Research and Development Expenses of Ford Motors
Ford Motors undertakes Research and Development for development of new products and models as well as to improve the performance, safety and customer satisfaction of its existing products. In 2016 and 2017, its research and development expenses totaled 7.3 and 8 billion dollars respectively. The R&D expenses include mainly salaries, materials and associated costs which are reported as a part of Cost of sales. Since the automotive industry has become highly competitive, it is imperative for every brand to invest in R&D to develop more customer and environment friendly products and to cater customer demand better. The demand for fuel efficient and environment friendly vehicles has grown in this century and that has led to higher investment in R&D by all the major automotive brands.
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Sources:
This data is sourced from the annual reports of Ford Motors available in its investors website.
https://shareholder.ford.com/investors/financials/annual-reports/default.aspx