Ford seeks to skirt tariffs by speeding China-built Lincoln

Ford Motor Co., banking on China to revive its longlagging Lincoln brand, is trying to accelerate plans to begin building its luxury models there and avoid profit-sapping tariffs brought about by President Donald Trump’s trade war.

Ford, which had planned to start production of Lincoln models in China in late 2019 with a local partner, is trying to move that timing up, even if slightly, to help overcome tariffs China has imposed in retaliation to levies by the Trump administration.

“What we want to do is accelerate that,” Joy Falotico, head of Lincoln and Ford’s chief marketing officer, said. “We will look for opportunities, but it’s a big undertaking, and I think it won’t be a significant change in our plans.”

Even a small move would help Lincoln, which lacks the local production most of its competitors have in China. Prices have soared as a result of the 40 per cent tariffs the country has put on U.S.-built vehicles. Lincoln’s sales have slowed to a crawl.

Ford Chief Executive Officer Jim Hackett has said Trump’s metals tariffs will cost the automaker about $1 billion in annual profit. Several of the automaker’s top executives have called for Trump to resolve its trade dispute with China.

Lincoln is also reconsidering plans to export Chinese-built models back to the U.S., Falotico said. Instead, the automaker will likely build the same models in both countries.

“It’s about ensuring our competitiveness with the pricing given the tariff headwinds,” she said.