https://auntresodamid.com/iJugHxINePLH1VY/96561
Ford CEO Jim Farley eyes further improvements after five years of ‘surprises,’ including investor returns

Ford CEO Jim Farley eyes further improvements after five years of ‘surprises,’ including investor returns

Sharing is caring!


Jim Farley, president and chief executive officer of Ford Motor Co., at Ford Pro Accelerate in Detroit, Michigan, US, on Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025.

Jeff Kowalsky | Bloomberg | Getty Images

DETROIT — “A lot of surprises.” That’s how Ford Motor CEO Jim Farley described his past five years leading the Detroit automaker, which he believes now has a solid foundation.

For Farley, who marks his fifth anniversary as CEO on Wednesday, there have been industry-wide problems to deal with, as well as Ford-specific issues that the company is still in the process of navigating.

The 63-year-old CEO has been working to make Ford more capital efficient, improve quality to reduce recall and warranty costs, and grow profit margins. That’s on top of industry-wide concerns about changing regulations, including tariffs, and shifting dynamics in electric and autonomous vehicle strategies.  

“I think there were certainly a lot of surprises,” Farley told CNBC on the sidelines of a Ford event Wednesday in Detroit. “I would say what I’m most proud of is the team I built, together with [Ford Chair Bill Ford], as well as the foundation.”

Farley said it’s still going to “take more work,” but the company has a good base after years of restructuring to perform better than it has under his tenure thus far. He’s optimistic about Ford continuing to improve the company’s overall performance and grow shareholder value.

“We need to get more capital efficient. We need to have higher margins than 4% or 5%, and we we need to be more resilient to economic cycle,” Farley said, adding some recent changes in regulations from the Trump administration may be more beneficial than Wall Street expects for Ford.

Investor ‘surprise’

Stock Chart IconStock chart icon

Auto stocks since October 2020

Ford’s total shareholder return over the past five years is roughly 134%, according to FactSet. That tops its largest global competitors other than Tesla – at 211% – over that time period.  

GM, Ford’s closest rival, has a total return of about 113% over that time period — in line with the S&P 500, according to Factset. U.S.-listed shares of Toyota Motor, meanwhile, had a cumulative total return of 61%, while Honda Motor shares had a total return of 51%.

On a per share basis, Ford stock closed Tuesday at $11.96 per share, up roughly 80% since Farley became CEO on Oct. 1, 2020. That compares with Tesla, up 211% to nearly $445; GM increasing 106% to roughly $61; and the overall S&P 500 index with a 99% increase since then.

Farley has managed to woo Wall Street more than his two most recent predecessors — both of whom departed the company after double-digit losses in Ford’s stock price.

Farley became the head of Ford amid more than decade lows in the company’s stock price following the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S. He took over from CEO Jim Hackett, who was recruited by Chair Bill Ford to replace longtime executive Mark Fields.

Ford’s stock under Hackett, ex-CEO of furniture maker Steelcase, declined roughly 40% during his tenure from May 2017 through September 2020. It was slightly better under Fields’ roughly three-year tenure, when the stock declined around 35%.

The stock’s best performance in the past 25 years occurred under CEO Alan Mulally, from September 2006 through July 2014, when shares jumped roughly 178%.

Ford’s stock saw its lowest point under Farley when he took over the company in 2020. Its high during the past five years was $25.87 per share in January 2022, which occurred during the automaker’s push into electric vehicles such as the F-150 Lightning and notable upgrades.

At that time, Ford’s market value topped $100 billion for the first time ever. It’s now less than half that around $48 billion, with the stock off 54% from that high. That compares to GM’s market cap of about $58 billion.

Road ahead

To achieve further upside, the company will need to address several factors, including quality and recall issues as well as costs — areas Farley has tried to combat for years.

Ford has spent billions of Dollars on warranty and recall problems in recent years, setting industry-wide records for the number of recalls in 2025.

“To justify further upside for Ford it would require a multiple re-rating, which we believe may be a challenge,” Barclays analyst Dan Levy said in a Sept. 12 investor note, citing overhangs of structural costs, quality and recalls. “The ongoing cycle of recalls remains a challenge, and it’s unclear when this cycle might end.”

While there have been improvements, the company remains at a disadvantage to its peers when it comes to costs.

In 2023, Ford said it faced an overall cost disadvantage of between $7 billion and $8 billion, including $3 billion to $4 billion in material costs and $3 billion in structural costs, in addition to ongoing recall costs that the company considers “special items.”

Since then, Ford has been working to trim that figure and improve its product and quality, including closing roughly $1.5 billion in its material cost gap last year. The company, executives said in July, is on track for another $1 billion reduction in costs this year, excluding tariff impacts — increasing that figure to $2.5 billion.

“GM’s still better than us on cost, but we made a lot of progress this year,” Farley said Tuesday. “First time, without restructuring, we got a billion year-over-year cost down, which is a big deal.”

Ford Motor President and CEO Jim Farley talks about the Mustang GTD during the press day of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan, U.S. September 13, 2023. 

Rebecca Cook | Reuters

Amid Ford’s pullback in costs, the company under Farley has altered its plans for all-electric vehicles, including taking a nearly $2 billion hit last year for delaying and canceling EVs.

Farley on Tuesday said he “wouldn’t be surprised” if sales of EVs fell from a market share of around 10% to 12% in September — which is expected to be a record — to 5% this month after a federal incentive program for electric vehicles ended.

Along with its self-inflicted cost issues, Ford has been managing tariffs, electrification and a volatile regulatory landscape. There have been a slew of federal changes but some, such as the elimination of national emissions penalties, are assisting the automaker in offsetting expected tariff impacts of $3 billion this year. 

“We’ve got to work through a couple of these policy issues that could be a big tailwind for the company,” Farley said Tuesday, adding its commercial Pro business remains another highlight. “I don’t think the market has understood the benefit of the EPA rule change. It’s going to be big for our industry, for companies like Ford.”



Source link

Oval@3x 2

Don’t miss latest news!

Select list(s):

We don’t spam! Read our [link]privacy policy[/link] for more info.

🕶 Relax!

Put your feet up and let us do the hard work for you. Sign up to receive our latest news directly in your inbox.

Select Your Choice:

We’ll never send you spam or share your email address.
Find out more in our Privacy Policy.

🕶 Relax!

Put your feet up and let us do the hard work for you. Sign up to receive our latest news directly in your inbox.

Select Your Choice:

We’ll never send you spam or share your email address.
Find out more in our Privacy Policy.

Sharing is caring!

Read More :-  U.S. vehicle supply is falling amid tariff fear-buying

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top