Ford CEO Jim Farley said that the US must carefully weigh how and whether Chinese automakers should enter the American market, and pointed to Europe as a cautionary tale.
Farley said at an Automotive News conference on Tuesday that the US must “be extremely careful around how the Chinese OEMs come to our country,” and cited the pressure on Europe’s auto industry as Chinese imports quickly grab market share there.
For European countries, “it’s too late,” he said.
Farley said Ford will partner with Chinese companies when the situation is capital-efficient and in areas where the automaker lacks expertise. Ford, for example, partners with Chinese battery maker CATL to make lower-cost batteries at a Michigan plant.
To be fair: he can’t. China got it’s shit together around EV batteries and the entire supply chain.
Biden funded “battery valley” in the US with $3B but as soon as Trump got elected, it ended. So while one country has a national strategy and competent government, the other funds and retracts in fits and starts. Ford EVs were massively overpriced, so no one bought them, then they could say no one buys EVs. Detroit has been trying to kill EVs since the EV-1 in 1996-99, when they were horrified to learn nothing wears out and EV practical lives could vastly exceed ICE without billions in parts sales.