Ford Motor Company

Stellantis and Ford are preparing to launch extended-range electric vehicles in the US that run purely on battery power but carry a small gasoline engine used only as an onboard generator, the Wall Street Journal reported on September 7, 2026. Stellantis plans to introduce an extended-range Jeep Grand Wagoneer later this year or early next, followed by the Ram 1500 REV, which the Journal reports can travel roughly 690 miles on a full battery and tank of gas combined. Stellantis previously scrapped an all-electric version of the Ram 1500 in favor of this range-extended design, and plans to offer more than 100 miles of electric range in its new EREVs. Ford plans to bring back the F-150 Lightning as an EREV, while Hyundai is also preparing extended-range models for the US market. Hedge fund holders of Stellantis fell to 26 in the second quarter from 32 in the first, with the combined position value nearly halving to $195 million from $424 million, while Ford's holder count held steady at 50 funds and its position value dipped slightly to $1.02 billion from $1.12 billion.

Automotive analyst John Murphy has predicted hybrids will account for 34% of the U.S. market by 2030, up from just over 18% in 2026, a shift that could redirect investor attention from speculative EV startups to established automakers and the automotive ETFs holding them. Hybrid electric vehicles reached a record 16% of light-duty vehicle sales in the second quarter of 2026, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, while battery electric vehicles saw their market share decline to 6% from 7% the previous year. Toyota, Honda and Hyundai Motor Group currently control 86% of the surging U.S. hybrid market, according to Baum & Associates data cited by CNBC, with Toyota selling over 600,000 hybrids in the United States in the first half of 2026 for a 50% market share and Honda's hybrids now accounting for 31% of American Honda's total sales. The shift has been driven by the expiration of the federal $7,500 EV tax credit in September 2025, which raised the cost of pure EVs by thousands of dollars overnight, and by hybrid pricing that has dropped considerably, with Toyota, Honda, Ford, Hyundai and Kia pushing hybrid variants into their most popular mainstream models at a modest upcharge of $1,500-$2,000. Among the funds positioned for the trend, the Global X Autonomous & Electric Vehicles ETF DRIV, with net assets of $359.2 million, has gained 12.3% year to date and charges 68 basis points, while the First Trust S-Network Future Vehicles & Technology ETF CARZ, with net assets of $46.7 million, has rallied 33% year to date and charges 70 basis points, and the State Street SPDR S&P Kensho Smart Mobility ETF HAIL, with assets under management of $18 million, has risen 3.7% year to date and charges 45 basis points.

General Motors and Ford are taking their century-old rivalry into defense contracting and energy storage, CNBC reported on September 5. Ford joined GM this year in seeking U.S. military contracts after the Trump administration approached domestic automakers about using their mass manufacturing expertise, but GM is years ahead, already building a backlog around a U.S. Army contract for Infantry Squad Vehicles that could exceed $1 billion depending on congressional appropriations, and GM expects its 2026 defense revenue to grow to almost $700 million while targeting positive earnings in the segment this year. Both companies are also entering the energy storage system market, betting on rising electricity costs and data center power demand, with the global Energy Storage System market projected to grow from $668.7 billion in 2024 to $5.12 trillion by 2034. Ford Energy sits within its Model e electric vehicle segment, which is guided to a $4 billion loss in 2026 before targeting breakeven by 2029, and CEO Jim Farley told investors in July that Ford is in the third inning of selling out 20 gigawatt-hours of energy storage production capacity, backed by a five-year framework agreement with EDF Power Solutions North America.

Ford Motor Company said Thursday it will build a new $1B paint shop at its Kentucky truck plant in Louisville, replacing the facility's existing paint shop and further modernizing one of its most important manufacturing operations. Groundbreaking is expected by late this year, the automaker said. The plan builds on Ford's recent investments across Kentucky, including about $2B to transform the Louisville assembly plant into the manufacturing center for its new Universal Electric Vehicle Platform and about $2B at Ford Energy Systems in Glendale, which will manufacture battery energy storage systems. The Kentucky truck plant is Ford's largest and highest-revenue plant, where a vehicle rolls off the assembly line every 45 seconds. The announcement comes two days after Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy expressed profound concern about the automaker's U.S. manufacturing integrity and its ties to Chinese companies that the Trump administration believed could be detrimental to the Detroit carmaker and the U.S. automotive industry.

