Ford, Geely said to discuss European production tie-up

[Harley Lover]

Perhaps the rumored tie up with the Chinese in North America was debunked, this story seems to have some grounding in reality:

Quote

Ford and China’s Geely are in advanced discussions about a potential partnership focused on European manufacturing, as global automakers seek to share rising technology and production costs, according to people familiar with the matter.

The talks are centered on Geely using Ford’s factory capacity in Europe to produce vehicles for the regional market, three sources said. The most likely site is Ford’s plant in Valencia, Spain, according to a person with knowledge of the discussions.

 

Such an arrangement would allow Geely to build vehicles inside the European Union, helping the Chinese automaker avoid steep European Union tariffs on China-made electric vehicles.

Ford and Geely also have discussed the potential framework for shared vehicle technologies, including for automated driving, sources said. Discussions around European manufacturing are further along than other areas of cooperation between the two automakers, they said.

 

Ford recently sent a delegation to China to advance negotiations, following meetings in Michigan between senior Geely executives and Ford leadership, source said.

Quote

Ford currently only builds one model in Valencia, the Kuga compact SUV, whose European sales were 98,376 in 2025, according to Dataforce market researchers. Output likely dropped below 100,000 units last year, according to French consultancy Inovev. The factory has planned annual capacity of 400,000 units.

 

Ford will add a second SUV using the Bronco nameplate in Valencia in 2027, Automotive News Europe has reported.

While Ford and Geely have discussed technology sharing more broadly, any plans involving the U.S. market would likely face regulatory and political scrutiny. However, people familiar with the talks said the current focus remains on Europe, where local manufacturing offers a clearer path forward.

 

https://www.autonews.com/manufacturing/ane-ford-geely-tie-up-production-europe-0204/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletter-ANEBreakingNewsAlert-20260204

Edited February 4 by Harley Lover

[Sherminator98]

Well if this happened, it would torpedo the rumored Bronco Sport coming from Spain to the USA. 

[rmc523]

So instead of trying, they'll just hand it over?

[akirby]

46 minutes ago, Sherminator98 said:

Well if this happened, it would torpedo the rumored Bronco Sport coming from Spain to the USA. 

Or they'll build geelys side by side with BS.

[fuzzymoomoo]

Ugh, I don’t like this at all…. 

[mackinaw]

Autoline Daily take in it:

 

Two days ago, the Financial Times reported that Ford was talking with BYD and Xiaomi to make EVs in the U.S. Ford and Xiaomi denied the reports, but now we’re hearing that Ford is talking with Geely to use at least one of its European assembly plants. And Ford could get access to Geely’s technology, like hands free driving, which would presumably be cheaper than Blue Cruise. Ford’s sales in Europe are down dramatically and it has plenty of open capacity. Geely could make cars at Ford’s Valencia assembly plant in Spain, which currently makes the Kuga, also known as the Escape in the North American market. Sales of the Kuga have dropped under 100,000 units a year, while the Valencia plant is tooled to make 400,000. A basic rule of thumb in the industry is that a plant has to operate at 80% capacity to break even, which is 320,000 units for Valencia. Whether it does a deal with Geely or not, Ford needs to figure out a way to boost the capacity utilization of its European plants.    

[bzcat]

This has been Farley's plan all along... I told you guys he wanted to get out of manufacturing in Europe. They'll setup some kind of Auto Alliance like JV to operate Valencia and give themselves an option to sell the whole thing to Geely in a few years when it is not as politically sensitive.

 

 

[rmc523]

3 hours ago, fuzzymoomoo said:

Ugh, I don’t like this at all…. 

 

Me either.

[AM222]

Ford doesn't seem to have a cohesive plan. We're not even talking about Ford in different continents, Ford's plans in Europe are all over the place. VW-based Fords, to be followed by Renault Group-based Fords, then a potential partnership with Geely to build some cars (Renault Group-based or Geely-based?). 

Ford's recent partnerships in Europe are just mainly for Europe and will most likely not be manufactured outside of Europe for other international markets. 

B-segment (subcompact) vehicles are popular almost everywhere outside the USA and Canada. C-segment (compact) vehicles are probably the most common size globally. Ford needs a global C-segment vehicle and a rest-of-the-world B-segment vehicles that are unified.

I've said this a hundred times, the One Ford concept is the efficient way to go, and their Asian rivals have proven that this concept works specially for popular global sizes.

 

Edited February 5 by AM222

[rmc523]

15 minutes ago, AM222 said:

Ford doesn't seem to have a cohesive plan. We're not even talking about Ford in different continents, Ford's plans in Europe are all over the place. VW-based Fords, to be followed by Renault Group-based Fords, then a potential partnership with Geely to build some cars (Renault Group-based or Geely-based?). 

Ford's recent partnerships in Europe are just mainly for Europe and will most likely not be manufactured outside of Europe for other international markets. 

B-segment (subcompact) vehicles are popular almost everywhere outside the USA and Canada. C-segment (compact) vehicles are probably the most common size globally. Ford needs a global C-segment vehicle and a rest-of-the-world B-segment vehicle.

 

What I also don't understand is that they've spent billions making CE1, yet don't seem to have plans to implement it in ROW where c-segment vehicles are predominant?

[AM222]

28 minutes ago, rmc523 said:

 

What I also don't understand is that they've spent billions making CE1, yet don't seem to have plans to implement it in ROW where c-segment vehicles are predominant?

