Ford teams up with Geely — and a new baby Bronco is coming to Europe
Ford building cars with a Chinese giant, in Spain, including a small Bronco for Europe. Not a sentence anyone would have written five years ago — and now it’s the plan.
Announced on 23 July, the deal creates a Europe-focused joint venture at Ford’s Valencia plant: two-thirds owned by Ford, one-third by Geely — the group behind Volvo, Polestar and Lotus — with production planned from 2028, pending regulatory approval.
What’s actually being built
Five vehicles are slated for Valencia. On the Ford side: a new Kuga plug-in hybrid, an all-new “multi-energy” crossover (industry-speak for a model engineered to take petrol-hybrid or electric power as demand dictates), and — the headline — a rugged compact SUV joining the global Bronco family. Alongside them, two electric SUVs for Geely’s brands.
For UK buyers the baby Bronco is the one to watch. Having spent years watching customers walk past worthy hatchbacks to reach anything with chunky cladding and a rugged badge, I can tell you a compact Bronco aimed at Europe is aimed squarely at the heart of the market. And after a spell in which Ford has thinned out its traditional European range, it signals a genuine counter-attack — with the Kuga, long one of Britain’s favourite family SUVs, carrying on as a plug-in hybrid.
Why Ford needs this
The subtext is competition. Chinese groups are winning European sales at pace, and rather than fight that tide alone, Ford is sharing a factory with it — keeping Valencia busy, spreading development costs, and getting quicker access to electrified platforms. Whether purists love the idea or not, it follows a well-worn path: plenty of the cars on British driveways are already built on shared platforms in joint-venture plants.
What it means if you’re buying
Nothing changes on the forecourt until 2028, so nobody should postpone a purchase for a press release. Today’s used Ford picks remain exactly as sensible as they were last week — go in with our guide to common Ford problems and check any candidate car’s MOT history before committing.
Longer term, more electrified models from big-name brands is good news for choice — and for the used-EV bargain hunter, since today’s new metal is tomorrow’s discounted second-hand buy. When the Valencia cars land in 2028, the buying rules will be the ones that never change: history checked, finance cleared, paperwork straight.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Ford–Geely joint venture?
A Europe-focused partnership announced on 23 July 2026, owned two-thirds by Ford and one-third by Geely, to build vehicles at Ford's Valencia plant in Spain. It is subject to regulatory approval, with production planned from 2028.
What cars will Ford and Geely build together?
Five vehicles are planned at Valencia — three Fords, including a Kuga plug-in hybrid, an all-new multi-energy crossover and a rugged compact SUV joining the global Bronco family, plus two electric SUVs for Geely brands.
Who owns Geely?
Geely is the Chinese automotive group whose brands and stakes include Volvo, Polestar and Lotus among others — one of the fastest-growing forces in the global car industry.