Autonomous Trucks
Ford (F) used its long-awaited investor day to introduce its Ford+ plan. The recently unveiled F-150 Lightning BEV pickup truck already had 70,000 reservations in a week, and we continue to see the Mustang Mach-E as a valid competitor to Tesla’s (TSLA) Model Y. Ford’s manufacture of a BEV full-size pickup shows how serious the company is about BEVs, as this segment is the lifeblood of the company at about 1 million units a year. As for other possible new products, two new BEV platforms--one for full-size pickup trucks and a rear-wheel/all-wheel drive one for SUVs--are coming. Ford announced in February that by 2030, Ford Europe will be 100% BEV for passenger vehicles and two thirds BEV or plug-in hybrid for commercial vehicles.