By Mari Hansen For six months, Jim Farley drove a vehicle that most Americans have never seen. Farley was so fond with the Xiaomi SU7—which retails for about $30,000 in China—that he refused to return it. He took the aircraft from Shanghai to Chicago by air.
He drove it after that. for six months. It’s the kind of detail that lingers in your memory: a CEO from Detroit driving a Chinese sedan, silently examining every software menu and panel gap as his own business struggled to decide what to develop next.
| Key Information | Details |
|---|---|
| Subject | Ford Motor Company & CEO Jim Farley |
| CEO | Jim Farley (since October 2020) |
| Headquarters | Dearborn, Michigan, USA |
| Primary Chinese Competitors Cited | BYD, Xiaomi (SU7), and broader Chinese EV ecosystem |
| Vehicle Tested by Farley | Xiaomi SU7, driven for six months after being flown from Shanghai to Chicago |
| Ford’s Response Platform | Universal EV Platform (UEV) |
| First UEV Vehicle | Mid-size electric pickup, launching 2027, starting around $30,000 |
| Assembly Plant | Louisville Assembly Plant, Kentucky |
| Battery Type & Source | LFP batteries built in Michigan using licensed CATL technology |
| Cost of Strategy Reset | Approximately $19.5 billion (announced December 2024) |
| Tesla Model 3 Comparison Price | $36,990 starting |
| Ford Maverick XL Hybrid Starting Price | ~$28,000 |
| China’s Estimated Annual EV Capacity | Over 50 million vehicles |
Farley was direct when asked why he didn’t benchmark a Tesla instead. He claimed that Tesla just doesn’t have a contemporary enough car to research. Nothing private. In 2017, the Model 3 was introduced. 2020’s Model Y. Farley believes that somewhere other than California is where the future is being constructed. Listening to him gives me the impression that he has long since given up acting as though Silicon Valley posed a threat.
He frequently mentions BYD and Xiaomi in Chinese, but the larger ecosystem—Nio, Zeekr, Li Auto, and Geely—is also important. He refers to BYD as the best in the industry, but not in a kind manner. He want it to be a caution. Farley contends that American firms should emulate their cost structure, the breadth of their supplier chain, and the accuracy of their manufacturing.
He might be correct. After years of Detroit underestimating what was going on over the Pacific, it’s equally plausible that he is overcorrecting. In any case, the concern is legitimate given that Ford just suffered a $19.5 billion loss by abandoning the fully electric F-150 Lightning initiative in favor of smaller hybrids and a new, more reasonably priced EV platform.
Farley’s anxiousness stems from an almost laughably straightforward math problem. The starting price of the Maverick XL hybrid is close to $28,000. The starting price of the Tesla Model 3 is $36,990. He drove a Xiaomi SU7. In its home market, about $30,000. Farley is attempting to bridge the $9,000 gap between what Chinese consumers already have and what Americans currently receive before it becomes irreversible. That same $30,000 is the goal price for the first Ford car on the new Universal EV Platform, a mid-size electric truck made in Louisville. In 2027, it will launch. No one at Ford seems eager to publicly address the topic of whether that’s soon enough.
All of this is rooted in a paradox that Farley hasn’t truly addressed. He told Fox & Friends that allowing Chinese EVs into the United States would be disastrous, referred to manufacturing as the nation’s “heart and soul,” and voiced privacy and cyber concerns about all those cameras gathering data. However, Farley has reportedly suggested allowing American automakers to collaborate with Chinese companies to produce cars locally, and Ford’s reasonably priced battery plant in Michigan is powered by licensed CATL technology, which is Chinese technology. We need their playbook and can’t truly keep them out at the same time, yet here we are.
Observing this develop, it’s remarkable how frequently Farley employs the term existential. In a podcast in November, he acknowledged that Ford cannot abandon EVs if it is to continue operating as a global business. He says he won’t simply give that over to the Chinese. In China last year, the Xiaomi SU7 sold more units than the Model 3. In January, Canada lowered its 100% tax on Chinese electric vehicles to 6.1%. On domestic soil, tariffs can buy time. They are unable to accompany Ford to South America, Europe, or any other location where a Chinese sedan is already parked at the curb. Farley’s fear of a fight is unfounded. It has already begun throughout the majority of the world.