<p>Ford CEO Jim Farley says the company will stop competing in over-served market segments and instead will place big bets on connected vehicles and digital services.</p>.<p>The days of Ford being all things to all people are over, Farley said at the company's capital markets day event Monday.</p>.<p>The company, he said, has been “stuck in a box,” with thin profit margins, weak growth and low stock valuation.</p>.<p>Ford, Farley said, will emphasise software and services as well as iconic vehicles such as pickup trucks, large SUVs, commercial vehicles and advanced second-generation electric vehicles.</p>.<p><strong>Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/business/business-news/take-that-elon-musk-ford-ceo-dares-tesla-ceo-on-electric-vehicles-1135064.html" target="_blank">'Take that, Elon Musk': Ford CEO 'dares' Tesla CEO on electric vehicles</a></strong></p>.<p>He said the company is eliminating waste to close a cost gap with the best in the industry with a “lean disciplined operating system” that reaches into all Ford factories.</p>.<p>Farley said by focusing on software, services and Ford's strengths in products, the company won't be as vulnerable to a downturn as in the past. He said the company has let complexity “overrun our business as we tried to be all things to all people.”</p>.<p>“We will focus on growth segments where we lead,” Ford Blue President Kumar Galhotra said.</p>.<p>Farley says Ford will be competing differently, going for tailored ownership experiences rather than “jockeying for slivers of market share” with complex vehicles in over-served market segments. He said the company will go to non-negotiated prices, working with dealers.</p>.<p>Ford has said it will get to a 10 per cent pretax profit margin in 2026. It reiterated 2023 full-year guidance of $9 billion to $11 billion in adjusted pretax profits.</p>.<p>Ford Motor Co. also said it cut deals with a number of companies to supply its rapidly growing electrical vehicle division, Ford Model e.</p>.<p>Ford will get more than 100,000 metric tons of lithium hydroxide from Albemarle, based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Compass Minerals International announced a multiyear deal to supply Ford with up to 40 per cent of the battery-grade lithium carbonate coming from its project in Utah.</p>.<p><strong>Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/business/business-news/ford-to-cut-1100-jobs-in-spain-1198914.html" target="_blank">Ford to cut 1,100 jobs in Spain</a></strong></p>.<p>EnergySource Minerals will supply the carmaker with lithium hydroxide from a new site in Imperial Valley, California, and Nemaska Lithium, a Canadian miner, will supply Ford with 13,000 tons of lithium hydroxide annually for 11 years.</p>.<p>Because the materials are coming from the US and Canada, it ensures that Ford's electric vehicles will qualify for new federal tax credits, making them more competitive.</p>.<p>Ford has split itself into three business units, Ford Blue for gasoline-powered and hybrid vehicles, Ford Model e for electric vehicles and digital products, and Ford Pro, the company's commercial vehicle business.</p>.<p>“I'm not here to tell you that we're under valued,” Farley said Monday. “You make your own decision.”</p>
<p>Ford CEO Jim Farley says the company will stop competing in over-served market segments and instead will place big bets on connected vehicles and digital services.</p>.<p>The days of Ford being all things to all people are over, Farley said at the company's capital markets day event Monday.</p>.<p>The company, he said, has been “stuck in a box,” with thin profit margins, weak growth and low stock valuation.</p>.<p>Ford, Farley said, will emphasise software and services as well as iconic vehicles such as pickup trucks, large SUVs, commercial vehicles and advanced second-generation electric vehicles.</p>.<p><strong>Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/business/business-news/take-that-elon-musk-ford-ceo-dares-tesla-ceo-on-electric-vehicles-1135064.html" target="_blank">'Take that, Elon Musk': Ford CEO 'dares' Tesla CEO on electric vehicles</a></strong></p>.<p>He said the company is eliminating waste to close a cost gap with the best in the industry with a “lean disciplined operating system” that reaches into all Ford factories.</p>.<p>Farley said by focusing on software, services and Ford's strengths in products, the company won't be as vulnerable to a downturn as in the past. He said the company has let complexity “overrun our business as we tried to be all things to all people.”</p>.<p>“We will focus on growth segments where we lead,” Ford Blue President Kumar Galhotra said.</p>.<p>Farley says Ford will be competing differently, going for tailored ownership experiences rather than “jockeying for slivers of market share” with complex vehicles in over-served market segments. He said the company will go to non-negotiated prices, working with dealers.</p>.<p>Ford has said it will get to a 10 per cent pretax profit margin in 2026. It reiterated 2023 full-year guidance of $9 billion to $11 billion in adjusted pretax profits.</p>.<p>Ford Motor Co. also said it cut deals with a number of companies to supply its rapidly growing electrical vehicle division, Ford Model e.</p>.<p>Ford will get more than 100,000 metric tons of lithium hydroxide from Albemarle, based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Compass Minerals International announced a multiyear deal to supply Ford with up to 40 per cent of the battery-grade lithium carbonate coming from its project in Utah.</p>.<p><strong>Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/business/business-news/ford-to-cut-1100-jobs-in-spain-1198914.html" target="_blank">Ford to cut 1,100 jobs in Spain</a></strong></p>.<p>EnergySource Minerals will supply the carmaker with lithium hydroxide from a new site in Imperial Valley, California, and Nemaska Lithium, a Canadian miner, will supply Ford with 13,000 tons of lithium hydroxide annually for 11 years.</p>.<p>Because the materials are coming from the US and Canada, it ensures that Ford's electric vehicles will qualify for new federal tax credits, making them more competitive.</p>.<p>Ford has split itself into three business units, Ford Blue for gasoline-powered and hybrid vehicles, Ford Model e for electric vehicles and digital products, and Ford Pro, the company's commercial vehicle business.</p>.<p>“I'm not here to tell you that we're under valued,” Farley said Monday. “You make your own decision.”</p>