Ford is looking to alter its business in China with a renewed focus on its commercial business, as well as electric vehicles and exports.
While recently speaking about the automaker’s plans for China during Ford’s first-quarter earnings, chief executive Jim Farley revealed it would focus primarily on areas of the business that make the most money.
Farley added that Ford’s joint venture partnership with Jiangling Motors Group shows how the carmaker’s Chinese business will look moving forward. He said Ford will use Chinese operations as “export hubs” to build affordable electric vehicles and commercial vehicles for markets including South America, Australia, and Mexico.
“We’re not going to try to serve everyone,” Farley said. “It will be a lower investment, leaner, much more focused business in China.”
While Ford is making changes to the way it operates in China, Farley reiterated the importance of the country to the brand and the car industry as a whole. His statement came shortly after Ford confirmed that the next-generation Lincoln Nautilus to be sold in North America would actually be exported from China.
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“We believe that not only is it the biggest EV market in the world, but customers digitally are ahead of the rest of the world, and so it’s a really important market for us,” Farley noted. “And what we really see in our presence there is battery tech, digital experiences for the customer and advanced product, both software and hardware integration.”
Ford’s biggest Chinese joint venture is with Changan Automobile Co and accounted for 1% of new light-vehicle sales in the country last year, representing a significant fall from the 4% share it had in 2016. Auto News notes that sales have slipped in part due to increased competition from local EV makers as well as the Covid-19 pandemic.
