When Ford's C-suite executives made a trip to China last year to check on their electric vehicle breakthrough, they were left dumbfounded.
According to The Wall Street Journal report, Ford CEO Jim Farley and CFO John Lawler had visited China in early 2023 and the the took Changan Automobile's electric SUV for a spin. The quick test drive, in which Farley drove and Lawler rode shotgun, gave the executives a taste of what it was like to ride in a Chinese-made EV.
"Jim, this is nothing like before," Lawler told Farley, per The Journal.
"These guys are ahead of us," Lawler added.
Farley's fears were piqued again in May when he made another trip to China, The Journal reported.
"John, this is an existential threat," Farley told Ford board member and former Goldman Sachs executive John Thornton after his trip.
Critics noted that since the Chinese state-owned automaker is a longtime joint-venture partner of Ford, the assessment may have a tinge of bias.
What is clear right now is that the Chinese automakers like BYD have been dominating the EV race for sometime. For one, Chinese carmakers have been making inroads into developing markets like Brazil and Mexico, as well as Southeast Asian countries like Thailand.
According to data compiled by technology firm ABI Research for Business Insider, Chinese automakers accounted for 88 percent of the EV market in Brazil and 70 percent in Thailand in the first quarter of this year.
The rapid ascendance of Chinese-made EVs has since prompted Western governments to introduce trade restrictions on them.
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