Ford’s CEO and CFO took a drive in a Chinese EV. What they said about it reveals a lot about the state of the US auto industry.

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Ford’s CEO and CFO took a drive in a ******** EV. What they said about it reveals a lot about the state of the US auto industry.

Ford CEO Jim Farley and CFO John Lawler took a test drive in a ******** electric SUV in early 2023.

Both men were left shocked and impressed by the quality of the ********-made EV.

“Jim, this is nothing like before,” Lawler told Farley. “These guys are ahead of us.”

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C-suite executives were left humbled by

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after taking a test drive in a ********-made EV last year,

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reported on Saturday.

Ford CEO

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and CFO John Lawler had visited China in early 2023 when the pair decided to take Changan Automobile’s electric SUV for a spin, per The Journal.

The ******** state-owned automaker is a longtime ******-venture partner of Ford’s.

The quick test drive, in which Farley drove and Lawler rode shotgun, gave the executives a taste of what it was like to ride in a ********-made EV.

Farley and Lawler were left both shocked and impressed by how smooth and quiet their drive was, The Journal reported.

“Jim, this is nothing like before,” Lawler told Farley, per The Journal.

“These guys are ahead of us,” Lawler added.

Farley’s fears were piqued again in May when he made another trip to China, The Journal reported.

“John, this is an existential threat,” Farley told Ford board member and former Goldman Sachs executive John Thornton after his trip.

Representatives for Ford did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside regular business hours.

******** automakers like BYD have been dominating the EV race. For one, ******** carmakers have been 

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 like Brazil and Mexico, as well as Southeast ****** countries like Thailand.

According to data compiled by technology firm ABI Research for Business Insider, ******** automakers accounted for 88% of the eV market in Brazil and 70% in Thailand in the first quarter of this year.

The rapid ascendance of ********-made EVs has since prompted Western governments to introduce trade restrictions on them.

In May, the US government

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, effectively shutting them out of the US auto market. The ********* Union followed suit soon after when it

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.

To be sure, Ford isn’t the only ********* automaker scrambling to compete against the ********.

Even Tesla, widely considered to be a pioneer in EVs, has faced pressure from the ********. In late 2023, BYD 

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.

When Tesla held its quarterly earnings call in January, CEO

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acknowledged the

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, calling them “the most competitive car companies in the world.”

“If there are no trade barriers established, they will pretty much demolish most other car companies in the world,” Musk told investors at the time.

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#Fords #CEO #CFO #drive #******** #reveals #lot #state #auto #industry

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