Senator Elizabeth Warren pressed U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on whether American consumers will receive refunds for tariffs the Supreme Court deemed illegal, but Greer indicated the administration has already issued refunds—not to consumers, but to corporations. A court filing analyzed by the Washington Post shows the Trump administration has paid out $100 billion in tariff refunds to companies, including $2.2 billion to Apple, $1.3 billion to Ford, and $600 million to Amazon. The average American family paid an estimated $1,745 in additional costs from tariffs between February 2025 and January 2026, according to the Joint Economic Committee. Democratic lawmakers have introduced the Tariff Refund Act of 2026 to require refunds with interest, but it has not gained traction, and new 2026 tariffs could cost households nearly $900 more, per the Tax Foundation.

GM and Ford are turning their underutilized electric vehicle battery capacity into a new energy storage business to meet soaring demand from data centers and the electric grid. Ford, which took a $19.5 billion write-down on its EV expansion, launched a battery energy storage systems (BESS) business at the end of 2025, repurposing manufacturing capacity in Glendale, Kentucky, and planning to invest roughly $2 billion over the next two years. Ford Energy, a wholly-owned subsidiary, aims to deploy at least 20 GWh of battery storage annually by late 2027 and has a five-year framework agreement with EDF power solutions North America for up to 4 GWh per year. GM, which recorded cumulative charges of $10.9 billion, has also launched an energy storage business and is partnering with Peak Energy on sodium-ion chemistry for grid-scale storage. The U.S. installed a record 20.2 GWh of energy storage in the second quarter of 2026, with utility-scale capacity growing at an annual average rate of 70% over the past three years.

Ford Motor Company is gearing up to launch its Fathom electric pickup truck in 2027, aiming to sell 100,000 units in its first year, according to internal sources cited by the Wall Street Journal. This ambitious goal would make the Fathom one of the top-selling EVs in the U.S., trailing only Tesla's Model Y and Model 3, which are the only EVs to exceed 100,000 annual sales in the country. Ford's previous EV pickup, the F-150 Lightning, sold 27,307 units in 2025, outperforming Tesla's estimated 20,237 Cybertruck sales. The Fathom will start at $28,350, significantly undercutting rivals like the Cybertruck at $69,990, the Chevrolet Silverado at $55,985, and the Rivian R1T at $79,900. Preorders begin in early 2027, with deliveries expected later that year.

Uber Technologies and British AI company Wayve have launched supervised autonomous rides in London, marking the first such service in the United Kingdom. Londoners requesting UberX, Uber Electric, or Uber Comfort may be matched with a Wayve vehicle at no extra cost, with fares shown upfront in the Uber app. The service uses all-electric Ford Mustang Mach-E vehicles equipped with Wayve's AI driver and interactive screens in 64 languages. Initially limited to London excluding airports, the rollout will expand gradually based on demand and regulatory developments, with trained drivers supervising each journey. This launch is part of a broader partnership that includes an Uber investment and plans to deploy Wayve-powered vehicles across 12 global markets, starting with London, and later introducing autonomous Nissan LEAF vehicles in Tokyo in 2026. Uber also works with over 30 autonomous-vehicle partners and expects to facilitate autonomous trips in up to 15 cities by the end of 2026.

Ford Motor is moving to market its Ranger pickup trucks for use by NATO militaries, aiming to supply standardized light utility vehicles across member countries. The company is adapting Ranger platforms to meet military requirements, including potential armored variants and specialized equipment packages. This effort opens a path for Ford to compete for multi-country defense vehicle contracts and adds military fleets to the Ranger truck customer base. The move leans into Ford Pro's strength in work-focused vehicles and data-rich fleets, supporting the view that commercial customers can be a more stable base than one-off consumer truck sales. On the bear side, adding military specifications and support can increase complexity and capital needs at a time when analysts already flag debt coverage and tariff risks.

