How Ford Wants Nothing, and Everything, to Do With China -- and It's Working

Ford is leaning into a China-to-world strategy rather than trying to exit the Chinese market, a move analysts say is paying off amid intense competition and price pressure. In Bank of America’s “Car Wars,” analyst John Murphy warned more than two years ago that China’s domestic market would get harder for foreign automakers, citing a brutal price war, many rivals and rapid EV development. Ford, alongside GM, wants to avoid Chinese automakers taking over the U.S. profit engine. Ford has scaled back local sales investment and repurposed joint ventures, including Changan Automobile and Jiangling Motors, to export vehicles globally—such as the Equator Sport, Mondeo, Lincoln Nautilus and electric commercial vans—sending them to regions including Europe. Ford reported six consecutive years of losses in China from 2018-2023, then earned about $600 million in 2024. It plans to export a version of the Ford Transit City to cover 52 countries and regions, and—pending approvals—Ford and Geely would build vehicles at a Ford plant in Spain starting in the first half of 2027.