Deutsche Bank analysts provided a preview of Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) regarding new segment reporting. The company is expected to disclose profits/losses for its three new business units, Ford Blue, Ford Pro, and Model e, and the analysts estimate the respective segment economics and believe that the EV business could report much deeper losses than investors expect, which could make Ford’s target for 8% EV EBIT margin by 2026 particularly difficult to achieve.
Deutsche Bank’s analysis suggests that based on an EV cost disadvantage of $25,000-27,000 per vehicle disclosed by Jim Farley last year, Ford could be incurring gross losses of $9,000 per EV unit, and its Model e segment may report $6 billion in 2022 operating losses after accounting for approximately 65% of the automaker’s R&D investments.
While a potential silver lining from Ford’s new disclosures could be the high profitability of its Ford Pro business, the analysts wonder if this could come under pressure as the segment ramps up vehicles with expensive electric powertrains, potentially offsetting the benefit from higher take-rate of software, telematics, and services.