Ford ceases electric vehicle plan with China's Zotye

Ford has decided to terminate its agreement with Chinese automotive company Zotye over an electric vehicle joint venture, the automaker announced on Thursday.

The company said the situations that were present have changed to the point where they no longer wish to continue their relationship, citing both political and industry reasons for doing so, though failing to specify.

Read more: Ford aims for major share of electric vehicle market

In a statement, the automaker admitted it would be seeking a "more flexible business model in China" that would see it utilise existing operations within the country.

Ford's original ambition was to build a $756 million joint venture into electric vehicle technology in China to build small electric passenger vehicles.

The two eventually signed a memorandum of understanding a year later to make electric vehicles for a ride-hailing fleet.

China is currently the world's largest electric vehicles market.

Read more: NEV sales to account for 25% of China's automarket by 2025

Electric vehicle sales are currently forecast to account for 25% of China's automaker by 2025 and 50% by 2035.

Europe is also slowly catching up to China in terms of NEV's but China's market growth is expected to accelerate more rapidly.

Back to Homepage

Back to Transportation