Jim FarleyCEO of a historic car company fordrevealed that they had made a discovery that prompted an emergency restructuring of the company. Ford’s electric vehicle (EV) division is 5 billion dollars But the executive was adamant that he had no intention of “giving the market to China.”
The CEO has sounded a stark “wake-up call” about the realities of electric vehicles after an exercise that shook the company’s foundations. Dismantling the Tesla Model 3 And a model from a Chinese manufacturer.
As reported business insiderFarley spoke about the “shattering” experience on an episode of his podcast.Office Hours: Business Edition”, Elon Musk admitted that the advantages of the manufacturer and China’s emerging giant prompted him to overhaul the company.
”When I put my first Tesla Model 3 aside and started disassembling Chinese cars, I felt very humiliated. When we dismantled them, we discovered a shocking fact.“Farley said it’s a common process in the auto industry. The CEO of smartphone maker turned EV maker Xiaomi revealed in September that his team acquired three Tesla Model Ys to study each component.”
Detroit executives pointed out that Ford’s Mustang Mach-E uses about a mile more electrical wiring than Tesla. This excess ingredient Add unnecessary weight to the vehiclethis requires a much larger and therefore more expensive battery, a reality that directly impacts the final price and efficiency.
Farley, who has led Ford since 2020, said he knew the company had to change fundamentally to compete with new rivals. business insider. In 2022, Ford split its electric vehicle business into a new division called Model E.
Despite this ambitious move, the Model E unit experienced: Losses will exceed $5 billion in 2024is expected to face a similar impact this year. However, Farley defended the decision.
“We knew it was going to be tough on the business side,” he said on the podcast, adding that he believes it’s important for Ford’s EV business to be accountable to investors. “My ethics are to tackle the most difficult problems as quickly as possible, and sometimes in public, because that way you can solve them faster,” he explained.
The urgency of change has a name and a name: the Chinese giant. Mr. Farley has regularly warned that Chinese electric vehicle makers pose an existential threat to Ford and other Western manufacturers.
CEO described Chinese cars as ‘much better’ in June And last month, he claimed that brands like BYD “completely dominate” the global electric vehicle industry.
According to , about 50% of new car sales in China are electric models, while in the United States the figure is about 10%. business insider. Chinese manufacturers outperformed most of their Western rivals. high tech electric modelbut affordable.
Farley confessed that he drove a Xiaomi electric sedan for six months last year but “didn’t want to hand it over.”
“Electric vehicles are exploding in China,” Farley said, noting that the Chinese government is “focusing on economic scale” in favor of electric vehicles. “If you want to be a global company, not just in the U.S., you can’t move away from EVs. We have no intention of handing it over to the Chinese.” he concluded.
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