Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F)
Ford Motor Company (F) an automobile company had its stock rise 4% on Tuesday due to speculation on a collaborative agreement with Google to develop self-driving vehicles. This speculative news comes off of last week’s announcement that Ford acquired a permit to begin testing self-driving cars on public roads in California. Whether or not this deal comes to fruition, it is clear that Ford is taking an aggressive approach to investing in cutting edge technology. A month ago Ford announced that it would invest over $4.5 billion in electric cars over the next five years. At this time neither company has verified the reports yet but a Google spokesman said that the company is talking to automakers. If a deal were to be announced, it is speculated it would happen at the annual International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on January 4th. Needless to say this is big news for the automobile company as its stock price was down 11% on the year coming into Tuesday’s trading. Taking an aggressive approach to new opportunities (even though they may be risky) could be exactly what Ford Motor Company needs moving forward.
Ford Spokesman Alan Hall Comments
“We work with a lot of tech companies all over the world. We keep these discussions private for obvious competitive reasons and we do not comment on speculation,” Auto News
Ford CEO’s Comments on Dec 11 on possible partnering up with another company:
“It’s not only about what are the things that are going to be core to us but who are we going to partner with, in some cases,” Fields said in a Dec. 11 interview. “Because I don’t think we can just be so arrogant to think that we’re going to do everything on our own and we’re going to do something better than maybe a company that does that 24/7. For us, partnerships are really important.” Auto News
Company Profile
Ford Motor Company manufactures and distributes automobiles worldwide. The company operates through two sectors, Automotive and Financial Services. The Automotive sector develops, manufactures, distributes, and services vehicles, parts, and accessories. It offers vehicles primarily under the Ford and Lincoln brand names. This sector markets and sells its products through distributors and dealers, as well as through dealerships to fleet customers, including commercial fleet customers, daily rental car companies, and governments. The Financial Services sector offers various automotive financing products to and through automotive dealers. It provides financing products, including retail installment sale contracts for new and used vehicles; and direct financing leases for new vehicles to retail customers, government entities, daily rental car companies, and fleet customers. This sector also offers wholesale loans to dealers to finance the purchase of vehicle inventory; and loans to dealers to finance working capital and improvement of dealership facilities, purchase dealership real estate, and other dealer vehicle programs. The company was founded in 1903 and is based in Dearborn, Michigan. Yahoo Finance
