Bill Ford, the executive chairman of Ford Motor, claimed that the United States wasn’t yet prepared to compete with China in the manufacture of electric cars.

“They developed very quickly, and they developed them in large scale. And now they’re exporting them,” Ford told CNN’s ‘Fareed Zakaria GPS’ Sunday program. “They’re not here but they’ll come here we think, at some point, we need to be ready, and we’re getting ready,” Ford said.

In a deal that involved utilising technology from the Chinese battery company CATL, the automaker announced plans to invest $3.5 billion to build an electric vehicle battery plant in Michigan in February. The announcement caught the attention of U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, who requested that the Biden administration review the deal.

The Michigan battery plant offers a chance for Ford engineers to study the technology and ultimately utilise it themselves, according to Bill Ford, the great-grandson of company founder Henry Ford.

“It (Michigan) is a wholly owned Ford facility. They’ll be our employees, and all we’re doing is licensing the technology. That’s it.” he said.

Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers, according to Ford CEO Jim Farley, are its key competitors in the market. To compete with Chinese automakers, Ford needs to stand out through distinctive branding or reduced costs.

“I think we see the Chinese as the main competitor, not GM or Toyota. The Chinese are going to be the powerhouse,” he said.

(Adapted from BusinessToday.in)

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