A transportation sector-related exchange traded fund is gaining speed as orders for Ford (NYSE: F) F-150 Lightning electric pickup trucks ramp up.
The First Trust Nasdaq Transportation ETF (FTXR) gained 1.2% on Friday.
Meanwhile, Ford Motor Co. shares surged 6.9% on Friday. Ford makes up 9.0% of FTXR’s underlying portfolio.
Ford Motor shares rallied as consumers clamor for the Ford EV F-150 Lightning. CEO Jim Farley said Ford’s all-electric F-150 Lightning pickup truck has already brought in 45,000 reservations in less than 48 hours, Engadget reports.
The motor company officially unveiled the electric truck on Wednesday, a day after President Joe Biden’s spoke at Ford’s factory and test drove the new electric F-150.
The new EV pickup also resonated with consumers that were seeking the classic pickup design but with more features.
“Our customers told us they want something modern and advanced, but did not want their truck to look like a doorstop or a spaceship,” Jasen Turnbull, marketing manager for the Lightning, told CNBC. “They wanted something distinct but not different.”
The rollout of the new electric vehicle also resonates with the Biden administration’s plans to expand the United State’s alternative energy and transportation infrastructure.
Biden has pushed for a $174 billion electric-vehicle proposal, urging automakers not to build zero-emission vehicles for consumers abroad, Bloomberg reported.
“We need automakers and other companies to keep investing here in America and not take the benefits of our public investments and expand electric vehicles and battery manufacturing abroad,” Biden said on a visit to a Ford Motor Co electric-vehicle plant.
Biden has been promoting the U.S. EV industry, arguing that the country has fallen behind China, which is selling more electric vehicles.
“We’re going to set a new pace for electric vehicles,” Biden added, vowing to reverse what he called the Trump administration’s “short-sighted” rollback of vehicle emissions standards.
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