“A Humble Approach”: Ford Stock (NYSE:F) Slides on Executive Travel to China

The Chinese market is both a major opportunity and a serious threat to American automakers, and for legacy automaker Ford (F), it is no different. So Ford has a tendency to analyze the Chinese market from the inside, making twice a year trips to the country in order to check out the market first-hand. Investors were not exactly pleased with the notion of all this undoubtedly pricey travel, though, and sent shares sliding nearly 1.5% in Thursday afternoon’s trading.

While over in China, the reports noted, the team that makes the trip drives the vehicles produced therein, and also confers with experts in the region while also looking into customer service. The idea, is to take “a humble approach” to learning, the reports note, and see what lessons can be pulled from the market and taken back home. The lessons are seldom immediately applicable, reports note, as the markets are “so different,” according to Ford Blue and Model-e division president Andrew Frick.

But there are still points to draw on, including ‘…the intellectual approach, the speed that they do business on…” among others. After all, it is hard to forget how Ford CEO Jim Farley was seen tooling around in a Chinese electric vehicle for several weeks, a point some thought was likely to do more harm to Ford than good. But it has produced useful insights, reports note, which should be helpful.

I Hope You Are Sitting Down For This

No, seriously. You will want to be sitting down. Because recently, the price tag on the Ford Mustang GTD emerged, and it is a monster. This car represents “…the most extreme and fastest road-going Mustang ever conceived,” and it has a price to match. The base price on a 2025 Ford Mustang GTD is $318,760.

Earlier estimates put the car’s price tag at a flat $300,000, and that was before a lot of extra options. But this is still a profoundly substantial hit to most any wallet. By way of comparison, the Porsche 911 GT3 RS comes in at just $241,300. And do not expect the bills to stop there; as it turns out, the Mustang GTD consumes fuel at a staggering rate. Highway driving will produce a not-especially-bad figure of 17 miles per gallon. Get it in the city, though, and it will get merely 10.

Is Ford Stock a Good Buy Right Now?

Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Hold consensus rating on F stock based on two Buys, 12 Holds and three Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 10.72% loss in its share price over the past year, the average F price target of $9.71 per share implies 7.61% downside risk.

See more F analyst ratings

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