Rumors and reports have recently connected Ford to various Chinese automakers and suppliers. While nothing has been absolutely confirmed, there’s been enough heat around this idea that if you put a pot on top of it, you could boil enough crawfish to serve the entire World Famed Grambling State University Tiger Marching Band.
Yesterday, I mentioned that BYD was stumbling in China but doing better than Tesla in Europe. New data shows that Tesla is now performing a little better in China, whereas BYD is cleaning up in Europe.
Toyota has a plan, and that plan is to make way more hybrids. This is a good plan. I like this plan. Uber is going to launch its robotaxi business in various cities, and one of them is Houston. Good luck!
Ford Has Needs And China Has Expertise
Ford does not have a great track record of making deals work with Chinese suppliers and companies outside of China itself. The automaker has been trying to build an EV battery plant with China’s CATL for what feels like 900 years. The spectre of a Chinese company in the United States has created all sorts of political problems, with the Ford-CATL plant initially planned for Virginia before the governor nixed the idea. The companies then tried to move production to Michigan, but that turned into a political quagmire of its own.
For now, it seems like the Michigan plant will exist, but it’s taken so long that the facility is pivoting to energy storage systems.
This hasn’t stopped Ford from having lots of conversations with Chinese automakers for… something. There was a rumor about Ford and Xiaomi, although Xiaomi smacked that down. Then the Wall Street Journal talked up Ford and BYD working out a battery deal for Ford hybrids.
The big one came this morning, with Reuters reporting that Ford is in talks with Geely over a deal that could potentially see Geely utilizing Ford production capacity in Europe to build cars there. Where? The sense seems to be Ford’s Valencia plant, which currently builds the Kuga but, so far as I can tell, has no plan for what’s next other than a vague notion that it could be electric.
That Geely could want production capacity in Europe and would utilize existing infrastructure makes perfect sense. While Europe has lowered tariffs slightly on Chinese-built cars to placate the Chinese government, it’s still cheaper for Chinese automakers to localize production in Europe.
But what does Ford get out of all of this? Here’s what Reuters is reporting:
A deal could help Ford in its race to catch up with global competitors in areas like connected-vehicle technology and autonomy, a priority for Tesla, and a major focus for Chinese automakers. Ford CEO Jim Farley has been vocal about the need for his company to close a competitive gap with China.
In an interview at the Aspen Ideas Festival last year, Farley called China’s global lead in electric vehicles and connected-vehicle technology “the most humbling thing I have ever seen.”
He also responded to questions about whether U.S. President Donald Trump would nix a potential joint venture between Ford and a Chinese automaker.
“I don’t think so,” Farley said. “I think as long as it has the right guardrails and we think about it the right way, no, I’ve found openness throughout the government to do this, because I think they know it’s required.”
Jim Farley was vocal about loving his Xiaomi and Geely, which bought Volvo from Ford, has had a great year in China. Clearly, in that hyper-competitive market, Geely has some things figured out. After blowing nearly $20 billion developing EVs that it decided to shelve (and billions on Argo AI for self-driving cars), Ford would probably benefit from a shortcut to competitiveness that didn’t involve a huge capital outlay.
There will probably be a lot more of this coming as the traditional mix of automakers in Europe fundamentally doesn’t need the production capacity they have, while European governments still need those jobs.
Leapmotor is doing this by taking over existing Stellantis plants (although Stellantis now owns Leapmotor, so it’s a little different), and it wouldn’t surprise me to see VW transfer a few factories to a Chinese automaker. Chery is in talks with Jaguar to build cars in England using an existing JLR facility.
Solve two problems at once! Also, maybe create some new ones.
Tesla And BYD Continue Their Freaky Friday Market Swap
Literally yesterday, I was writing about how Tesla was struggling in Europe while BYD was having a tough January in China. Turnabout is fair play, as Tesla saw its deliveries rise in China by about 9% year-over-year. That’s not bad, and the growth was in the face of an otherwise weak market.
How did it pull this off? As CNEvPost points out, there was a cost to this:
To counter January’s weakness, Tesla launched an unprecedented low-interest financing plan in China on January 6, offering up to 7-year terms for all locally produced vehicles — becoming the first automaker to provide such extended financing in the market.
A 7-year low-interest loan is quite something.
