Ford will split EVs and legacy autos into separate units as it aims to boost electric business

People visit Ford’s all-electric SUV Mustang Mach-E at the 2019 Los Angeles Auto Show in Los Angeles, the United States, Nov. 22, 2019.

Ford Motor will separate its electric and internal-combustion engine businesses into separate units.

The company expects the move to streamline its electric vehicle business and maximize profits. It is a similar strategy to how Ford is operating its Ford Pro commercial vehicle business.

Farley said in a Wednesday morning statement that they were going all in.

Separating the operations but keeping them in-house goes halfway to appease some Wall Street analysts who have been pressuring legacy automakers to spin off their electric vehicle operations to capture value that investors have been awarding EV start-ups.

Ford's shares were up 4% before the market opened. The stock was down by 4.9% on Tuesday.

The traditional operations will be called Ford Blue and the EV business will be called Ford Model e.

The company plans to give investors more transparency into its operations by releasing financial results for the new units and Ford+ by the year 2023.

We are going all in, creating separate but synergistic businesses that give us start-up speed and innovation in Ford Model E together with Ford Blue's industrial know-how, volume and icons like Bronco, that start-ups can only dream of.

The move follows a report that the company was considering a spinoff of its EV and traditional business. Ford did not plan to spin off either of the operations, according to Farley last week.

This is breaking news. You can check back for updates.