Ford Motor is preparing for an economic downturn, despite steady consumer demand for new vehicles, according to the automaker’s chief financial officer.
Even though Ford has seen record profits and strong demand for electric vehicles like the Mustang Mach-E, rising battery material costs and inflation are erasing any potential profits for the new car, said Ford CFO John Lawler on Wednesday at a conference hosted by Deutsche Bank and reported on by CNBC. This is despite a recent price hike of the Mach-E to offset the effects of inflation.
Lawler said increasing the price of the vehicle was enough to preserve Ford’s profit margins, but not enough to impact the increased costs of commodities. While the CFO didn’t share how much money Ford is losing on each Mach-E purchase, he said costs for the EV have increased $25,000.
This news comes as Ford is in the midst of recalling nearly 49,000 Mach-Es because of a malfunction that could cause overheating of the vehicle’s battery high-voltage contactors, which can result in loss of power while driving and cause an accident. The company said a …
