Ford Invests $1B In Germany For All-Electric Europe Plan

Ford Motor Co. announced a $1 billion investment into a new electric vehicle manufacturing center in Cologne, Germany as the US automaker plans to go all-electric in Europe by 2030.

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The carmaker expects its first European-built all-electric passenger vehicle will roll off the assembly line starting in 2023. Ford (F) plans to have electric or plug-in hybrid models of its commercial vehicle range in Europe by 2024. By mid-2026, 100% of the company’s passenger cars in Europe will be either electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles that will move to all-electric by 2030.

Two-thirds of Ford’s commercial vehicle sales in Europe will be all-electric or plug-in hybrid by 2030, according to the plan.

Ford’s European business President Stuart Rowley said, “We successfully restructured Ford of Europe and returned to profitability in the fourth quarter of 2020. Now we are charging into an all-electric future in Europe with expressive new vehicles and a world-class connected customer experience.”

“We expect to continue our strong momentum this year in Europe and remain on track to deliver our goal of a six percent EBIT margin as part of Ford’s plan to turnaround our global automotive operations.” Rowley added.

At its recent 4Q results, Ford returned to profit in Europe and had announced that it planned to invest $22 billion globally in EV vehicles through 2025, nearly twice the company’s previous plans. (See Ford stock analysis on TipRanks)

Following Ford’s 4Q results earlier this month, Deutsche Bank analyst Emmanuel Rosner raised the stock’s price target from $11 to $12 but reiterated a Hold rating. Rosner said that he was encouraged by the company’s 4Q results and its growing investment in electric vehicles.

The rest of the Street is cautiously optimistic about the stock with a Moderate Buy consensus rating. That’s based on 5 analysts recommending a Buy, 5 analysts suggesting a Hold, and 1 analyst suggesting a Sell. The average analyst price target of $12.10 implies about 5% upside potential to current levels.