Ford Vice Chair Says Chinese Automakers Coming To America

Ford has long viewed Chinese automakers as a major threat to its business, and for a few good reasons. For starters, Chinese automakers (and the government) have invested greatly in the realm of electric vehicles, meaning that they’re far ahead of American rivals in that segment, and they’re also able to sell them for far less money, too. On top of that, the U.S. government views Chinese automakers as threats to national security, based on the notion that they may gather sensitive information and relay it back to that country. Regardless, despite legislation and tariffs aimed at keeping Chinese vehicles out of the U.S., at least one Ford executive believes that they’re still destined to be sold there.

“Look, not only do we have the Chinese coming in, which are real competitive players. So right, you used to go back and you look at the domestic OEMs, the Japanese came, then the Koreans came, well, the Chinese are coming, and they are a force to reckon with in Asia, Europe, and eventually they will be here,” Ford Vice Chair John Lawler said at the Bank of America Securities 2025 Automotive Summit. “I don’t think we could…I don’t know what the timeframe is, but I don’t think we can say no, they’re not going to come to the U.S.”

Lawler isn’t the only Ford executive to express concerns about Chinese automakers, as CEO Jim Farley has addressed that same topic on multiple occasions over the past few years. After spending some time in China driving a variety of EVs from domestic automakers, Farley was so impressed that he brought five of them back to the U.S. That same trip is also what inspired Farley to set the proverbial wheels in motion for Ford to develop its own low-cost EVs.

Farley has since pointed to both Chinese automakers and Tesla as Ford’s cost benchmarks, specifically calling the BYD Seagull a bigger threat to The Blue Oval’s business than EV mandates – in China, the Seagull is available to purchase for less than $10,000.