Ford CEO Jim Farley and Tesla CEO Elon Musk have long shared a cozy relationship on Twitter, where the two have complemented each other on numerous occasions. However, at the end of the day, these are still two automakers competing against each other in the burgeoning EV market, a fact that Farley is well aware of. It’s also no secret that Tesla has some pretty passionate fans, one of whom recently called the Ford CEO out on Twitter after Farley congratulated Musk for winning Time‘s 2021 Person of the Year.
Elon says: “Our intent with Tesla was always that we would serve as an example to the car industry…”
Mission accomplished. Congrats, @ElonMusk. https://t.co/0r5BrTcR4D— Jim Farley (@jimfarley98) December 13, 2021
K
— Jim Farley (@jimfarley98) December 13, 2021
The Tesla “fan” is referring to Farley’s recent comments about how he didn’t want to build the 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning in “tents,” which is what Tesla did to ramp up production of the Model 3 in its early stages. “Maybe make better products that can compete with Tesla on specs so you can stop with the cheap shots at Tesla about how they are made in tents,” the fan said, to which Farley responded by simply saying “K.”
It’s a simple but humorous reply, one that underscores the unique relationship Farley and Musk enjoy in public. On one hand, the two obviously have a lot of respect for each other, but at the end of the day, they’re still big time competitors on a very large-scale and well-publicized stage. Farley has earned quite a few accolades of his own in recent weeks as the Ford CEO has successfully positioned Ford as a major player in the EV market, but at the same time, he knows that there’s still work to be done if the automaker wants to overtake Tesla as the world’s top seller of electric vehicles.
We’ll have more on Tesla and all of Ford’s competition soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for non-stop Ford news coverage.
Comments
It is truly amazing that so many of the “Teslarati” have this juvenile urge to go on Mustang Mach E forums unannounced to complain about “their” MMEs and act indignant when they’re called out.
K.
Ford and Tesla, along with all others should work together to establish battery standardization. Followed by quick charging with the goal of less than 30-minutes to full charge. Until these issues are resolved electric cars will be a novelty for city dwellers. Imagine going on a long road trip and being forced to wait 2-hours for every charge stop, assuming you can find a charging station near an interstate. Gas and diesel is at almost every exit and less than 20-minutes to fill-up and get back on the road. I know it is hard to believe, but everyone don’t work in a coffee shop. Some jobs require driving to the coffee shop to deliver stock, keep the electrical system working, toilets flushing, and the internet connectivity working.
That’s why they pay Farley the big bucks.
Tesla fanboys (and Musk) are dreaming of glorious future when Tesla cars dominate the car industry like Ford’s revolutionary Model T once did (61% of entire automotive market). Delusional fanboys don’t realize that Tesla as barely 1% of auto market (if that much), and economics simply state that most people can’t afford $50K Tesla cars. If Tesla cannot achieve Foresque 60% market domination soon, Tesla stock will be crushed and so will Musk and his fanboys.
The race to produce electric cars is a race that in the end, everybody will win. Without the success and innovation of Tesla, the auto industry would not be making as much effort to enter and compete in the EV market. Eventually all the other auto companies will offer competitive EVs and Tesla will just be another car company, maybe have a larger share of the market, or less, but they will survive and improve. Musk is no quitter. I am just glad to see the other companies take EV design and production seriously. My bet is that the Korean nameplates exceed them all in sales and innovation.
lol I have a focus all electric and 2 tesla s I wish ford luck but as far as market share tesla is electric and does have the majority market of the electric sales along with cars on the road. You can call it the model t if you would like.
Making Tesla’s in China is like giving their technology away also with less 1% of the car market Ford, GM, and the rest of the car producing industry is gonna leave Tesla in the dust. The race is on to make a battery that is more affordable and efficient than what Tesla makes.