Car company executives are usually loath to talk about their rivals – at least on the record. But not Ford CEO Jim Farley, who this week publicly heaped praise on a would-be challenger to the blue oval.
But making the story even more remarkable is the rival car brand he’s praising is one you’ve probably never heard of – Xiaomi. That would be because Xiaomi doesn’t sell its cars in Australia, or even the USA, yet and are actually primarily a smartphone manufacturer.
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But according to Farley, Ford had an example of the company’s SU7 electric sedan shipped to the US and he has been driving it for several months. He revealed all this on the Fully Charged podcast, a dedicated EV channel hosted by actor-turned-motoring-journalist, Robert Llewellyn.
“I don’t like talking about the competition so much, but I drive the Xiaomi,” Farley admitted.
“We flew one from Shanghai to Chicago, and I’ve been driving it for six months now, and I don’t want to give it up.”
He praised Xiaomi as a “juggernaut” as its consumer electronics business expands beyond phones and into household products and other electrical goods, making its automotive sector just one part of its portfolio.
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Farley and other senior Ford leaders have previously made comments that the Chinese automotive industry is ahead of the US market, with the Ford boss going so far as to call it an “existential threat” to the brand.
Ford has had mixed success with its EV plans, with the Mustang Mach-E recording steady sales but the F-150 Lightning underperforming.
Farley is no stranger to doing unconventional things as Ford CEO. As we’ve previously written, he is an avid racer and competes in a Mustang GT4 as well as personally owning the Mustang Gen2 Supercar prototype.
Farley famously drove talk show host Jimmy Fallon in the Mustang Supercar at Ford’s US proving grounds, which you can see in the video below.
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