Ford chief executive Jim Farley has denied recent reports that the car manufacturer plans to spin off either its EV or ICE businesses.
It was recently reported that Ford could spin off part of its electric business in an attempt to capture some of the extraordinary value that investors are placing on some electric vehicle companies and startups, such as Tesla and Rivian. However, while doing so could certainly raise some additional capital, the automaker has no intentions of doing so, Farley said at a recent Wolfe Research conference reported by CNBC.
“Despite the press speculation, we have no plans to spin off our electric business or our ICE business,” he said. “It’s really more around focus and capabilities, expertise and talent. Those are key for Ford and this is what we’re working on.”
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Farley is heading up an ambitious electrification plan at Ford and according to reports from early February, the car manufacturer was considering spending an extra $10-20 billion over the next five to 10 years to convert existing factories into EV factories. This investment would be in addition to the $30 billion that Ford has already committed to EVs through 2025.
Ford also has a very valuable investment in EV startup Rivian that it still needs to decide what to do with. Ford invested $1.2 billion in Rivian before the company went public and while Rivian’s shares have been hit hard over the last few weeks (like most), Ford’s investment has still increased roughly sevenfold. While Farley recently acknowledged that Ford doesn’t have any immediate plans to sell its Rivian stake, he admitted that “everything is on the table.”
