Ford CEO: We’d rival Tesla right now if we were producing enough EVs

Ford CEO: We would rival Tesla right now if we were producing enough electric vehicles

Electrek.co by Fred Lambert

[{"selector":"#anim-fad858e2-e016-44df-85dd-2d2c901d9adb","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] Ford CEO Jim Farley made an interesting comment that highlighted just how the perception of Tesla has massively shifted in the automotive industry over the last few years.

[{"selector":"#anim-4de9257e-2266-4189-960a-81d01bfe7a49","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] It was just a few years ago that the consensus about Tesla amongst leaders at legacy automakers was that the company is great at making a few expensive electric vehicles and it is going to stay that way.

[{"selector":"#anim-a3781fe1-e254-409a-8d0f-5107621b1b41","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] Not a lot of people believed that Tesla could become a major automaker and achieve an annualized production rate of over one million vehicles, but that’s exactly what it achieved last quarter.

Now no one is better at producing electric vehicles in volume than Tesla, and it’s the traditional automakers who are trying to catch up.

[{"selector":"#anim-ad703647-f799-4159-b923-a47cf19fda72","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}]

[{"selector":"#anim-c23f2760-09e6-4ff4-903e-00c700dfce0e","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] This has become even more evident in the last year with the serious supply chain issues affecting the auto industry.

Tesla was able to grow significantly while most automakers struggled.

[{"selector":"#anim-d74ecf44-d6f0-43d0-a06e-c0640ba67f2e","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}]

[{"selector":"#anim-d1f54cb4-e232-4fcb-b027-f9740bb16eb7","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] GM delivered only a couple of BEVs last quarter while Ford just had to shut down production lines for its Mustang Mach E, its only consumer all-electric vehicle right now, due to supply chain issues.

[{"selector":"#anim-0efc2ece-7a8b-4ef3-a23e-7e80da19b8eb","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] But Ford is still confident in its goal to quickly ramp up BEV production to 600,000 units by the end of next year.

Learn more about Ford CEO Jim Farley's production claims and read Electrek's take at Electrek.co.

[{"selector":"#anim-69451356-ddfe-42e1-b6f5-fc9e31bf7c52","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] Learn more