Ford planning over 30 new models in China
SHANGHAI/BEIJING: Ford Motor plans to launch more than 30 new models in China over the next three years of which over a third will be electric vehicles, the US carmaker said on Wednesday, as it seeks to reverse slumping sales in the world’s top auto market.
Ford had said previously it would launch 50 new or significantly redesigned vehicles in China starting in 2018 and through 2025, and thes announcement provides more clarity on the timeline.
Its China operations chief Anning Chen said the carmaker is committing itself to improving its relationships with Chinese joint-venture partners and localising its management teams by hiring and promoting more Chinese nationals and global talent with Chinese expertise, among other initiatives.
The new plans are intended to “enable us to gain the momentum to break through” in the marketplace, Chen told a small group of reporters.
Ford has been struggling to revive sales in China, the second biggest market globally for the Dearborn, Michigan carmaker, after its business began slumping in late 2017. Sales slumped 37 per cent in 2018, after a six per cent decline in 2017.
Ford has said its sales crisis stemmed mainly from a lack of new products. Industry experts also ascribe the company’s China trouble to the Sino-U.S. trade
We love being in Britain, but it has to be competitive and if it’s not competitive then we’ll have to take whatever actions we’ll need to take to protect the business. Steven Armstrong, Ford Europe chairman
war and its rocky relationship with domestic partners Changan Automobile Group and Jiangling Motors Group.
Meanwhile, Ford is spending tens of millions of euros preparing for a possible British exit from the European Union without a trade deal and has yet to decide on its longer-term plans for Britain, according to Ford Europe chairman Steven Armstron.
“We love being in Britain, but it has to be competitive and if it’s not competitive then we’ll have to take whatever actions we’ll need to take to protect the business,” Armstrong told Reuters at an event in the Netherlands.
Ford, which makes 1.3 million engines at two British locations, Bridgend and Dagenham, and cars in Germany, has warned it could face US$1 billion in tariff costs in case of a so-called hard Brexit.
While the company has announced 5,000 job cuts in Germany, its second-biggest European market, it has yet to make major decisions in Britain, which is its biggest.
Armstrong said Ford was already spending tens of millions on euros on measures such as currency hedges and shifting inventory between countries. He said the best case scenario was that money spent preparing for Brexit would be “wasted”.