With the holiday season in full swing and a time when many are coming together with family and friends (even if in smaller gatherings or virtually), it’s a great time to engage in conversations about some of the things going on at Ford. 

As members of the Ford family, you are our best ambassadors. So, we thought it would be helpful to prepare you with some information on hot topics:   

Leading The Electric Revolution - Ford plans to invest $11.4 billion and create nearly 11,000 new jobs at Tennessee and Kentucky mega-sites. That’s the largest-ever one-time investment by an automaker in U.S. EV production. This news comes on top of our previous investment of an additional $250 million and addition of 450 more direct jobs across three southeast Michigan facilities, including the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center, to increase production capacity for the F-150 Lightning, as well as an initial $700 million investment in the historic Ford Rouge Center.

• Blue Oval City, in Tennessee will add approximately 6,000 new jobs to create a vertically-integrated ecosystem for assembly of an expanded lineup of electric F-Series vehicles. The site will include a battery plant, key suppliers and recycling. This new assembly plant is designed to be carbon neutral with zero waste to landfill once fully operational.
• In central Kentucky, BlueOvalSK Battery park, Ford in partnership with SK Innovation, is creating a dedicated battery manufacturing complex that will create 5,000 jobs. Twin battery plants on the site are intended to supply Ford’s North American assembly plants with locally assembled batteries for powering next-generation electric Ford and Lincoln vehicles. 

Charging up – We keep having to find new space in the trophy case for the F-150 Lightning and Mustang Mach-E. The F-150 Lightning, which includes features such as Intelligent Backup Power and the Mega Power Frunk and already has more than 160,000 retail reservations, was recently named the “Sustainability Product of the Year” in the Business Intelligence Group’s 2021 Sustainability Awards program. Meanwhile, the Mustang Mach-E has been named Overall Electric Vehicle of the Year by the AutoTech Breakthrough Awards, as well as Best Electric Vehicle by Motor1.com. We also revealed the F-100 Eluminator EV Concept electric pickup truck which promotes our new Eluminator electric crate motor (available from Ford Performance Parts) in an electric drive retrofit of a 1978 F-100 using a 2021 Mustang Mach-E GT Performance Edition powertrain.

Prioritizing the Planet – On the fifth anniversary of the Paris Climate Accord, Ford Motor Company and Ford Motor Credit introduced the North American auto industry’s first sustainable financing framework. This will help fund ambitious plans in vehicle electrification and other environmental and social areas. Together with the framework, the company is also reducing high-cost debt with a cash tender offer. Both of these actions will further strengthen Ford’s balance sheet and financial flexibility and return the company’s credit ratings to investment grade.

From the Garage – Expanded inventory and new products made Ford America’s No.1-selling automaker for the second month in a row in October – the first time Ford has led consecutive months since 1998.

• F-Series has expanded its sales lead and is now on track to achieve its 45th straight year of truck leadership.
• The all-new Ford Maverick, which starts just below $20,000, is turning on dealer lots in less than five days with buyers in the 18-35 age range making up over a quarter of those sales.
• Bronco Sport outsold both Jeep Cherokee and Jeep Compass combined last month
• Mustang Mach-E ranks second in full-electric SUV sales. Ford is poised for strong growth in the electrified vehicle space in the coming months, with the new E-Transit being sold out, and the company has more than 160,000 reservations for the F-150 Lightning.
• Lincoln is continuing to improve its inventory, as well, and a record number of new retail orders were placed last month. Also, Corsair sales were up 24% and Aviator sales increased by 22% in October.

Strong Financial Results – Ford products are in high demand, including our battery-electric vehicles. That consumer enthusiasm, together with improved earnings power in North America and other regions are driving a strong financial outlook for the company. Ford’s revenue, net income, adjusted earnings before interest and taxes, cash flow from operations, and adjusted free cash flow were all sharply higher from the second to the third quarter of 2021, thanks to significant increases in semiconductor availability and wholesale vehicle shipments from Q2. Also, Ford’s stock price continues to increase, recently closing at over $20 for the first time in 20 years, while the company has also restored the shareholder dividend.

The Chip Shortage – Ford and GlobalFoundries Inc. have announced a strategic collaboration aiming to boost chip supplies for Ford and the U.S. automotive industry. The agreement opens the door for GF to create further semiconductor supply for Ford’s current vehicle lineup and joint research and development to develop new feature-rich chips the automotive industry will need. These could include semiconductor solutions for driver-assist technology, battery management systems, and in-vehicle networking for an automated, connected, and electrified future. GF and Ford also will explore expanded semiconductor manufacturing opportunities to support the automotive industry.

We’re Hiring – The company is looking to fill its talent pipeline by leveraging our own workforce through a new employee referral program in the U.S. The program will help Ford to better identify candidates for hard-to-fill positions and reduce the time to hire for external candidates. Full-time salaried employees based in the U.S., including those with a transitioning work arrangement, can submit candidate referrals through a new employee referral portal – this includes family members. Referring employees could receive a bonus of $1,000! Click here for more information on the candidate referral process.

How You Can Help – Whether in person or on social media -- you have the power to accelerate our Ford+ plan. Messages shared by employees can have more than 500% greater reach and twice the engagement than when a company shares the same message. We’re counting on you to be part of our army of advocates in sharing your passion for Ford with your social networks. Remember to use the hashtag #WeAreFord when you share your company pride! 

We’ve made great progress in creating our vision of the future of Ford in the first year of the Ford+ plan, but there’s so much more we can achieve when we become ambassadors outside of work. You can find these and other stories on @FordOnline, as well as the @BlueOvalNow mobile app if you need a refresher. Happy Thanksgiving!