JAKARTA – Ford Motor Company has confirmed that it has no plans to build electric vehicles in the United States with Xiaomi. This refutes reports that the partnership could potentially pave the way for Chinese carmakers to gain a foothold in the US.
The issue came to light after a report by the Financial Times at the end of last week claimed Ford had been in discussions with Xiaomi. This is related to the possibility of a joint venture to produce electric vehicles in the US, citing four sources who knew the talks.
Reported by Electrek, Tuesday, February 3, Xiaomi immediately denied the news. The Chinese technology company stated that the report was completely untrue, and confirmed that they did not sell their products and services in the United States.
“The report on the joint venture with Ford Motor Company is completely wrong. Xiaomi does not sell its products and services in the United States and is not negotiating with any company to do so,” said Xiaomi’s statement.
Meanwhile, Ford also gave a strong rebuttal. The Dearborn-based automaker said the news of the cooperation with Xiaomi was completely wrong.
This rumor was also linked to a report by The Wall Street Journal last month that said Ford was negotiating with BYD to import batteries for hybrid vehicles to be sold outside the US. However, Ford was said to have held talks with BYD and other Chinese car manufacturers regarding partnership opportunities in the US.
Responding to the issue, US Congressman John Moolenaar told the FT that Ford would ignore its American partners and allies, and would make our country more dependent on China.
On the other hand, Ford is currently on track to begin production of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries at its new $3.5 billion plant in Michigan this year. The facility will use technology licensed from CATL.
The factory will later supply batteries for Ford’s low-cost Universal EV Platform-based vehicles. Where, it will be started with a medium-sized electric pickup truck with a price tag of around 30,000 US dollars or equivalent to Rp503 million.
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