. We expect that Ford’s focus upon introducing its full lineup of Ford branded vehicles, providing better fuel-efficiency and localizing its vehicles to suit local requirements will help the company gain market share in China in the medium-long term. Ford mainly competes with General Motors, Toyota (NYSE:TM), and Honda (NYSE:HMC) globally.

Our price estimate of $14 for Ford’s stock is around 45% above the current market price.

See our complete analysis for Ford stock here

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