Ford to Stop US Exports of China-Made Lincoln Nautilus, Shift Production by 2030

Ford Motor will stop exporting the China-made Lincoln Nautilus to the United States, a decision linked to pressure from President Donald Trump. Ford said China remains a strategic market for the Lincoln brand, and after 2030 its Chinese plants will continue to build Lincoln models for the Chinese market and other export markets. The Lincoln Nautilus is produced at Changan Ford's Hangzhou plant and has been exported to the US since 2024, with about 35% of output sold to North America. US sales of the model reached 31,000 units in 2025, while sales in the first half of 2024 were nearly 18,000 units.

Currently, other China-made models sold in the US include the Buick Envision, Volvo S90, and Polestar 2. Ford had previously filed a waiver request with the US Commerce Department and, after consultations, confirmed the model could continue to be sold without a license. However, given policy uncertainty over long-term production in China, Ford decided to move production of some Lincoln models back to the US from 2030 to avoid a 52.5% tariff on Chinese imports.

Ford's global sales in 2025 were about 4.4 million vehicles, down nearly 2% year on year, and it was overtaken by China's BYD, which sold about 4.6 million. In the US market, Ford sold 2.2 million vehicles, the highest since 2019. In China, Ford's performance was weak, with sales of about 161,000 vehicles in 2025, down 87.3% from the peak of 1.27 million in 2016. Among them, Changan Ford's wholesale sales in 2025 were 121,500 units and retail sales were 99,400 units, a sharp decline from 247,000 units in 2024.