Ford Hikes EV Investment To $5 Billion, Pushes For Budget Models: CEO Jim Farley Calls It A ‘Model T Moment’

Ford Motor Co. (F) on Monday unveiled plans to hike its electric vehicle investment to $5 billion as the company seeks to court the mass market with more affordable electric cars.

CEO Jim Farley termed it as the “Model T moment” for the Dearborn, Michigan-based company, billing it as Ford’s attempt to take on the growing global market share of Chinese automakers like BYD Co., and Geely Automobile Holdings, according to a Bloomberg report.

Ford’s shares traded 0.04% lower at the time of writing. Retail sentiment on Stocktwits around the company was in the ‘bullish’ territory.

The automaker announced the new Ford Universal EV Platform and Ford Universal EV Production System on Monday to produce a family of affordable electric vehicles. The first in this line will be a midsize, four-door electric pickup that will be assembled at Ford’s Louisville Assembly Plant for U.S. and export markets, with the launch scheduled for 2027, according to the company.

“We took a radical approach to a very hard challenge: Create affordable vehicles that delight customers in every way that matters – design, innovation, flexibility, space, driving pleasure, and cost of ownership – and do it with American workers,” said Farley.

The company said its new platform reduces parts by 20% and speeds up the assembly line by 15%. It also said Ford cars based on this platform will have a lower cost of ownership over five years than a three-year-old used Tesla Inc. (TSLA) Model Y.

“We took inspiration from the Model T – the universal car that changed the world,” said Doug Field, Ford’s chief EV, digital, and design officer.

Ford’s stock is up 12% year-to-date and 13% in the past 12 months.

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