Ford and Zotye Auto to set up new joint venture for electric vehicles
Peter Fleet, chief executive officer of Ford China, and Jin Zheyong, chairman of Anhui Zotye Automobile Co are all smiles after announcing a joint venture for electric vehicles.
Ford Motor Co said today that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Chinese car manufacturer Anhui Zotye Automobile Co to establish a joint venture to produce electric vehicles.
The new 50-50 joint venture will develop, manufacture, market and service electric passenger vehicles in China.
Vehicles will be sold under an indigenous brand owned by the new joint venture, according to a statement published by Ford today.
“This is an opportunity to leverage each other’s strengths in achieving a win-win situation for both parties’ growth in the fast-growing Chinese electric vehicle market,” said Jin Zheyong, chairman of Zhejiang-based Anhui Zotye Automobile Co.
The joint venture marks a major step for Ford’s electrification initiatives in China. Earlier this year, Ford said that 70 percent of its vehicles sold in China will have electrified powertrain options by 2025.
China is the fastest-growing market in the world for new energy vehicles. In the first seven months of this year, sales of electric vehicles hit 204,000 units, up 33.6 percent year on year, according to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
Ford expects the market for new-energy vehicles in China to grow to six million units annually by 2025, of which around 4 million vehicles will be all-electric.
“Electric vehicles will be a big part of the future in China,” said Peter Fleet, chief executive officer of Ford China."Within the next four years, we plan to bring an all new small battery electric vehicle into China."
