- Ford CEO Jim Farley admits Chinese EV companies are playing a very strong game and that the need for affordable EVs while still being profitable.
Selling electric vehicles (EVs) in today’s global markets has become a bit more tricky than ever before. The enthusiasts have made their purchases and the masses would need a little more than performance and range to be convinced. As such, affordability is crucial to determine the future success of such offerings, a fact Ford CEO Jim Farley admits even though he points also to need for such options to be profitable for his company.
It is a tight rope to march on. And marching is the need of the hour in the face of increasing competition from Chinese brands spreading wings across key global markets. Farley recognises that China’s bet on EVs has ‘paid off’ but the time has come to take on the giants from the eastern economic powerhouse.
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In an interview to Yahoo Finance, Farley stresses on the need to be competitive while still being profitable when selling EVs. He even goes on to admit that there is a need to compete with the best in the world and those EVs are coming in from China.
Ford sold a little over 72,000 EVs in the US in all of 2023, a rise of around 18 per cent from a year earlier. But the numbers will have to rise exponentially still, because the Chinese EV brands – although limited in the US – are waging an intense war.Ford currently offers rather premium models in the EV sphere with the F-150 Lightning pick-up truck as its focal product. But the Ford F-150 Lightning is priced upwards of $62,000 (approximately ₹52 lakh).
Farley knows upping the sales figures would need more affordable Ford EV models to hit showrooms. He even reveals that Ford is working on a smaller EV platform that will serve as the base for its future models that could be competitive priced.
Specific to the US market, it is mostly agreed that an electric car carrying a price sticker of around $25,000 (approximately ₹21 lakh) will help those on the sidelines jump in to drive out.
First Published Date: 04 Jun 2024, 11:47 AM IST