Building and selling electric vehicles is not easy.
Lifted in toto from TechCrunch via MSN, December 9:
Ford CEO Jim Farley acknowledged the automaker is in “a fight for our lives in our industry” as it seeks to remain competitive in Europe amid pressure from Chinese competitors. One of its weapons to stave off those threats is a partnership with French automaker Renault Group.
The two automakers announced an agreement Tuesday to bring two affordable Ford-branded electric vehicles to the European market in 2028. Ford will lead the design and Renault will assemble the vehicles at its factory in northern France. The EVs will be built on Renault’s technology platform known as Ampere.
The companies have also agreed to “explore” making light commercial vehicles together.
The partnership is part of what Ford has described as the next phase of its European transformation — a plan that aims to make the U.S. automaker more agile and cost efficient in a market teaming with cheaper Chinese vehicles from companies like BYD and SAIC Motor.
“As an American company, we see Europe as the frontline in the global transformation of our industry,” said Farley in a statement. “How we compete here — how we innovate, partner, and invest — will write the playbook for the next generation. We are committed to a vibrant future in Europe, but that future requires us to move with greater speed and efficiency than ever before.”
Very related, From CarScoops, November 12
Ford’s Jim Farley Was “Shocked” After Tearing Down Chinese And Tesla EVs
The teardowns revealed unexpected secrets that forced Ford to rethink how it builds electric cars from the ground up
- Ford found the Mach-E used a full mile more wiring than Tesla’s Model 3.
- Jim Farley said the teardown of Tesla and Chinese EVs was “humbling.”
- Chinese automakers’ rapid progress left Ford racing to catch up globally.
Like many long-established carmakers, Ford has found itself under growing pressure from Tesla at home and an increasingly assertive wave of Chinese manufacturers abroad.
These newer players seem more adaptable, often leading in electric-vehicle design and software integration, areas where legacy automakers like Ford have struggled to keep pace. Chief executive Jim Farley doesn’t shy away from acknowledging the scale of that challenge.
Read: Ford CEO Warns China Could Put Every American Carmaker Out Of Business
Not long after Ford’s boss remarked that the threat from Chinese automakers now exceeds what Japanese carmakers posed in the 1980s, Jim Farley described the “shocking” moment that spurred him to rethink the company’s direction.
He said Ford’s engineers were taken aback when they began tearing down both the Tesla Model 3 and several Chinese-built electric cars, realizing just how far ahead those manufacturers had moved in terms of cost, efficiency, and software integration....
....MUCH MORE
If interested see also the outro from December 12's Ford CEO "Jim Farley Warns Europe It’s Selling Its Future To Chinese Carmakers".
