Ford's CEO Finally Says The Quiet Part Loud About Tariffs - Related to ford's, outsold, needs, tesla, ceo

Chinese Cars Outsold British Cars In The U.S. Last Year

There are no Chinese brands in the [website], and seven brands from the [website].

Despite that, made-in-China cars narrowly beat out made-in-Britain cars on last year's sales charts.

Chinese cars from Buick, Lincoln, Volvo and Polestar together outsold all of the cars built in the [website].

No truly Chinese brand sells in the [website] market. Until last year, Chinese-built cars were subject to a 25% import tariff. Then it ratcheted up to 100% last summer. Despite this, and despite the fact that there are seven UK-based brands on sale in the [website] market, American consumers still bought more China-built cars than they did British-built cars in 2024.

Yes, a smattering of random models from Buick, Lincoln, Polestar and Volvo outsold the collective efforts of Jaguar, Land Rover, Mini, Rolls-Royce, Lotus, Bentley and McLaren.

That's not a great look for the flagging British auto industry. Jaguar is also poised to move upmarket, trading its more high-volume products for smaller-market, higher-margin models. Mini itself tried to move production to China, only for tariffs to thwart that plan. And while Land Rover still sells decently well, it's not enough to make up huge volumes. So I can't see sales of [website] autos improving here anytime soon.

There's an electric version of the Range Rover on the way. That's great, because the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport are really the only reasonably popular [website] cars in the [website].

The [website] models of all seven brands totaled just over 79,000 sales last year. Land Rover accounted for the bulk of them. [website] automakers appear positioned to cater only to the extremely wealthy, which to me is a sign that they can't compete on cost with American, mainland European and Chinese firms.

Few can compete with China's might. Its industry started with one arm tied behind its back due to that 25% tariff. Then the Biden administration tied up its other arms, attempting to smother the country's nascent export industry in the cradle. Despite its shackles, the industry managed to land a few punches. With just over 80,000 Chinese-built vehicles sold in the [website], China managed to beat out the UK on [website] sales charts, .D. Power Vice President of Data & Analytics Tyson Jominy.

That's despite having only a smattering of options, none of which are real blockbusters. Volvo builds the S90 sedan there, though the firm barely keeps any on hand. It sold just 1,364 S90s last year. The Swedish luxury brand also started importing the EX30 EV from China last year, but tariffs severely curtailed its volumes and delayed its ambitions. It sold just 240 EX30s last year, but has higher hopes for them in 2025, even with the tariffs.

Photo by: InsideEVs The China-built Volvo EX30 was supposed to start at $35,000 in the [website], but tariffs killed that dream.

Its fellow Geely-owned brand Polestar was a bigger contributor. The corporation does not publish individual sales breakdowns for the [website] market, but sales- Polestar sold 12,903 China-built Polestar 2s last year. The corporation also imported the first batch of Polestar 3s from China, but almost all customer deliveries will be from the corporation's South Carolina plant.

But the biggest seller on the China-built charts is the Buick Envision. The midsize SUV is more popular on its own than most British brands. Buick sold 47,340 of them last year, despite the tariffs. Lincoln is nipping at Buick's heels, though. It's China-built Nautilus SUV recorded 36,544 sales last year, a huge improvement over the outgoing model, which wasn't built in China.

This is the unconquerable titan of industry for which the former empire has no retort. A midsize Buick, in all of its glory. Photo by: Buick.

What's unclear is whether these sales will hold up in 2025. Automakers likely imported extra vehicles ahead of the 100% tariff taking effect, so we don't know if they'll want to pay such a hefty duty. I can't imagine automakers can afford to sell this many vehicles with such a huge tariffs, but the low cost of production may help. Polestar, for its part, does plan to keep importing the Polestar 2 in some volume. But for high-volume products, I expect automakers to relocate production. I don't know where they'll go, but I doubt it'll be England. And even if the [website] boxes Chinese cars out of its market, the country's industry is going to keep growing.

"This may well reverse in 2025 and in the coming years, but long-term the direction is clear that China will surpass many established manufacturers and trading partners," Jominy told InsideEVs via text.

