Ford's goals are ambitious.
Text/Shanshan Xu
Tesla is regarded as the strongest competitor, and Volkswagen is by no means alone.
Recently, Ford CEO Jim Farley said in an interview with Bloomberg that he is confident of surpassing Tesla in the sales of electric vehicles in the US electric vehicle market. But only if you get past GM first.
"Number One Loser"
So far, Tesla's position in the U.S. electric vehicle market has not been shaken. However, as General Motors, Ford, Hyundai and other manufacturers accelerate the layout of the electrification business, Tesla's market share has declined compared with before.
That gave Farley a pretty big deal of confidence, "We really have a chance to be number one." "Ford and Tesla are rivals and second on the track will be the number one loser." So we're going to fight for it." Farley stressed.
To achieve this, Ford plans to double its global electric vehicle production capacity to 600,000 units within two years. Based on the increase in production capacity, Ford's EV sales are expected to jump from fourth to second place.
Of course, this is just a vision for Ford.
According to the report, Ford is planning to double the production capacity of the Mustang Mach-E, its first pure electric model tested around the world. By 2023, Mach-E production in North America and Europe will triple to more than 200,000 units per year.
At this stage, the capacity of the Mexican plant is not enough to meet the production demand of The Mach-E, so Ford is considering other plants.
In addition, Ford also plans to double the capacity of its electric vehicle plant in Dearborn, Michigan. As a result, the plant can produce 160,000 F-150 Lightning pickups per year.
In order to prioritize the implementation of the above-mentioned production increase plan, Ford will also postpone the release of the Explorer and Aviator pure electric versions, which is expected to be postponed until the end of December 2024.
This is the first phase of planning. According to Farley, Ford's long-term goal is to increase the annual production capacity of electric vehicles to 1 million. In his view, to compete with rivals such as Tesla, Ford also needs to produce more profitable electric vehicles.
Despite the support of the production increase plan, It is clear that Ford has forgotten that almost all automakers are aggressively launching expansion plans. GM expects to start delivering the latest GMC electric Hummer pickup trucks by the end of this year. Tesla's upcoming two giga factories, Giga Berlin and Giga Texas, may further consolidate the position of the US electric car overlord.
In short, surpassing Tesla is no easy task.
"Praise the opponent"
Despite the war on the electric car market, Farley, who is in the middle, still does not forget to compliment Tesla's head Musk.
On December 13, local time, The American "Time" magazine named Tesla the person of the year. In an article about Musk, Time said, "As the richest man in the world, Musk does not have a house and has been selling his property recently. He puts satellites into orbit and uses solar energy to serve millions of households. He drives a car of his own making that requires little gasoline and little need for a driver. The flick of his finger can cause the stock price to skyrocket or plummet. His every word was taken as a guideline by a large group of fans. As he swept the globe he also dreamed of colonizing Mars, and his square jaw revealed indomitability. Subsequently, the Financial Times also named him Person of the Year.
There is a lot of controversy about this selection result. But Farley congratulated Musk almost immediately.
He quoted Musk as saying on Twitter that "Tesla's goal has always been to set an example for the auto industry...". In the end, he said the mission was complete and congratulated Musk.
Like Volkswagen CEO Diess, Farley has publicly acknowledged the challenges Tesla poses to traditional automakers. Similarly, he once praised Musk for his foresight.
One study showed that praising competitors can improve the reputation and sales of your brand. However, to really fall on the data, in the end, it depends on the overall strategic planning of the group and the progress of the landing.
For now, at least, Ford is confident. In response to a tweet about "Will Ford fully transition to electric?", Farley commented, "Yes.".
Maybe the next Tesla is on the way.