DETROIT (Reuters) – Ford Motor Co on Thursday more than doubled the amount of money it plans to invest in electric and autonomous vehicles to $ 29 billion, even though it posted a net loss in the fourth quarter of $ 2.8 billion dollars.
The US No. 2 automaker also said that the global shortage of semiconductor chips could lead to a 10% to 20% loss in first-quarter production.
For this year, Ford reported a net loss of $ 1.3 billion or 32 cents per share, compared to a modest profit in the previous year of 1 cents per share.
Ford previously said it expected a 2020 profit of between $ 600 billion and $ 1.1 billion.
Ford had a loss in the fourth quarter of $ 2.8 billion, or 70 cents a share, compared to a loss of $ 1.7 billion or 42 cents a share a year earlier.
The company expects operating revenues to rise to $ 8 billion to $ 9 billion in 2021, compared to $ 2.8 billion last year. The 2021 figure includes a $ 900 million non-cash gain on Rivian, the electric vehicle startup in which Ford has invested, but does not include the effect of the global semiconductor deficit.
Vehicle production lost due to the chip deficit could reduce Ford’s operating income in 2021 by $ 1.0 billion to $ 2.5 billion, according to Chief Financial Officer John Lawler.
In the pandemic-ravaged 2020, Ford’s total revenue fell to $ 127 billion from $ 156 billion in 2019.
Ford ended the quarter with nearly $ 31 billion in cash and $ 47 billion in liquidity, compared to nearly $ 30 billion and more than $ 45 billion in the previous quarter, respectively.
The company’s operating margin in the fourth quarter was 4.8%, compared to the year-over-year target of 8%. Ford said it aims for an operating margin of 8% this year, including 10% in North America and 6% in Europe.
Ford has said it is “doubling” on connected electric vehicles, saying it will invest $ 22 billion in electrification by 2025, nearly twice as much as it previously committed to electric vehicles.
Ford also said it will invest $ 7 billion in autonomous or autonomous technology development over 10 years by 2025 – $ 5 billion from 2021 onwards.
“We are accelerating all plans,” CEO Jim Farley said in a statement, including increasing battery capacity and adding more electric vehicles to his future portfolio.
Lawler Lawler told reporters, “If electric vehicles continue to win favor quickly, especially with commercial customers, we want to make it clear that we will not give up on anyone.”
Ford has previously pledged $ 11.5 billion in electrification, including hybrid gasoline-electric vehicles, by 2022. This included launching the Mustang Mach-E EV crossover and electric versions of the F-150 pickup. and the Transit van.
US rival General Motors Co. has said it will spend $ 27 billion by 2023 on electric and autonomous vehicles. He said he plans to supply 30 electric vehicles globally by 2025 and aims to increase annual sales of 1 million electric vehicles in the United States and China by 2025.
Reporting by Ben Klayman and Paul Lienert in Detroit; Edited by Dan Grebler