- Ford may let Chinese cars be built at its European factory.
- Shared production would help Chinese brands dodge tariffs.
- Valencia plant is likely site for the reported factory deal.
Ford and Geely sliding into a European production partnership sounds like the start of a clash of cultures Hollywood buddy comedy. One side has factory space and rising costs, the other has fresh tech and a tariff problem. Put them together and suddenly Valencia, Spain, might become the auto industry’s most unexpected apartment share.
The reported talks center on Geely building cars inside Ford’s European facilities, with Valencia, Spain looking the most likely address. That matters because cars built inside the European Union neatly sidestep the hefty tariffs slapped on Chinese made electric vehicles (which will soon be replaced by strict minimum prices set by regulators).
Related: Renault’s Biggest Model Yet Is High-End, And Secretly A Geely
Instead of paying extra at the border, Geely could just clock in at a Ford plant and start churning out its cars from there ready to be shipped a short distance to hungry European buyers, Reuters reports. One in 10 cars sold in the region is now made by a Chinese brand.
For Ford, which currently makes only the Kuga (Escape) in Valencia, but plans to add a Euro Bronco SUV by 2027, this is less about improving international relations and more about keeping the lights on.
European production volumes have been shrinking, and idle capacity is the corporate equivalent of a treadmill used as a coat rack. Filling those lines with Geely models could boost utilization and spread costs across more vehicles.
ADAS in Return
But this is not a one-sided favor. Geely is rumored to be handing over some of its assisted driving know-how to Ford in return. Chinese automakers have been moving at hyperspeed with driver assistance systems, and Ford’s leadership has been unusually open about how quickly that gap widened. Access to ready-made tech could save years of development.
There is also some history here. Geely owns Volvo, which Ford famously sold to the Chinese years ago, so the two companies are not exactly strangers. But there’s no hard intel suggesting Volvos would be build in Spain (the EX30 is already made in Belgium). Car News China predicts that Geely’s own EX5 electric SUV (pictured below) is a strong candidate for a Valencia residency.
Geely has Form
Geely, which has already forged similar sub-letting deals with Renault in South Korea and Brazil, Auto News reports, is far from the only Chinese brand looking to set up shop in Europe. BYD opens a plant in Hungary this year, and MG is currently searching for a European site.
Nothing is official yet, but if this Ford-Geely deal happens, it could be a blueprint for how legacy Western automakers and fast rising Chinese players learn to cooperate while also competing.
