- Ford’s CEO has revealed he’s smitten with a Chinese electric sedan he’s been driving for the past six months.
- Jim Farley described the Xiaomi SU7 as “fantastic” and told the Fully Charged podcast that he didn’t want to give it up.
- The SU7 is smartphone-maker Xiaomi’s first EV and currently only available in China.
Automaker CEOs usually prefer to sing the praises of their own products rather than wax lyrical about rival brands, but Ford’s boss couldn’t help himself. He told an interviewer that he’s been dailying a Chinese electric sedan for the past six months and loves it so much he’s dreading the day he has to hand the keys back.
Speaking to Robert Llewellyn, host of the Fully Charged podcast, Jim Farley admitted that his regular ride is an SU7 electric sedan, the first car from smartphone company Xiaomi.
Related: Ford Boss Shaken After Secret Chinese EV Test Drive
“I don’t like talking about the competition so much, but I drive the Xiaomi,” Farley confessed to Llewellyn, explaining that although the EV isn’t on sale outside of China, Ford had shipped one to the US for evaluation.
“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,” said the man tasked with making Ford competitive with increasingly capable Chinese car brands.
“It’s fantastic,” Farley enthused. “They sell 10,000, 20,000 a month. They’re sold out for six months.”
Less fanastic for Xiaomi execs is the fact that the firm took a $9,200 bath on every car sold in the first six months of the year. Ford’s CEO didn’t detail which version of the SU7 he drove, but the entry-level, rear-wheel drive model has 295 hp (200 PS / 220 kW) and a 73.6 kWh battery giving a range of 435 miles (700 kW).
The mid-spec SU7 Pro gets a bigger battery that boosts the range to 516 miles (830 km) and the bi-motor, all-wheel drive SU7 Max comes with 663 hp (673 PS / 495 kW), can reach 62 mph (100 kmh) from rest in 2.8 seconds and covers 497 miles (800 km) on a single charge.
The SU7 isn’t the first Chinese car that has impressed Ford’s boss. According to a Wall Street Journal story Farley and CFO John Lawler were blown away when they tried a Changan EV in early 2003.
“These guys are ahead of us,” a shocked Lawler told Farley, who has described the Chinese auto industry as an “existential threat” to Ford.
