Ford in Talks to Use BYD Batteries Abroad, Triggering Backlash

Ford Motor Co. is in talks with China’s BYD Co. about potentially supplying batteries for hybrid vehicles to the American automaker’s overseas factories, according to people familiar with the negotiations, drawing political pushback in the US.

BYD, the world’s top seller of electric vehicles, is among several battery suppliers Ford is talking to, said the people, who asked not to be identified revealing internal discussions. No deal is imminent, they said.

The discussions are aimed at supplying Ford’s international factories with batteries for the automaker’s expanding line of hybrids, the people said.

The hybrids built in Ford’s overseas factories would ...