Ford Motor Co. outlined its plans and expectations for electric vehicles and connected services on Wednesday, saying it expects 40% of its global vehicle volume to be fully electric by 2030. The company will boost its spending on electric vehicles to more than $30 billion by 2025, it said in a statement released ahead of an investor day, themed “Delivering Ford+” that will kick off at 9.30 a.m. Eastern time. “This is our biggest opportunity for growth and value creation since Henry Ford started to scale the Model T, and we’re grabbing it with both hands,” Chief Executive Jim Farley said in the statement. The car maker is breaking away from the build-and-sell model that has been the classic approach in the car industry for decades and will seek closer relationships with consumers, he said. “Presentations will detail where, why and how the company is headed with fully electric vehicles, commercial solutions and connected services — and how customers will benefit,” said the statement. The company is creating Ford Ion Park, to develop battery technology for EVs and is forming a joint venture called BlueOvalSK with SK Innovation to manufacture battery cells and arrays at two plants in the U.S. for Ford and Lincoln vehicles. It’s also creating a business dedicated to commercial customers called Ford Pro. Ford is expecting the commercial market for hardware and adjacent and new services to generate revenue of $45 billion by 2025, up from $27 billion in 2019. Shares rose 2% premarket and have gained 46% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 11.5%.
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