Category: Tesla

China Electric eMobility eV Ford Industry News Mustang Mach-E Tesla

Ford scaling back ambitions for Mustang Mach-E in China amid poor sales

Post author By Phate Zhang/CnEVPost
Post date June 8, 2023

The Mustang Mach-E team will be integrated back into Ford China and the separate entity running the project will be written off in the future, according to local media.

(Image credit: Ford Mustang Mach-E Weibo)

Ford once had high hopes for the Mustang Mach-E's performance in China and set up a separate entity to run the line.

Now, after a long period of weak sales, the US auto giant is reportedly scaling back its ambitions for the program.

Ford China is recently undergoing an organizational restructuring that will see the Mustang Mach-E team integrated back into Ford China and the separate entity that runs the program written off in the future, local media outlet Jiemian said today, citing several sources familiar with the matter.

The organizational restructuring will involve more than 2,000 employees and is expected to be completed in July, according to the report.

Because Mustang Mach-E sales are so poor, the separate company will have trouble taking on losses for long, a person familiar with the matter said.

The integration of the team does not mean the Mustang Mach-E will be withdrawn from China, and the model will continue to be produced by Changan Ford, Ford's joint venture in China, according to the report.

Ford launched the Mustang Mach-E in China in April 2021, with the first deliveries coming on December 26 of the same year.

Zhu Jiang, then head of the program, joined Ford China in June 2020 and was responsible for Mach-E-related operations and management of marketing, PR, sales, service and customer experience.

Zhu joined NIO as vice president of user development in March 2017 and left in March 2020.

In November 2021, Zhu left Ford to join Jidu Auto, Baidu's car-building arm, and earlier today, Jiemian reported that Zhu had left Jidu to join Lucid Motors.

Ford had high hopes for the Mustang Mach-E, setting up a company called Ford Electric Mach Technologies, or FMeT for short, in September 2022.

It was the first independent company in the Chinese market to be established by a foreign auto brand with a deep focus on the development and operation of smart electric vehicles to fully accelerate electrification and intelligence development, Ford said at the time.

Ford will build on its strong R&D capabilities to create products that meet the needs of Chinese consumers, it said.

But Mustang Mach-E sales in China have been weak, well below those of China's major electric vehicle startups.

Mustang Mach-E sales peaked at 1,535 units last December and then declined, selling just 332 units in April, less than a fraction of rival Tesla's Model Y, Jiemian's report said.

Notably, last December's sales peak appears to have been driven by incentives introduced by Ford.

On October 24, 2022, Tesla lowered the prices of the entire Model 3 and Model Y lineup in China, with the entry-level, rear-wheel-drive Model Y's subsidized starting price dropping to RMB 288,900 ($40,610), down from the previous 316,900.

A few days later, on October 31, Ford announced a price cut for the entire Mustang Mach-E lineup in China, with the subsidized starting price dropping from RMB 275,900 to RMB 249,900.

China's purchase subsidies for NEVs expired at the end of 2022 and had not been renewed.

($1 = RMB 7.1140)

Ford offers up to $5,740 discount on Mustang Mach-E in China

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Tags Jidu, NIO, Tesla

BYD China Electric Electric cars eMobility eV Geely Quick News Sales Tesla Wuling

Top 10 best-selling EVs in Q1 2023, Tesla occupied the top 2, and BYD got five seats.

Post author By Qian Jin
Post date June 8, 2023

Among the top 10 best-selling EVs, Tesla accounted for 2 and BYD 5. It is worth noting that in addition to Tesla, the other 8 vehicles are all from Chinese companies.

The post Top 10 best-selling EVs in Q1 2023, Tesla occupied the top 2, and BYD got five seats. appeared first on CarNewsChina.com.

China Electric eMobility eV EV Data Industry News Quarterly Data Tesla

China contributes 56% of global EV sales in Q1, Counterpoint says

Post author By Lei Kang/CnEVPost
Post date June 8, 2023

The US overtook Germany as the world's second-largest EV market in the first quarter, while China remained in the lead, Counterpoint said.

(Image credit: CnEVPost)

In the first quarter, the US overtook Germany as the world's second-largest electric vehicle (EV) market, while China still holds the lead, market research firm Counterpoint Research said in a report yesterday.

Global passenger EV sales grew 32 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, with one in seven vehicles sold in the quarter being electric, the report said.

Global EV sales were largely driven by China with 56 percent of total EV sales in the first quarter coming from this market, said Abhik Mukherjee, a research analyst at Counterpoint.

In China, while overall passenger vehicle sales fell 12 percent in the first quarter, EV sales rose a remarkable 29 percent year-on-year, the report said.

The removal of subsidies for NEV purchases in China led to lower-than-expected EV sales in January.

Tesla cut prices on its models globally in January, and then other car brands announced similar price cuts on their models starting in February, which led to improved sales of EVs, the report said.

During the February-March period, nearly 40 automakers, including BYD, NIO, XPeng, Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Honda and Toyota, cut the prices of their vehicles by hundreds to tens of thousands of dollars, which eventually stoked a competitive price war in China, the report noted.

Initially, it was thought that the price war would soon be over and the automakers would benefit from increased sales. However, as the price war continues to stretch, several Chinese automakers have reported reduced earnings or even losses, according to the report.

Globally, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) accounted for 73 percent of all EV sales in the first quarter, while plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) made up the rest.

The top 10 EV models accounted for 37 percent of total passenger EV sales in the first quarter, with Tesla's Model Y remaining the world's best-selling model, followed by Tesla's Model 3 and BYD's Song, Counterpoint said.

In the first quarter, Tesla's Model Y became the world's best-selling passenger car model, even surpassing traditional fuel cars, according to the report.

