05/02/2026

BIZ & FINANCE THURSDAY | FEB 5, 2026

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DETROIT: Ford and China’s Geely are in discussions about a potential partnership, eight people with knowledge of the ongoing talks said, as the world’s carmakers look to share heavier technology and manufacturing costs. The companies are in talks to have Geely use Ford factory space in Europe to produce vehicles for the region, three people familiar with the matter said. They also have discussed the potential framework for shared vehicle technologies, including for automated driving, according to two different people with knowledge of the talks. The talks centered on European manufacturing are more advanced, two people said. Ford sent a delegation to China this week to intensify discussions, which followed meetings last week in Michigan between senior Geely executives and Ford leaders, some of the people said. Talks between Geely and Ford have been underway for months, said five of the sources, who declined to be named because the discussions are private and ongoing. Reuters could not determine the full scope of the talks or if they would result in a

Ford and Geely to explore production, technology tie-up

introduced provisional tariffs of up to 37.6% on imported Chinese EVs, warning of a potential flood of unfairly subsidised vehicles. Ford’s plant in Valencia, Spain, would most likely be the factory involved in these talks, a person familiar with the matter said. Several Chinese carmakers have made moves to set up production in Europe. Vehicles from Chinese automaker Leapmotor will be built at a Stellantis plant in Spain as part of a joint venture. Suppliers are also striking similar agreements, with China’s Guangzhou Automobile Group and Xpeng building an electric model at a Magna International facility in Austria. Geely has partnered with Renault in South Korea and Brazil to jointly produce and sell cars built on Geely technologies using the French automaker’s factories and sales network. The strategy appears to be paying off, as Renault-branded car sales outside Europe rose 11% in 2025 from a year earlier, compared with a 0.6% decline in 2024. Farley has also been outspoken about the need for partnerships and the automaker recently forged an EV production deal in Europe with Renault. A commercial tie-up with Geely for vehicles or technology earmarked for the US would likely face scrutiny from American lawmakers, who previously slammed Ford’s decision to license EV battery technologies from Chinese battery maker CATL for a plant in Michigan. With proposed rules drafted

“In addition to the dedicated flight test fleet, some production airplanes will support testing that does not require flight-test unique equipment and instrumentation,“ a Boeing spokesman said. The company declined to comment on plans for the specific aircraft or the document. Lufthansa ordered the plane, a 777-9, in 2013, the year Boeing launched the 777X, according to aviation data analytics firm Cirium. The 777X is the successor to both the 747 and 777, two of Boeing’s most successful jets, and complements the smaller 787 Dreamliner. Together, they make up Boeing’s widebody products for long-haul travel. The US company long dominated that market, but it has faced increasingly tough competition from European rival Airbus. Last week, Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg disclosed a potential new issue with the 777X’s engines made by GE Aerospace. However, it is not expected to change the company’s plan to deliver the first 777X next year. under the Biden administration, the US Department of Commerce banned using communication technology and services from China and other “adversary” countries in connected vehicles sold and used in the US due to “national security” concerns. The Trump administration recently pushed out Elizabeth “Liz” Cannon, a Commerce Department official whose office led the effort to bar Chinese cars and technologies from the US market, Reuters reported in January. Those rules remain in place and the Trump administration so far has not signaled that it intends to modify them. Trump last month reiterated that he would welcome a Chinese automaker that wants to build cars on US soil if it brought investment and jobs. Geely Auto, which includes the Zeekr and Lynk & Co brands, posted a 39% jump in sales in 2025 to just over 3 million vehicles. Including other affiliate brands like Volvo Cars and Lotus, Geely is the second-largest Chinese automaker behind BYD . Under founder Li Shufu, Geely has also been an active dealmaker in seeking out foreign partners. Geely bought Volvo from Ford in 2010 for US$1.8 billion (RM7 billion). Last week, the Financial Times reported that Ford and Xiaomi held talks over a partnership that would have allowed Xiaomi to manufacture EVs in the US, citing people familiar with the matter. Ford and Xiaomi have both said the report was inaccurate.

o Potential partnership could help US carmaker close gap in autonomy and connected-vehicle tech

deal, including for the US market. Geely declined to comment. Ford said: “We have discussions with lots of companies all the time on a variety of topics. Sometimes they materialise, sometimes they don’t.” Chinese automakers have effectively been shut out of the US market because of tariffs and restrictions imposed during the Biden administration, which cited national security risks from data collection and vehicle software. Any

