🥊 Them's fighting words! Ford's Farley disses Cybertruck: 'I make trucks for real people who do real work'

[Old Spice]

Via Electrek

Ford CEO Jim Farley dismissed Tesla Cybertruck as “a cool high-end product parked in front of a hotel” rather than “a truck for real people.”

Will he eat his words?

During an interview with CNBC, Farley appeared to want to distance Ford from Tesla a bit after his company agreed to adopt Tesla’s NACS connector.

He described the move as an “opportunistic” one to increase access to charging for Ford customers, but he claimed that Ford’s charging network was already extensive before that.

The CEO was asked about the imminent launch of the Tesla Cybertruck and he seemed unimpressed.

Farley said about the Cybertruck:

“The reality is, America loves an underdog — and we are the market leader for EV trucks and vans, and we know those customers better than anyone. And if [Elon Musk] wants to design a Cybertruck for Silicon Valley people, fine. It’s like a cool high-end product parked in front of a hotel. But I don’t make trucks like that. I make trucks for real people who do real work, and that’s a different kind of truck.”

Those are harsh words for Tesla’s first offering in the important and highly profitable pickup market in the US.

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[flowerlandfilms]

He was further quoted saying...

"When you get out into that big world, you're gonna find , that your Cybertruck doesn't amount, to DIDDLY SQUAT!"

and...

"Elon, I wish you'd just shut your BIG YAPPER!"

 

[CyberGus]

Truck brands were tribal long before Tesla got here.

 

[ninja6r]

CEO of Ford says rival truck won't appeal to Ford's customer base. What a shock.

 

[Jhodgesatmb]

Via Electrek

Ford CEO Jim Farley dismissed Tesla Cybertruck as “a cool high-end product parked in front of a hotel” rather than “a truck for real people.”

Will he eat his words?

During an interview with CNBC, Farley appeared to want to distance Ford from Tesla a bit after his company agreed to adopt Tesla’s NACS connector.

He described the move as an “opportunistic” one to increase access to charging for Ford customers, but he claimed that Ford’s charging network was already extensive before that.

The CEO was asked about the imminent launch of the Tesla Cybertruck and he seemed unimpressed.

Farley said about the Cybertruck:

Those are harsh words for Tesla’s first offering in the important and highly profitable pickup market in the US.

To some degree he is right, though. We know that it was/is Elon's/Tesla's intention to build a truck that will be as functional as any full-sized pickup, but saying and delivering are different things. We can say a lot of [good and bad] things about the Lightning, and Ford's entry into BEVs in general, but they 'have' delivered an electric pickup truck and it is functional. Ford never had to provide a feature/spec list for the Lightning because they have a 100-year history of building pickup trucks. Tesla doesn't, but we have never seen a spec sheet for the Cybertruck. I am as bullish as anyone else here, but I can see Farley's skepticism as being well founded. Its a "put up or shut up" moment for Tesla and I am hoping (like you all) that it is a "put up". Maybe Farley is also a bit defensive since the Cybertruck should start manufacturing any time now - so he has a smaller and smaller window to claim Ford's dominance in the full-sized pickup arena.

 

[Jhodgesatmb]

CEO of Ford says rival truck won't appeal to Ford's customer base. What a shock.

You are right, it would not be a shock, nor would it be a shock for GMC, Ram, etc owners to not buy a Cybertruck. My experience is that truck owners are more loyal than passenger car owners. That said, if the Cybertruck delivers on Tesla's claims, I would also not be surprised to see some of these truck owners jump ship. There is only so much momentum that loyalty can carry. Time will tell.

 

[Diehard]

I wonder if some of Ford marketing people‘s research showed recent supercharger deal was taken as Fords approval of Tesla products and Farley’s admiration for Tesla as a company ahead of the game in EV market as a threat to ford’s sale of it’s bread and butter and told him, you need some distance.

Or Elon and Farley decided that Americans and mainly American males like conflict more than friendly relationships and talking crap will help them both sell more of what they make. Free attention and advertisement before CT launches. And Elon probably will talk some crap before the next gen F150 Lightning launches to return the favor.

 

[BayouCityBob]

To some degree he is right, though. We know that it was/is Elon's/Tesla's intention to build a truck that will be as functional as any full-sized pickup, but saying and delivering are different things. We can say a lot of [good and bad] things about the Lightning, and Ford's entry into BEVs in general, but they 'have' delivered an electric pickup truck and it is functional. Ford never had to provide a feature/spec list for the Lightning because they have a 100-year history of building pickup trucks. Tesla doesn't, but we have never seen a spec sheet for the Cybertruck. I am as bullish as anyone else here, but I can see Farley's skepticism as being well founded. Its a "put up or shut up" moment for Tesla and I am hoping (like you all) that it is a "put up". Maybe Farley is also a bit defensive since the Cybertruck should start manufacturing any time now - so he has a smaller and smaller window to claim Ford's dominance in the full-sized pickup arena.

Well... "functional" as long as you do not mind its range limitations and very slow charging and super-limited places to charge (getting fixed next year). And as long as you do not need a full-sized bed. But as long as you do not need to travel long distances or to more rural places or tow something very far, then it is totally functional.

Let's say it is "familiar" and very functional for the urban cowboy types that dominate the F150 Platinum market as they zip back and forth along I-10 to their very manly office jobs in Houston.

(Just having a bit of fun. But seriously, that is who is driving the Lightning around town. Nice, comfy truck for manly office workers.)

 

[papajamaliciousness]

Via Electrek

Ford CEO Jim Farley dismissed Tesla Cybertruck as “a cool high-end product parked in front of a hotel” rather than “a truck for real people.”

