bzcat Posted February 13, 2021 Share Posted February 13, 2021 (edited) Another one that flew under the radar this week... Ford officially terminated its stillborn joint venture with Zotye, the ethically challenged and now bankrupt Chinese car company. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-fordmotor-china-zotye/ford-motor-terminates-electric-vehicle-plans-with-chinas-zotye-idUSKBN2A409A Hackett initially wanted to use Zotye Ford to build cheap EVs based on Zotye designs for local sale, a strategy that other foreign car companies (VW, Toyota, Nissan) also tried and all failed. That idea when nowhere after Ford got a closer look at what Zotye had to offer and concluded they didn't have any EV technology to leverage. Later, Hackett tried to redirect Zotye Ford to build some sort of vehicles for ride share services in China. It was supposed to tie in with development for next gen Transit Connect and the autonomous driving van. That went nowhere after Ford cancelled next gen Transit Connect in favor of rebadged VW Caddy. And then Zotye, which was best known for selling cheaply made "VW inspired" SUVs got embroiled in some sort of scandal about false financial reports. And then came COVID which other Chinese car companies survived (and are now back to full speed) but not Zotye. It's amazing that Ford was even linked up with this company in the first place. So now Farley has dissolved both Zotye and Mahindra joint ventures and scuttled Ford South America, the three things that Hackett thought was the salvation for Ford's emerging market cheap cars problem. Edited February 13, 2021 by bzcat 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted February 13, 2021 Share Posted February 13, 2021 12 hours ago, bzcat said: So now Farley has dissolved both Zotye and Mahindra joint ventures and scuttled Ford South America, the three things that Hackett thought was the salvation for Ford's emerging market cheap cars problem. I'm glad he did this early in his tenure, clear the decks and move on. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bzcat Posted February 13, 2021 Author Share Posted February 13, 2021 The question is what are Farley's plans for emerging markets... It's easy to cancel Hackett's plans, a lot harder to come up with real solutions. Ford is the only car company without a coherent emerging market strategy to grow in Southeast Asia, South America, Middle East, and Africa. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rperez817 Posted February 13, 2021 Share Posted February 13, 2021 54 minutes ago, bzcat said: The question is what are Farley's plans for emerging markets... It's easy to cancel Hackett's plans, a lot harder to come up with real solutions. Ford is the only car company without a coherent emerging market strategy to grow in Southeast Asia, South America, Middle East, and Africa. Good points bzcat sir. Jim Hackett's plans for emerging markets were good at the time they were made, but with the global automotive industry undergoing a once in lifetime revolution right now, they need to be revised. Hopefully Jim Farley comes up with good new plans soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted February 14, 2021 Share Posted February 14, 2021 6 hours ago, bzcat said: The question is what are Farley's plans for emerging markets... It's easy to cancel Hackett's plans, a lot harder to come up with real solutions. Ford is the only car company without a coherent emerging market strategy to grow in Southeast Asia, South America, Middle East, and Africa. I wonder if Farley is coming full circle to Chinese based products for those regions, back to superseded Ford platforms that have been repurposed by the Chinese partners with a much lower cost base. Those regions are diverse and perhaps Ford needs to rediscover smart efficient regionalisation strategies, back when they actually had to think about the specific needs of those buyers instead of one size fits all.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausrutherford Posted February 14, 2021 Share Posted February 14, 2021 Zoyte killed itself...Ford didn't even need to do anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmc523 Posted February 15, 2021 Share Posted February 15, 2021 On 2/13/2021 at 7:35 PM, jpd80 said: I wonder if Farley is coming full circle to Chinese based products for those regions, back to superseded Ford platforms that have been repurposed by the Chinese partners with a much lower cost base. Those regions are diverse and perhaps Ford needs to rediscover smart efficient regionalisation strategies, back when they actually had to think about the specific needs of those buyers instead of one size fits all.... I think we're finally seeing it, but I'm not sure why they couldn't just take the core Ford platforms and put Chinese-oriented top hats on them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bzcat Posted February 15, 2021 Author Share Posted February 15, 2021 (edited) On 2/13/2021 at 4:35 PM, jpd80 said: I wonder if Farley is coming full circle to Chinese based products for those regions, back to superseded Ford platforms that have been repurposed by the Chinese partners with a much lower cost base. Those regions are diverse and perhaps Ford needs to rediscover smart efficient regionalisation strategies, back when they actually had to think about the specific needs of those buyers instead of one size fits all.... Maybe... But Ford Escort and Territory are not exactly setting the sales chart on fire compare to GM's Wuling and Baojun brands which feature locally developed low cost platforms. The new Equator appears to be the same playbook assuming it is based on CD4. Ultimately, I think it is all about speed and execution. Ford Escort is 6 years old and just got its mid cycle update in 2021 when it should be completed redesigned. It was based on the 2nd gen Focus after the 3rd gen Focus came out. But Ford let the 3rd gen Focus expire without a new Escort. Edited February 15, 2021 by bzcat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted February 16, 2021 Share Posted February 16, 2021 (edited) 10 hours ago, bzcat said: Maybe... But Ford Escort and Territory are not exactly setting the sales chart on fire compare to GM's Wuling and Baojun brands which feature locally developed low cost platforms. The new Equator appears to be the same playbook assuming it is based on CD4. Ultimately, I think it is all about speed and execution. Ford Escort is 6 years old and just got its mid cycle update in 2021 when it should be completed redesigned. It was based on the 2nd gen Focus after the 3rd gen Focus came out. But Ford let the 3rd gen Focus expire without a new Escort. Chinese won’t tolerate what they see as old product, Ford should be listening to its Chinese customers but alas, they still use the same old failed playbook, stretching cycles. it’s the same stupid stuff over and over.... Edited February 16, 2021 by jpd80 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmc523 Posted February 16, 2021 Share Posted February 16, 2021 11 hours ago, jpd80 said: Chinese won’t tolerate what they see as old product, Ford should be listening to its Chinese customers but alas, they still use the same old failed playbook, stretching cycles. it’s the same stupid stuff over and over.... They have the same problem in the US really with certain products. They were able to get away with it with Explorer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harley Lover Posted February 16, 2021 Share Posted February 16, 2021 19 minutes ago, rmc523 said: They have the same problem in the US really with certain products. They were able to get away with it with Explorer There might be a change of heart afoot, based on what premierdrum has indicated about the Escape update. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmc523 Posted February 16, 2021 Share Posted February 16, 2021 7 minutes ago, Harley Lover said: There might be a change of heart afoot, based on what premierdrum has indicated about the Escape update. Yup, and that's definitely a good thing, IMO. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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