John Lawler on profitability
From Ford’s John Lawler on EV Disruption, China, and What’s Next | BofA Auto Summit 2025 · · Corporate Talks
“Between probably over the last 10 to 12 years there were roughly 80 plus billion dollars of profit in China now a big chunk of that was the global OEMs and they used that to invest in products they use that to fund development profits in China are down over 40% over the last three years and I don't think it's going to get any easier it's only going to get tougher.”
On , John Lawler, Vice President & Chief Financial Officer at Ford Motor Co, spoke about profitability during Ford’s John Lawler on EV Disruption, China, and What’s Next | BofA Auto Summit 2025 on Corporate Talks.
About John Lawler
John Lawler, Vice Chair and former CFO of Ford Motor Company, has been discussing the company's strategy amid significant industry shifts. He described the automotive industry's historical performance as having "terrible" multiples, "atrocious" capital efficiency, and "off the charts" cyclicality. Lawler stated that Ford is focusing on connected vehicle services as a way to create higher-margin, more capital-efficient revenue streams and reduce cyclicality. He also noted that the company is allocating 40 to 50% of free cash flow to invest in the business, citing the "tectonic shifts" in the industry and the need for partnerships or consolidation, as "no OEM can do all of that on their own." Lawler has characterized Chinese automakers as a "force to reckon with" and a "significant threat," stating that they will eventually come to the U.S. market. He said Ford is working on a low-cost, advanced EV architecture through a "skunk works" team to compete. Regarding Ford's own EV business, Lawler acknowledged it is "experiencing losses" but said the company is focused on bringing it to profitability by designing future models to be "competitive with the lowest cost players globally." He stated that Ford will not launch second-generation vehicles unless they are profitable. Lawler also highlighted the success of Ford's hybrid vehicles, calling them "a great success for us," and noted that Ford Pro, the commercial business, has shown strong growth, with revenue up 5% in its tenth consecutive quarter of growth.