Ford CEO Thinks Its 'Too Late' For Europe To Take On Chinese Automakers

Unsurprisingly, he still thinks Ford has a chance to compete. But he needs time.

Jim Farley

Photo by: Ford

Nico DeMattia

By: Nico DeMattia

Sep 30, at 3:53pm ET

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Ford CEO Jim Farley wants the U.S. to approach Chinese automakers with caution. Farley claims we should take the opposite approach than what Europe has, and not allow Chinese automakers to sell here just yet. According to him, it's "too late" for Europe, as the massive influx of Chinese EVs has made it incredibly difficult for European brands to compete.

“I think it’s just important for us to take our time, to be considerate,” Farley said at the Automotive News Congress in Detroit, according to CNBC. “I watch what’s happening in Europe right now, where that was not the case, and it’s really something that they have to deal with now, and it’s too late.”

There's no denying just how rapidly Chinese automakers are entering new markets and eating up market share. It's tough to compete with their impressive range figures and low price points. The global market share for Chinese EVs has reportedly risen 70%, per CNBC. In Europe, Chinese EVs are said to make up 12% of the market and their market share is as high as 25% in Mexico, according to Farley.

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It isn't just market domination, though. Farley mentioned that a massive influx of Chinese vehicles into the U.S. could pose national security issues, saying that they can "take videos of everything," according to Autoblog.

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This comes after Ford partnered with Chinese auto giant Geely to build vehicles in Spain and took fire from the government for a project with Chinese battery giant CATL. But Farley claims that it can both work with Chinese automakers and compete against them. “Our answer is pretty simple. We’re going to partner with the Chinese where we don’t have [intellectual property], where we can be more capital efficient in places like Europe or Southeast Asia,” he said at the Automotive News conference. At the same time, Ford wants to compete with China.

This news also comes shortly after the Trump administration claimed that it could start to allow some Chinese EVs into the U.S., as long as they're built here. That goes against the bill approved by Congress that would ban any manufacturer with 15% of Chinese ownership or more. It's unclear how the U.S. is going to handle Chinese automakers, or how American automakers will respond to such potential competition. But Ford seems to be talking out of both sides of its mouth, in regard to Chinese EVs, so it will be interesting to see how they're handled in the future.

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