Ford Reports Strong 2021 Financials, EV Production to Double in 2022

Ford recently announced solid fourth-quarter and full-year operating results for 2021 despite persistent supply chain disruptions.

Ford President and CEO Jim Farley particularly noted the company’s “taking EVs mainstream,” citing orders or reservations of more 275,000 all-electric Mustang Mach-E SUVs, F-150 Lightning pickups, and E-Transit commercial vehicles.

According to Farley, the automaker will double worldwide EV manufacturing capacity to at least 600,000 by 2023. He expects fully electric vehicles to represent at least 40% of Ford’s product mix by 2030.

The company expects a 15% to 20% rise in full-year 2022 adjusted earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of $11.5 billion to $12.5 billion. Full-year net income was $17.9 billion; company adjusted EBIT for the year was $10 billion.

Ford Pro, a suite of connected services to optimize fleet operations, continues to figure prominently in Europe, where Ford has been the top commercial-vehicle brand for seven straight years. Currently, the company has a record order bank for its Transit vans. E-Transit will be launched there in early 2022.

Ford Liive, the connected uptime system for commercial customers, is now available in nine European national markets. The application enabled an additional 28,000 days of vehicle availability in Q4, according to Ford.

In China, Ford recorded a fourth-quarter operating loss, but is expected to improve profitability in 2022. The company expects locally built Lincoln-brand vehicles to be a significant factor in Ford’s turnaround in China, positioning the company to be a significant player in the world’s largest luxury car market.

For the first time, Lincoln volumes in China were larger in 2021 than in the U.S. Full-year sales of Lincoln models were up nearly 50% from 2020, with the launch of the Lincoln Zephyr set for first-quarter 2022 and other forthcoming new products from the brand.

In South America, Ford’s restructured, asset-light business unit was profitable and is now growing.

The company’s International Markets Group, which operates in about 100 markets in Asia, the Middle East and elsewhere, is preparing to introduce a next-generation version of its Ranger midsize pickup later this year.