Ford Starts China Electrics Project -- WSJ
August 23 2017 - 3:02AM
Dow Jones News
By Trefor Moss
This article is being republished as part of our daily
reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S.
print edition of The Wall Street Journal (August 23, 2017).
SHANGHAI -- Ford Motor Co. will start a new company to make
electric cars in China, the company said Tuesday, as the world's
largest auto market begins to shift decisively away from
gasoline-powered vehicles.
The proposed joint venture with local auto maker Anhui Zotye
Automobile Co., which is subject to regulatory approval, will
produce electric cars "sold under an indigenous brand," rather than
under the Ford marque, Ford said in a statement.
The company didn't immediately respond to questions about why it
was opting to use a new brand.
Chinese regulations require foreign auto makers to set up
joint-venture companies to build cars locally. Imported cars incur
a 25% tariff, making mass-market vehicles uncompetitive unless they
are built in-country.
Ford already operates two joint ventures in China with local
auto makers Changan Automobile Co. and Jiangling Motors Corp.
China is encouraging auto makers to build electric cars to help
meet ambitious national targets for electric-vehicle adoption.
Beijing normally limits foreign auto makers to two joint ventures,
but it allows them to set up a third if it specializes in
electric-car assembly.
Last year Beijing outlined draft rules requiring car makers to
start producing a specific number of electric cars as a proportion
of their total output from 2018. A final version of these rules is
expected to be published imminently.
The onset of the new regime is forcing auto makers -- many of
which don't yet build electric cars in China -- to find ways of
quickly ramping up electric-car production. Many are struggling,
according to auto analysts.
Earlier this year, Volkswagen AG said it would set up a third
Chinese joint venture with Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group to
start producing electric cars next year.
Zotye, Ford's new partner, is a little-known electric-car
specialist. It sold more than 16,000 electric cars in the first
seven months of this year, according to Ford's statement -- 7% of
the 228,000 electric cars sold in China so far this year.
Ford had already announced plans to start building its first
electric car in China -- the Mondeo Energi plug-in hybrid -- next
year. The Detroit auto maker wants 70% of its Chinese vehicle
lineup to be electric by 2025, by which time it forecasts that
Chinese consumers will be buying 6 million plug-in cars a year.
Write to Trefor Moss at Trefor.Moss@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 23, 2017 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)
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