Ford announced Thursday that the car company’s hotly-anticipated electric SUV will be part of the automaker’s most iconic brand.
The battery-powered vehicle — long-teased as a “Mustang-inspired” SUV — will officially join the Mustang line as the Mustang Mach-E.
Ford ($F) is expected to unveil the new vehicle at an event Sunday evening in Los Angeles and will begin accepting orders as soon as the event wraps up.
Today’s announcement is the latest in what’s become a major build-up to the Mach-E’s debut this weekend — an event that itself is kicking off the company’s ambitious $11.5 billion investment in electric vehicles, spearheaded by the Mach-E.
Last month, Ford announced that it was investing in a network of 12,000 charging stations across North America — nearly three times as many as Tesla. Starting with the Mach-E, Ford says it plans to introduce 16 electrified vehicles through 2022.
This is just the latest chapter of the storied muscle car, which first came onto the scene in 1964. But despite the many upgrades and re-designs through the decades, this will be the first time that the Mustang name and famed pony badge will be borne by a vehicle other than a two-door car.
This isn’t the only Ford icon that the company is planning to electrify. In April, the automaker revealed that it was investing $500 million in electric truck maker Rivian, which laid the groundwork for the introduction of an all-electric version of the best-selling vehicle in the U.S. last year: the F-150 pickup truck.
The moves have followed company chairman Bill Ford’s pronouncement in 2018 that his company planned to go “all in” on electric vehicles. Ford, the world’s eighth most valuable automaker last year and the second-largest in the U.S., and Volkswagen, the world’s second most valuable car manufacturer, announced in July that they were teaming up on electric vehicles and self-driving technology. Ford by 2022 plans to introduce 40 hybrid and fully electric vehicles.
The investments are aimed at unseating the current EV industry leaders in the U.S. Tesla occupies a commanding 80 percent of the U.S. electric vehicle market, and General Motors is the only automaker other than Tesla to have sold so many electric vehicles that it’s hit a cap on the EV tax credits that it can claim.
Other automakers, though, may soon catch up: Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot announced a merger that would provide new EV platforms for Fiat Chrysler, the third-largest of the “Big Three” U.S. automakers, behind GM and Ford.
With three days still to go before the big unveiling, Ford’s moves in the electric vehicle space are already having an impact: Credit Suisse is reportedly expecting a sharp drop in Tesla’s share price — largely, the bank says, because of Ford.
Nvidia on Wednesday became the first public company to reach a market capitalization of $5 trillion. The ravenous appetite for the Silicon Valley company’s chips is the main reason that the company’s stock price has increased so rapidly since early 2023.
Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at S&P Global, breaks down September’s CPI print and inflation trends, explaining what it means for markets.
A big-screen adaptation of the anime “Chainsaw Man” has topped the North American box office, beating a Springsteen biopic and “Black Phone 2.” The movie earned $17.25 million in the U.S. and Canada this weekend. “Black Phone 2” fell to second place with $13 million. Two new releases, the rom-com “Regretting You” and “Springsteen — Deliver Me From Nowhere,” earned $12.85 million and $9.1 million, respectively. “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” is based on the manga series about a demon hunter. It's another win for Sony-owned Crunchyroll, which also released a “Demon Slayer” film last month that debuted to a record $70 million.
The Federal Aviation Administration says flights departing for Los Angeles International Airport were halted briefly due to a staffing shortage at a Southern California air traffic facility. The FAA issued a temporary ground stop at one of the world’s busiest airports on Sunday morning soon after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted that travelers would see more flights delayed as the nation’s air traffic controllers work without pay during the federal government shutdown. The hold on planes taking off for LAX lasted an hour and 45 minutes and didn't appear to cause continued problems. The FAA said staffing shortages also delayed planes headed to Washington, Chicago and Newark, New Jersey on Sunday.
Boeing workers at three Midwest plants where military aircraft and weapons are developed have voted to reject the company’s latest contract offer and to continue a strike that started almost three months ago. The strike by about 3,200 machinists at the plants in the Missouri cities of St. Louis and St. Charles, and in Mascoutah, Illinois, is smaller in scale than a walkout last year by 33,000 Boeing workers who assemble commercial jetliners. The president of the International Association of Machinists says Sunday's outcome shows Boeing hasn't adequately addressed wages and retirement benefits. Boeing says Sunday's vote was close with 51% of union members opposing the revised offer.
The stunning indictment that led to the arrest of more than 30 people — including Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and other NBA figures — has drawn new scrutiny of the booming business of sports betting in the U.S. The multibillion-dollar industry has made it easy for sports fans — and even some players — to wager on everything from the outcome of games to that of a single play with just a few taps of a cellphone. But regulating the rapidly-growing industry has proven to be a challenge. Professional sports leagues’ own role in promoting gambling has also raised eyebrows.
