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Ford CEO Jim Farley says he’s been driving the Chinese tech giant Xiaomi’s EV for the past six months.
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Farley described Xiaomi as an “industry juggernaut.”
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Farley previously told a board member that China’s auto industry was an “existential threat.”
Ford CEO Jim Farley says he doesn’t want to give up the Xiaomi Speed Ultra 7 he’s been driving for the past half year.
“I don’t like talking about the competition so much, but I drive the Xiaomi,” Farley said while speaking to the British presenter Robert Llewellyn on “The Fully Charged Podcast.” The podcast, which Llewellyn hosts, aired on Monday.
“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,” Farley continued.
The SU7 is Xiaomi’s maiden electric vehicle. The Chinese tech giant produces three versions of the car: SU7, SU7 Pro, and SU7 Max. Farley didn’t specify which version he was driving.
“It’s fantastic. They sell 10,000, 20,000 a month. They’re sold out for six months,” Farley said of Xiaomi’s success with the SU7 earlier in the interview.
“You know, that is an industry juggernaut and a consumer brand that is much stronger than car companies,” he added.
Representatives for Farley at Ford didn’t respond to a request for comment from Business Insider sent outside regular business hours.
The popularity of the SU7 has come at a cost for Xiaomi. When Xiaomi reported its second-quarter earnings on August 21, its EV branch posted an adjusted loss of $252 million.
That means Xiaomi lost about $9,200 for each of the 27,307 SU7s it shipped that quarter. The SU7 is sold at a base price of 215,900 yuan, or about $30,000, and is available only in China.
A spokesperson for Xiaomi told BI’s Matthew Loh in August that the company was looking to lower its production costs by increasing the scale of its EV arm.
“In addition, Xiaomi’s first EV is a pure electric sedan, and its investment cost is relatively high, so it will take some time to digest this part of the cost,” the spokesperson told Loh.
An ‘existential threat’
These aren’t the first comments Farley or his fellow Ford executives have made about the scale or progress of China’s EV industry.
After visiting China in May, Farley told a Ford board member that China’s auto industry was an “existential threat,” The Wall Street Journal reported in September.
In early 2023, Farley and his chief financial officer, John Lawler, were in China when they tested out an electric SUV made by the state-owned automaker Changan Automobile, the Journal reported.
The report said the pair was impressed by the quality of the Chinese-made EVs.
“Jim, this is nothing like before,” Lawler told Farley, according to the Journal. “These guys are ahead of us.”
Farley’s comments have come as Chinese automakers continue to dominate the global EV market. Data compiled by the technology firm ABI Research for Business Insider shows Chinese automakers accounted for 88% of the EV market in Brazil and 70% in Thailand in the first quarter of this year.
Competing with rivals such as Xiaomi will be critical for Ford as it formulates its approach to the EV market.
Ford posted a big earnings miss in the second quarter of the year, sending the company’s stock tumbling. The company’s earnings per share came in at $0.47, below analyst estimates of $0.68. Its profitability for the quarter was weighed down by its EV segment, which saw a $1.14 billion loss amid slowing demand. Ford’s third-quarter earnings are due on October 28.
In August, Lawler told reporters that Ford was changing its EV strategy and would replace its planned electric SUVs with hybrid models instead. The move is set to cost Ford nearly $2 billion.
Ford shares are down nearly 9% year to date.
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