- Ford is divided into two automotive businesses: one for electric cars and one for internal combustion.
- The electric unit will be called Ford Model e, a name that the company banned Tesla from using years ago.
- Elon Musk wanted to call Tesla’s third mass-produced car, the Model 3, the Model E.
Ford announced a major restructuring on Wednesday, saying it would set up two automotive businesses: one focused on traditional internal combustion engines and another dedicated to the company’s thriving electric vehicle company.
The name Ford chose for the latter should ring the bell for Elon Musk.
The petrol division will be called Ford Blue, while its electric counterpart will be known as the Ford Model e, a name the Detroit-based automaker stopped using Tesla nearly a decade ago.
Following the launch of the Tesla Model S and Model X, Musk plans to name the company’s third major vehicle Model E. (It says “sex,” you know?)
“A friend asked me at a party, ‘How are you going to name the third-generation car?’ Well, we have S and X, so we can do E,” Musk told CNN Money in 2014. But Ford called Musk, threatening to sue if Tesla is pursuing the Model E brand, he told the publication.
Tesla and Ford signed a contract in 2010 that banned Tesla from using the Model E name, and the companies resolved the dispute by mutual agreement, a Ford spokesman told CNN Money.
– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 24, 2017
Ford has filed a lawsuit to prevent companies from using the Model E name, arguing that it sounds too similar to the Model T. Ford sells cars, including the Model A, B, C, F and K, but never the Model E. In 2000 Ford is suing a startup car leasing company called Model E.
Tesla, however, adheres to the allusive theme, instead coming up with the Model 3 sedan and later the Model Y SUV.
Ford says splitting into two separate units will help increase profits and streamline operations. The reorganization will allow Ford engineers, designers and other employees to focus on electric or gasoline efforts instead of splitting their time between the two, the company said. Ford said the new structure will help it double its profit margins by 2026, the same year it plans to produce more than 2 million electric cars.
Shares of Ford rose about 7% in the news on Wednesday morning.