In Germany, at least, Tesla continues to stumble, and BYD continues to grow. According to the German government, Tesla moved 1,301 cars, a slight increase from a miserable January the year before. BYD, however, was up 1,018%, selling more than twice the number of vehicles that Tesla did.
Same as it ever was.
Toyota To Up Hybrid Production By 30%
It’s no secret that the secret to Toyota’s success is hybrids. While the automaker was slow to develop electric cars, it never let up on building hybrids. Now it’s expanding its hybrid-building plans.
The world’s biggest carmaker by sales expects to produce 6.7 million hybrid vehicles globally in two years’ time, up from the planned 5 million hybrid and plug-in hybrids in 2026, according to suppliers familiar with Toyota’s plans.
The roughly 30% increase compares with a forecast 10% rise in its overall output and would mean hybrids rising from 50% to around 60% of the 11.3 million cars Toyota expects to make globally in 2028.
Expect that a lot of these will be made and sold in the United States.
Uber’s Robotaxi Is Coming To Houston
Uber is expanding its robotaxi business and, in addition to Hong Kong and Zurich, the company is coming to Houston. More so than San Francisco or Austin, just the wild weather swings alone are going to be quite the challenge.
Which car, though? That’s my question. As Bloomberg reports, it’s not yet clear:
Uber plans to make driverless cars one of its key growth areas and aims to offer driverless vehicles in more than 10 markets globally by the end of 2026.
The company didn’t disclose specific details on exactly when the services would launch or which technology providers it will partner with, but a spokesperson said it will be with previously publicized partners.
The options are probably the ID.Buzz or Lucid Gravity, with my money on the Lucid.
What I’m Listening To While Writing TMD
Fun fact about me: if I hear”Neon Moon” by Brooks & Dunn, I have to listen to the whole song. Man’s gotta have a code.
The Big Question
It doesn’t sound like Ford is going to get a rebadged Geely, but it’s not out of the question. What’s the best captive import ever?
Top photo: Ford/Zeekr
I was just saying to friends that Canada should force Stellantis to offer an idle plant to BYD to build the new Chinese EV quota that was just agreed.
What connection between govt and private business do you believe should grant governments authority? What limits would you put in place to prevent that from rapidly growing to become govt gets to define any action taken for private property usage at will? What if the terms that make it business viable are not agreeable to BYD?
The Canadian gov’t gave Stellantis $1B to keep production at a Canadian plant, which Stellantis then reneged on. $1B is a bit of leverage.
Without far more context, like the actual details of the $1B transaction between the parties, I can’t support the idea that an extension of a loan or a subsidy automatically gives a government direct authority like you describe. That needs to exist in the agreements at minimum, and better should be enshrined in law.
When would that authority end? When the plant has generated $1B in taxes? Would this require the govt to give up its pursuit of legal action against Stellantis?
The Ford/Mazda/Kia Festivas of the late 80s were a blast to drive, as long as it was only you in the car and you had new tires.
I think my vote goes to the Chevy SS as the best captive import. which could also bleed over into the other Holdens, like the GTO/G8s
How has no one said “Plymouth Cricket”??
Oh wait, you didn’t ask for the worst captive import.
*Crickets*
Best captive is the Chevy Tracker.
What is that in the photo that reminds me of a Cheetah? I like it.
“What’s the best captive import ever?”
My vote goes to the Pontiac GTO/G8 that were a rebadged and mildly restyled Holden Monaro/Commodore.
Honourable mentions…
-Merkur XR4TI… Aka the Ford Sierra in the EU
-Geo Storm/Asüna Sunfire… Which is an Isuzu Gemini/Impulse
-Saab 9-2X… particularly the Aero version… which is essentially a more luxurious WRX
So basically the tariffs are making everything worse for American consumers and the protectionist aspect of them is resulting in American manufacturers trying to find ways to sell us the superior goods that are made by our adversaries under the table because their own products suck ass and they can’t be bothered to do anything themselves other than build trucks. Brilliant!
“So basically the tariffs are making everything worse for American consumers”
Anyone who understands basic high-school level macro-economics (like what I took in high school) would have understood that.
Which is to say nobody among the Trump Administration or their supporters reaches that level of understanding, knowledge or education (regardless of what records they have related to their education say).
