Jim Farley, CEO of Ford, is a really interesting guy. He once mortgaged his house to purchase a vintage automobile and he said that American consumers must be buying more cars that Ford doesn’t sell. You possibly can never quite predict what he’ll do next. He might, for instance, import a Chinese-built Xiaomi SU7 to make use of as a every day driver, then go on a podcast and discuss how much he loves it.
Farley did exactly this earlier this week on the podcast Fully Charged, from the YouTube channel Every part Electric Show. He heaped praise on the SU7, calling the competing automobile “implausible” and saying he “[didn’t] want to provide it up.”
It’s implausible … That’s an industry juggernaut, and a consumer brand that is far stronger than automobile corporations. I don’t like talking concerning the competition a lot, 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 provide it up.
American automakers and lawmakers have each been petrified of Chinese EVs potential to undercut American offerings and impact sales. Farley seems to have found real reason for that concern — the Chinese automobile he’s been driving really is just that good.
It stays to be seen what position Chinese automakers will stake within the American market nevertheless it seems the cars themselves are a real challenge to the Big Three. If Chinese EVs start showing up on our shores, our domestic automakers may need to begin making higher cars that sell for less money in an effort to compete. That’d be just terrible, right?
This Article First Appeared At jalopnik.com
