The automotive industry is incredibly volatile, whoever is on top today may not be there tomorrow. The current reality is changing so much that no one could have imagined a few years ago that electric cars would be in the spotlight. And much less, Chinese electric vehicles. Even giants like Ford are starting to accept that competition and dashboards have already changed and forever. Jim Farley and John Lawyer (the CEO and CFO of Ford respectively) have had a revealing experience. Do you want to know what it is? They have secretly tested an SUV from a Chinese brand. Their reaction? We will tell you about it in the following paragraphs.
Ford shocked by the Chinese industry
That’s right, reality has hit Ford’s management hard, both Farley and Lawyer have been “shocked” by Chinese technology. Ford has been competing in the Chinese market for decades, but in recent years it has been noted that they were losing ground to local competitors. The reason? Advanced technology, very competitive prices and designs that would make anyone fall in love have been key to rising in their own market and becoming the true leaders of the sector.
How was the experience?
A complete secret, Farley and Lawyer got into an electric SUV from the Changan brand, with which Ford also maintains an alliance relationship in the Asian country, and at that moment they realized that they were going far behind their competitors: China no longer only produces cars, now it also sets the pace of the market. For Lawyer, what there is now in China “is nothing like what there was before”. For his part, Farley was much more blunt: “they are an existential threat for us”.
What was so special about this SUV?
We do not know what vehicle they tested but it is clear that the technology on board would be of a high level for both of them to be so impressed. What did this SUV have that exceeded all the expectations of these two?
The reality is that Chinese vehicles have evolved at breakneck speed, they have advanced information systems, greater autonomy in their batteries and market prices are much more competitive, so, while Europe and the USA continue to debate about the future of vehicles, China has already been doing it for years.
Will Ford respond to this epiphany?
Of course, it has been a tremendous reality check for Ford and they have been forced to react. How? Through a new line of much more affordable cars, specially designed so that manufacturing costs are lower and thus more attractive to the buyer. Will it be enough? We cannot yet verify that because, for example, in the European continent, Chinese brands are attracting more and more users, although in the United States Ford is “protected” thanks to the imposition of tariffs (at 100%), so from what we can anticipate (which is very complicated with the state of the market), it will be a little more difficult for Chinese brands to attract followers in American territory.
China is one step ahead of the more well-known brands that are researching and trying to make electrification much more attractive for drivers. Who will dominate the market from now on? We don’t know, we do know that they are making strong strides and aim to be the market leaders, but that doesn’t mean that other companies like Ford are going to leave the way for them, no way! They are already practicing to be great rivals of the Chinese industry.
The battle for domination of the electric sector has only just begun, they are playing while others are just waiting for the green light!