Ford: Our opponents, only the Chinese!

Ford Motor CEO Jim Farley said in an interview that Chinese manufacturers are his company’s only competitors when it comes to electric vehicles and the overall production process. In fact, he specifically mentioned that no manufacturer can compete with China’s auto industry at the moment.

“No other manufacturer can make their cars as cheaply as the Chinese can,” Jim Farley said.

“Chinese manufacturers are our main competitors. It’s not Tesla, it’s not Toyota, it’s not GM. The Chinese are the new power in space and everyone needs to realize that before it’s too late,” Farley said at the Morgan Stanley Sustainable Finance Summit.

According to Jim Farley, China, the world’s largest auto market, currently has the best battery technology and dominates EV production. He even gave the example of BYD, Geely, Great Wall and SAIC, citing them as leaders of their kind.

Ford’s CEO basically admitted that the race between Chinese electric car manufacturers and others is… a lost cause, while regarding his own company, he said that he needs to… start over to re-enter the Chinese market with a claim.

Ford will invest $3.5 billion to build an electric vehicle battery factory in Michigan using technology from its Chinese partner CATL to make batteries at a lower cost than today.

The US Treasury Department, however, has expressed its opposition to this particular partnership, threatening Ford that if it continues to partner with the Chinese, it will be fined $7,500 for every EV it produces!

Farley took a stand on this issue as well, insisting that “we shouldn’t get caught up in political expediency because in the end we (meaning the US auto industry) will be the winners.”

This isn’t the first time Ford’s CEO has made glowing comments about the Chinese automaker. Some time ago and especially after the Shanghai motor show, Farley announced when he returned to his headquarters that “the game with the Chinese is lost”, meaning that Ford and all the manufacturers in the world cannot follow the Chinese giant in production and technology. development of electric vehicles.

After all, even Elon Musk has “very” publicly admitted that Chinese automakers “work hard but often work smart”…