Barclays analyst Dan Levy cut his rating on the auto stock to Hold from Buy. His price target went to $11 a share from $13.

Barclays downgraded Ford Motor (NYSE:F) to Equal Weight from Overweight in a note Wednesday, citing concerns about elevated volume headwinds and uncertainty surrounding the automaker's 2025 earnings outlook.

At the center of the inquiry are two crashes that resulted in fatalities, both occurring at night and involving Mach-Es traveling at freeway speeds with BlueCruise engaged. In these cases, the system failed to detect stationary vehicles, leading to deadly collisions.

The government analysis will determine if a safety recall is necessary and could influence driver assistance features across the auto industry.

Preliminary findings show that Ford's BlueCruise hands-free driver assistance feature fails to detect stopped objects at night at freeway speeds.