China's Methanol Truck Fleet Thrives as Policy Keeps Niche Fuel Alive

China’s methanol-fuel trucks, now led by Geely, have grown into a large commercial fleet after a 1990s Ford partnership collapsed, illustrating the power of sustained policy support for niche technologies.

In 1995 Ford partnered with China’s State Science and Technology Commission to develop methanol-flexible-fuel vehicles, but the effort was abandoned by 1998 as U.S. market conditions soured. Meanwhile, provincial governments in coal-rich regions continued to promote methanol, and Geely spent the next two decades addressing corrosion, cold-start and durability challenges. Its Farizon subsidiary now manufactures more than 10,000 methanol-powered trucks and buses each year, delivering power comparable to diesel while cutting running costs by 20-40 percent and reducing emissions.

China’s industrial strategy has allowed multiple clean-transport pathways—battery EVs, fuel cells, plug-in hybrids and methanol—to develop in parallel, with the 2024 green-transition policy and the 15th Five-Year Plan explicitly supporting methanol infrastructure. The article also notes a 2024 Ford-Geely joint venture at Ford’s Valencia plant, set to produce multi-energy and electric models for Europe, highlighting a role reversal and potential technology transfer. Overall, the case demonstrates how coordinated, long-term policy can revive niche fuels into commercially viable solutions.