Ford plotting new brand to battle Tesla

Ford is considering huge restructuring plans that could involve launching a new brand to spearhead its EVs in order to ensure it's best positioned for the switch to pure-electric, says a new report.

According to Bloomberg, the massive restructuring will be joined by an equally enormous $US20 billion ($A28b) cash injection that will be spent over the next 10 years.

That figure is on top of the $US30 billion ($A42b) the Blue Oval has already earmarked for developing EVs by 2025.

Much of the new cash will be shelled out on converting factories globally from producing petrol- and diesel-powered vehicles to EVs, but some of it could be funnelled into founding a new brand to battle Tesla, said Bloomberg.

According to senior Ford management, including a former Apple and Tesla senior exec, a new brand is the only way the Blue Oval will attract the kind of investors currently only ploughing their cash into start-ups. In other words, the very same bunch who inflated Tesla's value to make it the most valuable car-maker in the world.

The new brand spun-off from the Blue Oval would focus on making lower-volume EVs, say insiders.

As part of the reorganisation, Ford will also hire engineers who specialise in areas lacking within the legacy car-maker, including experts in battery chemistry, EV software and artificial intelligence.

Leading the dramatic reorganisation is former head of the Apple car program, Doug Field.

Field was also a senior exec at Tesla where he oversaw the development of the Model 3.

Even without the new addition to Ford's brand portfolio, the Michigan-based car-maker remains on track to make 600,000 EVs annually by 2024, with half its sales set to be from battery-electric cars before the end of the decade.

Ford CEO Jim Farley has in the past publicly voiced how he wants to emulate Tesla's success. Speaking with Bloomberg's Emily Chang, he once again expressed his admiration for the all-electric auto-maker.

“I really admire, frankly, the difficulties they had and the way they managed those difficulties into the success they had," said Farley.

"They are now making more than $10,000 a vehicle, because of their scale. I like that kind of business."

To help fund the unprecedented levels of investment needed to switch to EVs, Farley told the newswire that boosting the services Ford offers to owners would become an important revenue stream. The CEO refers to software upgrades that could see subscription services introduced for its semi-autonomous cruise control.

Ford thinks this could raise an additional $US20 billion ($A28b) annually alone. New plans to try and keep owners within the dealer network once their warranty has expired are also being explored.

"What it takes to succeed in this digital, connected, electric product are talents and know-how and a way of managing the business that’s different than what we’ve done in 118 years," Farley told Bloomberg TV.

"It’s kinda like snowboarding and skiing. We both share the lift, but as soon as you get off the lift the intuitions are wrong between both businesses. You have to really relearn to how to get down the slope."

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