Ford vs. General Motors: Comparing Business Models (F, GM) (2024)

FAQs

What is the financial comparison of Ford and GM? ›

Fundamentals: Ford vs.

In terms of Profitability, GM is also ahead of Ford: GM's EBIT Margin of 7.66% (compared to 4.85% for Ford) as well as its ROE of 14.06% (compared to Ford's -4.69%) are significantly above its competitor, indicating that GM is the better buy for investors when it comes to Profitability.

U.S. Auto Sales: GM Is No. 1 Carmaker In 2022; Ford EV Sales More Than Double| Investor's Business Daily.

DETROIT — “Same industry. Two different companies.” That's how influential Morgan Stanley auto industry analyst Adam Jonas recently described General Motors and Ford Motor — bitter rivals for more than a century.

In the early 1920s they were working on an innovative air-cooled engine that GM planned to incorporate into the 1923 Chevrolet in order to make it competitive with Ford's Model T. It was called the "copper-cooled engine" because of the copper fins on the block for dispersing heat.

The strong brand images of General Motors (NYSE:GM) and Ford (NYSE:F) as well as their spending on Research & Development [R&D] help to build an economic moat over their competitors. In 2021, General Motors had a market share of 13.9% in North America, while Ford's was 12% in the same year.

The figures confirmed this: Consumers flocked to their cars. General Motors' revenue was $152.3 billion, while Ford's was $133.6 billion.

GM full-size truck sales decreased 15 percent to 205,353 units in the United States during the second quarter of 2022. Even so, the performance enabled the two GM truck nameplates – Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra – to outsell the Ford F-Series and Ram Pickup.

Ford F-Series is still the best-selling truck nameplate in the country, but the 2022 Ford trucks number is down -9.9% when compared to 2021. Chevy Silverado remains the second best-selling truck brand, as Ram trucks slide down into third place.

Chevrolet is renowned for its consistency across all its models, along with producing long-lasting and reliable cars. When comparing reliability ratings across Ford and Chevrolet cars, on average, Chevy tends to come out on top.

His most important competitor was the highly innovative General Motors. From the beginning, General Motors (GM) was very different from Ford's operation.

Who was Ford's biggest competitor? ›

While there was a vehicle inventory shortage throughout 2022, the same can not be said of automaker recalls. Topping the list for the most recalls last year, according to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA), is Ford. According to new NHTSA stats, Ford issued 67 recalls in 2022.

Global expansion. By 1929 General Motors had surpassed the Ford Motor Company to become the leading American passenger-car manufacturer. It added overseas operations, including Vauxhall of England in 1925, Adam Opel of Germany in 1929, and Holden of Australia in 1931.

From a numbers standpoint, the 1957 Chevrolet wasn't as popular as General Motors had hoped. Despite its popularity, rival Ford outsold Chevrolet for the 1957 model year for the first time since 1935. The main cause of the sales shift to Ford was that the 1957 Chevrolet had tubeless tires, the first car to have them.

Automotive industry crisis

In the years before the GFC, General Motors invested heavily in SUVs and pick-up trucks with poor fuel economy. As the recession pushed gasoline prices up, the company experienced a decline in sales as consumers looked to other makers for fuel-efficient cars.

GM's total revenue for 2020 was $122 billion, a 10.75% decrease from the previous year. Ford's total revenue was $127 billion, an 18.45% decrease from the previous year.

Ford and Chevy have been going head to head since the early 1900s. Today, they offer competing lineups of SUVs, trucks, and muscle cars, but Ford is typically favored for higher quality, better value, and marginally improved performance.

Ford ranked #20 of 954 publicly traded companies, moving up from #37 in 2021 on the index, which measures companies on the issues that matter most in defining just business behavior today.

Tesla Valuation: Market Cap

Tesla is the most valuable automaker by far. Its market capitalization (stock price times shares outstanding) of $623 billion ranks it sixth among companies on the U.S. stock market. The electric-car company is worth almost 11 times GM and over 12 times F.

Let's start with profit: As reported by The Street, Tesla made more money than Ford and GM. Not Ford or GM, but nearly as much as Ford and GM put together. Tesla recorded a $12.6 billion profit in 2022, compared with $9.9 billion for GM, and a $2 billion loss for the Blue Oval.