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Ford's CEO Finally Says The Quiet Part Loud About Tariffs

Tariffs have been a hot topic over the past two weeks. The number one uncertainty is if those tariffs would be enacted as promised how they would affect the price of ... well, everything, including EVs. And despite all of the dancing around who would be paying for those increased prices, Ford's CEO has no problem telling the world exactly who would be paying for the increased cost of the automaker's parts: you.

Welcome back to Critical Materials, your daily roundup for all things electric and automotive tech. Today, we're scribing about Ford's confirmation that tariffs would mean higher prices for new car buyers, Toyota seeking out new love in China, and Xiaomi's goal to earn a billion dollars from the new SU7 Ultra. Let's jump in.

30%: Ford Says The Quiet Part Out Loud: Tariffs Mean Higher Prices.

Ford CEO Jim Farley didn't mince words during the firm's latest financial call on Wednesday. The Blue Oval's brand chief made it clear: if [website] President Donald Trump enacts 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico, new car buyers will be the ones who end up footing Ford's higher bills.

"There’s no question that tariffs at the 25 percent level with Canada and Mexico, if they’re protracted, would have a huge impact on our industry," warned Farley, echoing the words stated by nearly every industry analyst over the past week. He continued:

"With billions of dollars of industry profit wiped out, and adverse effects on US jobs as well as the entire value system in our industry, tariffs would also mean higher prices for end-consumers."

Trump officially showcased tariffs against the long-standing [website] trade partners over the weekend, noting that they would go into effect Tuesday alongside an additional 10% levy hike on goods imported from China. As the deadline approached, Trump showcased a 30-day stay for Canada and Mexico's trade terms during which the countries will negotiate specific terms. In short: no additional tariffs just yet, but that 25% isn't fully off the table.

Farley's concern isn't unfounded. Ford—like many other automakers that sell cars in the [website]—has its supply chain heavily intertwined with its neighbors to the north and south. Take the Ford Mustang Mach-E, for example, which is assembled in Cuautitlan, Mexico. Or Ford's four separate engine plants in Ontario, Canada that build the powertrains for many of its cars, trucks, and commercial vehicles. If prices surge simply because of tariffs, consumers footing the bill should come as no surprise. And that might happen regardless of what plays out with Canada and Mexico since China's 10% tariffs went into effect this week.

How big is the surge, you ask? The average cost increase is expected to be somewhere around $3,000 per vehicle. However, some analysts put price targets as high as $9,000 or more depending on the nameplate. Higher prices could mean a slump in sales, which could lead to a cut in production and potentially layoffs across the industry. These rippling effects would likely continue working down the supply chain across North America.

Now for the good news. Farley says that Ford is cautiously optimistic about the future of the auto industry under the current administration:

"We believe, based on our conversations in DC with the Trump administration and congressional leaders, that they are committed to strengthening, not weakening, our nation's auto industry," presented Farley.

Consumers are stuck playing the hurry-up-and-wait game while the countries all figure out the solution to Trump's trade problems. If no mutual understanding can be reached next month, it could mean consumers are the ones paying the price. And even if North America wards off a trade war, auto executives certainly aren't forgetting about this tariff turmoil.

60%: Toyota Bringing Wholly-Owned Lexus Factory To China.

Toyota has been an automaker that feared commitment. BEVs? Well, let's try PHEVs too. Mild hybrids? Might as well throw hydrogen in while we're at it. That's the multi-pathway approach, and it's how Toyota hedged its bets in a rapidly evolving consumer market. It turns out that was the smart move all along.

Toyota's BEV sales didn't exactly skyrocket in North America. As GM CEO Mary Barra stated, the market was simply "not developing" across the continent as quickly as anticipated. So Toyota is turning to China where BEVs and PHEVs are loved, and it's taking a page right out of Tesla's playbook: a wholly-owned EV and battery factory right in the heart of Shanghai.

“We decided to establish a wholly owned corporation for the development and production of Lexus BEVs and batteries in Shanghai, China,” introduced Toyota CFO Yoichi Miyazaki following the corporation's quarterly earnings release on Wednesday. Miyazaki continued: “Our goal is to become a corporation that is more loved and supported by the people of China."

