Ford (NYSE:F) may be a legend in automotive circles, but its efforts to cross over into electric vehicles have been less than legendary. In fact, new reports note that production has shut down a little while longer following a battery issue that started a fire.
Pick the best stocks and maximize your portfolio:
- Discover top-rated stocks from highly ranked analysts with Analyst Top Stocks!
- Easily identify outperforming stocks and invest smarter with Top Smart Score Stocks
Last week, Ford noted that it expected production of the F-150 Lightning, Ford’s hallmark electric pickup, to remain shut down at least through this week. Now, Ford added another week to the shutdown as its engineers still work to figure out what’s going wrong in the battery that’s causing fires, although one major cause has already been identified.
It’s a battery cell issue, specifically one related to Ford supplier SK. SK, to its end, already recommended a slate of changes in equipment and processes, and Ford has reportedly concurred accordingly. Now, SK is working to re-engineer its processes and once again get “…back to building high-quality cells…” Interestingly, Ford’s Executive Director of Purchasing for the Ford Model e-line, Annie Liu, left the company. Liu cited “…the needs of her family” as the main reason. Ford’s representative, T.R. Reid, noted that Liu’s departure was unrelated to the Lightning issues, however.
Analysts are, for the most part, somewhat split on their stance. Analyst consensus calls Ford stock a Hold with 15.19% upside potential thanks to an average price target of $13.69 per share.
