On December 9, 2025, two of the world’s most recognizable carmakers—France’s Renault and America’s Ford—unveiled a new partnership that could reshape the European electric vehicle (EV) landscape. Their plan? To jointly develop small, affordable EVs and commercial vans, aiming to fend off the mounting threat posed by fast-growing Chinese automakers and to regain lost ground in a fiercely competitive market.
Ford CEO Jim Farley did not mince words as he addressed reporters in Paris the day before the announcement. "We know we're in a fight for our lives in our industry," Farley said, according to Reuters. "There is no better example than here in Europe." His candor reflected the urgency felt by legacy automakers as Chinese brands like BYD, Changan, and Xpeng rapidly expand their reach across the continent, offering well-reviewed electric cars at prices Western manufacturers have struggled to match.
Under the new partnership, the first of two planned compact electric vehicles—designed by Ford but built at Renault’s Douai plant in northern France—is scheduled to hit European showrooms in 2028. These cars will be smaller than any EVs Ford currently plans for the U.S. market, filling a notable gap in the company’s European lineup. The Douai plant, already home to the popular Renault 5 EV, is set to become the production hub for these models, leveraging Renault’s Ampere electric car blueprint as the foundation while Ford supplies the design and branding expertise.
The collaboration extends beyond passenger cars. Both automakers will co-develop Renault- and Ford-branded commercial vans for Europe, a segment where both companies see an opportunity to create what Farley called "a powerhouse of LCV [light commercial vehicles] in Europe that would be very difficult for the Chinese to compete with." While Chinese van brands have yet to make significant inroads into Europe, Farley emphasized that the competition is already fierce in emerging markets. "We compete with them directly every day," he said.
Renault CEO François Provost echoed Farley’s urgency, warning that Chinese competition was only going to intensify. "The Chinese will come soon, and that's why I don't want to wait," Provost said. He also stressed that the partnership is not a merger, a sentiment both leaders made clear after the Renault team’s visit to Ford’s Detroit headquarters in March 2025. Instead, the arrangement is a strategic alliance meant to combine strengths, share costs, and accelerate innovation in a rapidly evolving market.
Europe’s carmakers have found themselves squeezed between strict carbon emissions mandates and a flood of affordable, state-subsidized imports from China. Farley, writing in the Financial Times earlier this week, criticized what he described as "the world’s most aggressive carbon mandates" in Europe, arguing that local manufacturers were being forced to adapt at breakneck speed even as Chinese competitors benefit from significant state support.
Ford’s challenges in Europe are well documented. The company’s share of the European passenger car market has shrunk from 6.1% in 2019 to just 3.3% in the first ten months of 2025, according to Reuters. In response, Ford has scaled back its passenger vehicle sales, cut thousands of jobs—including 4,000 last year with 800 in the UK—and shuttered its Saarlouis plant in Germany. The company has also trimmed production plans for new EV models such as the Explorer and Capri, citing weak economic conditions and lower-than-expected demand for electric cars.
Meanwhile, Ford faces a double financial burden at home. The withdrawal of EV incentives under U.S. President Donald Trump has forced the company to continue investing in both traditional combustion-engine models and costly new electric vehicle technologies. By leveraging Renault’s EV platforms and manufacturing capacity, Ford hopes to reduce costs and sharpen its competitive edge in Europe, where the battle for consumers is only heating up.
For Renault, the partnership comes at a pivotal moment. As Europe’s smallest mainstream automaker and with no presence in the world’s two largest car markets—China and the U.S.—the French company has been actively seeking alliances to maximize factory utilization and share the heavy costs of EV development. Renault has already partnered with Nissan and Volvo Group on van projects, and will produce two vehicles in Brazil in 2026 using platforms from China’s Geely. Talks are also underway with Chery, another Chinese automaker, to explore further joint ventures.
Renault had once planned to spin off its Ampere unit as a separate company dedicated to electric car technology, but shelved those plans last year after investor interest waned. Now, the company is doubling down on strategic cooperation. "Our ambition ... is to show that in Europe we can produce EV cars in Europe as competitively as anyone, including the Chinese," Provost declared. He added, "In the long term, combining our strengths with Ford will make us more innovative and more responsive in a fast-changing European automotive market."
Ford’s new collaboration with Renault will complement its existing partnership with Volkswagen, under which it already produces two EV models and a range of vans in Europe. This multi-pronged approach reflects the pragmatic cooperation increasingly necessary for traditional automakers to survive, let alone thrive, in a market upended by new entrants and shifting consumer expectations. As Oddo-BHF analyst Michael Foundoukidis noted in a client briefing, the Renault-Ford deal offers "a capital-efficient route to market for affordable EVs" and underscores the "growing necessity for pragmatic cooperation between traditional automakers to counter lower-cost Chinese competition."
While the Renault-Ford partnership was the headline of the week, the automotive sector saw other significant changes. On Tuesday, BMW announced the retirement of Oliver Zipse as chair of its management board, with Milan Nedeljković set to take over in May 2026. BMW, too, has faced the challenge of Chinese competition, though it has managed to outperform some of its German peers.
As the dust settles on this latest announcement, the message from Europe’s car industry is clear: adapt or risk obsolescence. The coming years will test whether alliances like that of Renault and Ford can truly deliver the innovation, scale, and cost efficiencies needed to withstand the onslaught from China’s EV juggernauts. For now, at least, the race is on—and no one is waiting for the starting gun.
