Ford CEO says biggest rival is China, not GM or Toyota
Ford CEO Jim Farley says China is its biggest competitor in the electric vehicle market as it looks to compete with the likes of BYD, Geely, SAIC Motor and Great Wall Motor.
Speaking at the recent Morgan Stanley Sustainable Finance Summit conference, Mr Farley expressed concern that Chinese brands could take global market share while continuing to launch “new competitive products”.
“They produce 70 percent of the world’s electric vehicles in China, 70. And the winners are BYD, Geely, Changan, SAIC, Great Wall,” Mr. Farley said.
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“To beat them you either have to have very different brands, which we think you have, or you have to beat them on costs. But how can you beat them on cost when their circumference is five times yours? So I don’t know.
“The Chinese will be the powerhouse I think, we think. So I think we see the Chinese as the main competitors, not GM or Toyota.
“The Europeans let them in. Now they sell in bulk in Europe. We have a decision to make here in the US.”
The CEO seemed confident that his company understands what a customer is looking for.
He said customers would be happy to forego a larger battery, which costs more small battery that can be charged faster.
“Our industry is obsessed with big batteries because customers are afraid of range anxiety and we believe the solution isn’t actually a big battery. “It’s the smallest possible battery for a competitive range,” he said.
To remain present alongside Chinese brands on a global scale, Farley said the brand could try to use battery technology more creatively.
“I think that’s really important. And I don’t think the competitors have understood that yet,” he said.
Mr Farley says the next generation of his electronic products will be “radically different” and is expected in the next two years.
It seems Ford is struggling to produce vehicles with inexpensive batteries alongside emerging Chinese brands.
Manufacturing batteries from raw materials within the US is the cheapest option, but it is very hard to come by due to the limited number of processing plants.
“Well, the problem is that lithium is super abundant. The problem is that it takes 12 to 15 years to get a permit,” he said.
“To actually get it out of the ground and then process it, there aren’t any processing facilities in North America other than Tesla’s Corpus Christi site.”
Ford is expanding its range of electric vehicles with electric versions of the puma And Transit Custom coming in 2024. Both have been confirmed for Australia.
Ford also recently announced that it is preparing for this Introduction of an electric three-row An SUV with a range of 563km seen alongside the next generation electric car.
Both are scheduled to go into production in 2025.
Work is underway on Ford’s new Blue Oval City mega-campus in Tennessee, which is set to produce electric vehicles by 2025.
Once operational, the new facility will be able to produce 500,000 electric pickup trucks annually — more than triple the current projected annual rate for the F-150 Lightning.
Ford has already confirmed that it will launch two new EV architectures, one for use in full-size pickup trucks.