If you're not familiar with ownership rights in China, it's extremely rare for a foreign entity to own or operate an automotive brand in China without a joint partnership. For example, Volkswagen has partnerships with SAIC and FAW, Ford with Changan and JMC, and even Toyota with FAW and GAC. The list goes on. But Tesla made history when it became the first foreign automaker to host a wholly-owned venture in China when it opened Gigafactory Shanghai in 2019.

Toyota appears to be next on that list, and it's utilizing its Lexus marque for the task. From Fortune:

Toyota’s Shanghai factory will develop a new BEV under its premium Lexus brand, with production starting from 2027. Initial capacity will be 100,000 units per year, with 1,000 new jobs created during the startup phase. In its statement, Toyota added it wanted to meet Chinese demand for new energy vehicles, a term that includes both battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, more quickly. Toyota may be taking a page from Tesla’s playbook with its new Shanghai factory. The [website] carmaker wholly owns its gigafactory in Shanghai, the first car plant in the country to operate without a local partner.

China began easing restrictions on foreign automakers in 2018, prior to Tesla's operation breaking ground. Shanghai is now home to Tesla's largest operation globally. Then again, China has no shortage of automakers pumping out electric cars. So what exactly is the play here?

With Toyota being the largest automaker by volume, China might see this as an opportunity to showcase the value of building and exporting products from within its borders—should Toyota choose to export Lexus vehicles produced in Shanghai. Perhaps that could help to convince the world of the country's necessity as an automotive export hub at a time when many nations are instead slapping it with tariffs. Or, maybe Toyota just sees the opportunity to capitalize on its third-largest market behind the [website] and Japan. Time will tell.

90%: Xiaomi Wants To Sell 10,000 Six-Figure SU7 Ultras This Year.

If there's one Chinese EV that should make Americans jealous, it's the Xiaomi SU7. Don't believe me? Just ask Ford CEO Jim Farley. The SU7 is cool, but Xiaomi isn't stopping there. The corporation is making a tire-shredding luxury version called the SU7 Ultra, and folks, this is the one that any performance-minded person wants to drive.

Xiaomi's founder and CEO, Lei Jun, is super confident that the cell phone-maker-turned-car-builder is going to sell a ton of these. And with the response that the SU7 is getting, why wouldn't he be? As the firm returns to work after the Chinese New Year, Jun is setting the firm's annual goals. One particularly ambitious goal is to deliver at least 10,000 units of the Ultra-trimmed SU7 by the end of the year.

Now, that seems pretty doable considering that Xiaomi delivered more than 135,000 cars last year (its first full year as an automaker). The SU7 sold so well that Xiaomi kept raising the delivery targets for the car throughout the year. And now it plans to complement its electric sedan with a Model Y-fighting SUV, the YU7. If all goes as planned, Xiaomi expects to deliver 300,000 cars in 2025.

The catch is that this particular version of the SU7 is particularly expensive. At an eye-watering $112,000, it's nearly as much as a new Porsche 911. At the other end of the spectrum, the regular SU7 starts at just $29,900. That translates to an $80,000 premium if you want to unlock all 1,526 horsepower. Still, Jun is convinced that the corporation can make it happen.

Xiaomi officially started taking preorders of the SU7 Ultra when it revealed the car in late October. Within 10 minutes of opening the order books, the brand amassed a whopping 3,680 preorders. The car officially goes on sale in March alongside the firm's new Xiaomi 15 Ultra smartphone. Quite an interesting launch combination.

100%: Will Tariffs Push More EVs Towards Luxury Pricing?

EVs in the [website] aren't cheap (yet). You know it, I know it. It's the reality as the market sits today. That's not to say costs haven't come down on components. By the end of this year, battery prices could be half of what they were in 2019, and that trend is likely to continue for the rest of the decade (albeit with a significantly weaker curve). That hasn't helped much on the MSRP of new EVs though. As it sits, the average transaction price for EVs reached more than $55,000 in December.

While Canada and Mexico experienced a pause in the tariff war, China didn't get as lucky and is now facing a 10% duty fee hike that American consumers will soon start to feel in daily life. Eventually, that will reach the automotive market, potentially offsetting any savings from falling prices on EV tech. All in the name of a trade war. Does that mean EVs may sit in pseudo-luxury limbo for the foreseeable future?

Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

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Tesla Is Alienating The People It Needs Most: Study

Elon Musk's foray into politics has made him far more unpopular with Democrats.

