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Ford’s boss says the company is once again betting on American manufacturing.
The Chinese-made Lincoln Nautilus currently faces a 52.5 percent US tariff.
Rules restricting Chinese software and hardware also influenced Ford’s decision.
The Lincoln brand is about to get a lot more American. Ford says that starting in 2030, it will boost US production of Lincoln models and stop importing its best-seller, the Nautilus SUV, from China . The company frames the move as a vote of confidence in building at home.
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Ford hasn’t spelled out the specifics of its domestic plans, but it currently assembles two models in China, the Nautilus that ships to the US, and the domestic-market Z sedan, previously known as the Zephyr and based on the local Ford Mondeo, which it doesn’t export here.
Coming from China since 2024, the Nautilus gets hit with a steep 52.5 percent tariff on the way in. That hasn’t stopped it from being the brand’s best seller this year, with 20,050 units delivered through July , a slim figure next to other popular Ford SUVs like the Explorer, which moved 145,829 in the same period.
Interestingly, it’s not just tariffs that have prompted Ford’s decision. Speaking about the move, Ford chief executive Jim Farley noted the current Connected Vehicle Rule, banning certain Chinese technologies and hardware, had also influenced the shift.
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Read: Lincoln’s Best-Selling SUV Could Be Banned In America
Ford has been requesting authorization from the US Commerce Department to continue selling vehicles that could have been restricted under this legislation, noting that while the software of the Nautilus was developed in the US, it is installed in China. However, recent discussions with the US Commerce Department revealed that in the case of the Lincoln Nautilus, authorization is not needed to keep selling it locally, Reuters understands.
Betting On America
“Lincoln is a quintessentially American brand, and Ford is America’s automaker,” Farley said. “This wasn’t necessarily the easiest path. In fact, it’s a path most of our competitors aren’t choosing to take. But Ford builds in America because we believe in America, and we’re betting on that belief again.”
Lincoln also currently builds the Z , created alongside local joint venture partner Changan, in China. There’s no word on whether this model will continue to be produced beyond 2030 or if, as part of Ford’s re-commitment to the United States, it will be scrapped.
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China’s Lincoln Z
Ford’s commitment to make the shift starting in 2030 is also telling. By that time, President Trump’s second term in office will have come and gone, and there could be an all-new administration in power, potentially with radically different policies and perhaps backing away from the current tariff regime. Ford may have set this date to give it the flexibility to change plans if policies also change.
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