Best auto stock of 2021 named
Ford Motor shares soared nearly 140% in 2021, making it the year’s best performing stock among automakers.
Ford by far outperformed Elon Musk’s electric car maker Tesla, its own larger rival General Motors, and a flock of popular electric car start-ups.
In comparison, according to FactSet, Tesla stock gained only 49.8%, Volkswagen was up 41.2%, and General Motors 40.8%. Stellantis stock grew 10%, while ‘Tesla killer’ Rivian saw a mere 2.9% growth.
Analysts say Ford has drawn investor interest after the carmaker took a different direction under its new leader Jim Farley. He introduced the Ford+ restructuring plan, under which more attention was given to building electric vehicles, including the upcoming F-150 Lightning pickup. The model has already attracted some 200,000 reservations ahead of its launch at US dealers this spring, and Ford on Tuesday pledged to double annual production capacity for the vehicle.
“We’re executing our plan and we’ll continue to do that so every business in our portfolio has a sustainable future. If not, we will restructure it,” Farley stated in a January 2021 interview, as cited by CNBC. In the 15 months or so with Farley at the helm, Ford shares have soared 200%.
They closed at $20.77 apiece in 2021, up by 136.3% on a yearly basis, with Ford market capitalization settling at roughly $83 billion.
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