The US itself indicated to the WTO last December that it considers the principle “unsuitable for this era”, particularly given “some countries’ unwillingness to pursue and uphold fair, market-oriented competition” and “insistence on maintaining economic systems that are fundamentally incompatible with WTO principles”. Olberg believes the US position on MFN is “a game-changer”. “I think the US is fed up, and quite a few others are also quite fed up,“ he said. “We cannot go on like this.” Olberg stressed that the goal in Yaounde was not to finalise reforms, but to establish a work programme, with objectives and deadlines. “Right now, I think the prospects that we actually will get this plan are quite good,“ he said. He highlighted that most agreements within the WTO system function well and bring huge benefits to members, including the US. Things like customs valuation procedures and intellectual property agreements may not be “super sexy”, he said, but they are “very important to doing business”. deal to bring advanced Chinese vehicle technology to the US market would likely draw scrutiny from the Trump administration and some lawmakers. A deal could help Ford in its race to catch up with global competitors in areas like connected-vehicle technology and autonomy, a priority for Tesla and a major focus for Chinese automakers. Ford CEO Jim Farley has been vocal about the need for his company to close a competitive gap with China. In an interview at the Aspen Ideas Festival last year, Farley called China’s global lead in electric vehicles and connected-vehicle technology “the most humbling thing I have ever seen.” He also responded to questions about whether US President Donald Trump would nix a potential joint venture between Ford and a Chinese automaker. “I don’t think so,” Farley said. “I think as long as it has the right guardrails and we think about it the right way, no, I’ve found openness throughout the government to do this, because I think they know it’s required.” Manufacturing some cars using Ford’s European factory space would likely help Geely avoid the European Union’s tariffs on China-made electric vehicles. In 2024, the EU

Discussions between Ford and Geely include the possible use of Ford’s European factory space to produce vehicles for the region, sources said. – UNSPLASH PIX

WTO must ‘reform or die’: talks facilitator GENEVA: Successfully reforming the WTO is a matter of life and death for the organisation, warns the facilitator of talks on revamping the global trade body. extend any trade advantage granted to one trading partner to all others, in a bid to avoid discrimination.

Boeing plans first flight of production 777X in April

the end of January. The WTO was created in 1995 but is based on a trading system established shortly after the end of World War II. The need for a revamp has been discussed for years, and was formally recognised by the organisation’s 2022 ministerial conference. But the discussions have intensified significantly since Trump returned to power, snubbing agreed trade rules and wielding giant tariffs against foes and friends alike. “Everyone realises there’s a sense of urgency that wasn’t there before,“ Olberg said. “This time... we have to do it.” The tariff issue, he stressed, “is not the whole story, but it certainly contributes to this sense of urgency”. “Many, if not all countries are affected by this, small or big.” At the World Economic Forum in Davos last month, WTO chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala pointed out that the trade agreements announced by the Trump administration have not been notified to the WTO, as required to ensure they conform with the organisation’s rules. This has raised concern that the deals could potentially violate the WTO’s so-called “most-favoured nation” (MFN) principle, which aims to

EVERETT: Boeing plans the first flight of a production 777X in April, a company document seen by Reuters shows, an important signal of progress for the planemaker’s long-delayed new jet, which is slated for first delivery next year. The company is conducting fuel tests on the 777X ordered by Lufthansa at Paine Field in Everett, Washington, where it assembles the mini-jumbo, ahead of engine tests later this month, according to the document. The plane was seen at one of Boeing’s fuel docks at Paine Field by a Reuters reporter on Tuesday. Boeing has taken US$15 billion (RM59 billion) in charges on the development programme, which is six years behind schedule. The 777X test plane fleet has logged more flight hours than any other Boeing programme, but the planemaker is still trying to get the Federal Aviation Administration to certify the aircraft. Certification requirements include testing using a production airplane configured as if ready for delivery.

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) regulates large swathes of global trade but is handicapped by a rule requiring full consensus among members, and a dispute settlement system crippled by the US. Reform will be at the heart of the WTO’s ministerial meeting in Cameroon next month. The Geneva-based organisation faced structural and geopolitical obstacles long before US President Donald Trump returned to the White House last year, dramatically ratcheting up global trade tensions. “We need to reform,“ Norway’s ambassador to the WTO Petter Olberg told AFP in a recent interview. Olberg said he was preparing a “reform work plan, which we will ask (trade ministers) to endorse” in Yaounde during the March 26-29 meeting. Many of the WTO’s 166 members agree with Olberg on the importance of significantly overhauling the organisation. “The WTO is at a critical and, in fact, an existential juncture,“ he warned at