Ford squaring up to UK and EU

[JohnD]

"Ford is prepared to restrict the sale of petrol models in the UK in order to hit the country’s stretching EV targets, a move that is likely to push up prices for consumers, its European boss has warned.

Martin Sander also pushed back plans to sell only electric cars in Europe by 2030, saying the old target was now “irrelevant” because sales were “below expectations”.

He told a Financial Times summit that weak sales meant the company’s only option to avoid crippling fines under the UK’s new EV quota rules was to divert sales to other countries.


“We can’t push EVs into the market against demand. We’re not going to pay penalties. We are not going to sell EVs at huge losses just to buy compliance. The only alternative is to take our shipments of [engine] vehicles to the UK down and sell these vehicles somewhere else,” he told the FT’s Future of the Car Summit in London.

He added: “I don’t know if consumers in the UK would like seeing [engine vehicle] prices going up.”

FT.com

 

[Odds]

I'm sure the Chinese will soon fill their boots in the UK market...Already in spring 2024 around half of the most popular electric cars sold in the UK hail from China. In this article, we will focus on the new Chinese brands arriving on British soil, as opposed to the labyrinthine ownership structures that are accelerating the electrification of existing and new European brands (eg China’s Geely group already owns western car makers such as Volvo, Polestar, Lotus and a good chunk of Smart).

 

[Odds]

Although this one looks like the mutant offspring from a London Cab and a hearse...

 

[Avocet]

"Ford is prepared to restrict the sale of petrol models in the UK in order to hit the country’s stretching EV targets, a move that is likely to push up prices for consumers, its European boss has warned.

Martin Sander also pushed back plans to sell only electric cars in Europe by 2030, saying the old target was now “irrelevant” because sales were “below expectations”.

He told a Financial Times summit that weak sales meant the company’s only option to avoid crippling fines under the UK’s new EV quota rules was to divert sales to other countries.


“We can’t push EVs into the market against demand. We’re not going to pay penalties. We are not going to sell EVs at huge losses just to buy compliance. The only alternative is to take our shipments of [engine] vehicles to the UK down and sell these vehicles somewhere else,” he told the FT’s Future of the Car Summit in London.

He added: “I don’t know if consumers in the UK would like seeing [engine vehicle] prices going up.”

FT.com

I think there's a degree of posturing and sabre-rattling from Ford there. They do, of course, have the option of doing exactly that, but other manufacturers (and not just the Chinese) will be only too happy to fill those gaps. If they think they can make those sales back up in the EU, good luck to them! The EU doesn't have a "ZEV mandate" like ours, with year-on-year numerical targets. Instead, it is using its existing CO2 legislation to do the same thing - progressively lowering the limit for fleet average CO2 emissions. This will have the same effect, in the long run. There will come a point when you just can't make an ICE car that will actually move under its own power, and still meet the CO2 targets.

Of course, the UK might well row-back on its ambitious targets. (After all, it seems to have pretty much given up on water quality). But ultimately, the writing is on the wall. What Ford needs to do, is make competitively-priced EVs that people want to buy...

 

[Murdochcat]

The EU and USA manufacturers are on borrowed time - most if not all of them.

China is the car sweat shop of the world and for most other goods - and the number of people buying TAT on amazon or ebay directly from china is rising everyday.

Wonder what Labour's position is on this? If they have one

As for existing car owners - if looked after they will last for decades

And as for Ford - we have had a number of Fords over the years but to be honest there are far better cars on the road now

 

[JohnD]

I think there's a degree of posturing and sabre-rattling from Ford there.

Indeed.

They need to have a modus vivendi with one of their largest markets

Though it would be easier to threaten the UK.

 

[Avocet]

The EU and USA manufacturers are on borrowed time - most if not all of them.

China is the car sweat shop of the world and for most other goods - and the number of people buying TAT on amazon or ebay directly from china is rising everyday.

Wonder what Labour's position is on this? If they have one

As for existing car owners - if looked after they will last for decades

And as for Ford - we have had a number of Fords over the years but to be honest there are far better cars on the road now

I wouldn't be in such a rush to write-off the American, European (and Japanese) car manufacturers, just yet. Remember a couple of years ago, Tesla was going to take them out? It hasn't happened. Chinese manufacturing costs are rising. Yes, they're still lower than ours, but off the shop floor, an engineer will be paid close to what an engineer over here would get paid. The big leveler, will be the regulations. To sell here, the Chinese are going to have to ship the cars, and they're going to have to comply with European regulations. That last bit, will bump their costs up significantly. It's not that they'll struggle to do it - hell no, they CAN if they want to, but it's doing it whilst still undercutting everyone, that's the trick. Then, of course, there's the service and support network to pay for. Britain is in a slightly worse position than the EU, because since the end of 2020, our type approval requirements have fallen behind those of the rest of the EU, so if China is looking for an easy foothold in the West, we are that foothold. We're also going to be paying more for our European cars because of Brexit, so the Chinese won't have to discount as heavily here, in order to make the inroads.

 

[Avocet]

Here's one EU manufacturer's take on the situation. Of course, it's no secret that China is BMW's biggest market, but it does show that this is by no means a one-way street:

BMW tells EU not to be ‘afraid’ of Chinese electric cars

BMW has urged the European Union not to be “so afraid” of Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) amid a rift between Germany and France over how to tackle a wave of cheap exports.

uk.finance.yahoo.com

 

[JohnD]

Some European and American brand names will be found on vehicles sourced in China.

 

[ericmark]

We I suppose can return to other than the ICE

and there are still some of the old cars running.