Transportation Innovation

[gfp927z]

>>> US unprepared in electric car fight against China, says Ford boss


The Telegraph

Howard Mustoe

June 19, 2023


https://finance.yahoo.com/news/us-unprepared-electric-car-fight-105515836.html


The US is unprepared in the battle to compete with China on electric cars, the boss of Ford has warned.

Bill Ford, chairman, said the Chinese electric car market had developed at a rapid pace and that the company was now taking “an all hands on deck” approach to prepare for a flood of foreign imports.

Mr Ford, who is the great grandson of the company’s founder Henry Ford, said: “They’re [China] not here but they’ll come here, we think, at some point, we need to be ready, and we’re getting ready.

“They developed very quickly, and they developed them in large scale. And now they’re exporting them.”

China is poised to overtake Germany as the biggest car exporter in the world with overseas shipments of cars made in China tripling since 2020 to reach more than 2.5 million last year.

Ford is investing $3.5bn (£2.7bn) in building a gigafactory battery plant in Michigan in a deal with Chinese firm CATL.

However, the deal is under scrutiny from Senator Marco Rubio, the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, who says it risks making the US more reliant on China.

In common with the UK and European nations, the US is braced for an influx of Chinese-made cars.

Chinese-made electric cars are already available in the UK, made under the MG brand owned by SAIC. Another major Chinese manufacturer with an interest in exports is Geely, which owns Volvo, Lotus and has a stake in Aston Martin.

MGs have gained in popularity in part because they are cheaper than other EVs made by the likes of Tesla, and the firm has said it plans an expansion in sales in the UK. For instance, the MG ZS starts at £30,500, while the Tesla Model 3 starts at £38,800.

Chinese brands including BYD; Funky Cat, which is owned by the giant Great Wall Motor; and Chery; are all planning to bring their vehicles to the UK.

China has cheap labour, cheap raw materials such as steel and a vast headstart when it comes to building battery plants, with more than 100 built and 200 on the way, while Europe and the US each have fewer than a dozen.

As the biggest car market in the world, it is looking to export and capitalise on this advantage.

Their plans in the UK may be foiled if public charging is not expanded quickly and cheaply enough to tempt car buyers who don’t have access to home charging, however. Cars which cost more than their petrol equivalents combined with expensive electricity offer a poor deal.

<<<



---