When Crooked Trump thought that playing with tariffs like he has was a good idea, I immediately sold a 6 figure amount of US-based investments and pulled that money out of the US because I knew/know that the tariffs would hurt the US economy more than any other economy and it would be US consumers would would ultimately have to pay.
And that investment money isn’t coming back for as long as Trump and his gang of dipshits are in charge.
It’s wild. Our 401ks have lost value, our house has lost $50,000 in value since Trump was elected, everyone I know with a lot of money in stocks is bailing at a torrid pace out of necessity…this shit has very real consequences. We’re in the process of moving a big chunk of our retirement savings into a Roth IRA because the usual 401ks, 503bs, whatever’s are suddenly a much riskier proposition.
But we have it good compared to his median voter, who’s just sitting their shooting themselves in the dick repeatedly to own the libs….
No shortage of fucking idiots in the USA…
Your 401k lost value? Do you just mean you think it would have risen higher absent tariffs? The markets have gone nowhere but up for years now…
Also given you’re in the DMV, it’s very surprising your house has lost value, though depending on where you are the market can be a bit soft. You probably already know this, but assuming you’re not getting ready to retire trying to time the market is a fool’s errand.
I am not sure this is the case for everyone. I had a lot of US funds, and yeah the dip in October was not insignificant, but it has rebounded and then some. I was still 17% ROI for the year.
I got worked up thinking about the pedo in Chief and misspoke. Mine haven’t LOST value but the volatility has been a pain in the ass.
I would agree, I did expect a bit of a bust to curb inflation, but the Tariffs were left field and definitely caused a lot of spending to be curbed. Add in the threat of AI taking the White collar jobs and I really feel like we have thus far weathered the changes from an investment POV pretty well. but damn, did we need to do that? I am sure an economist in this group can chime in here I suppose.
Oh, it’s going to be a lot longer than that. It was bad enough that we put him in charge once, but doing it a second time has lost us any trust we may have had with the rest of the world. There’s a reason “sovereign cloud” is suddenly a hot buzzword in the tech industry. Nobody wants to depend on the US for anything going forward, and who can blame them?
Yes Houston weather will be a driverless challenge. Whatever model they choose I hope it has the floatation bag option.
Note to Uber. My guess is somewhere there is someone trying to figure out how to hijack one.
I don’t think the weather is nearly as challenging as those side-swiping Metro buses and that stupid train down the middle of Main St.
Those buses and trains are transporting a lot more people than Uber robotaxis will.
Oh no doubt but that doesn’t mean they aren’t the biggest dicks in Houston traffic.
The light rail is needed in Houston.
It is known in the industry as A
Streetcar Named Disaster..
IMHO it should have been elevated.
I mean your in a flood plain.
Also, best captive import? My vote goes to the Chrysler Conquest/ Mitsubishi Station.
Seconded.
This is the correct answer.
I always really liked the Saab 9-2X.
That was an interesting rebadge for sure but I don’t think it qualifies as a captive import.
Why not? Built in Japan by Subaru and imported to the US by GM as a GM product?
Saab might have been owned by GM at the time, but they were a Swedish company. I guess I draw the line there, perhaps arbitrarily.
Does the Chevy SS with a manual transmission and MagneRide dampers count as a captive import? That would be my first choice.
The Saab 9-2X would be my second choice.
Better question would be if the Opel derived Saturn’s qualify?
Ford and China. I feel this is just a US automaker using the Chinese auto industry playbook from the early 2000s. Partnering with a foreign company will initially bring expertise and value. It will also give the Chinese manufacturers a respectable path into the US market, even if it means their cars have a Ford badge on them initially.
Then once sentiment has softened about Chinese cars and the market becomes directly open to them, US manufacturers will be on an even footing with them from a technology and maybe even pricing perspective. That will give US manufacturers a fighting chance to not immediately lose a bunch of market share once we start seeing Geely dealerships stateside.
Or Ford could become a hollowed out shell selling rebadged Chinese cars designed and engineered in China.
The fact that China has no IP protection for foreigners and that the government and industry have an active spying / technology theft apparatus and that foreign nationals that work at US companies are given access to the latest tech (and then encouraged to start companies in China) while the reverse is not true means it is unlikely the situation will play out as you describe – Ford is not simply repeating the Chinese industrial plan. More like they are admitting defeat and trying to take a shortcut rather than following the path of Tesla, Rivian, and Lucid, which seem to have this kind of tech figured out (though maybe not the selling cars profitably part).