Ford Motor Company is expanding its Bronco lineup with a hybrid version due in 2027 and a Bronco-based pickup toward the end of the decade, while its luxury brand Lincoln will build a Bronco-based off-roader. These moves are part of a larger plan to refresh 80% of Ford's North American portfolio by 2029, which includes a $25,000 hybrid crossover and five vehicles under $40,000, as well as targeting half of its global volume to be hybrid, EV, or extended range by 2030. The strategy follows Ford's $19.5 billion charge and reversal of electric vehicle plans, which included canceling the F-150 Lightning, though it will return as an extended-range option. Ford also plans to add new Mustangs, including a four-door variant, and is banking on its low-cost Universal Electric Vehicle platform for future EV profitability, with the Fathom midsize electric truck due next year. The company faces competition from Stellantis, which is also planning affordable options to regain market share.

Ford Motor's Fair Value Estimate has been raised from $14.85 to $15.73 as analysts reassess the company's prospects. The revision reflects a shift in revenue growth assumptions from 1.45% to 74.96%, a net profit margin expectation increase from 7.52% to 8.42%, and a future P/E adjustment from 5.91x to 5.53x. Bullish analysts at Citi, UBS, Deutsche Bank, and BofA highlight Ford Energy and battery storage as additional earnings drivers, while RBC Capital, TD Cowen, JPMorgan, and Piper Sandler point to improving EV losses and software contributions. Bearish firms including Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs remain neutral, citing truck demand and inventory risks.

Ford Motor Company announced on August 12, 2026 that it will increase US production of its Lincoln vehicles starting in 2030 and phase out imports from China entirely, a move the company said will generate thousands of direct and indirect US jobs. Days earlier, Samsung SDI acquired General Motors' 49.99% stake in SynergyCells, ending a $3.5 billion US battery joint venture between the two companies. Ford CEO Jim Farley called Lincoln a quintessentially American brand and said the company builds in America because it believes in America, noting Ford assembled more than 2 million vehicles domestically in 2025, more than any other automaker. Ford reported roughly $3 billion in gross tariff costs in 2025, with about a $2 billion hit to earnings even after offsets, while General Motors expects gross tariff costs of $2.5 billion to $3.5 billion this year alone, a burden that could eat more than 20% of its operating profit. Samsung SDI said it will keep working with General Motors on next-generation prismatic battery technology and plans to repurpose the partially built Indiana plant, originally designed for 27 gigawatt-hours of annual EV battery output, to serve the fast-growing energy storage systems market instead.

General Motors disclosed a $4.5 billion purchasing facility with Procura Auto Parts to secure components during supply-chain disruptions, while Ford said it will move production of some Lincoln models from China to the United States starting in 2030. GM's facility, funded by a bank syndicate led by JPMorgan Chase and Santander, prepays suppliers so GM can avoid paying for stored parts until needed, though it pays interest, premiums, and an annual fee on unused amounts. Ford's shift targets the Lincoln Nautilus, which faces a 52.5% US tariff, and builds on existing domestic assembly of the Navigator in Kentucky and the Aviator in Chicago. GM expects gross tariff expenses of $2.5 billion to $3.5 billion this year, while Ford pegs its net tariff hit at about $1 billion. GM was held by 77 hedge funds as of Q1 2026, down from 81, and Ford by 50, down from 52.

The United States is preparing to reduce import tariffs on automobiles from Canada to 15% from the current 25%, as part of a trade agreement under negotiation, with Canada required to lift trade measures imposed in retaliation against the US. Multiple foreign news agencies reported, citing sources, that under the new agreement the tariff rate for Canadian autos would fall to 15%, while details of the deal are still being finalized and there remains a possibility that President Donald Trump could adjust terms late in the negotiations or scrap the agreement, as has happened in past trade talks. The two countries are also discussing ways to expand the list of parts and value eligible for additional tariff exemptions, but no final decision has been made so far. If an agreement is reached on that issue, it would further reduce the tariff burden on automakers. The tariff cut could be a major victory for Canada's auto industry, including major manufacturers such as Toyota, Honda, General Motors, and Ford, which all have production bases in Canada and export vehicles to the US market. Last year, the US announced 25% tariffs on imported cars and trucks built outside the country, while for vehicles produced in Canada and Mexico, the US would levy tariffs only on the value of parts not made in the US, in an effort to push manufacturers to increase domestic production and use more local parts.