Ford to Start Building Electric Mustangs in China

For the first time, Ford is to begin constructing its famous Mustang cars in China.

As it aims to tap into China's electric vehicle (EV) market, the US carmaker said its Mustang Mach-E will begin producing there later this year, reports BBC.

Tesla began delivering its Model Y to Chinese customers from its Shanghai factory earlier this month.

Western brands are aggressively targeting China, where EV sales are expected to grow strongly.

Volkswagen said the delivery of vehicles built at two newly established Chinese factories dedicated to electric cars will soon begin.

With more than 20m vehicles sold per year, China is the world's largest car market.

On Thursday, on the back of a strong turnaround in the global car market led by China, Germany's Daimler reported strong company results for 2020.

Daimler boss Ola Källenius hailed the company's rebound in China as almost "too good to be true".

Ford is also hoping to capitalise on China's economic recovery and the drive for more electric cars on its roads by the Chinese government.

A sports utility vehicle (SUV), seen as an opportunity to reverse years of slow sales in China and communicate with customers by manufacturing them locally, is the new electric-powered Mustang.

Mustang sports cars have so far only been available in China as costly imports.

Ford launched its first made-in-China Lincoln vehicles in March last year, but the brand remains a minor player in the Chinese market compared with its premium rivals.

In 2019, it launched "Ford China 2.0," a strategy that promised more products tailored to local tastes.

Back to the Future

A large cash infusion from a Chinese carmaker Geely and a group of state-owned companies was given to California-based electric carmaker Faraday Future on Thursday.

Faraday Future (FF) was created and touted as the next Tesla by failed Chinese tycoon Jia Yueting.

Around 30 institutional investors from China, US and Europe are investing $1bn (£730m) in the carmaker, with plans to publicly list its shares.

The venture will finance the manufacture of the FF91, an electric luxury car that was originally unveiled in 2017.

In 2019, founder Jia Yueting filed for personal bankruptcy and stepped down as Faraday's chief executive, named after Michael Faraday, the British scientist who discovered electromagnetism.