Ford Reorganizes Around Core ICE, EV Competencies
By Edward A. Sanchez – March 2, 2022
In early March 2022, Ford Motor Company announced a significant reorganization to its business units under the umbrella term “Ford+.” Ford “Blue” will be focused on core competencies traditionally associated with internal-combustion vehicles, and Ford “Model e” will be focused on core competencies in the emerging EV universe, including vehicle connectivity, OTA updates, battery research and development, and EV powertrains.
How truly transformative this change will be remains to be seen. Many corporations have announced broad, sweeping initiatives only to ultimately return to the status quo. Remember Saturn, which operated for many years as an autonomous sub-unit of General Motors? It was eventually subsumed into the corporate behemoth, and its once-unique cars eventually became rebadges of other divisions’ models.
Naturally, Ford’s press release is chock-full of buzzwords like, “world-changing company,” “reimagining the future,” and “industry-leading growth.” Stripping away the hyperbole, the gist of the initiative is as follows:
Ford Blue and Ford Model e to be separate business divisions, with separate P&Ls by 2023.
Ford Model e to focus on a clean-sheet approach to design, and launch of high-volume EV and connected services products, development of EV platforms, batteries, electric motors, inverters, charging, and end-of-life recycling.
Ford Blue to focus on “iconic” vehicles such as Mustang, F-Series, Bronco, Ranger, Maverick, and invest in said models with new variants, experiences and services, reduce costs, and focus on vehicle manufacturing, testing, and development.
Ford CEO Jim Farley announced that Ford+ will include ICE (Ford Blue) and EV (Ford Model e) arms.
Obviously, there’s still a great deal of overlap between the two divisions, as both EV and ICE vehicles need to be manufactured, need to have suspension, and have to get quality control testing and validation. To that end, Ford CEO Jim Farley pledges that the two divisions will work collaboratively to strengthen their respective core competencies.
The accompanying video is expectedly “rah-rah” and self-confident. So, what does this actually mean? Not to be a cynic, but the history of the automotive industry is thick with grandiose plans that never fully panned out or were sidelined by economic or societal “black swans” like wars or recessions.
However, there’s little disputing that Wall Street seems to be in love with Farley, more so than any other Ford CEO since Alan Mullaly, with its stock price increasing more than 200% since he took over as CEO in October 2018. So it certainly seems like Farley has investor and public confidence, and the Mach-E and F-150 Lighting seem like they’re solid hits with the car buying public, as is the Maverick and Bronco on the ICE side.
While I will withhold judgment about whether Ford+ is a success or failure until the company has had some time to implement and execute its plan, it’s clear Ford is feeling the competitive pressure from both legacy rivals as well as startups, and is ready to roll up its sleeves and show the world what it’s made of.
(Images courtesy Ford)
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