Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) has stopped production of several electric vehicles and de-emphasized a former large portion of its growth strategy. In a recent interview, Ford CEO Jim Farley says he would have done things differently.
Ford CEO Has Some Regrets
Serving as CEO of Ford since October 2020, Farley has guided the company through periods of growth, but also watched profitability hurt by focusing on electric vehicle unit growth.
Farley sees electric vehicles as a future point of growth, but right now, the company is focused on hybrids and gas-powered vehicles and profitability.
"I totally would've done it differently. I mean, look, we didn't know what we didn't know," Farley said when asked about the F-150 Lightning not going as planned by Car and Driver.
Farley said Ford had electric vehicles that people loved, but they "were never going to pay the cost we put into the vehicle." The Ford CEO says the COVID-19 pandemic gave automotive companies a "false signal," allowing them to sell vehicles at 30% to 40% higher prices.
One key moment for Farley in realizing that Ford had missed on electric vehicles was when he ripped apart a Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) vehicle with Ford's Chief Officer for EVs Doug Field, who previously worked at the rival automotive company.
"I was just absolutely flabbergasted. The Mach-E's wiring harness was 70 pounds heavier and 1.6 kilometers longer."
Farley does share some success for electric vehicles during the interview, including the Puma Gen-E, which he said is one of the top-selling electric vehicles in the United Kingdom. That vehicle, though, wouldn't have the same success in the United States, according to Farley, due to its size and price.
In the United States, the F-150 Lightning was the bestselling electric pickup truck in 2025 and beat Cybertruck for many months while both were in production.
In 2025, Ford sold 27,307 F-150 Lightnings, while Tesla sold 20,237 Cybertrucks. The difference between the two vehicles was likely profitability: Ford lost money on every electric pickup truck it sold.
What's Next for Ford
During the interview, Farley highlighted how far ahead China is in the automotive space.
"Anyone in the auto industry who didn't feel like something was going to happen in China five years ago was fooling themselves," Farley said.
Farley noted his surprise at the rapid evolution of the market and the speed with which Chinese vehicles surpassed U.S. models.
"Designs were beautiful. They were electric cars. Nio had battery swapping. It was just shocking, frankly."
The Ford CEO said that China, software and EVs are three things that people are focused on for the automotive segment, but they're not all the same.
"The software thing is 10 times bigger to me."
Farley said Ford is thinking about how vehicles are a "third space, an entertainment space."
"I think Henry Ford would've been insanely bored over the last hundred years at Ford. He would've gone into the airplane business or SpaceX or whatever. But if he came back to the company now, he'd be up all night."
The Ford CEO said the company is focused on its current plan right now to focus on hybrids and gas-powered vehicles, but the company's next "Model T moment" could be coming in 2027 with a new modular EV platform for a mid-size electric pickup.
With a potential price point of $30,000, Ford hopes to disrupt the electric vehicle segment once again, this time around with Farley doing things differently.
Photo: Mike Mareen via Shutterstock
