DETROIT — Bill Ford smiled with a wide grin as he posed for a family photo with his four children at this year’s Detroit Auto Show.
Ford, the great grandson of Henry Ford, who started the Ford Motor Company (F) in 1903, had a lot to smile about at the show: not only the launch of two new products, but also the company’s various racing endeavors at this year’s Racing Season launch in Detroit.
Running a car company is a family affair for the Fords. In fact, it’s the only Big Three company that’s effectively family-run.
Three of Bill Ford’s four children work at the automaker. Will is general manager of Ford Racing, and younger son Ryan works in corporate strategy. His daughter Alexandra serves on the board of directors, the first woman in the family to have that distinction.
Bill has been on the board for nearly 40 years, serving as Ford executive chairman since 1999.
“One hundred and twenty three years, and we’re still a family business,” Ford said in an interview with Yahoo Finance. “I’m only the fourth family member to be at the top of the company. I’ve had every title: I’ve been president, I’ve been CEO, I’ve been chairman, I’ve been COO.”
But making cars in America is even more important to Ford than running the company as a family affair.
“Before anybody heard of tariffs, our competitors were moving their production elsewhere. But to me it was important that we remain centered here in America,” he said. “We paid a penalty for that; it costs us more, but in the end, it was the right thing to do.”
A bruising battle with the United Auto Workers (UAW) at the end of 2024 led to a landmark agreement, but it increased Ford’s labor costs. Ford assembles 80% of its vehicles sold in the US in America, higher than its competitors, and employs the most UAW workers.
“I’m very proud of that,” Ford said.
President Trump’s stated goal for his trade war is to bring back more US manufacturing. Though many economists and world leaders question Trump’s tactics and tariffs, they’ve resulted in more factory announcements for the US auto industry.
Tariffs on foreign parts and foreign-made cars — like the entry level Ford Maverick built in Mexico — are additional costs to bear for automakers like Ford, but Bill Ford believes the trade-off is worth it if it leads to more manufacturing in the US.
Read more: How Trump’s tariffs affect your money
“It’s really important … we were really in danger of losing our industrial base. Fortunately, over the last few years, both Republicans and Democrats have realized, ‘Wait, it is important,’” Ford said.
One of the aha moments for Bill Ford was during COVID, when Ford took on assembling respirators and ventilators at scale, boosting output dramatically to a few thousand a month.
“I think that people in government woke up and said, ‘My goodness, we can’t lose this,’” he said, which he felt led to a renewed interest in maintaining a strong manufacturing base.
President Biden also realized this was important and passed two major spending bills — the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act of 2021 and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022. The IRA, in particular, boosted US production of electric vehicles along with the needed components like batteries and other technology required for an EV transition.
While EV sales were growing thanks to the IRA’s generous $7,500 tax credit for EV purchases and leases, Trump’s rescinding of the tax credit in the One Big Beautiful Act (OBBA) in 2025 ended those big incentives.
Ford ended up taking a huge charge on its EV business, to the tune of $19.5 billion, while pivoting the business away from EVs. It’s rival GM (GM) took in a total $7.1 billion in charges related to its EV unit, with the potential for more to come in 2026.
“What happened with the EVs was the regulations got out ahead of the customer, and there was a mismatch, which is never good between where the regulations were pushing us, and where the customer was saying they wanted to go. We’re much more aligned now,” he said.
Ford and GM went all in on EVs, and are now backtracking and refocusing on building more gas-powered cars and trucks as well as hybrids. While both still make EVs, Ford in particular believes it still has the right formula in place with a cheaper universal EV platform coming up, one that doesn’t leave it out in the cold if EV sales pick up again.
Ford also believes the company’s international presence can help it stay more nimble, he said, with the ability to draw technology and insights from its various locations across the globe.
Ford has also sought help striking partnerships with Chinese partners, and rumored to be closing in on a hybrid battery deal with BYD. Ford was also the first to partner with Tesla (TSLA) on EV charging.
A new EV strategy, focus on hybrid power, and building in America are Bill Ford’s keys to success. But again, so is the focus on family and the future.
“I love it,” Ford said about all the roles he’s had at the company and his kids’ growing roles at the automaker that bears their name.
Pras Subramanian is Lead Auto Reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on X and on Instagram.
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