Jim Farley, the CEO of Ford, has tried something that no executive usually admits out loud (out of fear or shame), and that is that, for six months, he drove around with a car that was not from his brand (betrayal?!). It was not a Ford. Not a Mustang, not an F-150… It had nothing to do with his company. It was a Xiaomi SU7, a Chinese electric sedan that is trending for about 30,000 dollars. And yes, this sedan puts more than one Porsche to shame. High technology, an assistant with artificial intelligence… A true lion on the roads. And Farley had to try it although reality hit him straight: “It’s fantastic,” Farley said. “I don’t want to give it up.” His exact words.
And of course, if the head of Ford is so delighted with a Chinese car, it makes sense because it is a great car and it is strange because that car, for now, cannot be bought in the United States. But the day they allow it… bad news for American manufacturers, don’t you think?
The threat comes from China
And no, it is not the future, it is more present than ever. In the United States, tariffs and technological restrictions have put up a barrier against this type of Asian cars. But that will not last forever. In Europe they are already gaining ground and in fact, Chinese brands already have a market share similar to that of Mercedes-Benz, wow.
Farley has not hesitated to fear the competition and, having touched the rival product, he enjoyed it like a little kid, and he knows the threat is real! The USA has to get moving!
What is Ford going to do?
Well, what it can, there is no other choice. It has announced urgent measures to compete. Starting with what sells best in the U.S.: a truck. In 2027, a factory in Louisville (Kentucky) will begin producing a new electric pick-up with a starting price of about 30,000 dollars. It will be cheaper than the F-150 Lightning, which right now starts at 55,000.
Until now, Ford’s electric cars were adapted versions of gasoline cars. Basically, they redesigned them to fit a battery where they could, but it has not been the solution: extremely high costs and a tangle of cables. Tesla, on the other hand, started from scratch, and that allowed it to save a lot. Ford knows this, and now it has to change completely!
Starting from scratch (literally)
The new truck is not an adaptation of anything, it is new. It was designed in California by a team of former Tesla and Apple engineers. It will have 20% fewer parts than a traditional car and half the cooling hoses.
And not only is the car changing: the factory is changing. Ford is completely renewing the assembly line. Until now, it was still working with a system very similar to the one Henry Ford used more than one hundred years ago, but now it will move to a “tree assembly” model: three branches where the main parts are joined. They expect to manufacture 15% faster this way.
And what if it is already too late?
Although this plan sounds good, Ford is behind, we know it, these ideas are already applied by others. China, for example, has been manufacturing electric vehicles for some time starting with the battery as the center of the design from the beginning. In addition, it plays with advantages: much cheaper labor, better battery technologies and government support that makes it possible. To give you an idea, BYD (the Chinese giant) pays in some factories about 850 dollars a month. Compete with that! (although it would also be necessary to see under what conditions they work in those factories, since some of us really like human rights).
Much more than a car
The 30,000 dollar truck has to become a symbol, a wake-up call for the competition, something that can be exported but that still has the American essence.
And so, if tomorrow China manages to set up a factory inside the U.S., there will be no way to avoid the direct comparison.
The story has a certain irony: a century ago, Ford changed the world with its way of making cars. Today, to survive, it has to reinvent itself again… knowing that maybe, this time, not even that will be enough…