What happened

General Motors (GM -0.17%) got a lot of press for its investor day yesterday, but it is Ford's (F 0.66%) stock that is leading the way today, climbing as much as 5.9%. At the close, it hadn't lost much of those gains, remaining up 5.6%. 

So what

Yesterday, CNBC reported that GM told investors it was heading full bore into the world of electric vehicles, and with a recurring revenue strategy, it expects it to double annual sales by 2030. But investors today seemed to be thinking that rival Ford may be the better EV play.

Ford announced last week that it is investing more than $11 billion to build an EV and battery manufacturing "mega campus" in Tennessee, as well as two other battery plants in Kentucky, along with Korean partner SK Innovation. 

Ford F-159 Lightening electric pickup truck being manufactured.

Ford F-150 Lightning electric pickup in the factory. Image source: Ford.

Now what

Earlier this week, Ford released its September sales report, and said that its EV offerings are gaining new customers at a higher rate than the company's overall portfolio. And though the company is battling headwinds from supply chain constraints, its overall sales jumped 34.3% sequentially from August. 

Ford had previously told investors that it has been seeing "strong demand for the all-new Ford F-150 Lightning truck, E-Transit and Mustang Mach-E electric vehicles." The growing popularity of its EV offerings compelled the company to boost production capacity and add jobs at its Ford Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan.

GM may have been in the spotlight regarding EVs yesterday, but it seems to have helped more investors notice that Ford is already seeing strong demand for its EVs, helping its stock to get a bump today.