Did the partnerships with the Japanese and Koreans in the 80s and 90s selling rebadged Asian cars do the big 3 any good? I don’t think so, the Japanese and Koreans have gained massive market share since then while the big 3 have lost it. Those were about getting the entry level buyer into the dealership so that they would step up to a “real” car on their next purchase (or maybe the salesman could talk them into it this time)
Certainly not the best captive imports but I’ve kinda been looking at vehicles of this type recently so I’ll throw it out there. The Geo Tracker/Suzuki Sidekick, in 2 door version of course.
You spell go GEO!
In looking up the vehicles after making this comment it has come to my attention that the Geo Tracker was named the Suzuki Escudo in other markets, meaning the Escudo Pikes Peak of Gran Turismo fame is technically based on a Geo Tracker.
Ford sees the writing on the wall.
But Stellantis just wants to HEMI all the things.
(Stellantis owns <20% of Leapmotor afaik)
Toyota nailed the hybrid play, but I hope that they’re also looking beyond that. I figure the transition from hybrid fleet to whatever comes next (EREV?) is going to happen relatively fast. Once everyone gets a taste of EV (voluntarily or not), they won’t really want to go back
If by “best” you mean volume – That would probably be the Dodge Colt over it’s 23 years and seven generations.
If by “best” you mean fun to own and drive – I’d probably lean towards the Mercury Capri and Capri II.
Captive Import? Dodge Stealth/Mitsu 3000GT
I saw a Stealth in the wild twice yesterday, and damn, they still look good. I seem to recall they did not do well in side-by-side car magazine comparisons.
It has to be the OG Ford Capri, right?
Oops. I just copied your answer, and you’re right.
Well yeah, Chinese cars probably are better than Ford LOL
Also, this morning’s shitbox showdown is also proof. The mighty Max is kicking the F250’s ass because those small Japanese trucks are fucking awesome, and Detroit doesn’t know how to make good trucks, so they got super jealous and never repealed the stuipid chicken tax.
The best captive import was the Prizm GSi and Vibe GT (the base models are awesome themselves, but the high performance versions are fucking legendary)
The 78 Challenger was the best generation Dodge Challenger.
The Festiva and Aspire were better than any real Ford at the time. Real Fords aspired to be as good as Kia.
The Geo/Chevy Metro is a legend as well. Suzuki still makes the Swift for other markets, but of course, GM is too stupid to sell it here as the new Chevy Metro.
The Geo/Chevy Tracker (rebadged Suzuki Sidekick/Vitara) is the Jeep Wrangler and Cherokee done right 😀
Can we use Mexican examples? The Dodge Atos, which still had Hyundai badges on them!
Time to sing on to the UNECE standards and repeal the chicken tax
Toyota Matrix. The Matrix was rebadged a Pontiac Vibe, which was then rebadged back into a Toyota Voltz.
The Chevy LUV trucks were also pretty great.
You got that backwards, right? The Vibe was a rebadged Matrix.
***forgot the “into”
Toyota Matrix. The Matrix was rebadged into a Pontiac Vibe, which was then rebadged back into a Toyota Voltz.
Captive import the Zeekr 009 and take my money!
And being a 90’s kid, I’m a sucker for the DSM Eclipse/Talon/Laser.
The Geo Prism and the Pontiac Vibe both come to mind. For a long time, they were both dependable used car options. Otherwise, as overlandingsprinter mentioned, the Australian GM stuff was quite delightful. A Chevy SS with factory Holden badges will be an Ohio car show staple in a couple decades.
The Prizm and Vibe is the definitive answer
The Matrix/Vibe is in the running too. As I’ve pointed out in comments on this site before, the current Subaru Impreza hatch/Crosstrak is extremely close in dimensions to the Vibe/Matrix. It’s almost as if Subaru copied that vehicle when developing the Impreza hatch. More likely, it’s a more of an example of form following function and price point.
Unfortunately, Subaru can’t copy Toyota’s reliability, even though Toyota owns part of Subaru 🙁
I thought both the Prism and Vibe were joint ventures with Toyota, not captive imports. Both were built at NUMMI in California.
A tie:
Best captive import was the Chrysler Conquest