Luxury Pickups And Focus ST Help Ford Stock Find $16

+7.97%
Upside
13.06
Market
14.10
Trefis
F: Ford Motor logo
F
Ford Motor

Ford Motors (NYSE:F), along with Chrysler LLC, are stepping up their focus on luxury pickup trucks; ones that cost more than $50,000 after the companies were pleasantly surprised to find out that the demand for such trucks has been higher than expected. The success of the luxury pickup trucks is epitomized by the fact that it took only three days for the dealers to rake in full year’s allotment of the new luxury-trim Ram Laramie Limited pickups offered by Chrysler. Ford announced that it will soon launch a luxury model named Limited although the company did not reveal any other details. Ford’s line of F-series has been the leading automobile in the pickup truck category in the U.S. for the last 30 years. ((Chrysler, Ford add luxury pickups, sfgate.com, June 9, 2012)) Coming to cars, Ford has launched its 2013 Focus ST worldwide although the customers will have to wait till September for delivery.

We have a price estimate of $16, which is about 50% above the current market price.

See our complete analysis for Ford’s stock

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Luxury Pickup Sales Impress

In 2011, Chrysler sold 13% of light-duty Ram pickups which were priced more than $40,000 compared to 9% in the previous year. Similarly, 29% of the total heavy-duty Ram pickups sold were those whose price was more than $50,000 compared to 22% in the previous year. Ford, which introduced the high end Platinum in 2009, expected the vehicle to make up for 3% of total F-150 sales. But to the company’s surprise, Platinum has been consistently accounting for 6% of F-150 sales. [1] As a result, we forecast the Ford’s average truck price in North America to grow at a healthy rate buoyed by an increasing presence of luxury pickup trucks.

Ford Focus ST Makes its Debuts

The much awaited 2013 Focus ST has made its debut in 40 countries around the world and will be available in both five-door hatchback and estate forms. The car is powered by a 2.0 liter, four-cylinder turbo engine producing a power of 250 PS and achieving a peak torque of 265 lb-ft. The car can speed up to 60 mph in less than 6.5 seconds. Ford Focus ST will be available from $24,495 onward in the U.S. [2]

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Notes:
  1. ref:1 []
  2. 2013 Ford Focus ST debuts in 40 countries, inautonews.com, June 12, 2012 []