Ford BioSnap a weekly updated Biography.
Ford has been everywhere this week, making major headlines and drawing a flurry of social media chatter—some celebratory, some worried, and plenty laced with that signature Motor City speculation. The big news, seen on CNBC and echoed by Automotive Dive, is Ford’s bold $5 billion bet on expanding electric vehicles. This is not just a tweak to its existing models, but a brand-new assembly line, purpose-built for EVs, with their sights set on a $30,000 electric pickup—hello mainstream, goodbye barriers to entry. Ford plans to pour more than half of this money into developing new lithium battery technology, claiming they can reduce size and cost by a third without hurting range. The move is a direct answer to lagging EV sales last year, which were down 35 percent and accounted for only 2 percent of Ford’s total top line. Despite the optimism, Wall Street is keeping Ford on a short leash—after all, the company’s EV arm still lost over $5 billion last year.
On the money side, AOL is reporting that Ford’s juicy 5.2 percent dividend is under threat. Analysts are openly discussing the possibility of a cut, pointing to ballooning warranty costs, tariff impacts expected to slice $2 billion off pre-tax earnings this year, and a projected payout ratio that looks unsustainable. Ford is still pledging around $3 billion in dividends for 2025, but the numbers have some investors skittish. Historically, Ford has hit the pause button on dividends during crises, most recently in the pandemic, though their leadership seems intent on holding the line for now.
Meanwhile, fans of Ford’s crossovers had reason to mourn this week, as the company confirmed through multiple outlets that both the Escape and the Lincoln Corsair are being discontinued after the 2026 model year. The Escape, especially, has been a sales workhorse, outselling the Bronco so far this year. Their replacements? Ford is gambling on a fresh electric truck to take their place. Industry analysts at The Motley Fool and from CarGurus are warning this is a risky move, especially as EV incentives are winding down and overall EV demand remains tepid.
But it’s not all doom and uncertainty. The stock market has rewarded Ford’s recent EV bravado, with shares rising nearly 20 percent year-to-date and closing at $11.82 on August 25, according to Ainvest, with a daily turnover topping half a billion dollars. Ford’s positive sentiment is also buoyed by partnerships, like the one with SK On, aiming to scale up battery production at Kentucky’s BlueOval Battery Park and create nearly 4000 new jobs.
On social media and in wider business circles, Ford’s push toward electrification is being celebrated as a necessary, if overdue, pivot while others fret over lost iconic models and nervous dividend-watchers tally their returns. Ford’s Garage even injected a bit of pop culture rivalry, shading Tesla’s new Diner with a swipe about “impersonal robots.” Meanwhile, Ecolab’s recent addition of Ford EVs to its fleet has further burnished Ford’s image as the workhorse of business electrification.
All told, Ford finds itself at another crossroad—racing into an electric future with its past tailing close behind, its iconic dividend under scrutiny, and its every move parsing Wall Street’s nerves and Main Street’s loyalties.
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