By Kelly Cloonan

Ford Motor's China business brought in $900 million in earnings before interest and taxes last year, the carmaker said at an industry summit after the Trump administration recently hiked tariffs on the country's exports to the U.S. and imposed new auto-related levies.

The Dearborn, Mich., company said Wednesday that the figure includes exports out of China to Southeast Asia and South America.

Vice Chair John Lawler, who transitioned out of the chief financial officer role in January, said Ford's partners in China have the lowest cost structure in the industry, and that the company is working with its partners to understand how to bring that structure to other regions.

He said China's agile approach has drastically cut the traditional amount of time it takes to develop new auto models.

"I think the number one thing that we're learning relative to them is one, we need to increase our development cadence, that's for sure," Lawler said during the BofA Securities Automotive Summit.

He added the company has established aims to bring a similar development process to its advanced electrical development center in California.

Lawler's comments come after the Trump administration's introduction of industry-specific levies of 25% on imported cars and certain auto parts, and also follow increased 145% tariffs on China.

Write to Kelly Cloonan at kelly.cloonan@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 16, 2025 12:08 ET (16:08 GMT)

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