Ford CEO Jim Farley said China is their biggest competitor in the electric vehicle market as the country looks set to compete with the likes of BYD, Geely, SAIC Motor and Great Wall Motor.
At the recent Morgan Stanley Sustainable Finance Summit, Mr. Farley addressed concerns about Chinese brands capturing global market share as they continue to launch “competitive new products.” .
“They make 70% of the world’s electric cars in China, 70. And the winners are BYD, Geely, Changan, SAIC, Great Wall,” Mr. Farley said.
“To beat them, you either have to have a very different brand, which we think we can, or you have to beat them at cost. But how do you beat them on cost if their size is 5 times yours? So I don’t know.
“The Chinese will become a great power, I think, we think. So I think we consider the Chinese as the main competitors, not GM or Toyota.
“The Europeans let them in. So now they are selling in bulk in Europe. We have a decision to make here in the United States
The CEO seems confident in the company’s understanding of what customers are looking for.
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BYD Europe lineup
He says customers will happily sacrifice a larger battery at a higher cost for a Small batteries can be charged faster.
“Our industry is obsessed with big batteries because customers worry about range and really, we think the real solution isn’t big batteries. It’s the smallest battery possible for a competitive range,” he said.
To maintain a global presence alongside Chinese brands, Mr. Farley said the brand could find ways to use battery technology more creatively.
“I think that’s really important. And I don’t think the competitors have figured that out,” he said.
Mr Farley said the company’s next generation of electrical products would be “completely different” and expected to launch in the next two years.
It seems that alongside the upcoming Chinese brands, Ford is struggling to produce cost-effective battery vehicles.
Producing batteries from raw materials in the United States is the cheapest option but is difficult to implement given the limited number of processing facilities.
“Well, the thing is, lithium is abundant. The problem is, it takes 12 to 15 years to get a license,” he said.
“To actually get it out of the ground and then process it, there’s no processing capacity in North America other than Tesla’s Corpus Christi site.”
Ford is expanding its electric vehicle lineup, with electric versions of the leopard lion And Customize transit coming in 2024. Both have been confirmed for Australia.
Ford also recently announced that it is ready to start a three electric row SUV with a range of 563km, presenting it alongside what appears to be its next-generation electric ute.
Both are set to enter production in 2025.
Work is underway at Ford’s new Blue Oval City campus in Tennessee, which will produce electric vehicles starting in 2025.
The new facility, when up to speed, is capable of producing 500,000 electric pickups annually – three times the current projected annual rate for the F-150 Lightning.
Ford has confirmed it will launch two new EV architectures, one for full-size pickup trucks.
