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Ford CEO Jim Hackett reportedly confirmed that the new Mustang Mach-E we’ve been talking about all day may need to be manufactured in China. Since this is our third article on the vehicle, we’re immensely sorry and promise to keep this relatively short.
On Monday, Bloomberg quoted Hackett as saying the Mach-E will have to figure out a way around the trade war between the United States and China. “We need to determine whether the tariffs are settled. And it would be great [if they were],” Hackett said following the EV’s launch in Los Angeles. “We have a plan to build there if we have to.”
While yours truly absolutely despises the Mock-E for usurping the lineage of Ford’s most-famous bloodline, he can also acknowledge the models’s obvious strengths. It’s the physical manifestation of every trend the industry has been advancing over the last few years. Huge central screen? Check. Perpetually connected to the internet? Check. Large SUV that’s also battery powered? Check. Claiming that’s somehow energy efficient? Check. Unnecessarily tying a new model to some aspect of the manufacturers history? Sigh, check.
Most folks are letting wealthier people take the first leap with these types of vehicles — curious to see if trends dissipate and give way to something more interesting than a cellphone on wheels. North American tastes are fickle, but usually boil down to a good bargain. We want more of everything for less green. However, every region has its own unique tastes and the People’s Republic seems to be the most hungry for tech. They’re also unlikely to care one whit about the model’s biggest offense.
In the United States, Mustangs are considered an official member of many households (sometimes for generations). Modifying it so … aggressively … is tantamount to surgically attaching more legs to the family dog. Many won’t accept it, even if you actually end up building a better pooch/car in the end. China has no such ties to the model, and I think their take on dogs is currently evolving and pretty complex. But the point is, they’re unlikely to have weird feelings about the Mach-E and will be more inclined to be interested in what it offers.
From Bloomberg:
In an earlier interview with Bloomberg TV, Hackett said he believed there would be good demand for the car in China. “I’m smiling because China has got a mandate for electrification, so the Mach-E has a role in that,” he said.
Ford plans to import the Mustang Mach-E to China but hasn’t indicated when sales in the world’s biggest EV market will begin.
While Ford is building the Mach-E in Mexico, Hackett said the company employs more workers in the U.S. than its competitors. President Donald Trump, who has criticized American firms for manufacturing overseas, said in August that U.S. companies should look for alternatives to China. But many continue to expand operations there, including Tesla Inc., which has built a Gigafactory on the outskirts of Shanghai in a matter of months.
Truth be told, Ford’s warping of its longstanding electric crossover project into the next Mustang II was probably a wise move. Love or hate it, the Mach-E will be hotly debated and given additional attention for months — whereas a generic-looking EV probably would have stayed mostly beneath the public’s radar and been forgotten overnight.
U.S. and Europe are supposed to see the Mach-E drop next fall, but China has remained a question mark. Hackett told Bloomberg he wants to be sure everything goes flawlessly in Western markets before tackling China. The original article on Ford’s CEO has vanished (presumably temporarily) but echoes of it persist elsewhere online. Slightly mysterious!
Our premonition? Blue Oval will probably need to give this monstrosity its own assembly line in Asia unless the trade war magically ends within the next twelve months.
[Image: Ford Motor Co.]
No need to apologize. I’m not interested in any electric car, let alone a SUV one. So I’ll just keep scrolling by. I just posted this because I’m not ready to work on my next little project.
Thanks for letting us know. Make sure you keep us all updated on the things you’re not interested in.
Red and blue – shouldn’t it be Red and Yellow?
It has nothing to do with Spain.
Also, does Chevy counter with the Camaro IROC-E?
Berlinett-E
Good one.
powered by the Iron Duk-E
Beat me to it by one freakin’ minute. Fate is cruel.
Berlinett-E…powered by the Electric Duke.
Or Iron Nuke in countries that rely more on nuclear power.
They trademarked “Corvette E-Ray”. Can’t wait for that one.
If it is a retro Third Gen with Van Halen doing the soundtracks for the ads, take my money.
What is the problem? I thought this was going to be made in Mexico anyway.
So what does a USA/China trade spat have to do with Mexico/China trade?