He's particularly turning off the buyers who say they're most likely to get an EV.

As a result, Tesla has the worst favorability to unfavorability ratio of any brand among buyers looking for an EV, per a new study.

Tesla's chief executive has spent the last year alienating the people his organization needs most, a new study from the nonprofit EV Politics Project demonstrates. Among buyers who say they are looking to buy an EV as their next vehicle, Tesla had the worst favorability ratings of any brand surveyed.

In the survey of 600 people, 20% mentioned they were planning on buying an EV next. Of those, 37% had an unfavorable opinion of Tesla, with 63% reporting a favorable opinion. That doesn't sound that bad outright, but note that Toyota, Ford and Volkswagen all score significantly higher on favorability and—importantly—far lower on unfavorability.

That's crucial because it's much harder to shake a negative view than it is to develop a positive one from a neutral position.

Notice how Elon Musk is unpopular with people who currently drive EVs. That's pretty counterintuitive. Photo by: EV Politics Project.

The EV Politics Project describes itself as "a bipartisan effort to more effective understand the growing divide between Republicans and Democrats (and Independents) over electric vehicle adoption." It is led by several academics and veteran political operators from both parties.

Their data is also surprising given that EV buyers should, in theory, be pretty pro-Tesla. The firm essentially started the EV revolution, and is by far the largest EV manufacturer in the [website] The Tesla Model Y is the best-selling EV in the world and, by some counts, the best-selling vehicle full-stop. It's also a great car, as is the Model 3. The Cybertruck is, well, if you don't have nice things to say... But broadly, Tesla's cars are good, its charging network is great and its software is in a class of one. So why has public opinion shifted so heavily against the firm, especially among its most crucial buyer base?

Blame politics. Yes, I know you hate hearing about it. Trust me, I'd rather not be writing about what's going on. But we've seen survey after survey showing people getting increasingly frustrated with Musk's pivot toward being a far-right power broker, especially the types of well-off, educated, left-leaning drivers that make up Tesla's current customer base.

Most categories don't inspire much animosity from either side. EV brands are the exception. Photo by: EV Politics Project.

Now, this pivot isn't without benefits for Musk. He's become far more favorably perceived on the political right. Yet the people who align with Musk's politics are far less likely to care about climate change, or EVs, studies (including from this group) have shown.

Among those who had a favorable opinion of Musk in the EV Politics Project survey, only 23% agreed that "Climate Change is real and EVs can help." And while they may like Musk, 48% of Republicans surveyed reported unfavorable opinions of EV brands overall. Among Democrats, only 13% had an unfavorable view of EV brands.

After a decade of positioning his brands against climate change and the fossil fuel lobbyists, Musj has now pulled a 180, throwing all of his money and weight behind a politician with endless criticism for EVs and who has called climate change a hoax. Moreover, President Trump's industrial and environmental policies are all but certain to slow America's progress in the electric race. While Musk has mentioned that losing EV tax credits, as Trump aims to do, will benefit Tesla over time, it's not exactly clear how that would happen when public opinion has shifted so strongly against him.

It's no wonder Musk's current vibe is turning off EV buyers. There just aren't that many people who both want to purchase an EV and simultaneously support a platform based on increased drilling, decreased environmental regulations and the revocation of subsidies that make those EVs cheaper. None of that's surprising.

So why does it matter to you, someone who probably comes here to read about EVs more than politics? Because Tesla is the biggest player in this game, and Musk's pivot comes at a seriously inopportune time for the corporation. Its sales were down last year for the first time ever. The Cybertruck has not moved the needle for it really. The Model Y refresh was received with a murmur. And the corporation has already pulled out all of the stops to stimulate demand. It's cut prices, updated the core products and piled generous incentives on to juice the numbers. Still, they fall.

How can Tesla arrest this decline? Well, the affordable models that the firm has promised will surely help. But that will require the discipline and focus to launch them effectively, the institutional competency to do so without quality issues and a broad buyer pool of consumers that are happy to buy Tesla products. Elon's attempt to bend the federal government to his will certainly has advantages for him, but it won't help with any of those three issues. In fact, it's making most of Tesla's problems a hell of a lot worse.

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