“Existential threat”: because of Byd, the CEO of Ford can no longer sleep at night

It was during a visit to that Jim Farley discovered the speed of business development like Byd or Xiaomi, which has just launched its electric SUV Yu7.

Ford CEO fears Chinese electric vehicles

The CEO of Ford was notably surprised by advanced technologies at affordable prices and their creation speed. So much so that Jim Farley no longer sleeps at night: “What really deprives me of sleep is the speed at which the Chinese”he explains during an interview. “Everyone talks about their quality or their low price but what really strikes me is their speed of execution”.

To analyze its competitor, Ford has dismantled byd electric vehicles. Among the discoveries: an architecture designed to reduce the costs of Lithium-Fer-Phosphate batteries (LFP) that the Chinese manufacturer uses.

Jim Farley greets BYD’s strategy which develops its own batteries to eliminate intermediate margins without sacrificing quality. “They don’t pay additional margin because they make their own batteries”explains the CEO of Ford.

If byd’s propulsion systems are not the most effective on the automotive market, their strategy allows them to compensate for this weakness according to Jim Farley. Ford CEO believes that the company must adopt smaller factories, reduce maneuver and simplify processes to compete with its Chinese competitor.

Ford has therefore decided to refocus on compact and affordable electric vehicles in response to Byd.

Jim Farley has announced the launch of an inexpensive electric model in the coming years. The goal is clear: to equal the production costs of Chinese manufacturers by developing a new inexpensive platform for electric vehicles.

Ford’s strategy is led by Alan Clarke, former Tesla engineer. The platform will produce competitive electric vehicles in terms of price and technology for the world market.

Ford therefore relies on this method to counter the big Chinese advantage on the electric vehicle market. The speed of execution of Chinese manufacturers worries particularly Jim Farley: “What really worries me is our ability to deploy these technologies on a large scale. The question is not so much to know if our technology will be competitive but if we will be able to produce massively with these new suppliers”.

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