Ford Partners With Chinese Automaker to Bring Electric Cars to China

As part of its mandate to electrify 70% of its Chinese sales by 2025, Ford has signed a joint venture with China’s Zotye Auto. The rebranded “Zotye Ford Automobile Co.” will bring electric cars to the world’s most egregious polluter.

As explained by CNET, foreign automakers who wish to open shop in China must collaborate with a local partner, and global luminaries like GM, Honda, Nissan, and Toyota have already established a foothold there. This handy bit of protectionism has paid huge dividends for China’s domestic auto industry.

That plus EV purchase tax subsidies – ranging from $5,700 to $9,800 – has cemented China’s position as the world’s hub for advanced technology vehicles.

The socialist republic has vowed to deploy five million “new energy” vehicles on the road by 2020, though at the time they set this goal, 2014, they only had 70,000 in use.

But their somewhat (overly) ambitious EV mandate hasn’t affected conventional auto sales. One figure stands out – GM’s Cadillac brand, a longtime symbol of wealth and privilege, sold better in China than the US market through the first half of 2017.

Ford’s collaboration with Zotye Auto is worth a total of $756 million.