So legacy automaker Ford (F) has had a rough go of things in 2024 thanks to a huge run of recalls. But did you know about Ford’s latest recall? It may actually be one of the smallest recalls in vehicle history. However, this news was not that welcome for Ford investors, who sent shares plummeting over 7% in Thursday afternoon’s trading.
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Sadly, it is not the smallest recall in history. That honor seems to go to Rolls-Royce, who once issued a recall for a single Ghost made on January 23, 2014. Ford’s recall, however, should at least make the top 10, if not the top five, thanks to a recall of exactly three trucks. Specifically, three Ford F-150s. But for those three unfortunate vehicles, it is a disaster waiting to happen.
Apparently, workers accidentally installed the wrong steering rack in the pickups, which in turn can cause the rack teeth or the pinion gear to break, and ultimately, cost the driver any access to steering the vehicle. There have been no accidents yet connected to these vehicles, and since Ford knows just which pickups were affected, notice, and repair, should be taken care of fairly rapidly.
“If You Tow, It’s Not a Good Technology.”
And then, some more bad news came in from Ford CEO Jim Farley, who offered up the absolutely gutting remark quoted in the heading above. Farley noted, during a recent financial conference, that electric vehicles, even electric pickups like the F-150 Lightning, are just not that great for towing, which is a popular use of pickup trucks.
It got worse, as Farley basically said this is not an issue Ford could immediately fix, either. Farley noted “For larger retail electric (vehicles), the economics are unresolvable..” He also noted “These vehicles have worse aerodynamics and they’re very heavy, which means very large and expensive batteries. Retail customers have shown that they will not pay any premium for these large EVs.” With that in mind, it is little wonder that Ford is looking to pare back on production.
Is Ford Stock a Good Buy Right Now?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Hold consensus rating on F stock based on one Buy, seven Holds and three Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 22.26% loss in its share price over the past year, the average F price target of $9.93 per share implies 6.72% upside potential.
