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Ford CEO Jim Farley said he has been driving Chinese tech giant Xiaomi’s electric vehicle for six months.
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Farley described Xiaomi as an “industry heavyweight.”
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Farley previously told a board member that China’s auto industry posed 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 six months.
“I don’t like to talk about the competition so much but I drive the Xiaomi,” Farley said, speaking to British presenter Robert Llewellyn on “The Fully Charged Podcast”. The podcast, hosted by Llewellyn, premiered on October 21.
“We took 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 first electric vehicle. The Chinese tech giant produces three versions of the car: SU7, SU7 Pro and SU7 Max. Farley did not specify which version he was driving.
“It’s fantastic. They’re selling 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, it’s an industry heavyweight and a much stronger consumer brand than the automakers,” he added.
Farley’s representatives at Ford did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider sent outside of normal business hours.
The popularity of the SU7 has come at a cost for Xiaomi. When Xiaomi reported its second-quarter results on August 21, its EV arm reported an adjusted loss of $252 million.
That means Xiaomi lost about $9,200 for each of the 27,307 SU7s shipped that quarter. The SU7 carries a base price of 215,900 yuan, or about $30,000, and is only available in China.
A Xiaomi spokesperson told BI’s Matthew Loh in August that the company was looking to reduce production costs by increasing the size of its EV arm.
“In addition, Xiaomi’s first electric vehicle is a purely 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 are not the first comments Farley or his fellow Ford executives have made about the scale or progress of China’s electric vehicle industry.
After visiting China in May, Farley told a Ford board member that China’s auto industry posed 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 an electric SUV made by state-owned automaker Changan Automobile, according to the Journal.
Both men were impressed by the quality of Chinese-made electric vehicles, the Journal reported.
“Jim, it’s not like it used to be,” Lawler told Farley, according to the Journal. “These guys are ahead of us.”
Farley’s comments come as Chinese automakers continue to dominate the global electric vehicle market. According to data compiled by technology firm ABI Research for Business Insider, Chinese automakers accounted for 88% of the electric vehicle market in Brazil and 70% in Thailand in the first quarter of this year.
Competing with rivals like Xiaomi will be key for Ford as it formulates its approach to the electric vehicle market.
Ford posted a significant revenue shortfall in the second quarter of the year, sending the company’s shares tumbling. The company’s earnings per share came in at $0.47, below analysts’ estimates of $0.68. Its profitability for the quarter was weighed down by its EV segment, which posted a loss of $1.14 billion amid slowing demand. Ford’s third-quarter results are due October 28.
In August, Lawler told reporters that Ford was changing its electric vehicle strategy and would instead replace its planned electric SUVs with hybrid models. The move is expected to cost Ford nearly $2 billion.
Ford shares are down nearly 9% year to date.
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