Though Ford is profitable in every region it currently sells vehicles, some markets have proven to be tougher to crack than others. One of those markets is China, where competition is quite fierce, prompting the automaker to shift strategies multiple times. For a while, Ford was designing vehicles specifically for Chinese customers, but has since shifted to producing existing ones locally, for the most part. Now, it seems as if the automaker has realized that it isn’t likely primed to become a major player in China whatsoever.
According to a new report from the Wall Street Journal, when Ford CEO Jim Farley took his first trip to China last year with CFO John Lawler following years of pandemic-related restrictions, he got behind the wheel of an EV built by FoMoCo’s joint-venture partner, Changan Automobile, at a local test track. Farley proceeded to “thrash” that model around Changan’s test track with Lawler riding shotgun, an experience that left both a bit speechless, it seems.
Farley and Lawler reportedly walked away impressed by the Changan EV’s smooth ride, upscale cabin, and easy-to-use tech features, which were so good that it convinced the executives to switch gears, it seems. “Jim, this is nothing like before,” Lawler told Farley after the ride. “These guys are ahead of us.” It was apparently at that moment that both decided to give up on any effort to reclaim Ford’s status as a major player in China and instead use that country largely to build and export vehicles to other markets, as well as sell them locally.
The Blue Oval’s recent struggles in China have been well documented, with its highly-anticipated Ford Mustang Mach-E launch there getting off to a disastrous start, prompting FoMoCo to hand off that model to Changan Ford. Ford has also pared down its Chinese lineup in recent years, though this wasn’t the only change that stemmed from Farley’s visit to that country – in fact, it also inspired him to create a skunkworks team tasked with developing a new, low-cost EV platform.
Comments
Well, China thanks you for allowing them to suck out every ounce of intellectual property that you have over the past several years. China is making a play to be the dominant automobile manufacturer in the world and, leveraging their forced labor pool and currency manipulation tactics, they will likely succeed. But they literally couldn’t have done it without Ford and the litany of other foolish manufacturers who have been enticed to put up a shingle in China because of the “massive market” and “tremendous upside” which gave the Chinese Communist Party the opportunity to use every surveillance tool in their toolbox to pilfer all your information and business processes.
On the lighter side, that airborne Bronco photo is iconic.
Bingo!
I would buy a Chinese vehicle from a Chinese company before I would buy a Ford vehicle built in China and shipped here. These ford Excecutives are lost. They cant make a correct decision to save their lives. Total reactive no real leadership at all. Farley has to go. Start atthe top. Of course I wouldn’t buy any vehicle from China.
Kind of hard to compete with automakers that are so blatantly subsidized by the local government and you were forced to share IP with to work in that market at all (thereby giving them the jump start they needed).