According to Reuters, Ford gave up its plan to launch a joint venture with China’s Zotye Automobile regarding electric vehicles. The decision may be based on significant changes in the electric vehicle industry since the agreements were signed in 2017 and 2018, but Ford did not specify the reasons for this setback.
Last week, Ford said its joint venture with Chongqing Changan Automobile Co would start producing fully electric Mustang Mach-E vehicles. In a statement issued this Thursday the brand said it would seek “a flexible business model in China” in which its existing operations in that country and elsewhere could be used. Zotye Automobile has not yet commented on this news.
In 2017, on an official visit by Donald Trump to China, Ford and Zotye Automobile announced a joint investment of $756 million to establish a 50/50 joint venture in China to produce small passenger trams.
A year later, the two companies said they had signed a memorandum of understanding for another joint venture, this time for the production of trams for ride-hailing fleets.
Local car manufacturers like Nio and foreign companies like Tesla have been expanding their production capacity in what is the world’s largest car market, where the government is strongly promoting the adoption of low-emission vehicles.
The sale of electric, plug-in hybrids and hydrogen vehicles is expected to reach 20 percent of China’s market share by 2025, up from 5 percent today.
