Ford Motor Company CEO Jim Farley revealed that he was shocked after closely examining the production technologies of Tesla and its Chinese electric vehicle rivals, and that this was a wake-up call for him.
The Ford CEO made an unexpected statement
According to a podcast called “Office Hours: Business Edition,” Farley expressed his surprise at how far ahead Elon Musk’s company, Tesla, and Chinese EV manufacturers have come.
Farley expressed his emotional feelings, saying, “When we took apart the first Model 3 Tesla and started disassembling the Chinese vehicles, I was deeply moved. What we found when we disassembled them was shocking.”
The differences revealed during these disassembly processes revealed the unnecessary complexity inherent in Ford’s own products. The CEO noted that Ford’s electric SUV, the Mustang Mach-E, has approximately 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) more electrical wiring than the Tesla. This extra weight increases the vehicle’s overall weight, necessitating the use of a larger and more costly battery.
While examining rival vehicles is common practice in the automotive industry, Farley stated that this teardown process convinced him that the company needed a radical change. Jim Farley, who has been Ford’s president since 2020, based on this belief, spun off the company’s electric vehicle operations into a separate unit called “Model E” in 2022.
The Model E unit lost more than $5 billion in 2024 and is expected to experience a similar loss this year, but Farley has made it clear that he has no regrets about this strategic decision.
Farley frequently warns that Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers pose an existential threat to Ford and other Western car brands. He has previously described Chinese EVs as “far superior to their Western counterparts” and last month stated that brands like BYD have completely dominated the global market.
While approximately 50% of new vehicles sold in China are electric, the figure in the US is only around 10%. Chinese manufacturers have rapidly outpaced their competitors by offering high-tech yet affordable models and are now expanding their market share in Europe and emerging markets. Farley also has a strong admiration for Chinese manufacturers; last year, he even stated that he drove Xiaomi’s electric SU7 for six months and “didn’t want to give the car back.”