Well, apparently nothing serves as a proper spleen-venting like “electric Mustang” and “made in China.”
I have zero problem with them making this car in China for their domestic market. But I think Ford made a mistake making in Mexico for this market.
Well they had to shoot themselves in the leg _somehow_! No self-respecting big three auto exec can make a car without at least one major turn-off for buyers.
They almost made the Mustang Mach-E a beige FWD compliance car, but since they instead turned course and made it a great-looking, well-performing crossover that’s really desirable the had to do something unbelievably stupid to kill peoples’ desire for the car just for _maybe_ a bit of cost savings. A big three company isn’t a big three company if it doesn’t significantly sabotage its products with a few cents’ savings.
I’m still missing why a crossover would have just five inches of ground clearance. Because that’s what Healey posted this Mach-E has. A crossover with the ground clearance of a VW Golf R is just another useless AWD vehicle.
Thanks Ford for making my choice easier!! One less car to chose from.
Mach-E sounds too close to “Mocking.” Given the quality issues they’ve had recently with the Explorer, the Mach-E may end up getting Mocked when it breaks down.
My father had a pejorative for Jewish people that sounded like that. I’m from Brooklyn, so I don’t know how wide spread that was. So, for that reason, it doesn’t hit me right.
It’s already coming in for plenty of MACH-ery.
> Blue Oval will probably need to give this monstrosity its own assembly line
Ford F150 is a monstrosity. This new EV is a wonderful family hatchback.
So then it would be called the “Mocked E”.
I think you’re misunderstanding the situation, Matt. Either that, or you’re intentionally implying the car could be manufactured in China and shipped to the US, which doesn’t appear to be what Hackett is saying at all. A more appropriate headline would read: “Red and Blue: Ford Considers Building and Selling Mach-E in China”.
As I understand it, North America will be supplied by the factory in Mexico. If Ford builds the car in China as well, they’ll be doing so because there’s a cost advantage to assemble China market cars there rather than ship them from Mexico. But hey, misleading headline or not, you got another opportunity to rail against this “monstrosity”.
Apparently someone slept in and missed the lecture on journalistic objectivity.
What I’m wondering is if Ford will take as much heat for building the Mach-E in Mexico as GM did with the Blazer.
I’m sure they will – especially from Trump. I certainly would have in the past, but considering how poorly the launch of the Explorer has gone, it’s probably the right decision from a quality and cost standpoint.
Doubtful, since they didn’t do that after closing- sorry, “de-allocating”- three plants in the US like a certain other automaker did.
Why would Ford attach the iconic Mustang name to this POS?
They’ll build it in China if they “have to?”
In what circumstance would they “have to”?
If Chinese tariffs enacted in retaliation for Trump’s tariffs make it impossible to sell copies built in North America at a profitable price.
This is a warning to the Trump administration about tariffs, nothing more, nothing less.
Blah-blah-blah. Actual buyers do not give a sh!t about all what is said in this thread. Be realistic. Even I do not know where my car is built and honestly do not care. It will be sold exactly because it is RWD, called Mustang and is similar to Tesla.
I dont drive or ever own a Mustang however this is a bad strategy. The perfect name would have been something else from the past like. Ford Probe or Contour, both decent cars in their day but gone.
Maybe it really doesn’t matter what the name is. It will either sell or it will not. Decent enough looking and it looks enough like a Mustang so maybe the name will work. We will know a year or so after this is released.
How about calling it the Ford E-dsel?
So did Ford just write a check for a single amount with the expectation you’d fit in the Mach-Emasculate as much as you could, or do you get paid by the reference?
Chinese cars would likely be for Chinese consumption. I believe this is being built at the Fiesta/Focus plant in Mexico so if Ford is tapping out production there then frankly this thing is a hit on a level nobody saw coming and your ICE car is an endangered species.
With respect to Mexico, does Ford have any US plants that don’t have product? It was my impression they are building something at all of them. GM had space and still moved the Blazer to Mexico. I don’t see that here.
Ford just destroyed the Mustang brand. Electric cars are just a fad. When everyone finds out what the limitations of an electric vehicle are they will not be driving them for very long. I can just imagine what the resale values are for a used electric.