Ford CEO says taking apart Tesla and Chinese EVs was ‘shocking’ and pushed him to shake up the automaker
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Breaking down Tesla and Chinese electric vehicles was a wake-up call for Ford’s CEO.
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Jim Farley said on the “Office Hours: Business Edition” podcast that this encouraged him to overhaul the automaker.
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The rapid rise of electric vehicle companies in China means Ford cannot afford to “move away from electric vehicles,” Farley said.
Ford’s CEO delivers EV wake-up call after separating cars from Tesla and rivals in China.
I’m talking about the next chapter “Office Hours: Business Edition” Jim Farley says Elon Musk’s “shocking” realization of how far ahead the automaker and EV startups in China are is pushing him to overhaul the company.
“I was very humbled when we took apart the first Model 3 Tesla and started taking apart Chinese vehicles. What we found when we took them apart was shocking,” Farley told host Monica Langley. Business Insider obtained a copy of the full podcast interview, which will be released Wednesday.
Ford’s Mustang Mach-E has about a mile more electrical wiring than the Tesla, which adds extra weight to the vehicle and requires a much larger and more expensive battery, the Detroit executive said.
Taking rival vehicles apart is a common practice in the automotive industry. The CEO of Xiaomi, a smartphone maker-turned-EV startup, said in September that his team bought three Tesla Model Ys and I took them apart to examine each component.
Farley, who has been managing Ford since 2020, said that the devastations convinced him that the company needed to change to adapt to new competitors.
Farley splits Ford’s EV operations into a new division in 2022 It was called Model E. Division lost more than 5 billion dollars It is expected to happen in 2024 facing a similar blow this year, but Farley said he doesn’t regret the move.
“I knew this was going to be brutal from a business perspective,” he said on the podcast, adding that he thought it was important for Ford’s EV operations to be accountable to investors.
“My idea is to tackle the hardest problems as quickly as possible, and sometimes do it publicly, because that way you solve them faster,” Farley said.
Farley has regularly warned that China’s EV giants pose an existential threat to Ford and other Western automakers.
In June, China described its EVs as: “very superior” He told his Western counterparts and last month that Chinese brands were: BYD was “totally dominant” global EV landscape.
Around 50% of new car sales In China it is electric, while in the US it is about 10%.
Chinese automakers have surpassed many of their Western rivals by offering a range of high-tech electric models with affordable price tags, and many are now expanding abroad. rapidly gaining market share in Europe and emerging markets.
