Ford CEO Jim Farley slammed for driving Chinese-made electric vehicle: ‘Slap in the face’

Ford’s main executive revealed that he drives a $30,000 Chinese-made electrical sedan — and sewage ripped by critics, who called it a “slap successful nan face” to labor astatine nan Detroit-based automaker.

Farley, who has been CEO of Ford since October 2020, said drives a Xiaomi SU7, an electrical sedan that retails for $30,000 that he had specially flown successful from Shanghai. Introduced successful December 2023, nan SU7 is nan first EV sold by Xiaomi, nan world’s second-largest seller of smartphones.

Farley told nan Fully Charged Podcast that he has nary plans to move to an EV manufactured successful nan US.

“I don’t for illustration talking astir nan title truthful much, but I thrust nan Xiaomi,” Farley told podcast big Robert Llewellyn.

“We flew 1 from Shanghai to Chicago, and I’ve been driving it for six months now and I don’t want to springiness it up.”

Jason Isaac, who heads nan American Energy Institute, deed retired astatine Farley for shunning US-made technology.

“Jim Farley’s caller admittance that he drives a Chinese-made electrical conveyance is simply a slap successful nan look to nan thousands of hardworking labor astatine Ford Motor Company,” Isaac told National Review.

“At a clip erstwhile Ford is receiving billions of dollars successful subsidies from American taxpayers to support home EV production, it is profoundly troubling that nan company’s main executive would take a Chinese merchandise complete an American conveyance his ain institution manufactures,” he added.

The Post has sought remark from Ford.

The Xiaomi SU7 was introduced to awesome fanfare successful China, but nan conveyance is unavailable for acquisition successful nan US because nan national authorities has slapped a 100% tariff connected Chinese-made EVs — making them prohibitively costly to import.

Xiaomi’s conveyance besides does not meet regulatory information standards required of each cars while its charging specifications make them incompatible pinch nan US system.

The Beijing-based company, which Farley referred to arsenic “the Apple of China” and which is said to person a marketplace capitalization of betwixt $82-83 billion, has grounded to penetrate nan US marketplace owed to various restrictions placed connected Chinese technology.

Farley gushed astir Xiaomi, calling it an “industry juggernaut” and a “consumer marque that is overmuch stronger than car companies.”

In 2021, nan Biden management removed Xiaomi from a authorities blacklist of companies feared to person ties to nan Chinese military.

The Biden management and Congress person looked to forestall American companies from investing successful Chinese firms that are suspected of helping nan country’s subject summation a technological separator complete US forces.

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, has stated successful nan past that he opposes tariffs connected Chinese-made EVs — though he has besides said that without waste and acquisition barriers, Chinese automakers would “demolish” their world rivals.

The largest EV shaper successful nan world is BYD, nan Chinese automaker that counts Warren Buffett among its investors.

Chinese car companies were nan “most competitive” and “will person important occurrence extracurricular of China, depending connected what benignant of tariffs aliases waste and acquisition barriers are established,” Musk told investors successful January.