(Feb 4): Ford Motor Co has held discussions with China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co about sharing manufacturing capacity in Europe, with the US carmaker seeking new global partnerships as it overhauls its electric vehicle (EV) strategy.
A delegation of Ford executives visited China this week to discuss opportunities, including the use of its assembly plant in Valencia, Spain, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified as the information is private.
Sharing the Valencia facility could be a win for both parties, allowing Geely to avoid paying European tariffs on imports of made-in-China EVs and boosting output at a plant Ford has underutilised. Since 2024, it’s only made the Ford Kuga sport utility vehicle, and production likely dropped below 100,000 units last year, according to French consultancy Inovev. The factory has planned annual capacity of 400,000 units.
A representative of Ford said it had “discussions with lots of companies all the time on a variety of topics. Sometimes they materialise, sometimes they don’t”. A Geely spokesperson declined to comment. Reuters first reported the talks.
Ford’s expensive rethink of its EV strategy has seen the American automaker increasingly turn towards some of China’s best-known brands about potential tie-ups, even as chief executive officer Jim Farley has warned they pose a “colossal strategic threat”. In addition to Geely, Ford has held discussions with Chinese automakers including BYD Co and Xiaomi Corp about collaboration, the Financial Times reported recently.
The talks between Ford and Geely focused on manufacturing and didn’t include the potential for shared technologies such as automated driving, according to the person familiar with the conversations. The discussions were preliminary and may not result in a deal, the person said.
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Geely, which also controls Volvo Car AB and Lotus, is already looking to better integrate with brands under billionaire chairman Li Shufu’s sprawling empire. Li said last year that his company would stop building new car plants due to severe global overcapacity and instead will use existing facilities within the group or work with partners.
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