By the end of 2023, global EV sales are expected to exceed 14.5 million units, said Soumen Mandal, senior analyst at Counterpoint, adding that US EV sales are expected to grow significantly this year with the implementation of the tax credit subsidy.

China NEV retail up 10.5% MoM to 580,000 in May, CPCA data show

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Tags BYD, NIO, Tesla, XPeng

China Electric eMobility eV Tesla

Tesla asks Chinese suppliers to build plants in Mexico, report says

Post author By Phate Zhang/CnEVPost
Post date June 8, 2023

Tesla is asking several Chinese supply chain companies to build factories in Mexico in order to replicate a Giga Shanghai and its supply chain system there, according to local media.

(Image: Tesla China video screenshot)

China's well-established electric vehicle (EV) industry chain is one of the key factors in Tesla's success in the country. Now, the US EV maker is reportedly looking to replicate it in Mexico.

Tesla is asking several Chinese supply chain companies to build factories in Mexico to replicate a Giga Shanghai and its supply chain system there, local media outlet 36kr reported today.

Tesla's pace is urgent and suppliers could lose orders amounting to hundreds of millions of yuan if they don't respond in time, the report said, citing a person familiar with the matter.

On March 1, Tesla unveiled plans to build a factory in Mexico for the production of next-generation cars at an Investor Day event.

Mexican Foreign Ministry officials had said the plant would invest more than $5 billion and have a planned capacity of 1 million vehicles.

Some of Tesla's suppliers in China have announced plans to build factories in Mexico since the beginning of this year.

Ningbo Xusheng Group said in late March that it would build a production base in Mexico, with a total investment of no more than $276 million. Late May, the construction of the project was officially launched in Mexico's Coahuila state.

If all goes well, the plant will be ready for production in July or August next year, 36kr said, citing a source close to the project.

According to the report, a number of Chinese manufacturers of production line equipment have already set up offices in Mexico to take charge of design, after-sales support and other business aspects.

Mexico is now a hotbed of investment, many customers are coming over, and there are even supply chain companies bringing production line workers to Mexico to build factories, the report quoted a Tesla supplier source as saying.

Low labor costs, and industrial chain support are Mexico's advantages. However, there are supply chain sources said that Mexico is not as mature as the European and American markets, social and geopolitical risks are relatively high, the report noted.

On July 18 last year, Bloomberg reported that Chinese power battery giant CATL was considering building a manufacturing plant in at least two locations in Mexico, possibly to supply Tesla and Ford.

The CATL sites would help Mexico cement its role in the region's electric vehicle production, which has long been a major part of the auto industry's supply chain, the Bloomberg report noted.

Tesla's revamped Model 3 nears final trial production in Shanghai, report says

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Tags CATL, Tesla

China Electric eMobility eV Industry News Lucid Lucid Team Tesla

Lucid prepares for China entry, hires ex-NIO, Ford exec Zhu Jiang

Post author By Lei Kang/CnEVPost
Post date June 8, 2023

Zhu Jiang, a former executive at NIO, Ford and Jidu Auto, has joined Lucid to head up its China operations, and he said Lucid is starting to prepare for its entry into the country.

(Image credit: Lucid Motors)

US electric vehicle (EV) startup Lucid Motors (NASDAQ: LCID) has hired an auto industry veteran in China, as it began hiring for a slew of positions late last year.

Zhu Jiang, who previously served in executive roles at NIO (NYSE: NIO), Ford (NYSE: F) and Jidu Auto, the car-making arm of Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU), has joined Lucid to head up its China operations, local media outlet Jiemian reported on June 7.

Lucid is just starting to prepare for its entry into the Chinese market, Zhu told the outlet.

Since April, Zhu has been sharing information about Lucid in the status of his personal WeChat account, according to the report.

Lucid said on May 31 that it was raising about $3 billion through a new stock offering, most of which came from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), which controls it.

The financing is aimed at allowing Lucid to accelerate bringing state-of-the-art EV technology and product experiences to users across the industry and around the world, and China is looking forward to it, Zhu said recently, according to Jiemian.

Zhu is a Chinese automotive industry veteran who joined BMW Brilliance in 2003 to head marketing activities and served as Mini brand director from November 2008 to 2012.

He left BMW to join Lexus in 2013 and helped the automaker achieve its first 100,000-vehicle annual sales in China in 2016.

Zhu joined NIO in 2017 as vice president of user development.

He left NIO in the first half of 2020 and joined Ford China on June 1, 2020, as chief operating officer of the EV business unit.

During his time at Ford, he led the team through the production and launch of Ford's first all-electric vehicle, the Mustang Mach-E, in China.

In November 2021, Zhu joined Jidu as vice president and head of user development and operations. Jidu was officially launched on March 2, 2021 and the first model has been unveiled but has not yet hit the market.

Lucid was co-founded in 2007 by Bernard Tse, former vice president and director of Tesla, and Sam Weng, a former Oracle executive. In December 2016, Lucid's first production car, the Lucid Air, was launched.

Lucid is targeting the high-end luxury EV market, with the Lucid Air starting at a current price of $87,400.

In July 2021, Lucid went public on NASDAQ through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) and currently has a market cap of $14.5 billion.

In November 2021, Lucid said in its first earnings report after listing that it planned to enter the Chinese market in 2023.

The company's CEO, Peter Rawlinson, said in a CNBC interview at the time that Lucid will build a factory in China by "mid-decade".

In December 2022, Lucid's website opened up 14 jobs in China, all of them in Shanghai, in areas including hardware engineering, supply chain, retail, logistics, digital, and legal.

Three of the 14 jobs were related to localization, implying that Lucid was launching preparations to enter China at that time.