Alibaba, Ford seek retail opportunities

BEIJING/SHANGHAI: Alibaba Group Holding Ltd has signed a deal with Ford Motor Co to explore cooperation in areas such as cloud computing, connectivity and retail which could involve the sale of Ford cars on Alibaba’s online retail platform Tmall. Alibaba in a statement on Thursday said digital marketing-focused Alimama and operating system firm AliOS would be among subsidiaries working with Ford under the 3-year pact. One avenue under consideration is the sale of Ford cars on Tmall, an Alibaba spokeswoman said. Reuters on Wednesday reported that Ford was planning to sign such a deal as it overhauls its China strategy to stimulate growth. — Reuters