In the automotive world, competition is – and always has been – quite fierce, with multiple companies constantly working to gain a competitive advantage over the other. This is especially true in current times, when legacy automakers like Ford are scrambling to secure share in the all-electric vehicle market, which has traditionally been dominated by Tesla. Ford CEO Jim Farley previously stated that he sees that company – along with Rivian and Volkswagen – as major competitors, but during the recent Morgan-Stanley Sustainable Finance Summit, Farley noted that the company’s Chinese rivals have become an even bigger threat.
“BYD’s scale is way bigger than Tesla now, and they developed the LFP technology, which is a better battery, no fire risk basically, and it has twice the charging cycle of lithium-ion battery,” Farley said. “So the Chinese are going to be the powerhouse, I think, we think. To beat them, you either have to have a very distinct brands, which we think we do by leaning into our icons, or you have to beat them on cost. But how do you beat them on cost if their scale is five times yours? So I don’t know.”
“The Europeans let them in. So now they’re selling in high volume in Europe. We have a decision to make here in the US. And they have some of the best battery technology, as I said. So if the politics of the battery get caught up – battery – localizing their technology in the U.S. gets caught up in politics, the customer is really going to get screwed. So we have to work through that in our country. And I think they’re really interesting companies. So I think we see the Chinese as the main competitor, not GM or Toyota.”
With the transition to EVs happening a bit quicker than previously expected, it’s no surprise that Jim Farley sees Chinese automakers as a big threat, given how vested those companies are in electric vehicles. In fact, Farley also previously stated that he believes those same automakers will eventually make it to the U.S., adding even more competition in that market segment. In the meantime, FoMoCo will license LFP battery technology from CATL – a Chinese company – to build those units at the under-construction BlueOval Battery Park Michigan, and has already rolled out that same type of battery in the standard range 2023 Ford Mustang Mach-E.
We’ll have more on the state of the EV market soon, be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for comprehensive Ford news coverage.
Comments
Please keep V8 options in the US, please. EVs favor China anyway, not sure why the Big 3 are caving in to them.
Ford will not exist in 10 years as they will lose billions in EV investment. They have abandoned the ice vehicles that made them a great company. GM will fall next and toyota will be the big winner in the US as they will stay mostly gas and hybrid gas. Americans who now own 350 million ice vehicles will not trade them in for EVs because of cost and range issues.