Why Ford's CEO Uses an Electric Chinese Sedan

When automotive CEOs are going to and from work, what’s their vehicle of choice? In many cases, it’s a car or truck produced by the company they run. That’s not at all surprising — you’d like to think executives at an automaker are producing vehicles that they themselves would want to use, either as drivers or passengers. But for Ford’s CEO, Jim Farley, the answer is a little different. His preferred work ride is one taken in the Xiaomi SU7, an electric sedan that debuted earlier this year.

In a recent appearance on the podcast Everything Electric Show, Farley addressed his own impressions of the SU7 in conversation with host Robert Llewellyn. This included a description of the SU7 as “fantastic” and of its manufacturer as “a juggernaut.”

“I don’t like talking about the competition so much,” Farley said, then recounted how he had recently shipped an SU7 from China to the United States. “I’ve been driving it for six months now, and I don’t want to give it up.” He went on to draw a comparison between the evolution of China’s auto industry with his own experiences working at Toyota and seeing that company expand its U.S. presence.

While Farley seemed enamored with his experience using an SU7, he also addressed the work Ford is doing to compete with Xiaomi and other Chinese automakers. “We found some opportunities that we didn’t expect to, but it required people outside of our industry to be staffing that team,” he told Llewellyn.

This in-depth look at the granular details of making and selling EVs was in keeping with some of the broader themes of the conversation, including the importance of charging infrastructure and what Farley described as “epiphanies” he had had while traveling in China. He also contrasted Xiaomi’s beginnings as a phone company and its ability to branch out into making cars with Apple’s decision to abandon its plan to become an automaker.

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While Farley had plenty of good things to say about the SU7, it wouldn’t be fair to say this was at the expense of Ford’s own EVs. At one point in the interview, he mentioned that he and his son had embarked on a 1,100-mile road trip throughout California in a Ford F-150 Lightning. Later in the interview, he returned to the subject, saying, “When we electrified the F-150, we changed what a full-size truck can do.”

But this candid interview does open the door to another big question: can Farley and his colleagues translate the pleasure he’s gotten from his SU7 into something similar for Ford’s own electric vehicles?