Legacy automaker Ford (F) may be planning to head back to India to make a line of cars therein for export, according to the chief minister in Tamil Nadu state. While the talks are just getting re-started, there is a chance that Ford could get a production line back up and running despite pulling out of the country three years prior. The news was sufficient to give Ford a fractional boost in share prices in Wednesday afternoon’s trading.
Ford backed out of India in 2021, as its hope to boost volumes did not go as planned. Given that India is the third largest car market in the world, that suggested that there just was not much room for Ford in that area. Several Asian automakers, noted a Reuters report, had that market largely sewn up.
And after Ford had sold one of its two plants to Tata Motors, one of those Asian automakers, it looked like Ford would be out of the area altogether. However, Ford recently came back to speak to Tamil Nadu officials, as it was looking to “…renew…(its) three-decade partnership with Tamil Nadu, to again make in Tamil Nadu for the world,” noted M.K. Stalin.
Green Ambitions Aren’t Gone, Either
Meanwhile, Ford’s plans for electric vehicles have not yet faded away either. New reports say that Ford is working with Southern California Edison to offer incentives for vehicle owners to use their cars to charge the power grid.
The reports note that Ford, in conjunction with Edison, will pay Ford electric vehicle owners double the costs of fast-charging a vehicle. The program is known as the Emergency Load Reduction Program and will basically allow electric vehicles to serve as backup generators for the wider grid while paying their owners for the privilege. And paid comparatively well, too; that payout works out to around $1 per kilowatt-hour, which is about double what it would be in some places.
What Is the Target Price for Ford Stock?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on Ford stock based on five Buys, nine Holds, and one Sell assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 10.59% loss in its share price over the past year, the average F price target of $13.67 per share implies 31.89% upside potential.
