Ford Motor Co. (F) announced that the 2014 Focus Electric compact car will be cheaper by 10%. The 2014 Focus Electric will soon hit the stores and the base model carries a price tag of $35,200. This reflects a $4,000 cut from the 2013 model’s base price of $39,200.
This price-cut will make Ford more competitive in the electric passenger vehicles segment. Since the launch of the vehicle, the automaker has produced 2,517 Focus electric cars and marketed around 1,593 vehicles. During the first half of 2013, Ford sold 900 Focus Electric vehicles.
Other prominent players in the automobile industry including General Motors Company (GM), Honda Motor Co. (HMC) and Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. (NSANY) had also cut prices to make their vehicles more affordable in the competitive industry.
Recently, General Motors announced an incentive of $5,000 on the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid, which is priced at nearly $40,000 before federal and state tax credits. Nissan reduced the price of 2013 Leaf electric vehicle by $6,000 to $30,000 in the U.S.
U.S regulatory pressure for enhancing fuel efficiency will boost the sales of electric vehicles in the near future. However, lack of charging infrastructure for plug-in vehicles is putting pressure on the sales volume of electric vehicles.
Among all the Detroit atomakers, Ford posted the biggest gain in sales in Jun 2013. The company recorded a 13.4% rise in sales to 235,643 vehicles, driven mainly by strong demand for its pickups and small cars. Its F-Series continued to be its most popular pickup while Ford Fiesta and Focus small cars were consumers’ favorites during the month.
We expect Ford to beat earnings expectations when it reports second-quarter 2013 results before the market opens on Jul 24. Our proven model shows that Ford is likely to beat earnings because it has the right combination of two key ingredients: first, the earnings Expected Surprise Prediction or ESP stands at 2.7%, which is positive, and second, Ford carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Stocks with Zacks Ranks of #1, #2 and #3 have a significantly higher chance of beating earnings.
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