Is Toyota richer than GM? ›

Toyota Motor has a greater market capitalization than that of General Motors , Ford and Honda combined. While this might appear striking, this is true primarily because of Toyota's cash rich position.

FAQs. What Is The Number One Best-Selling Truck? The Ford F-Series is still the number one best-selling truck for 46 consecutive years. Ford delivered over 650,000 examples of the F-Series in 2022.

Best selling truck of all time

Ford F-Series trucks have also been the most popular vehicle including cars in the US, not just most popular truck, for nearly 40 years. The first F-series, the Ford F1, was introduced way back in January, 1948, about 75 years ago.

DEARBORN, Mich., Jan. 03, 2023 – Ford F-Series will surpass 640,000 trucks in 2022, making it America's best-selling truck for 46 consecutive years and America's best-selling vehicle for 41 years after selling an average of at least one F-Series Truck every 49 seconds last year.

More Americans considered buying a Ford than a car from any other band in the fourth quarter of 2021. It's the first time a brand other than Toyota has taken the title in more than four years.

Winner: 2022 Ford F-150

In the end, the 2022 Ford F-150 wins in nearly every category. It has more engine options, a well-appointed interior, standard tech features, higher maximum towing and hauling capacities, and better fuel economy than the Silverado.

Based on reliability, the best truck to buy in 2022 is the Toyota Tacoma, which comes in with a Consumer Reports score of 74. This truck is followed closely by the Ford Lightning, which received a 73. Both of these trucks would be a great buy in 2022.

1997-2003 Ford F-150

With that said, the 10th F-150 generation had some of the most reliable model years. Most notably, the 2003 F-150 is one of the most legendary model years, thanks to its top-notch power and performance.

What was Ford's biggest flop? ›

In the year leading to its release, Ford invested in an advertising campaign, marketing Edsels as the cars of the future. While 1958 Edsels introduced multiple advanced features for the price segment, the launch of the model line became symbolic of commercial failure.

Thomas Edison and Henry Ford Were Both Iconic Inventors and Best Friends. These two men are the ultimate friendship goal.

The Long-Term Effects of the Ford-GM Merger

It's going to be a busy couple of years, but by 2022, the two brands will effectively become one.

Galpin Ford was named the number one volume Ford dealer in the world for a record 25th consecutive year, according to Ford Motor Company sales data.

Ford Motor's competitors and similar companies include General Motors, Honda, Tesla, Toyota, Mercedes-Benz Group, Ferrari, Volkswagen, Hyundai Motor, Chevrolet, FCA US and Mercedes-Benz USA. Ford Motor is a company that designs, manufactures, markets, and services vehicles and provides auto-related financial services.

The battle started in July when GM sued Ford for copyright infringement saying Ford's name for its hands-free driving system, BlueCruise, too closely resembled GM's self-driving car subsidiary Cruise and GM's Super Cruise, its hands-free driving system that it introduced in 2012 and launched in 2017.

Ford is the most commonly recalled make of car—they issued 67 recalls in 2022 alone—and their most recalled model is the F150, with 115 recalls. Over time, Ford has issued 3086 total unique recalls, with each of these recalls affecting many more cars.

Turns out Teslas are recalled more than any other brand in America—and by a long shot. There were 400 NTHSA recalls issued in 2022, impacting more than 25 million vehicles.

Thanks to consumer financing via GMAC (founded 1919), easy monthly payments allowed far more people to buy GM cars than Ford, as Henry Ford was opposed to credit on moral principles (nevertheless, Ford did offer similar credit arrangements with the introduction of the Model A in the late 1920s but Ford Credit did not ...

The Ford Motor Company was the first brand as it was founded in 1903 by the very famous Henry Ford. Eight years later, Louis Chevrolet and William Durant started Chevrolet in 1911 and three years later in 1914 the Dodge brothers, Horace Elgin Dodge and John Francis Dodge, founded the “Dodge Brothers” brand.

Who owns GM now? ›

In the past, the U.S. government was a majority shareholder in the company (after the 2008 bailouts). However, in 2010 GM broke free from the government's yoke and was reborn in its current incarnation. Today, the top three individual GM shareholders are Mary Barra, Mark Reuss and Dan Ammann.

