A long time ago, legacy automaker Ford Motor Co. (F) ran on an ad campaign complete with the slogan, “Ford is Number One.” But now, Ford is clearly not what it used to be. In fact, in terms of overall sales, Ford is now officially number seven globally as it placed behind Chinese start-up BYD (BYDDF) in the latest sales tally.
Don't Miss our Black Friday Offers:
- Unlock your investing potential with TipRanks Premium - Now At 40% OFF!
- Make smarter investments with weekly expert stock picks from the Smart Investor Newsletter
For the third quarter of 2024, BYD actually came in sixth, as it sold more vehicles than Ford for the first time. In fact, Ford may actually end the year behind BYD, as the Chinese automaker looks to sell over four million vehicles for the year. BYD’s sales were up 38% from the same time in 2023, and Ford actually came in just around 40,000 vehicles shy of BYD’s third-quarter sales of 1.13 million autos.
Even worse is that other competitors are also making their presence known. Geely, for example, posted 820,000 vehicles sold, and Chery—another Chinese automaker—sold 550,000 units. While these are still behind Ford’s million-plus quarters, the fact that so many automakers are gaining does not bode well for Ford.
New Models?
In other news, Ford will likely not have much in the way of new models coming out to stem the tide of losses. Ford is cutting back on Mustang shipments after a series of mechanical issues prompted delays. Multiple Mustangs are penned in company warehouses, with technicians keeping an eye on engines, batteries and tires.
Reports of a new Ford Falcon making a return appear to be false. Those reports have apparently been at least partially generated by artificial intelligence. With no news sources to support the releases, other than a few social media channels, the news appears to be dead in the water.
Is Ford Stock a Good Buy?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Hold consensus rating on F stock based on four Buys, nine Holds, and one Sell assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 10.4% rally in its share price over the past year, the average F price target of $11.29 per share implies 2.31% upside potential.
