It’s not unusual for executives and engineers at car companies to drive products from other brands in order to keep tabs on what their rivals are doing, but seldom do they admit to actually loving any of these products.
However, Ford's global CEO Jim Farley, a self-confessed car guy who is known for his brutal honesty, had some really good things to say about the first car to be launched by Chinese tech giant and smartphone producer Xiaomi.
Speaking as a guest on Robert Llewellyn’s ‘Fully Charged Podcast’ this week, Farley admitted that he did not want to stop driving the Xiaomi EV that Ford had specially imported to the US from China six months prior.
“Everyone’s talking about the (non-existent) Apple iCar, but this Xiaomi car which now exists, and it’s fantastic, is sold out for six months.
“I don’t like talking about the competition so much, but I drive the Xiaomi.. We flew one from Shanghai to Chicago and I’ve been driving it for six months now and I don’t want to give it up.”
Podcast host Llewellyn described his statement as an “extraordinary thing to say”.
Farley described Xiaomi as an industry juggernaut and a consumer brand that was much stronger than any car company.
But what has the Ford CEO been enjoying so much about his adopted Chinese car?
The Xiaomi SU7 sedan was first revealed in late 2023, and the dual-motor flagship variant, cheekily named “V8”, produces 495kW, allowing it to sprint from 0-100km/h in 2.8 seconds. It can also cover up to 800km between charges, according to its maker.
Xiaomi also offers a tamer “V6” model, with 220kW and a 660km range.
The SU7’s cabin is equipped with integrated Xiaomi software, as you’d expect, allowing it to pair with the tech company’s range of electronic devices.
Xiaomi has ambitions to become one of the world’s top five automotive manufacturers, within the next 15 to 20 years.
In the aforementioned podcast, Jim Farley also spoke of the rise of the Chinese automotive industry, and particularly of the aggressive pricing policies that are fuelling their growth.
“It just happens in our industry, as it happened with the Model T, when a new technology comes there’s a fitness test for cost, and whoever has the lowest cost, like Henry Ford did with the Model T, they tend to have the opportunity to sell into higher-cost markets like Europe or Britain or Mexico or Australia, and that cost advantage is very material for the customer,” Farley said.
However it appears that Ford does indeed have its ears on the ground when it comes to the future of affordable electric vehicles.
In an interview with CNBC back in July, CEO Farley said that making electric vehicles profitable would require radical change.
“The first thing we have to do is really put all of our capital toward smaller, more affordable EVs. That’s the duty cycle that we’ve now found that really matches. These big, huge, enormous EVs, they’re never going to make money. The battery is $50,000 (R883,000) … The batteries will never be affordable.”
Farley Also said: “We have to start getting back in love with smaller vehicles. It's super important for our society and for EV adoption.”
Dare we suggest they start by bringing back the Fiesta?
IOL