Ford CEO Jim Farley is warning that Europe could undermine its own carmakers if it keeps setting ambitious EV rules and then backing away from them when buyers do not follow
That stop-start approach, he says, leaves automakers designing products and plants for targets that may not stick, all while dealing with tariffs, content rules and rising costs.
My, the title really kind of buries the lede. He’s making a fairly salient point.
It’s weird because I feel like I see a lot of solid points from him on EVs and yet I don’t feel like I see a lot of leadership from Ford in the EV space, and missteps in their rollouts. I’ve driven the Lightning and Mach E, great cars in many ways, but still expensive (although I remember the work truck variant of the Lightning was actually slightly less expensive than a comparable ICE vehicle). They spent a lot of money on electric and then haven’t pushed farther.
It’s one area where I wonder if they would do better as a private company, not beholden to investors who want results this quarter.
All Farley has to do is buy SlateEV.
Slate looks great on paper, and is loved on internet forums, but I really don’t think Americans will buy them.
I though Americans would have bought Bollingers in droves but that company was so mismanaged they pissed away a great idea.
Slate sounds great, I love the concept, but I have no idea if the company will last long enough for me to be ready to buy a car again whenever they finally launch.
He says they need to invest heavily in EVs if they don’t want to get dominated by China. And apparently he thinks that setting ambitious regulatory goals for EVs only to back off before they take effect is harming their ability to compete.
And yet, he also lobbied hard for Trump to cut fuel efficiency standards. Funny how that works.
He wants to sell heavy overpriced trucks based on 1950s technology because that is Ford’s bread and butter and idiots now pay >$60K for one.
He probably wants to leave the European market and knows that EVs will be a hard sell in the US for some time. Especially with none US car makers not focusing on massive trucks.
Then there is Stellantis…who thinks Americans are going to buy this in 2026 (seriously):
The point of these bullshit vehicles is to generate proof to governments that EV mandates won’t work. So let’s make cars most Americans can’t even fit into.
The Citroen Ami was developed by PSA, which then merged with FIAT Chrysler to form Stellantis. However PSA did not even try to sell anything in the US. However there is a market for small vehicles in the US. For example:
setting ambitious regulatory goals for EVs only to back off before they take effect is harming their ability to compete.
He’s got a point though. How are going to plan 10-year investments in a regulatory environment this fickle?
Roughly translated to: Make our mega company more money, get saddled with less competition and choice, do not follow free market principles unless we say so."
In a normal market innovation wins.
The same Jim Farley that just signed a deal with Renault to use their EV platform.
Legacy car makers thought EVs would be a way to sell huge overpriced high margin vehicles festooned with cheap gadgets and then they get angry when the public won’t buy them. Toyota’s CEO lost his job avoiding the EV craze and it saved the company.
