FOX Business’ Jeff Flock reports from the Celebrity Ford of Toms River, New Jersey, dealership, where electric F-150s aren’t driving off the lot fast enough.
Ford Motor Co. is considering getting rid of the automated parallel parking feature in its vehicles as part of its cost-cutting measures in 2024, saying few customers utilize it anyway.
Ford COO Kumar Galhotra said during a call with analysts Tuesday that the automaker plans to make some material and design changes aimed at improving efficiency and saving money.
Galhotra said connected vehicle data has helped the company determine whether customers are using certain features, and from assessing that data, it makes sense to scrap the auto-park feature.
“Very, very few people are using it, so we can remove that feature,” Galhotra said, saying the move would save around $60 per vehicle, amounting to roughly $10 million per year.
2020 Ford Fusion vehicles are displayed at a car dealership in Orland Park, Illinois, on Sept. 27, 2019. (Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
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All told, Ford expects to save around $2 billion this year through efficiencies, executives said on the call.
The automaker forecast $10 billion to $12 billion in pretax profit for 2024, after earning $10.4 billion before taxes last year.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| F | FORD MOTOR CO. | 12.80 | +0.71 | +5.85% |
Profit from Ford’s Pro commercial vehicle business and Ford Blue combustion vehicle units offset steep losses from Model E electric vehicle operations.
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Ford is slowing investment in new EV capacity to match slower demand following a seismic change in EV pricing over the past year, Ford executives told analysts.
Reuters contributed to this report.
