Important Innovations

New CEO's Focus on High Growth, New Auto Technologies Source:  Ford's CEO Jim Farley Source:  Ford EV Charging Station Veteran Ford Exec Jim Farley Named CEO The incoming CEO of Ford, Jim Farley, intends to expand Ford's business operations into new, high growth technologies.  The technologies include software, electric vehicle charging and fleet management.  He says these are new growth initiatives that will result in a great deal of value for Ford.  Farley is a Ford veteran who has overseen virtually all of Ford's global markets.  He succeeds CEO Jim Hackett as Ford's 4th CEO since 2014. COVID Damage Jim Farley's job will not be an easy one.  He will be managing global restructuring for Ford operations that took a major hit from the COVID pandemic and forced shutdowns, as did many global corporations.  The US #2 automaker is loaded with debt.  Year to date, Ford's share price is down 26% and its market cap is 1/10th of Tesla. Transition and Revitalization

Betting Big on Electric Vehicles Driv ing to an All Electric Market Over the next five years, GM CEO Mary Barra expects to spend more money on research, development and selling electric vehicles than gas powered cars.  She also thinks the production of electric cars will be less labor intensive than gas powered vehicles.  GM has 20 electric models in the pipeline that will be on the market in 2023.  Barra believes the future of driving and the future for GM is fully electric. UAW Contract:  No Limits on Electric Vehicles CEO Mary Barra shared her vision of the future of electric vehicles with the Wall Street analyst community.  She forecasts that electric vehicles will start becoming an increasingly larger part of the sales mix by 2030.  Barra just signed a labor contract with the UAW union that is concerned about its membership losing jobs because of the less labor intensive manufacturing of electric vehicles.  However, the new UAW contract does not limit the number of electri