Do we like Ford?
Makes Ford and Lincoln cars, trucks, SUVs, EVs and commercial vehicles; based in the Detroit area, US
Our score: 5 out of 10. Mixed. We like the push toward cheaper vehicles, but the record-level recalls, a record-size safety fine and the layoffs hold us back. We'd back them cautiously.
Ford was founded in 1903 by Henry Ford, and his great-grandson Bill Ford is still chair. The family owns every Class B share, which is about 2% of the stock but 40% of the votes, so they keep control even though the company is public.
Jim Farley took over as CEO in 2020, promising to improve quality and cut costs. This week he told staff he wants 5 million sales a year by 2032, about 20% more than now. The Wall Street Journal reported that Ford has been dropping thin-margin models and is pushing cheaper ones.
Quality is the big sore spot. In 2024 Ford agreed to a $165m penalty over a slow rearview-camera recall, which NHTSA said was the second-largest in its history. Ford said it disagreed with the findings but settled. Recalls have kept coming: 134 so far in 2025 by late October, per NHTSA data.
The courts haven't been kind either. A jury found Ford liable over a Mustang fire and awarded $103m, and Ford's final appeal was denied on 30 September 2026. A US appeals court also revived $82.2m of a verdict for Versata Software over breach of contract and trade secrets.
On jobs, Ford's EV retreat hit workers: all 1,600 at the BlueOval SK battery plant in Kentucky were laid off. Ford says it will add about 2,100 jobs when the site is retooled for energy storage. We land at 5: real efforts to fix things, but a long list of safety and legal baggage.