Will he eat his words?

During an interview with CNBC, Farley appeared to want to distance Ford from Tesla a bit after his company agreed to adopt Tesla’s NACS connector.

He described the move as an “opportunistic” one to increase access to charging for Ford customers, but he claimed that Ford’s charging network was already extensive before that.

The CEO was asked about the imminent launch of the Tesla Cybertruck and he seemed unimpressed.

Farley said about the Cybertruck:

Those are harsh words for Tesla’s first offering in the important and highly profitable pickup market in the US.

It's not really about whether he's "right" or "wrong," by saying this Farley is attempting to brand the cybertruck as a pretentious vehicle, which bottom line is a smart move. F150s are for men, CT is for Steve Jobs and Elizabeth Holmes on their way to a wine tasting wearing black turtlenecks. Don't think it will work when the CT is apparently so badass when you see it in person (I haven't seen one in person) and when it can do all kinds of crazy stuff.

His attempt to brand it will work better if the CT is very expensive. Elon himself said he likes Ford's strategy with EVs.

If the CT is very practical and useful and relatively cheap then Ford is f*****. But if the CT is too expensive Tesla will only get limited market share imo.

 

[Rutrow]

Farley will be selling Calvin peeing on CyberTruck stickers soon. Denigrating rival truck brands is a time honored tradition. Remember when Chevy called Ford owners pussies for their "Man Step"??? At least until Silverado came out with their own.

 

[Diehard]

It's not really about whether he's "right" or "wrong," by saying this Farley is attempting to brand the cybertruck as a pretentious vehicle, which bottom line is a smart move. F150s are for men, CT is for Steve Jobs and Elizabeth Holmes on their way to a wine tasting wearing black turtlenecks. Don't think it will work when the CT is apparently so badass when you see it in person (I haven't seen one in person) and when it can do all kinds of crazy stuff.

His attempt to brand it will work better if the CT is very expensive. Elon himself said he likes Ford's strategy with EVs.

If the CT is very practical and useful and relatively cheap then Ford is f*****. But if the CT is too expensive Tesla will only get limited market share imo.

If all EV trucks are expensive, the one that is branded for rich yuppies may sell more. So Farley may be shooting himself in the foot by this distinction.

Rivian felt much more refined than my Lightning, and I was willing to pay more for it if it was not for some of the reservations I had. Even sweaty construction workers wouldn’t mind driving something better if they can.

 

[papajamaliciousness]

If all EV trucks are expensive, the one that is branded for rich yuppies may sell more. So Farley may be shooting himself in the foot by this Distinction.

Well at least at the margins he should be able to hold on to part of his market share by perpetuating the brand stereotype that Ford is for working men and CT is for yuppies and photo opps. Not sure if that will be enough to keep Ford in business when CT takes even one quarter of Ford's pickup truck market share.

 

[Diehard]

Well at least at the margins he should be able to hold on to part of his market share by perpetuating the brand stereotype that Ford is for working men and CT is for yuppies and photo opps. Not sure if that will be enough to keep Ford in business when CT takes even one quarter of Ford's pickup truck market share.

It will come down to efficiency in manufacturing. If Tesla can produce a truck 20% cheaper than Ford and is willing to sell it at 20% cheaper there is no amount of crap talk or branding that can have enough influence over what people buy. In my opinion most trucks on the road are ugly so saying CT is ugly to someone that has been buying ugly all their life should not have much impact. Practicality of design and capability may be the only thing competing with the price. If CT has better range and faster charging but misses on some practicality like side loading ease, buttons, internal storage, back seat space, it still could win.

 

[cvalue13]

Farley and Elon have now a long and playful history of cross-jabs in public

All while behind-the-scenes negotiating for years this supercharger deal

Normal corporate synergies stuff. Which as others have pointed out, is nowhere more hyperbolic and tribal than with the American 1/2 ton truck category.

Let’s not forget Tesla’s entirely BS “towing” stunt at CT launch, nor Ford’s equally BS “towing” stunt (with the train) at Lightning launch.

Let’s also not forget the relevant context here: these guys are quibbling over what will amount to maybe a few % points of the overall market for pickup trucks in the US anytime in the near future.

It’s easy for those of us here to forget that it’s presently a small fraction of the truck buying world that would consider any BEV truck, forget which is the “better” one.

I’m as bullish on the CT as I think the next guy (other than the unmitigated fanbois).

And here’s what I tell “truck people” that ask about my Lightning:

Set aside entirely the fact that the Lightning is electric; I’ve driven 1/2 ton trucks for 30 years, mostly Ford’s, and the Lightning is by leaps and bounds the best all-round F150 ever produced by Ford, and arguably the best all-round 1/2-ton class pickup ever built. That alone, ignoring that it’s a BEV, is saying something.”

And if those people want to quibble about towing range, I say:

if you need a truck to regularly tow an RV long distances, then BEV battery sizes aren’t there just yet, but will be soon. If instead you regularly tow eg a ski boat an hour or two to the lake, the Lightning towing performance is better than many competing 3/4 ton trucks, and for the price of residential electric rates. So when it comes to current BEV towing comparisons, it all depends on your use case … and increases pack sizes and charge infra will soon close all gaps.”

The CT promises to close some of that gap soon.

While the CEOs perform their time-honored market differentiation rituals, we fans of BEV platforms - and those of us concerned with converting ICE drivers as fast as possible - should be doing more singing the praises of BEV platforms over ICE, and less quibbling about deltas between BEV platforms.

ICE drivers are listening, and I see them misunderstand our BEV quibbles as critiques inherent to any BEV platform.

To the extent that’s important with BEVs generally, it’s nowhere more important that the truck market.

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