Can CE1 accommodate EREV or PHEV/hybrid systems or is it BEV-only?  BYD's Electric motor-biased PHEV models (DM-i) have helped them grow.
Ford launched its JMC-Ford Territory Hybrid (not a plug-in) in the Philippines, Taiwan, and some other markets. It's powered by a 215hp electric motor (main) and a 148hp gas engine. The charging infrastructure is very limited outside the big cities in some countries. 

Edited February 5 by AM222

[rmc523]

53 minutes ago, AM222 said:

Can CE1 accommodate EREV or PHEV/hybrid systems or is it BEV-only?  BYD's Electric motor-biased PHEV models (DM-i) have helped them grow.
Ford launched its JMC-Ford Territory Hybrid (not a plug-in) in the Philippines, Taiwan, and some other markets. It's powered by a 215hp electric motor (main) and a 148hp gas engine. The charging infrastructure is very limited outside the big cities in some countries. 

 

I think it's been engineered for BEV only.

 

I said ROW, but was thinking primarily Europe.

Edited February 5 by rmc523

[Sherminator98]

1 hour ago, AM222 said:

I've said this a hundred times, the One Ford concept is the efficient way to go, and their Asian rivals have proven that this concept works specially for popular global sizes.

 

But apparently it is not with Ford. I think the huge issue is that Ford doesn't know what route to go 5-10 years from now-you have the C1, which apparently too expensive for ROW overall usage and you have the upcoming CE1 that could possibly replace it if the market conditions allow so.

Or does Ford spend even more money developing the CE1 into a platform that can support ICE products, which would be fairly significant since there are certain things with an ICE product that you don't have to worry about with an EV (like sealing the rear end up to keep exhaust gases out, etc) that help out with the affordability/production speed that may or may not translate well into an EREV/HEV product. 

 

59 minutes ago, rmc523 said:

What I also don't understand is that they've spent billions making CE1, yet don't seem to have plans to implement it in ROW where c-segment vehicles are predominant?

 

I think thinking that if Ford and Geely have some sort of agreement it is going to be sharing factory space and tech and not actually building each others product? 

[jpd80]

Just enough leaking out of the bag to drive the news hungry

1 . Ford buying a plant in Thailand

2. Ford looking for Chinese partners with US manufacturing

3. Ford looking at some sort of JV with Geely in Europe

 

So if you don’t like the current Ford plan, just wait a month or two…..

[twintornados]

Well, Geely did buy Volvo from Ford so there's always that...

[jpd80]

This can’t just be Ford alone, so  I wonder how many Euro brands are also talking with Chinese automakers about JVs……

 

Either sign up now or risk being financially mauled 

Edited February 6 by jpd80
Autocorrect keeps putting Fird instead of Ford

[AM222]

On 2/6/2026 at 4:00 AM, jpd80 said:

This can’t just be Ford alone, so  I wonder how many Euro brands are also talking with Chinese automakers about JVs……

 

Either sign up now or risk being financially mauled 

So Ford plans to share its Valencia plant with Geely in exchange for some tech access. Ford's upcoming Focus-sized crossover will also be built there but will be built on Ford's own platform? 

 

I'm assuming this is a Europe-only plan.

Edited February 7 by AM222

[jpd80]

8 minutes ago, AM222 said:

So Ford plans to share its Valencia plant with Geely in exchange for some tech access. Ford's upcoming Focus-sized crossover will also be built there but will be built on Ford's own platform? 

 

I'm assuming this is a Europe-only plan.

 

 

Maybe Ford is done with  its VW JV at Cologne?

maybe that makes more sense than giving up Valencia for the moment…

[bzcat]

I'm sure Cologne will be closed when Ford switches to rebadged Renault EV instead of building its own VW MEB. Cologne has the same problem as Saarlouis... German union and wages (note: this is not an anti-union rant... I'm just trying to explain why Ford is angling to do a deal in Spain instead of Germany). Also quite possible Ford has some kind of covenant in the VW agreement that restrict them from building something else besides MEB at Cologne. 

 

Valencia has enough capacity to contract build Geely EVs but Geely is only interested in something like this because of political expediency and taking advantage of Ford's weak bargaining position. A lot of European countries are starting to worry about Chinese auto industry wiping out their own so a big splashy investment by Chinese OEM to build cars in EU's traditional car building countries could backfire. Having Ford build your car and saving Spanish jobs from being cut is much better press. Geely could also just build its Zeekr cars at Volvo plants instead but that has its own problem because the high costs of building cars in Sweden.

 

There is no way Geely will enter into an agreement like this without a call option to buy the plant from Ford at some future point. Remember Ford was actively hoping to sell Saarlouis to BYD before that deal fell apart because BYD didn't want to deal with German unions and high German wages. Spain on the other hand, is a lot more attractive. This is why the deal is around Valencia not Cologne. 

 

 

 

[jpd80]

Saarlouis plant just ended Focus production last year, there’s a vacant plant that Ford could hand over to Geely

and importantly it’s in Germany so far less pushback on where vehicles are manufactured in Europe.

It would give Ford and Geely a walk up start to Germany, France, Italy and UK, ford’s biggest EU markets.

 

I know Valencia is high on th priority but announcing Bronco Sport will be built alongside Escape 

kind of makes nonsense of the thought of handing over its best most efficient plant.

The wolf is at the door for Ford, the last thing it needs to do is put it own neck on th block..

Edited Saturday at 11:00 PM by jpd80