3 Minutes
For years, Tesla was the name every automaker had to chase. That era, at least in Ford’s eyes, may be fading fast.
Ford CEO Jim Farley has made no secret of his admiration for Chinese electric vehicles, and his latest comments sharpen that message even further. Speaking on the Rapid Response podcast, he said American carmakers hoping to beat China should not be looking only at Tesla anymore. The real pressure, he argued, now comes from companies like BYD and Xiaomi.
“If you’re an American and you want us to beat the Chinese in the car business, you’ll want to pay attention, not necessarily to Tesla,” Farley said.
That is a striking shift in the conversation. Tesla spent more than a decade setting the pace for the EV industry, forcing legacy automakers to rethink everything from battery strategy to software and charging. But the market has changed. Chinese brands have surged ahead with faster product cycles, aggressive pricing, and a level of manufacturing efficiency that is hard to ignore.
The benchmark has moved
Farley has been especially vocal about Xiaomi’s SU7, which he has reportedly been testing and now views as a new reference point. That says a lot about where the industry’s center of gravity is moving. Tesla still has scale, brand power, and a loyal customer base, but its lineup has gone stale by EV standards. Beyond the Cybertruck, which has had a troubled rollout, Tesla has not introduced a truly fresh model in years. Even the Model Y, its best-selling vehicle, only recently received a meaningful update.
Meanwhile, talk of a lower-priced Tesla has circulated for months, yet nothing concrete has arrived. That delay has given Chinese automakers even more room to stretch their lead, especially in areas like value, technology integration, and production speed.
For Ford, the lesson is clear. The company is not just measuring itself against an American rival anymore. It is studying the entire global field, and right now BYD stands out as the standard to beat. Farley has described the brand as “the best in the business” when it comes to cost control, supply chain strength, and manufacturing know-how. That reputation is backed by results: BYD has become the best-selling automaker in China, overtaking Volkswagen in its home market.
The bigger point here is simple. The EV race is no longer about who impressed first. It is about who keeps moving. Tesla changed the game, but Chinese automakers are now rewriting the playbook at speed. And if Ford wants to stay relevant in both domestic and international markets, it cannot afford to benchmark against yesterday’s leader.
The battle has moved on. Ford knows it.
Source: motor1
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