Ford Ranger Raptor is seen at a Ford event in Michigan, USA, May 5, 2023.
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA – Executive Director Ford Motor Company Jim Farley said that electric car manufacturers China is its main rival in the electric vehicle sector. Besides, according to him, Ford has barriers to compete with manufacturers electric car China in terms of costs associated with a small scale of production.
“I guess we’ll see China as a major competitor, it is not GM or Toyota,” Farley said at the Morgan Stanley Sustainable Finance Conference. “The Chinese are going to be powerful,” he said as quoted by Reuters, Friday (26/5/2023).
China, the world’s largest auto market, has the best battery technology and dominates EV production, Farley said. He named BYD, Geely, Great Wall, Changan SAIC as among the “winners” among Chinese car manufacturers.
To beat the Chinese automaker, Farley said Ford needed a different brand, which he said was, or was, lower cost. “But how do you beat them on cost if their rate is five times yours?” Farley said. “The Europeans allowed them (Chinese producers) – so now they are selling higher levels in Europe.”
Ford said in February it would invest $3.5 billion to build a battery plant electric car in Michigan is using technology from its Chinese partner CATL to make batteries at a lower cost.
The U.S. Treasury still has to issue rules later this year that will determine whether the Ford SAIC arrangement violates the “Foreign Concerned Entities” ban that is part of the tax credits. EV worth 7,500 US dollars. Ford faced criticism from Senator Marco Rubio for the plan.
Ford is seeking to cut costs in China, where sales have fallen since 2016. The US company is restructuring its operations there to turn one of its joint ventures into a hub for the export of affordable electric and internal combustion commercial vehicles.
Last January, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said about the Chinese automaker: They work harder and they work smarter. … So we suspect, maybe there are companies from China that are more likely to be second to Tesla.”
source: Reuters