Cars and Drivers

Ford's Pathetic Excuse

ciat / Flickr

It’s this simple. The headline of an in-depth investigation from Bloomberg, the leading financial news organization in the world, read, “Ford’s Electric Pickup Is Built From Metal That’s Damaging the Amazon.” The article is thousands of words long and is supported by detailed graphs and photography. It would be hard to find a story more damaging to the reputation of a major American manufacturer. (Click here for the good, the bad and the ugly of owning a Ford F-150.)
[in-text-ad]
Ford’s response to the Bloomberg investigation was sent to 24/7 Wall St. after we queried about the Bloomberg article. It read, “Ford is committed to a supply chain that exceeds minimum regulatory compliance requirements and respects human rights, including the right to clean air and clean water. That commitment applies to everything we make and that others make for us. We encourage people to call attention to issues, investigate all of them, and work with suppliers to align their business practices with our standards.”

The response is pathetic and reflects poorly on Ford’s management and the Ford family, led by Executive Chair William Clay Ford Jr., the company’s de-factor CEO.


Ford has fumbled the launch of the Ford F-150 Lightning, which is its most likely path to success in the electric vehicle (EV) market. Ford sells over 600,000 units of the gasoline-powered F-150, a huge installed base for any newly launched vehicle. Ford has unexpectedly raised the Lightning’s price to a level that makes it unaffordable for some pickup owners. It also has shut down the Lightning assembly line because of battery defects.


Bill Ford has said the Lightning is the most important product launch of his tenure. The problems of the launch should be humiliating.

The Bloomberg story is a symptom of Ford’s problems and not the core of them. The core is Ford’s management, led by Bill Ford.

The Average American Has No Idea How Much Money You Can Make Today (Sponsor)

The last few years made people forget how much banks and CD’s can pay. Meanwhile, interest rates have spiked and many can afford to pay you much more, but most are keeping yields low and hoping you won’t notice.

But there is good news. To win qualified customers, some accounts are paying almost 10x the national average! That’s an incredible way to keep your money safe and earn more at the same time. Our top pick for high yield savings accounts includes other benefits as well. You can earn up to 3.80% with a Checking & Savings Account today Sign up and get up to $300 with direct deposit. No account fees. FDIC Insured.

Click here to see how much more you could be earning on your savings today. It takes just a few minutes to open an account to make your money work for you.

 

Our top pick for high yield savings accounts includes other benefits as well. You can earn up to 4.00% with a Checking & Savings Account from Sofi. Sign up and get up to $300 with direct deposit. No account fees. FDIC Insured.

1 https://www.fdic.gov/national-rates-and-rate-caps

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.

AI Portfolio

Discover Our Top AI Stocks

Our expert who first called NVIDIA in 2009 is predicting 2025 will see a historic AI breakthrough.

You can follow him investing $500,000 of his own money on our top AI stocks for free.