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    Jim Farley Warns Europe It’s Selling Its Future To Chinese Carmakers

    12 hours ago

    by Brad Anderson Jim Farley wants EV rules aligned with real customer demand. Ford’s CEO says Europe’s EV share has stalled at 16 percent. Farley warns Chinese brands could soon dominate the market. Not long after carmakers caught a break from former US President Donald Trump, who relaxed stringent fuel economy standards, Ford chief executive Jim Farley has written an op-ed urging the European Union to adopt more pragmatic EV targets. Without them, he warns, the region could be swallowed up by fast-moving Chinese entrants. Read: Ford’s Jim Farley Was “Shocked” After Tearing Down Chinese And Tesla EVs In a Financial Times op-ed, Farley accuses European policymakers of crafting unrealistic regulations, only to revise them late in the year, creating what he calls a “recipe for turmoil.” Ford’s CEO argues this approach costs automakers billions in investment by interrupting the “complex cycle of product design, engineering, and supply chains.” A New Approach is Needed While speaking in the White House last week, Farley noted that Biden-era policies were unreasonable and not in line with consumer demand. He’s drawn a direct comparison to the situation in Europe, pointing out that EV market share across the EU has stalled at around 16 percent, well short of Brussels’ 25 percent goal for 2025. “The approach to regulation – mandate it and they will buy it – has failed,” he writes. “We must align carbon targets with actual market adoption and provide automakers with a realistic and reliable 10-year horizon. This includes giving consumers the option to drive hybrid vehicles for longer, bridging the gap rather than forcing a leap to EVs they aren’t ready to take.” Farley also notes that Europe’s automakers have already poured hundreds of billions into electrification. In return, he believes governments need to step up with serious purchase incentives and support for charging infrastructure that goes well beyond affluent urban neighborhoods. China Looms Large The Blue Oval’s boss isn’t just concerned with government policy. He’s also keeping a close eye on the momentum of Chinese automakers. With massive overcapacity and a strong foothold in battery tech, China is now in a position to flood the European market. Over the past year alone, Chinese EV brands have doubled their market share in the region. “EU vehicle production is now 3mn units below pre-Covid levels,” Farley notes. “Plants are going dark. In 2024 alone, 90,000 jobs in the automotive industry evaporated. These are the kinds of jobs that sustain European social stability”. This isn’t a hypothetical threat. Farley argues that a combination of subsidized Chinese EVs and rigid carbon mandates could upend the local industry faster than policymakers anticipate. “To be clear, the industry is not asking for a bailout,” he adds. “We are not asking for protectionism to shield inefficiency. At Ford, we will continue to do the hard work of restructuring. We have closed legacy facilities, reduced our workforce and slimmed down costs to become more agile….But if Europe wants to avoid becoming a museum of 20th-century manufacturing, we need an urgent reset and a long-term plan.” “This is not a transition,” he warns. “It’s more like a wind-down of Europe’s automotive industry.” Without immediate course correction, Farley argues, Europe’s industrial backbone could slip into long-term decline.
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