Ford CEO's Warning Needs To Be Taken Seriously

Legacy automakers like Ford and Volkswagen cannot afford to ignorenew competitors like Teslaand Rivian. Tesla managed to change the entire automotive landscape beginning with the launch of the Model S in 2012. At first, mainstream brands didn't take this EV too seriously. The situation is completely different today. Both Ford and VW have committed billions of dollars to battery and autonomous driving technologies while GM plans to be EV-only by 2035.

Given the rapid pace governments are passing strict CO2 emissions standards, most automakers will drop internal combustion entirely within 15 to 20 years. But just because Ford has already launched theMustang Mach-Eand theF-150 Lightningwill land next spring doesn't mean it can afford to take a break. Quite the opposite.

TheDetroit Free Pressreports Ford CEO Jim Farley told a group of employees during a recent internal gathering that they need to take these rivals very seriously. "We need to be honest with ourselves about the market, the strength of our competition, and the work we need to do together," he said. "The market is evolving rapidly towards electric. While we're making progress, and we are, we have a lot of work to do. But our competitors are unbelievable in this space, something we have never seen."

Farley recently hadkind wordsfor Tesla CEO Elon Musk but that doesn't mean there's no competition. Even though Ford is one of its main investors, Farley specifically pointed out Rivian as being "a formidable competitor with us."