this post was submitted on 29 Oct 2024
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Ford CEO Has Been Driving a Xiaomi EV for 6 Months and 'Doesn't Want to Give It Up' (gizmodo.com)
submitted 1 month ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 month ago (2 children)

I’m confused. I assume they didn’t let them publish that by accident, so what does Ford try to achieve here?

[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 month ago (1 children)

He said it on a podcast, discussing the future of EVs. He was praising the competition for what they are doing well, with the implication that Ford needs to do better in those areas.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 month ago (1 children)

“This Xiaomi car… is fantastic. They sell ten thousand, twenty thousand a month,” Farley said. “I don’t like talking about the competition much, but we flew [an SU7] from Shanghai to Chicago and I’ve been driving it for six months now, and I don’t want to give it up.”

Farley didn’t mention which version of the SU7 he imported, but it’s normal for automakers to test out their competitors’ vehicles to better understand what they’re up against.

Xiaomi doesn’t sell cars in America, and even if you went the “I’ll just bring one here” route the CEO did, there’s ~100% tariffs on them, so I’d bet he doesn’t see them as a competitor at this time and is just being somewhat candid.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago

at this time

Hm, maybe it was intended as a warning to his own company like "get your shit together, there is a threat emerging".