It seems like more and more American automotive CEOs are starting to understand just how “cooked” American companies are in the face of advanced competitors from China. This week, Ford CEO Jim Farley dropped a bombshell on a podcast; he’s been driving an imported Xiaomi SU7 sedan from China around Chicago for six months. He called the car fantastic, and he doesn’t want to give it up. This is the second manufacturer we know of that has imported an SU7 to evaluate. A few weeks ago RJ Scaringe brought one into the country, too.

This week, Farley did a 40-minute long podcast on the Everything Electric Show, where he discussed Ford’s future and what he experienced in China. The Xiaomi SU7 was one of the big “epiphanies” that Farley had, recognizing just how far off he and other Western manufacturers were when it came to China. “In the West, our cell phone companies aren’t into cars, they don’t have car companies. But in China, both Huawei and Xiaomi are inside every vehicle that is made,” said Farley.

Farley admitted that his trips to China and experience with the Xiaomi made Ford really go into deep thought about what the company needs to do next. “Everyone’s talking about the Apple Car, but the Xiaomi car…The [Xiaomi SU7] exists, and it’s fantastic. They sell 10,000, 20,000 a month and they’re sold out for six months. That is a consumer brand that is much stronger than car companies,” said Farley. Farley's revelation has had a mini viral moment in China, according to Chinese EV analyst and expert Lei Xing.

Farley is speaking on what I, and other journalists, pundits and EV and China experts have noticed for quite a while now: China’s tech and automotive industries are far more interconnected than the automotive and tech industries in the West. The Xiaomi SU7, on its face, is simply another product in Xiaomi’s range of consumer electronics and cell phones. Xiaomi’s car uses the same operating system as its phones and tablets; accessories for the car can be purchased in the same store where you'd buy a phone. Similarly, Huawei’s Harmony OS is quickly permeating the Chinese car industry, as Huawei offers full-stack software solutions for smaller brands uninterested in making their own. Geely by and large doesn’t use Huawei or Xiaomi’s software, because it bought a whole cell phone company (Meizu) that developed Flyme Auto.

We kind of have that with Google's Android Automotive, but from what I (and likely Farley) have experienced, it just isn’t currently on the same level as Chinese EV tech in terms of integration and refinement. China’s tech industry and automotive brands have joined hands, and they are moving in lockstep.

“I can’t unlearn the fact that the Detroit Three never really had a plan,” said Farley, referring to the inroads that Toyota and Honda made in the 1970s and 1980s in the U.S. American companies were slow to adapt to the newfound competition. “And we’re not going to miss this one. This one, we’re going to have to get it right from scratch,” Farley continued. He said that Ford realized that it would have a hard time competing with brands like BYD, thus it needed to start from scratch with a whole new ground-up approach. Which, is where Ford’s skunkworks-like team for its low-cost EVs came from.

The whole podcast is very intriguing to listen to. Will Ford be able to compete? It's not clear. By Farley's own admission, Ford has to get it right the first time it tries. China has such a huge lead on the rest of the world, it will take a lot of work to catch up. Recognizing that, it's not surprising that Farley doesn't want to give up the keys to his Xiaomi just yet.

https://www.msn.com/en-my/news/other/ford-s...ba52df4a6&ei=41

Wait til he found out his personal data was stolen and sent back to great motherland.

FORD=Fix Or Repair Daily

Does people still believe in this nonsense? LOL

Ciaomi got after sales service or not

Dah tried with Mustang...then team up with failed VW...
Hopefully 3rd time lucky..

lol. for a company that make cars forever need to learn from xioami that only few years industry, show how murican company is in trouble.

Every electronic product will have some form of data harvesting algorithm inside it. So long it is connected to the internet, that is a reason enough that the claims are valid. Even intel processor are exposed to have "baked in" back doors that date back until the late 90s' exposed just a few years ago. Thats in the region of Pentium 3.

Xiaomi SU7 Ultra Nurburgring edition hnnghh

No need to do anything, ur next President will rescue you with high tariffs on China cars.

But Tesla already stolen millions of CCP data back to CIA.....

This post has been edited by noos: Oct 24 2024, 10:05 AM

Mat salleh business has roadmap. China does not.

Western business plans a gradual release for a product spanned in XX number of years.

China gives you a product that is almost untested and then makes a new product in the next product lifeline.

You can see how China cars change in design so fast and you cannot have loyalty to a product range easily.

The next Xiaomi car probably would not look like a Taycan anymore. Knowing Xiaomi, they would copy another design and then launch it again with their super thick faced CEO running wild on X saying it is the next best thing since sliced cheese.

fark hahah

Netmatirx sure pissed off wife a long essay when it comes to Xiaomi EV hahahaha

The problem is everyone think they are James Bond, Ethan Hunt or Jason Bourne but in reality, they are not even Johnny English. Nobody is interested in your data lah. Most people are nobody.

Mat salleh business has roadmap. China does not.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Anneh just saw prototype design for Xiaomoi SUV…

Fuuu so sexy terpanjut liao

That's very outdated perception. It's precisely thinking like this that makes most outsider think China is still behind. And it's precisely why they have caught the industry leaders by surprise.

China had a roadmap on electric way before electric was a thing. The reason they had such an extensive electric roadmad was because they know they were far behind the ICE technology. So instead of trying to play catch up, they put everything into electric and started vertical integration way earlier before traditional automakers even considered doing such a thing.

There is a reason why automakers even in Japan are worried of the progress China has made in the electric space.

CN roadmap is maxing out everything, move to the next big thing. Don't wait and slow release patches/ revisions/ etc. This cars is only 3 years development. Within a day someone crashed. You just dunno how fast and disposable CN manufacturing works do you?

People crash cars not because the car has problems but more likely due to poor driving skills.

Your knowledge of China manufacturing capabilities show that you’re still stuck in the same mentality a decade ago. It’s exactly your type of thinking which underestimate China and think all China products are low quality. Continue with your mentality is the reasons why car manufacturers were caught by surprise by China cars.

At least China manufacturers are capable of delivering results compared to India who talk big and never deliver on their promises. 😝