GM, Ford chiefs open to EV partnerships to compete with China

(Reuters) -- The chief executives of U.S. automakers Ford Motor and General Motors said on Thursday they would consider partnerships to cut electric vehicle technology costs as Chinese rivals move into the U.S. and European markets.

"If there's ways that we can partner with others, especially on technologies that are not consumer-facing, and be more efficient with R&D as well as capital, we're all in," GM CEO Mary Barra told investors at a conference sponsored by Wolfe Research.

Ford CEO Jim Farley opened the door to collaboration with other automakers to cut EV battery costs during a separate presentation at the conference earlier on Thursday.

The Detroit companies and other Western automakers are under increasing pressure from BYD and other low-cost Chinese electric vehicle makers that are accelerating exports of vehicles to Europe, Latin America and Southeast Asia. BYD is considering building an assembly plant in Mexico that could be a base to ship EVs to the United States, Nikkei reported earlier this week.

"If you cannot compete fair and square with the Chinese around the world, then 20% to 30% of your revenue is at risk" over the next several years, Farley said.

Ford has projected it will lose $5 billion to $5.5 billion on its EVs this year. The company has launched a dedicated "skunk works" team -- separated from the company's main engineering operations -- to design a small, low-cost EV that could compete with BYD's Seagull model, the CEO said. Ford is also evaluating its battery strategy.

"We can start having a competitive battery situation. We can go to common cylindrical cells that could add a lot of leverage to our purchasing capability," Farley said. "Maybe we should do [this] with another OEM [automaker]."

BYD can