I have always had a soft spot for Ford (F 0.18%). It goes back to when I would go down to my grandparents' farm as a kid and ride around with my granddad in his old F-250 pickup truck.
Fortunately for my nostalgia, after a rough couple of years, Ford had a fantastic end to its 2025 and seems set for some steady growth over the next five years.
NYSE: F
Key Data Points
The blue oval
Ford is synonymous with the American auto industry, and its most powerful asset is its brand.
It makes two of the most iconic American vehicles in the F-Series and Mustang, both of which are America's preferred option in their market segments.
In 2025, Ford sold 828,842 F-Series trucks. Its nearest competitor, the Chevrolet Silverado, only saw sales of 587,527 last year. And the F-Series is perennially not just America's favorite truck; it's America's best-selling vehicle nationwide.
The Mustang's advantage is even more dramatic. Ford sold 45,333 Mustangs in 2025, an increase of 3% over 2024.
After General Motors (GM +0.13%) discontinued the Mustang's main rival, the Chevy Camaro, at the end of 2024, the only sports car it sells is the Corvette. The Corvette moved 24,533 units in 2025, a 26.4% decrease from 2024. The Subaru WRX, at 10,930 units sold in 2025, is a distant third.
Ford's model lineup is playing to its strengths. The only car it still produces is the Mustang. Everything else is either an SUV or pickup truck.
There's been no groundbreaking news of late, but Ford's lineup is strong enough to continue as-is for a few years, as evidenced by its sales figures for the end of 2025.
Image source: Getty Images.
American muscle
For 2025, Ford saw its total year-end sales up 6% overall and grew its market share to 13.2%. Fourth-quarter sales grew 2.7%, and both sales figures outperformed the broader auto industry.
The financial figures aren't out yet, but in third-quarter 2025, Ford saw revenues grow 9% year over year to $50.5 billion.
It grew its net cash position 14.2% year over year to $26.79 billion. Ford also saw its free cash flow surge 50.3% and its operating free cash flow increase by 34.5% in the same quarter.
The boost in vehicle sales at the end of the year sets the stage for a great earnings report when Ford announces it on Feb. 10. It should certainly be doing better than the company's eternal rival, GM, which in Q4 2025 saw its operating income fall from $1.5 billion to an operating loss of $3.6 billion.
GM also saw its diluted earnings per share almost halve in 2025, dropping from $6.37 in 2024 to $3.27 in 2025.
So, where will Ford be in five years? Well, it's only about 3% behind GM in terms of market share and continues to outsell its rival in the critical American truck segment. With Ford's robust sales growth, I don't think it will be reporting a loss for Q4 like GM did.
And this past year has shown a very different Ford from the company that has under performed the S&P 500 over the past several years. In the past 12 months Ford returned 46.7% to the S&P 500's 14.29%. Now, GM also outperformed the S&P 500 in the past year, and by a greater margin. But, Ford has stronger fundamentals.
If Ford stays the course of playing to what it does well while GM continues to flounder, I could see it overtaking GM to be America's largest domestic automaker by market share. If that happens, I think Ford's pattern interruption and over performance in the past year could very well continue. I would say, let's see how Ford handles the start of 2026 and if it can continue its sales growth in a rough American auto market. Come the end of Q1 2026 or the first half of the year, I think Ford will be worth a look if its current growth continues.
