ford revs up large suv production to boost margins, challenge gm

LOUISVILLE (Reuters)-
Ford Motor Co. said on Monday it will raise its production target of two large sport utility vehicles by 25% this year to challenge rival GM\'s dominance in the lucrative U. S. market. S.
Segment the market and increase its meager profit margin.
\"We can sell every car we can produce here,\" Joe Hinrichs, president of Ford\'s global operations, said during a visit to the company\'s Kentucky truck factory in Louis, last fall, A new generation of Ford expeditionary and Lincoln Navigator SUVs is in production in Kentucky.
\"These are high.
It is very meaningful to do so.
The expedition and Voyager are the two highest.
Ford\'s sales of priced cars, as well as the increase in production at the Kentucky Truck factory, came amid growing jitters among investors as Ford\'s car margins had fallen to £ 3.
7% from 5 in 2017.
7% a year ago
The company\'s profit margins are already behind rivals GM and Fiat Chrysler.
Even before the recent market volatility, Ford\'s share price was falling.
They have dropped by 14 so far.
7%, and in the first1 U. S.
Analysts believe GM, a carmaker with a clearer vision and a better focus on operations, has gained 1. 2 percent.
The average price for tourists jumped 38% in January 2018 to January 2017, $21,300, $77,400, and became nearly $8,000 to $57,700.
Both, according to Ford, are well above the industry\'s average car price of $33,100.
GM is financially superior to Ford, in part because it dominates the U. S. market. S.
Large SUV segments for GMC Yukon and Chevrolet suburbs.
Ford sold 3,500 expeditions and 1,300 navigators in January.
GM sold more than 19,000 large SUVs this month.
\"There is a big dog in this area,\" Hinrichs said . \".
\"Our goal is to go out and challenge them with better fuel efficiency and driving power vehicles.
Ford said it would increase its investment in the plant by $25 million to support a higher production target, bringing its total investment in the plant to $0. 925 billion.
The upgrade of the plant, which includes 400 robots, also produces the company\'s popular Super Trucks, a centralized data analysis center and a 3D printer, can save time and a lot of money on parts and tools.
Ford is catching up with GM in the big SUV market, in part because of the past decision to focus on small cars as high oil prices and tighter federal fuel economy rules threaten large trucks.
This is the first complete renovation of explorers and navigators since the end of 1990.
Since then, stable, relatively low oil prices have encouraged Americans to abandon passenger cars and switch to higher prices.
Profit of Suv and pickup truck.
S. passenger car sales fell to 36 in 2017.
Accounted for 8% of the total sales of light vehicles.
New adventure and Voyager models and Ford F-
They share the series pickup models of many components.
This change requires the \"biggest technological transformation\" of the factory in the city of Wisconsin \"--
Ford\'s one of two cars in town.
Chuck Billingsley, a 33-year-old electrician, said that since 1980
Worked in a car manufacturer for a year.
However, Ford warned investors that its overall car profit margin this year was threatened by rising commodity prices such as steel and aluminum prices, although most other automakers said the gains were manageable.
Ford said steel was its biggest problem, but analysts said Ford decided to switch to aluminum as a pickup truck to reduce weight and boost fuel economy as aluminum prices soared.