Ford: Trump administration 'listens to us'

Is Ford worried about the economic fallout from the US Federal Government’s hard line on imported vehicle tariffs and other controversial policy changes?

With the company priding itself as the ‘most American carmaker in the world’, is the threat of consumer retaliation against US vehicles keeping senior management up at night?

According to Ford Motor Company Executive Chairman, William Clay Ford Jr., the family-run vehicle manufacturer is large enough and important enough to have the ear of the Trump Administration.

“Well, first of all, we have the largest American footprint of any OEM (original equipment manufacturer),” he told journalists at Ford Australia’s 100^th anniversary celebration in Melbourne earlier this month.

“And so, you know, that puts us in pretty good shape, actually, relative to many others.

“But I keep reminding our management team of this: we've been around 122 years. And in 122 years, around the world, we have gone through every kind of political regime, every kind of economic bit of turmoil… great depressions, recessions… and we've always come out of it in great shape.

“It seems like, and I was just saying to my employees today – and you know, I'm not counting what (is going on) – I've been through nine major crises in my career, and each time it felt like it was existential, and each time we emerge from it and carry on and go to new heights.

“I think this will take some adjusting to for sure, as I say that, you know, the fact that we have the largest American footprint, we employ the most Americans, we make the most vehicles in America, really, you know, puts us in pretty good shape.”

That said, Ford’s most senior executive acknowledges that some deft diplomatic manoeuvrability would be prudent in today’s ever-shifting geopolitical climate.

“We’re still working through all the implications of this, because, as you can imagine, this has tails well into our supply chain all around the world, and so there's still kind of a TBD (to be determined) for us on some of the finer points, but we're going to work very closely with the administration.

“You know, the good news is we have a large voice in America, in an American industry. The administration listens to us, and we'll work with them as this gets clarified.”

The Ford CEO’s reaction came the day after Tesla released data showing that its global sales for the first quarter of 2025 slid some 13 per cent year-on-year.

This seems to support reports stating that consumers are recoiling from that brand due to its CEO Elon Musk’s political machinations in the US.

In the first three months of this year in Australia, Tesla sales plummeted by 59.7 per cent year-on year, although the company’s best-seller – the Model Y – had been in runout leading up to that point, so supply may have been affected.

According to data from S&P Global Mobility released in May last year, Ford is “the number one American automaker in terms of vehicles assembled, vehicles exported from America to other countries and hourly workers employed” – and that’s for the sixth year in succession.