Ford pins hopes on localization to drive turnaround

US carmaker to put greater focus on Chinese market

Ford Motor Co is to further localize its China operations as part of its efforts to seek a turnaround in the world's largest automotive market.

As a result of the overall slowdown in the market and its own product cycles, the second largest carmaker in the United States has experienced some sales difficulties over the past two years.

"All carmakers need to respond to the overall circumstances. For Ford, to be more local will bring about greater results," said Anning Chen, who is now in the fifth month of his tenure as president and CEO of Ford China and also vice-president of Ford.

The appointment was actually a comeback for Chen, a 25-year auto industry veteran with extensive expertise in leading transformation, who started his career in 1992 at Ford and spent 17 years with the company before returning to China in 2009.

"Faced with low or even zero growth, what we need to change first is how to meet the challenges in terms of market, customers and business," said Chen in a recent review with China Daily.

Ford's changes are already underway. Late last year, it moved China up in its business strategy to the level of North America, and Ford China was made a stand-alone business unit that directly reports to the global headquarters in Michigan.

Ford said it expected the move would accelerate the reorganization of its business in China, which is one of the largest markets for the carmaker.

"Since I came last year, I have started to build a complete, competitive and effective business chain. Ford must have business capabilities in China that are in line with the global level," Chen said.

"In fact, we strive to make Ford more competitive in China than it is globally, because China has a huge market and is faster in terms of smart mobility and new energy vehicles."

Sitting at the core of a carmaker's competitiveness is its products. Ford announced late last year that it will launch more than 50 new models in China by 2025, including eight SUVs and 15 electrified vehicles under the Ford and Lincoln brands.

"It is not that Ford did not have a rich lineup of products, but we were slow to introduce them into the market. Faced with rapid changes in China, Ford models were not renewed fast enough to offer features in need. Those were the major problems of the past few years."

The carmaker is on track to change that situation. Last week, it announced plans to begin deploying cellular vehicle-to-everything, or C-V2X, technology in its vehicles in China starting from 2021.

The technology will not be introduced into Ford cars in the US until a year later.

C-V2X technology can help make roads safer by enabling vehicles to "talk" and "listen" to each other, pedestrians, cyclists and traffic lights, and it also supports the development of autonomous driving.

Ford started the latest round of tests in March this year, in which it is testing a C-V2X-based driver-assist technology combined with Multi-access Edge Computing technology.

Chen said the technology deployment is key to Ford's "In China, For China" strategy.

"With China's fast 5G development, and our own rapid progress in C-V2X, we are working at China speed to equip our vehicles with C-V2X technology. Ford customers in China will be the first to receive the benefits of this smart technology, which will help make local streets safer and less congested."

Ford is also introducing connectivity into its current models in China.

Chen said all new cars from Ford and its premium arm Lincoln will feature connectivity functions starting from later this year.

Last year, it introduced the Co-Pilot driving assist functions for its Focus model, and starting from this year many other models will sport the functions as well, he added.

Ford has also worked out a plan for Lincoln's operations in China as well.

"We will localize a number of models to expand the base of the brand while maintaining its position and reputation as a premium brand as in the United States," Chen said.

Lincoln will roll out its first China-made model later this year, with another two models to join the localized lineup by 2021, according to the brand's website.

Lincoln had a hard time in China last year, with flagging car demand and extra tariffs on vehicles from the US because of trade tensions.

It managed, however, to secure a 2 percent growth year-on-year, with around 55,000 vehicles delivered to Chinese customers. "2019 will be proven crucial for Lincoln, in which it will continue to implement the 'China First, Customer First' strategy, so as to lay a foundation for the long-term development," Chen said.