Ford is doubling down on electric vehicles. The Detroit automaker said it plans to invest $29 billion in electric and autonomous vehicles through 2025. The announcement follows recent plans by rival General Motors. Last year, GM announced plans to increase spending on all-electric and autonomous vehicles by $27 billion between 2020 and 2025.

Ford said their investments include $7 billion in self-driving vehicles and $22 billion in EVs. Most of the vehicles produced under Ford’s new plan will be all-electric. However, the company also has a selection of hybrid models, which will continue to have traditional internal combustion engines.

โ€œThe transformation of Ford is happening and so is our leadership of the EV revolution and development of autonomous driving,โ€ said Jim Farley, company CEO, in a news release.

It’s Not All Good News, Though…

Earlier in the week, Ford said it was significantly cutting production at plants in Michigan and Missouri that produce its profitable F-150 pick-up trucks. That decline in production is due to a global semiconductor microchip shortage.

Automakers (and parts suppliers) began warning of a semiconductor shortage late last year. Demand for new vehicles rebounded stronger than expected following a two-month shutdown due to the pandemic.

Ford also reported its latest earnings, which were mixed. On an unadjusted basis, Fordโ€™s loss widened to $2.79 billion (or a loss of 70 cents a share) during the fourth quarter. That was a disappointing increase from a loss of $1.67 billion (42 cents a share) during the same three months of 2019. Obviously, the pandemic had a huge effect their numbers.

Looking Ahead

Looking forward to the remainder of 2021, Ford estimates it will earn between $8 billion and $9 billion in adjusted pre-tax profits. They also project to generate between $3.5 billion and $4.5 billion in adjusted free cash flow. That doesnโ€™t factor in a microchip shortage, which could lower Fordโ€™s earnings by $1-to-$2.5 billion this year.

Fordโ€™s results in the fourth quarter were led by its operations in North America, which made $1.1 billion on overall revenue of $22 billion. All other segments (aside from Europe, with earnings of $414 million) lost money for the automaker. That included a $105 million loss in South America and $66 million loss in China.

In 2020, Ford lost $1.28 billion as it dealt with global restructuring and impacts from the global pandemic. That compares with an $84 million profit in 2019. Its revenue for 2020 was $127.1 billion, down 18% from the year before.

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Devon is a writer, editor, and veteran of the online publishing world. He has a particular love for classic muscle cars.