Large Western manufacturers are beginning to seriously reconsider their strategies in the Chinese market. A few years ago, all the players in the sector warned what could happen and finally, yes, it has happened: China is gaining strength, and in what way, with the electric car at the bottom of the world automobile scene. Of everything.
Giants such as Volkswagen Group, Ford or Stellantis have in recent times devoted a good part of their efforts to settle in China. Target? Through collaboration agreements and synergies, they sought to see their profits increase in a large market like Asia and, moreover, gain prominence in the face of the “flood of electricity” that we are experiencing.
However, while Chinese brands are slowly starting to “invade” with their electric cars the European region and others around the world (indeed, it is already the world’s leading exporter of cars), the presence in China ” foreign” brands are starting to see the battle. lost.
While some brands have decided to move away from ceramics, others such as Volkswagen have strengthened their commitment by investing heavily to set up a new development center for electric cars. There is a war raging today between Chinese and Western brands.
Ford isn’t backing out of the Chinese market, but it is rethinking its strategy for the future of its electric cars.
Ford and his new philosophy in China: see and understand better
Given that there are no guarantees or guarantees for heavily investing in a new cycle of electric vehicles for the Chinese market, and facing growing competition from local manufacturers, Ford has decided to play a new leaf.
The Americans will not abandon China, but they will reduce their investments there and use the Chinese market as a “watch and listen post”: the goal now is basically to learn from them in order to outperform them.
Ellipta’s brand will study the strategies that work best out there in terms of battery technology and electric cars, and try to implement them in its home country of the United States, where it actually has a latent advantage.
The curious decision comes to redirect investment toward strategies that could make a real economic impact for Ford, which has seen its market share in China steadily shrink since 2016. In the Chinese country it will focus on commercial electric vehicles above its range, where there is “low financial risk”.
The Ford E-Tourneo Courier is the brand’s latest bet in the electric commercial vehicle segment, Ford’s central bet now in China.
“Their battery technology, digital user experience… is one of the best in the world. We’ve been looking at our business in China for the last two years very carefully. Now we’ve decided what our strategy will be,” Ford’s CEO Jim Farley said in an interview with the Financial Times.
“It is interesting to see how customers are no longer attracted to traditional luxury brands with only electric vehicles or hardware designs. The most prominent new brands deliver an integrated, software-defined, retail and digital experience, lifestyle and experience,” concluded Jim Farley.
Once again, the word “software” is the hero of the story: Chinese brands know this and brands like Tesla have internalized it, being able to ensure that making money from the sale of cars will not be the key, but the software. From. This was recently said by Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
At the moment, Ford has not detailed what specific strategies it will adopt and whether it will cut personnel in China. The North American firm has 8 plants there through joint ventures; However, local reports suggest they may lay off as many as 1,300 people.
