Ford Motor has decided to terminate plans to launch electric vehicle joint ventures with China`s Zotye Automobile, the U.S. auto giant said on Thursday.

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It said that China`s electric vehicle industry and government policies had undergone major changes since the agreements were signed in 2017 and 2018, prompting Ford`s decision. Ford didn`t specify which changes triggered its move.

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Last week, Ford said its China joint venture with Chongqing Changan Automobile Co would start making all-electric Mustang Mach-E vehicles.

In a statement on Thursday, Ford said it would pursue a more "flexible business model in China" that would see it utilise its existing operations in the country and elsewhere, and build related business centres.

Zotye did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In 2017, during a visit by former U.S. President Donald Trump to China, Ford and Zotye said that they would invest a combined $756 million to set up a 50-50 joint venture in China to build small electric passenger vehicles.

A year later, the two companies said they had signed a memorandum of understanding for another venture that would make electric vehicles for ride-hailing fleets.

EV makers from home-grown Nio Inc to U.S. leader Tesla Inc have been expanding manufacturing capacity in the world`s largest auto market, where the government is heavily promoting greener vehicles as a means of reducing chronic air pollution.

Sales of electric, plug-in hybrid and hydrogen-powered vehicles in China are forecast to rise to 20% of new car sales by 2025 from just 5% now, the State Council said in November.

(Reporting by Yilei Sun and Brenda Goh; Editing by Tom Hogue and Kenneth Maxwell)

 

 

The story has been taken from a news agency