When Will Ford Motor Company Re-learn What Its Founder Knew

 As the United Nations meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP-30) meets in Brazil, Mike McDaniel notes that Ford Motor Company continues to lose $132,000 on each Ford F-150 Lightening sold.  That is an amazing amount of money being wasted, really being misappropriated.  It is a common mistake people make.  Having spent a great deal on a losing scheme, they then spend more in hopes of saving what has already been spent.  Instead, they should look at money spent as sunk costs and coldly cut off any further expenditure.  In this case, Ford executives should recognize, as the American car buyer has, that an electric truck is not going to work...at least for now.

McDaniel notes:  

Lightning MSRPs have been as high as $90,000. Is that $132,000 on Ford’s production cost, or on the MSRP? What company can possibly lose that kind of money and remain in business? And why haven’t Ford shareholders stormed corporate HQ with torches and pitchforks?

I write this as an owner of two conventionally powered Fords. They’re fine vehicles I plan to keep for many years to come, so I have an interest in Ford’s continued success.

Ford’s EV losses to date in 2025 have been equally catastrophic:

The move comes after Ford’s electric vehicle business, Model e, lost another $1.4 billion in Q3. Ford’s EV unit has now lost $3.6 billion through the first nine months of 2025.

Around $3 billion of the loss is due to its current EVs, such as the F-150 Lightning and Mustang Mach-E. The other $600 million is for investments in next-gen electric models.

And which “next-gen electric models” might those be? The Lightning has been continually hyped as a wonder vehicle, but when owners asked it to do truck things like tow trailers and carry heavy loads, it woefully underperformed. All EVs have range problems, particularly when it’s cold, on anything but flat land, when bucking headwinds, and when they dare travel at highway speeds. Adding 1000 pound+ batteries to already heavy vehicles worsens those problems. Adding to the fun is using electrical accessories like heaters in winter makes annoying range problems potentially deadly. Ford recommends Lightning owners use only their seat and steering wheel heaters in winter. That’ll keep the frost off the windshield.

Automobiles did not originally have heaters in them. My 1933 Plymouth had an aftermarket heater installed, which made riding more comfortable. In the late 1950s, my dad had a Jeepster that didn't have a heater, or if it did, it wasn't effective. I remember riding in the winter in that car and freezing until we got to our destination. So, it seems the F-150 Lightening is taking a step backwards in technology, which doesn't add anything to the sales pitch.

It appears that with Trump II, the free market is again prevailing without lunatic leftists putting their thumbs on the economic scales. Ford, and the rest, appear to be dimly realizing they need to make vehicles the public wants at prices they can afford and which turn a profit.

Who coulda thunk it?

Well, Henry Ford, for one.