Rumours said that the automaker would spin off its EV operations in a separate brand
The CEO denied these rumours
The EV business could be run separately from within Ford
Ford was rumoured to be looking at ways to spin off its electric vehicle operations into a new, standalone brand in order to benefit from the same level of investor enthusiasm as Tesla and Rivian are enjoying, but this is not the case.
Jim Farley, CEO of Ford, recently dismissed these rumours by saying that the automaker has no plans to spin off either its electric or its legacy businesses.
The rumours started when the CEO mentioned he was looking at ways to improve the company’s access to capital, as well as saying that running a successful EV operation is not the same as running a successful company which makes combustion powered vehicles.
In addition, start up automakers who are focused on electric vehicles are all the rage on the stock market, with Tesla being the highest valued automaker ever and Rivian rising to third place, in front of Ford, after having produced only a couple of hundred vehicles. Many legacy automakers who are also working on electrification feel their business is being undervalued and are working on ways to catch the attention of investors by giving more space to their EV business.
Now, rumours are saying that the move might have been cancelled by members of the Ford family, which is still very present in the company, who didn’t feel comfortable splitting up the company founded by their ancestor.
Instead, Ford could proceed to a reorganisation that could see the EV business being run independently from the rest of the car making operations, but still from within the company.
This reorganisation could be fueled by private capital and the CEO is reportedly working on this possibility with Doug Field, who previously lead Apple’s car project after having been Tesla’s chief engineer.
