Ford CEO Jim Farley Loves His Chinese EV – Yahoo Autos

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If you’re the CEO of a big American automaker, like Jim Farley who runs Ford, it might not be a good look to get on a podcast and praise the competition. It’s even more eyebrow-raising to do that when talking about driving your own Chinese electric car, which is why people are questioning the wisdom of Farley doing just that recently.

Woman carjacks a Ford Raptor using a BB gun.

While being interviewed on the Fully Charged Show, which focuses on electric vehicles, Farley admitted Ford bought a Xiaomi SUV7 EV in China, shipped it to the US, and he’s been driving it for the past six months as his personal ride. “I don’t want to give it up,” he admitted, the interviewer laughing.

With Chinese automakers chomping at the bit to get into the US auto market and just eat Ford’s lunch, it’s a strange thing to say. But we understand Farley was probably trying to convey that his company needs to step up its game before that happens.

Still, people are now questioning why they should buy a Ford and for a few reasons. For starters, if the CEO doesn’t drive one, how much confidence does the man have in the products he helps produce?

For the Ford faithful, hearing the head of the brand they love praise a Chinese car of all things is disillusioning. Even if he does admire what Xiaomi is doing, perhaps keeping that to himself would be the wise move.

Others are concerned Farley is yet another leader in the West who might be unduly influenced, or dare we say compromised, by the Chinese Communist Party. They love getting foreign nationals they control to praise anything Chinese above domestic competition, so imagine their pleasure at having the CEO of Ford say he likes a Chinese EV better than Ford’s.

Finally, there are people who think this gaffe (and you can debate whether it is one or not) just shows Farley isn’t the man to be leading Ford regardless of his intentions.

Farley defended his statement on X, saying, “I try to drive everything we compete against. Have done it my whole career. Specs can tell part of a story, but you’ve got to get behind the wheel to truly understand and beat the competition.”

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But everyone is going to form their own opinion of what he said, at least until the next thing knocks this out of the collective public memory.

Image via Ford

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