NEW YORK, January 2, 2026, 09:26 ET — Premarket
- Ford shares were down about 0.7% before the opening bell, tracking declines in GM and Tesla
- Tesla’s quarterly deliveries missed estimates, keeping attention on cooling EV demand after the U.S. tax credit ended in September
- Investors are watching U.S. economic data and the rate outlook as 2026 trading gets underway
Ford Motor’s shares dipped 0.7% in U.S. premarket trading on Friday, ahead of the regular 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. session, as weaker-than-expected Tesla delivery data weighed on sentiment across the electric-vehicle space.
The early move matters because automakers tend to swing with interest-rate expectations and consumer financing costs, and investors are using the first full session of 2026 to reset positions after a late-2025 pullback.
EV demand has been under extra pressure since the Trump administration ended a $7,500 federal tax credit for new electric vehicles at the end of September, lifting effective prices for many models, Reuters reported.
Ford was last at $13.12, down about 9 cents from its previous close. General Motors fell 1.2% in premarket trading, while Tesla slid 1.1%; Rivian rose 0.7%.
Tesla said it delivered 418,227 vehicles in the October–December quarter, down from 495,570 a year earlier, and below analysts’ expectations of 434,487, according to Visible Alpha. For 2025, Tesla delivered 1.64 million vehicles, compared with 1.79 million in 2024, Reuters reported.
Rivian, another U.S. EV maker, reported 2025 deliveries of 42,247 vehicles, an 18% decline from a year earlier, and said it will release financial results on Feb. 12 after markets close. The update kept the focus on whether EV makers can defend demand without the expired tax incentive.
Broader risk appetite was improving ahead of the open, with S&P 500 e-mini futures up about 0.5% in early dealings. Futures are derivatives that track the expected direction of an index before cash trading begins, and investors were also looking ahead to U.S. economic data later Friday and next week’s labor-market reports.
Still, strategists cautioned investors not to over-read the year’s first sessions. “Bouts of volatility … are likely to remain a feature of equity markets,” Saira Malik, chief investment officer at Nuveen, said. Reuters
Oil prices also eased, with U.S. crude around $56.90 a barrel, extending a slide after steep losses last year. Cheaper fuel can support demand for Ford’s pickup-heavy lineup, but it can also trim one advantage of EVs at the margin.
For Ford, traders will watch whether weaker EV demand pushes bigger incentives — buyer discounts and rebates — and squeezes industry pricing. Any shift in discounting can ripple into margins just as automakers try to protect cash flow.
Investors are also looking ahead to Ford’s next quarterly update: the company has said it plans to report fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 results on Feb. 10. Guidance for 2026 volumes and costs will be a key catalyst for the stock.
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