Ford CEO Jim Farley has spoken out about his love for Chinese electric cars. It was a year ago when the Blue Oval boss told the crowd that he drove a Xiaomi SU7 – and that he loved it. A few months ago, Farley said he found China’s auto industry “demeaning.” Now his words become even worse.
In an interview this week with CBS Sunday morningthe CEO of Ford compared today’s Chinese auto industry to that of Japan in the 1980s, but ‘on steroids’. According to Farley:
‘They have enough [production] capacity in China with existing factories to serve the entire North American market has put us all out of business. Japan has never had that, so this is a whole different level of risk for our industry.”
Farley then admitted that the Chinese cars made today are cars that Americans would love to buy, calling the SU7 he drives “high quality” with a “great digital experience.” He still drives them, he said, because Chinese EVs are the “competition, and to beat them, you have to know them.”
This has led Farley to make changes within Ford, leading the company to build smaller, cheaper electric vehicles. Earlier this year, the automaker announced it would introduce a new production system so it could build a $30,000 electric pickup before expanding its portfolio.
It’s a big gamble for the automaker, but Ford is making a direct response to the Chinese auto industry, despite the US subjecting electric cars from that country to a 100 percent rate. While the tariffs effectively ban cheap Chinese EVs from entering the US market, Ford sells the Mustang Mach-E in China and wants to be competitive.
Farley said earlier this year that Chinese EVs do “superior in-car technology” and that automakers are “competing with China globally, and it’s not just EVs. And if we lose this, we have no future with Ford.”
Source:
CBS Sunday morning
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