The Managing Director of Ford, Jim Farley, reiterates the Blue Oval's commitment to electric cars and confirms its repositioning to the more general market segments. Essentially, he revealed that "We want to produce the Model T of electric cars"
In particular, "Putting aside the political issues, we are convinced that a large percentage of Americans would be happy with the savings and flexibility that an electric car provides," the top manager said in an interview. 'The hard part is to bring affordable Bevs to market that can simultaneously make a profit, as Henry Ford did with the Model T.' In short, repositioning yes, steps backwards no: "We wouldn't invest in the future of electrics if we weren't convinced they could be profitable. I myself would not do my job well if I allocated capital to a sector that I don't believe can make a profit in the next product cycle."
A project that will change everything
"We're way behind Tesla, but we're still number two (in the US, ed.) in the electric car market. People who buy a Mach-E or an F-150 Lightning are happy. The new compact and affordable model could "arrive within two years," Farley explains. 'The team working on it is made up of ex-Apple and ex-Tesla people, people who don't have the old-school biases that I might have. They're developing a completely different approach, a different product, with a different cost, with a much smaller battery and different technology that we're convinced will not only be profitable for us, but affordable for most Americans.
Competitiveness is not protected by tariffs
As for the Biden administration's recent increase in customs tariffs, Farley sees it as "important to level the playing field at this particular time in history," but ultimately Ford "has to become cost and quality competitive with its competitors, BYD and other Chinese manufacturers, and we have a plan on how to do that." The government "will do its job," Farley concludes, "but I as CEO can't rely on that, my job is to make Ford competitive with the competition in America, regardless of the tariffs."