Ford's very first truck was built in 1917 and it was based off the Model T and named the Ford Model TT. The truck had a cargo capacity of one ton back in the day, which, if you can imagine, was no small feat for that era.

Ford sold 1,522,406 cars during the 1957 model year, while Chevrolet sold 1,515,177. That's a difference of just 7,200 cars. And even today there's some argument as to what company really sold the most cars. Chevrolet actually sold more cars during the 1957 calendar year, but they included several thousand '56 models.

For 1957, Chevrolet's Fisher Body quality proved better than its primary competitors. This made sure that '57 Chevys were well-liked when new, and also later, as late-model used cars. With around 1,500,000 units built, many of today's collectors rode in them as youngsters.

People familiar with GM's history know that the problem really started in the '70s, but the company actually had a fighting chance to get things right during the '80s. The victory of the bean counters in the late 1980s led to decades of continued quality issues, crappy designs, and ultimately the bankruptcy of 2009.

GM's Weaknesses (Internal Factors)

General Motors' weaknesses are: Product designs specific to the American market. Lack of flexibility because of bureaucracy. Limited business diversification.

The old GM stock stopped trading on the New York Stock Exchange on June 1, 2009, the day that GM filed for bankruptcy. Each share of GM stock became a share in Motors Liquidation.

Here are all the results for U.S. pickup truck sales in 2022. General Motors' full-size pickup trucks are still on top when you combine the Chevrolet and GMC truck sales together. Ford F-Series is still the best-selling truck nameplate in the country, but the 2022 Ford trucks number is down -9.9% when compared to 2021.

What Is Ford Motor's Net Debt? The chart below, which you can click on for greater detail, shows that Ford Motor had US$138.4b in debt in December 2022; about the same as the year before. However, it also had US$32.2b in cash, and so its net debt is US$106.2b.

Car Sales. Chevy outsold Ford in the passenger car segment in 2021. Chevy car sales in the U.S. fell nearly 43 percent to 121,100 units, while Ford car sales fell nearly 63 percent to 64,338 units. While Chevy sold nearly twice as many cars as Ford, it's worth noting that Chevy also offers a much broader car lineup.

What is Ford's financial ratio? ›

Global expansion. By 1929 General Motors had surpassed the Ford Motor Company to become the leading American passenger-car manufacturer. It added overseas operations, including Vauxhall of England in 1925, Adam Opel of Germany in 1929, and Holden of Australia in 1931.

The Ford F-Series has been reported as America's best-selling truck for 2022 with more than 640,000 sales, marking its 46th consecutive year on top.

Ford's production has been slowed by the global shortage of computer chips, and Mr. Lawler said the company expected some disruptions to continue this year and a slight increase in production volume. “In 2023, there is still going to be volatility on chips,” he said.

DEARBORN, Mich., Nov. 21, 2022 – For the second time in a row Ford is ranked the top automotive brand in the World Benchmarking Alliances' 2022 Corporate Human Rights Benchmark. Ford also ranks among the top ten of 127 companies who were assessed as part of the benchmark.

Chevrolet is renowned for its consistency across all its models, along with producing long-lasting and reliable cars. When comparing reliability ratings across Ford and Chevrolet cars, on average, Chevy tends to come out on top.

Chevy: Reliability Across All Segments. J.D. Power annually assesses each big manufacturer's reputation for reliability by calculating the number of problems experienced per every 100 vehicles sold. (“Problems Per 100” = “PP100”). Their 2020 study found Chevy to rank at 123 PP100, while Ford came in at 126 PP100.

Article content. One of the greatest ironies of automotive history is the fact the Ford Motor Company sold more full-size cars than did Chevrolet for the 1957 model year.

Cash flow from operations declined by nearly $9 billion in 2022, driven by an increase in Ford Credit receivables and inventory growth. Working capital burned so much of Ford's cash that it ended up with $0 free cash flow for the year, compared to $9.5 billion a year ago.

Ford Motor Co (NYSE:F)

Institutional investors hold a majority ownership of F through the 56.54% of the outstanding shares that they control. This interest is also higher than at almost any other company in the Motor Vehicles industry.

Who is the biggest investor in Ford? ›

He is a professor of economics and has raised more than $4.5 billion in investment capital. The top shareholders of Ford are William Clay Ford, James D. Farley, James P. Hackett, Vanguard Group Inc., BlackRock Inc.