Ford held talks with China’s Xiaomi over EV partnership, FT reports

Jan 31 (Reuters) – Ford has held talks with electric-vehicle maker Xiaomi about forming a joint venture to manufacture EVs in the U.S., the Financial Times reported on Saturday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Reuters could not immediately verify the FT report, which Ford denied, calling it “completely false”. Both Ford and Xiaomi did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.

Some major U.S. automakers and lawmakers are concerned about Chinese government-backed automakers and battery manufacturers gaining entry to the United States to open manufacturing plants, arguing the industry’s future is at stake.

Earlier this week, the Republican chair of a U.S. House committee sent a letter to Ford CEO Jim Farley asking about the automaker’s plans to form a joint venture with Chinese automaker BYD, and warning about potential risks.

“China has already shown in recent months that it will weaponize the auto supply chain. This is a serious vulnerability and it would only get worse if Ford enters into a new partnership with BYD,” Representative John Moolenaar said in the letter sent on Wednesday.

Moolenaar also raised concerns about the automaker’s plans to build a $3 billion data center making batteries with technology from Chinese company CATL .

North American automakers have scaled back their costly EV push after struggling to keep pace with Chinese rivals, losing out on tax credits and pivoting toward cheaper models and hybrids instead.

Ford said in December last year it would take a $19.5 billion writedown and scrap several EV models.

(Reporting by Anusha Shah in Bengaluru; Editing by Nia Williams)