F stock rose more than 5% in early trading on January 4, 2022, after the company announced an increase of production target in its all electric F-150 Lightning truck.
Full Speed Ahead: Ford Planning to Nearly Double All-Electric F-150 Lightning Production to 150,000 Units Annually; First Wave of Reservation Holders Invited to Order
On January 4, 2022, Ford Motor Company said it is planning to nearly double production of the F-150 Lightning™ pickup at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn to 150,000 trucks per year to meet high demand for the first all-electric version of America’s best-selling vehicle, the F-Series. And beginning Thursday, the first group of reservation holders will be invited to place their orders for the F-150 Lightning.
“With nearly 200,000 reservations, our teams are working hard and creatively to break production constraints to get more F-150 Lightning trucks into the hands of our customers,” said Kumar Galhotra, president of The Americas & International Markets Group Ford Motor Company. “The reality is clear: People are ready for an all-electric F-150, and Ford is pulling out all the stops to scale our operations and increase production capacity.”
Due to unprecedented customer interest, Ford is implementing a wave-by-wave reservation process, with reservation holders being asked to watch for an invitation via email from Ford or to log in to their Ford.com account over the next few months. Those who don’t receive invitations to convert for the 2022 model year will have an opportunity to order a future model year vehicle in due course.
Flexibility is key to Ford’s production system, and the way teams are now working to deliver the company’s future lineup of electric vehicles. To deliver this latest increase, a small task force of employees from manufacturing, purchasing, strategy, product development, and capacity planning are finding ways to quickly adapt and expand the groundbreaking pickup production. Ford is working with key suppliers and its manufacturing facilities Rawsonville Components Plant and Van Dyke Electric Powertrain Center to find ways to increase the capacity of electric vehicle parts, including battery cells and battery trays, and electric drive systems.
“The pride and quality UAW members are putting into building the iconic Ford F-150 Lightning is evident in the high pre-production demand for the new F-150 Lightning truck,” said Chuck Browning, UAW vice president. “UAW members are leading the way in doubling the amount of vehicles Ford is producing for this game-changing model of our legendary union-built vehicle.”
This week marks the final pre-build phase before accelerating into mass production of F-150 Lightning trucks for retail customers and F-150 Lightning Pro for commercial customers. These production-level trucks will be used to test real-world customer conditions, collectively accumulating 1 million miles.
The Lightning is drawing interest from customers of competitor brands at a record rate in North America, with more than 75% of reservation holders new to the Ford brand. Production of the 2022 F-150 Lightning pickup will begin this spring at a starting MSRP of $39,9741 before potential federal tax incentives2.
Ford is committed to leading the electric vehicle revolution, investing more than $30 billion in electric vehicles through 2025. Over the next two years, Ford aims to emerge as the clear No. 2 electric vehicle maker in North America and then challenge the No. 1 spot as huge investments in battery and electric vehicle manufacturing come onstream. Within 24 months, Ford will have the global capacity to produce 600,000 battery-electric vehicles annually.
In addition to scaling Lightning production, Ford recently announced the tripling of production for the Mustang Mach-E and expects to reach 200,000-plus units per year by 2023. Ford’s all-electric van, the 2022 E-Transit, goes on sale early this year.
Ford is building the largest, most advanced, most efficient auto production facility in its 118-year history in Tennessee, where it will assemble next-generation F-Series electric pickups. Together with SK Innovation, Ford is also building three new BlueOval SK battery plants – one in Tennessee and two in Kentucky – to produce advanced lithium-ion batteries to power next-generation Ford and Lincoln vehicles.
This $11.4 billion investment will create nearly 11,000 new jobs at BlueOval City and BlueOvalSK Battery Park in Tennessee and Kentucky and build on Ford’s position as America’s leading employer of hourly autoworkers.
Ford price target raised to $18 from $16 at Evercore ISI
Evercore ISI analyst Chris McNally raised the firm’s price target on Ford to $18 from $16 and keeps an In-Line rating on the shares as he rolled out his 2022 outlook for the auto industry and refreshed his estimates. For the industry, he sees the first signs of a global production recovery in Q4 and thinks “normalization” should be evident by mid-2022. However, McNally believes the industry will not return to “normalized inventory” levels until 2024.
📺 Jim Cramer: 2022 is pivotal for Ford, needs to get EV truck out ahead of Tesla
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5B6umHMaALI[/embedyt]📈 Ford Stock Technical Analysis
The long and short-term trends are both positive. The chart is looking good! F is part of the Automobiles industry. There are 27 other stocks in this industry. F outperforms 96% of them. F is currently making a new 52 week high. This is a strong signal. The S&P500 Index, however is also trading near new highs, which makes the performance in line with the market.
There is a support zone ranging from 20.27 to 20.45. This zone is formed by a combination of multiple trend lines and important moving averages in the daily time frame. There is also a support zone ranging from 19.14 to 19.43. This zone is formed by a combination of multiple trend lines and important moving averages in multiple time frames.
Although F has an excellent technical rating, it does not present a decent entry opportunity at the moment. Price movement has been a little bit too volatile to find a nice entry and exit point. It is probably a good idea to wait for a consolidation first. Click here to sign up for email alerts on when F stock consolidates and is a good entry.
