Ford CEO Jim Farley on China, tariffs, and the quest for a $30,000 EV

September 29, 2025·1 hr 3 min·5 clips

Ford CEO Jim Farley unveils a universal EV platform designed to beat Chinese competitors with cheaper, more efficient manufacturing.

Joanna Stern guest-hosts Decoder, interviewing Ford CEO Jim Farley about the company's new universal EV platform, competition with Chinese automakers like BYD, and the impact of tariffs. Farley discusses manufacturing innovations, the blue-collar workforce crisis, and Ford's digital strategy, including tensions with Apple over CarPlay.

As heard by us

Farley turns Ford's $30,000 EV push into a blunt lesson in batteries, fasteners, and BYD pressure.

Ford's $30,000 EV quest comes through less as a moonshot than as a brutal cost exercise. Jim Farley is sharpest when he talks about the unglamorous stuff: Ford's aging release systems, IT, and CAD tools, BYD's cheaper vertically integrated batteries, and the need to redesign…

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