Friday, January 7, 2011

Ford (NYSE:F) Catching Up with Electric Vehicle Market? Who Cares?

This misguided fixation on the electric car market by automakers, now including Ford (NYSE:F), needs to be laid aside, as it continues to be years away from becoming a reality, and they need to focus on what will drive profits now, not some time in a long away future.

What's different in the case of electric cars is they still remain a theory and not a reality, and this is different than planning for a future that can be seen a probable, rather than theoretical, based on consumer demand.

The news media love to report on the electric car dream, but it has no legs at this time, and other than the media stroking the companies when the do the electric car thing (public relations), it has no basis in the future we face.

There is almost zero demand for an electric car, as the market shows, other than elites that want to be seen as protectors of the environment or some other fantasy they hold.

That's not to say sometime in the future there won't be a breakthrough and infrastructure could be changed over the years to meet that if it happened. But to play with this in any big way by the auto companies is foolish and a waste of resources.

If and when a breakthrough comes, those auto companies serving what is in demand now will easily be able to transition to that because of their capital base.

Those who play too much with what is really a marketing ploy and not a demand from the market, will find them throwing money down the drain when their smarter competitors sell what is wanted now.

Again, who cares if automakers catch up with one another with electric cars? What do they get when they do? What are the rewards, other than placating a relatively small portion of the populace and mainstream media?

Ford has rebounded nicely and kept themselves from having to be bailed out by the government. They have momentum in the market and are viewed positively by people. That is without being a so-called leader in electric cars.

They need to continue to focus on what has worked for them and not waste their time on irrelevant projects that have no guarantee of generating profits in the future.

No comments: