Ford to Resume Michigan EV Battery Plant After Strike Delay, but Scales Back Plans

Recommendation: Initiate a lean restart this February with a high-impact workers package to protect the timeline and achieve the maximum utilization of assets while keeping flexibility for long-term goals.

Amid a prolonged stoppage, leadership shifts toward a phased ramp, preserving technological gains while controlling costs. The package dla workers remains targeted, with February as a backbone milestone and a plan that prioritizes zakup orders for key inputs. The scope aligns with a minimum cost footprint and a share of output allocated to strategic suppliers.

For minerals, the plan relies on ganfeng operations in jiangxi, with a filing outlining stock movements and a procurement cycle that spans a single month. marshall coordinates on-site maintenance, and the package includes critical components to accelerate the ramp. carlos, a shop supervisor, notes that workers started to return and that companys teams are coordinating to share data across the site inventory.

The expected outcomes center on a technological path that prioritizes cost discipline, high-quality yield, and a secure supply line. The leadership signals that other modules may be added later, depending on market demand and the pace of filings. Long-term planning envisions a larger share of capacity reserved for future inputs, with a focus on how to achieve stable margins and a robust zakup strategy. The timeline for milestones will be reassessed monthly to respond to labor and supplier conditions.

Ford and Battery Supply Strategy: Restart, LFP CTB, and Partnerships

Action item: initiate a rapid facility restart by locking cooperative, multi-source inputs for lithium-ion modules, prioritizing chile brine options, and signing long-term agreements with suppliers to reduce delayed exposure and strengthen bases toward a resilient platform.

Strategic focus: join forces with third-party partners across main markets to optimize resources and avoid slow cycles. Such cooperative partnerships secure matching outputs and build a robust e-transit and mustang-series platform for future growth, anchored in LFP CTB chemistry.

Operationally, implement a two-track approach: base-scale and modular expansion. First track anchors bases in low-cost regions; second track expands with high-grade, used alternatives where feasible, keeping the supply chain cooperative and transparent. This should push ranks toward the top solutions in the sector.

when tuesday discussions accelerate progress, above-mentioned moves prove the viability of matching resources with suppliers, ensuring seamless integration into the platform and strengthening the business case for such investments. chile, brine resources, and long-term partnerships will be central to the future of this effort.

Ford’s Michigan EV Battery Plant Restart and Supplier Strategy

Recommendation: establish a diversified supplier backbone and finalize a contract with a joint-venture partner to lock in battery-grade chemistry and critical minerals, enabling a controlled ramp at production bases.

Adopt a two-track supply architecture: a joint-venture with a mining partner to secure mineral streams and a chinas-based refiners alliance to guarantee battery-grade feedstock, reducing stock volatility across lake-region hubs and worlds markets.

Cost discipline and resilience hinge on long-term offtake terms with price collars, plus energy-efficiency clauses that protect margins as energy and logistics costs fluctuate. They should map the value chain from mining through chemistry to finished parts, ensuring reliability for mustang and other cars while supporting growing demand from global fleets.

In negotiations, elevate governance with caballero-led teams and establish clear milestones for part cadence, quality gates, and exchange-ready documentation. Whether currency moves or supply shocks occur, the framework must preserve scale and maintain predictable delivery to key bases.

Execution cadence targets a steady, data-driven ramp: initial volumes at a moderate level, followed by a stepwise increase over 8–12 weeks to reach sustained output across main production sites. This approach minimizes cost spikes while preserving quality and traceability of battery-grade materials.

Strategically, prioritize mining partnerships that can supply mineral inputs with high energy density, maintain transparent traceability, and support closed-loop recycling discussions. Add a joint-venture with a mining partner and a supplier exchange to diversify risk, ensuring stock availability for world markets and reinforcing the value proposition of vehicles ranging from mustang to larger models.

Operationally, anchor plans around a reliable lake-region ecosystem, leveraging nearby suppliers, testing laboratories, and logistics hubs. This structure reduces transit times, lowers inventory carrying costs, and aligns with a main objective to sustain continuous output even if market conditions shift across tesla benchmarks and competing brands in the world.

Restart timeline after the strike and planned scale-back of the Michigan plant

Recommendation: target a phased restart by October, with a solid, completed first phase and a clear target milestone.

Begin with a limited run of lines in the state facility, focusing on pickup of essential motor components and cars-related assemblies, while maintaining fully controlled process conditions.

Cooperate with groups in Seoul and china-based maker networks; posco and marshall are expected to support brine supply, exchange information, and align on an agreement that deepens collaboration.

The timeline should be based on earnings visibility and a year-long plan; track stock, state of supply, and laboratory testing, and leverage engineering to achieve future value for cars and service networks.

To deepen value, align with companys and groups across china and seoul to matching commitments and an agreement that coordinates brine handling, electrolyte chemistry quality, and solid match with the latest engineering standards by October.

The restart approach should be grounded in chemistry, engineering, and testing in the laboratory; ensure that groups across the companys and supplier networks can achieve the target while maintaining a solid, fully funded schedule.

CATL LFP packs based on CTP: implications for Ford’s pack mix and cost

Recommendation: prioritize a phased shift toward CATL LFP packs using CTP in mid-to market segments, starting with a pilot in the seoul region and the latest production cycles, under updated contracts with key supplier partners; the president should appoint marshall to lead the project and ensure readiness of their supplier network, so responsibilities are clear, and this aligns with companys broader tech strategy.

Rationale: the CTP approach reduces BOM and interconnect complexity, enabling a more stable cost curve at scale. For the same energy content, fewer cells would be used in a series-config, allowing the same architecture to be used across multiple platforms. when the ceremony of a contract signing occurs, it signals commitment to the above-mentioned strategy and anchors the contract with key players like kyo-won; the updated plan also opens a kyo-won-based supplier cluster and diversifies the supplier base.

Operational implications: based on latest market data, chinas supplier networks can open capacity in the next 12-18 months; seoul-area teams coordinate with the supplier groups to ensure readiness; their production lines can switch swiftly when open interfaces align with same performance metrics; companys procurement functions should also strengthen governance and contract compliance to ensure responsible sourcing across groups.

Follow-up: maintain governance with president-level oversight; track readiness metrics, including on-time deliveries from the supplier group, quality pass rates, and production yield trends to confirm the stability of the updated pack strategy.

Long-term power battery supplier criteria and selection timeline

Recommendation: establish a two-track sourcing program now: lock term-length arrangements with two verified storage-focused suppliers, and open a parallel market sweep to reduce risk from late-stage entrants. Target a 12–18 month cycle with clear decision gates and measurable milestones.

Governance note: executive sponsorship will anchor a mustang project cadence, with venture-style reviews and third-party validation; ganfeng-backed options and Australian candidates should be evaluated in parallel to broaden options. Reporters and internal истоочник inputs should be integrated into the due-diligence trail to ensure transparency.

Key qualification criteria:

• Financial resilience: three consecutive quarters of positive cash flow, strong liquidity cushion, credible credit metrics, and completed external audits; ensure companys flexibility for multi-year commitments.
• Technology alignment: chemistry compatibility, standard module interfaces, and BMS integration that matches existing controls; require latest qualification data and completed test reports.
• Capacity and facilities: multi-line production capability, regional distribution hubs, and robust backups; open access for audits of facilities and supply-chain resilience.
• Quality and reliability: robust quality management, traceability, rapid defect response, and comprehensive worker training programs; emphasis on workers safety and continuous improvement.
• Supply chain resilience: diversified sourcing for critical inputs, geographic diversification, and inventory strategies; prioritize Australian suppliers to reduce single-source risk.
• Commercial terms and cost control: price curves with volume-based reductions, flexible purchase terms, and transparent escalation; ensure pickup price signals and cost-to-serve clarity.
• Partnership and governance: formal long-term partnerships with joint development arms, quarterly reviews, and executive sponsorship; consider third-party co-funding options where feasible to accelerate action.
• Compliance and ethics: labor standards, supplier code of conduct, ESG reporting, and independent validation; истоочник inputs and field reporters should corroborate reputational risk indicators.

Timeline for selection and onboarding (12–18 months):

1. RFP release and market scan (weeks 0–4): issue scope, invite responses, and assemble a shortlist of potential providers; include input from reporters and истоочник data to filter for credibility.
2. Prequalification and initial diligence (weeks 5–8): financial health checks, capability demonstrations, and preliminary chemistry/design reviews; identify at least two strong candidates and document gap closure plans.
3. Facility visits and testing (weeks 9–14): on-site audits of facilities, process control, and batch-traceability systems; execute limited pilot purchases to validate performance against expected metrics.
4. Commercial negotiation and deal shaping (weeks 15–20): establish term lengths, price ladders, storage options, and logistics arrangements; draft LOIs and ensure alignment with pickup and delivery schedules.
5. Final selection and contract execution (weeks 21–28): select two or three finalists, sign definitive agreements, and lock in transition milestones; ensure third-party validations are incorporated.
6. Transition, ramp, and performance verification (weeks 29–52): implement initial supply, monitor KPIs, and complete performance verification against the project’s targets; complete a post-mortem to capture lessons for subsequent onboarding.

Milestones and risk controls to monitor ongoing:

• Escalation plans for supply disruptions, including alternative sourcing and inventory buffers; keep a live dashboard for storage levels and lead times.
• Regular risk reviews with the executive team; quarterly assessments of chemistry performance, lifecycle data, and long-cycle reliability indicators.
• Clear ownership for each supplier segment; assign a dedicated partnership manager and a third-party validator to ensure ongoing compliance.

Deepening Ford’s ternary battery collaboration with LG and SK On: milestones and deliverables

Recommendation: open a formal five-year roadmap with quarterly reviews, anchored by three pillars: chemistry optimization, scalable manufacturing interface, and supplier integration. Align incentives with LG and SK On under jointly defined IP boundaries and exit criteria.

Milestones and deliverables plan:

1. Initial alignment and engineering (Year 1): complete joint optimization of a ternary lithium-ion chemistry variant designed for high energy density and robust thermal management. Deliverables: validated chemistry variant, safety and performance data package, BMS compatibility plan; data sharing framework to support national markets; kyo-won will coordinate cross-supplier data exchanges; october target for the initial spec lock; site teams in america andjiangxi will verify cross-platform compatibility; caballero-led procurement oversight; mining-sourced lithium supply risk assessment incorporated.
2. Pilot-scale validation (Year 2): establish mid-to-scale demonstration at a dedicated site. Deliverables: pilot throughput metrics, module-level integration plan, storage and handling protocol, supplier roster including posco and related partners; visited engineering teams across america andjiangxi for hands-on validation; contingency plan addressing minerals via mining sources to storage facilities; open data exchanges maintained to accelerate decisions; tesla benchmarking inputs integrated into the package comparison.
3. Full-scale deployment (Year 3-5): extend across multiple national markets with a multi-site footprint. Deliverables: long-term supply contracts with LG, SK On, and key suppliers; mature lithium-ion pack design with standardized interface; three-tier verification of performance by independent labs; five-year field-performance program; comprehensive training package for line crews; maximum scale achievable while sustaining quality; third-party audits aligned with national regulations; ongoing investments to support the supply chain and site expansions.

Additional notes: ongoing governance will track open questions on supplier capability, cost-matching with markets, and alignment with non-linear demand shifts. The plan includes annual reviews in october windows and a mid-to long-term focus on america markets, with parallels injiangxi andinternational sites;保留 flexibility to adjust pace if mining supply fluctuations occur. Slow adoption scenarios are countered by parallel pilot deployments and a data-driven matching approach against leading players such as tesla.

SK On’s lithium hydroxide deal with SQM: impact on Ford’s supply chain

Recommendation: open a long-term, seoul-based group to join SQM and other producers under updated terms, ensuring five-year coverage with price protections, modular capacity, and staged ramp to avoid single-source dependency; noting february negotiations, starting talks, with a joint laboratory evaluation of hydroxide purity and storage readiness.

Impact: for the automaker’s supply chain, the arrangement stabilizes feedstock input, reducing price volatility and enabling cheaper batteries for the platform; the updated plan maps storage and motor-ready workflows across the lake region and china; this improves operating readiness and workers confidence; the chief vice president of procurement coordinates investments and schedules to keep the project on track.

Month-by-month milestones: by month three the initial price path and storage costs are reduced; the year-long timeline gains momentum as seoul-based contributors align with the cooperative; a photo from SQM accompanies shipments in the lake corridor, reinforcing confidence in the five-year road map with china links and initial operations.

Risks: governance across such a multi-country setup requires open reporting and clear project charter; noting potential policy shifts in china and currency moves, the plan relies on open sourcing agreements and parallel suppliers to maintain readiness; keep the laboratory testing in line with evolving hydroxide standards.