Ford has held discussions with China’s Geely about sharing manufacturing capacity in Europe, with the US carmaker seeking new global partnerships as it overhauls its electric vehicle strategy.
A delegation of Ford executives visited China this week to discuss opportunities, including the use of its 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 Kuga sport utility vehicle, and production likely dropped below 100,000 units last year, according to French consultancy Inovev.
The factory has an annual capacity of roughly 400,000 units.
A representative for Ford said it has “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.
A deal would add to Ford’s roster of tie-ups with Renault and Volkswagen in Europe, where the carmaker is grappling with declining market share and an uneven shift to electric cars.
Aside from agreeing to partnerships, Ford has been shedding jobs to reduce expenses, with the latest round hitting an EV plant in Cologne, Germany.
Ford and Geely have dealt with each other before: Back in 2010, the Chinese company bought Volvo from Ford. The Swedish-origin automaker is currently valued at around 87 billion Swedish krona (around R156 billion).
That acquisition started Geely’s expansion from a China-focused manufacturer to an international auto conglomerate.
Owned by billionaire Li Shufu, the company now controls Lotus, London’s black taxi cabs and EV maker Polestar. It holds minority stakes in Mercedes-Benz Group and Aston Martin.
In December, Ford struck a deal with Renault to jointly make affordable EVs in response to rising competition, including from Chinese manufacturers.
Renault will help develop and produce two Ford-branded models in northern France, with the first vehicle expected to reach showrooms in early 2028. The partners also agreed to explore making vans together.
Ford’s expensive rethink of its EV strategy has seen the American automaker increasingly turn toward some of China’s best-known brands about potential tie-ups, even as Chief Executive Officer Jim Farley has warned they pose an existential threat.
In addition to Geely, Ford has held discussions with Chinese automakers including BYD and Xiaomi about collaboration, the Financial Times reported recently.
Ford and Xiaomi denied to the FT that they were in such talks, while BYD declined to comment.
The discussions 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 talks were preliminary and may not result in a deal, the person said.
Geely is already looking to better integrate its sprawling brands. Li said last year that his company would stop building new car plants due to severe global overcapacity and instead would use existing facilities within the group or work with partners.
Loading ...
