Ford faces a strike by the United Auto Workers (UAW) that could cripple it financially and set it back in its critical race to become an important player in the electric vehicle (EV) market. Rival Tesla does not face either of these. It does not have union workers, and its EV production continues to grow. This year, it will launch its Cybertruck, competing with Ford\u2019s EV flagship, the F-150 Lightning. Today, Ford leads that race, but a strike could erase that. Ford\u2019s ambitions for EVs are already behind schedule. (These are America’s least reliable new cars.)<\/p>\n
Below is what the press has to say about Ford\u2019s problems and those of other members of The Big Three: General Motors and Stellantis.<\/p>\n
The Wall Street Journal reports that, just as a strike may start, Ford has profit problems because EVs have little or no margins. At the same time, the UAW has targeted the high earnings Ford enjoyed for its legacy fossil fuel models. \u201cIn the short run, a factory walkout would threaten to disrupt Detroit\u2019s rollout of several new EV models and potentially drain billions of dollars in profits.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Detroit News reports that the UAW may target all three companies to cripple the entire industry and quickly bring Ford and the others to the negotiating table. And the ripple effect would pull down other parts of the economy. \u201cA strike against all three major automakers \u2014 General Motors Co., Stellantis NV and Ford Motor Co. \u2014 could cause damage not only to the industry as a whole but also to the Midwest and even national economy, depending on how long it lasted.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t