Ford CEO Jim Farley has been driving a Chinese EV over the past six months, calling it “fantastic.” After flying the Xiaomi Speed Ultra 7 (SU7) from Shanghai to Chicago, Farley doesn’t want to give it up.
It’s no secret that China is dominating the EV industry, aside from Tesla. Farley recently sounded the alarm, calling Chinese EV makers an “existential threat” to the industry.
Ford’s CEO was shocked after visiting China earlier this year. Farley warned rivals that if they fail to keep up with the Chinese, “then 20% to 30% of your revenue is at risk.”
“As the CEO of a company that had trouble competing with the Japanese and the South Koreans, we have to fix this problem,” Farley explained at a conference in February.
Farley praised Chinese EVs, calling BYD’s cheapest electric car, the Seagull, “pretty damn good.” Starting at under $10,000 (69,800 yuan), BYD’s Seagull has topped the sales charts in China over the past few months. BYD sold nearly 43,500 Seagull models in China last month alone.
Ford CEO test drives Chinese EV for six months
Now, Ford’s CEO is testing another Chinese EV. On the Fully Charged Podcast Monday, Farley said he’s been driving Xiaomi’s first self-developed electric car, the SU7, and “doesn’t want to give it up.”
Although everyone has been talking about the Apple Car, which is now canceled, Xiaomi’s car is on the road today, and “it’s fantastic,” according to Farley.
Ford flew a Xiaomi SU7 model from Shanghai to Chicago. After driving it for six months, Ford’s CEO “doesn’t want to give it up.”
Farley called Xiaomi an “industry juggernaut,” claiming it’s “a consumer brand that’s much stronger than car companies.”
The company sells “10,000, 20,000 a month. They’re sold out for six months,” Farley said on the podcast.
Ford’s leader later added that the company shifted to smaller, more affordable EVs after realizing “the institution of Ford would have a really tough time competing with BYD.”
The company “needed a ground-up team” to compete. Ford has a “skunkworks” team filled with former Tesla, Rivian, Lucid, and Apple talent developing what’s promised to be one of the most efficient EV platforms.
Farley said his badge doesn’t even work at the facility, adding, “That’s how extreme of an approach we needed to compete against BYD.”
Even rivals like Volkswagen, with its MEB platform, are still partnering with Chinese OEMs “because they couldn’t do it,” Farley explained.