00:00It is sort of part of this broader trend at Ford of having, you know, put their best effort into
00:07EVs and really struggling and having to sort of go back to the drawing board.
00:12And as you mentioned, when Jim Farley brought Doug Field in, I remember actually breaking the story with Keith Naughton
00:20back in September of 2021.
00:22You know, you mentioned watershed moment.
00:25Jim Farley, the CEO of Ford, referred to it as a monumental moment in time.
00:30You know, this was something that, you know, in Dearborn, everyone was really celebrating.
00:35And to lose him now, you know, not even five years later, just speaks to real change of foot at
00:42the company after, you know, taking their best swing at EVs and unfortunately coming up far short of where they
00:49hoped.
00:50So I think what's interesting, too, and just digging into Keith's reporting, he says, you know, the new organization at
00:56Ford will create what the company called an end-to-end approach that takes a vehicle from conception to mass
01:01production.
01:02And next year, Ford is launching a $30,000 electric pickup truck that it says will compete with low-cost,
01:08high-tech Chinese EVs.
01:09I mean, if the world isn't watching, if all global automakers aren't watching what China is up to, then they
01:16should be.
01:16So maybe this is a smart pivot here.
01:20Well, it absolutely is, you know, the case that the world is increasingly sort of answering to the Chinese manufacturers.
01:29They have set benchmarks.
01:31It is clear that they are, you know, the ones to sort of measure yourself against if you're making electric
01:39vehicles.
01:40The scale at which they are producing and selling EVs is just, you know, on another level from the rest
01:48of the world.
01:49And the only reason that you're not seeing more of them on U.S. roads is because Washington has blocked
01:55them.
01:55And it's the case that, you know, Ford and GM can sort of count on that for now.
02:01But how long will that last if and when, you know, we just continue to see, you know, more relatively
02:08more expensive and substantially more expensive electric vehicles on the U.S. market and much cheaper Chinese, you know, cars
02:16elsewhere in the world, including, you know, in neighboring countries.
02:21We see a lot of cheaper Chinese cars now down in Mexico and some are potentially on the way in
02:27Canada as well.
02:27Yeah, it's pretty it's pretty remarkable.
02:29We've spent a lot of time talking about these Chinese EVs and where you can get them.
02:32It's definitely not here in the United States, but even American auto executives have driven these things and love them.
02:38Craig, does does higher gas prices here in the U.S. change the way that Americans think about this technology?
02:46I think it could. I'm skeptical just given how much of a hard time that the manufacturers have had getting
02:54EVs to catch on in the U.S.
02:56that it will be a huge game changer.
02:58I would be more I'd be more inclined to sort of put my money on more Americans buying hybrids and
03:05particularly hybrids that they don't have to worry about plugging in.
03:08It's just less of an adjustment and it's a matter of, you know, saving at the pump rather than sort
03:14of, you know, rolling the dice on on a technology that you're just not sure you're you're ready to make
03:19that jump yet.
03:20I could be wrong. And I think in California, places where, you know, people are paying not just five bucks
03:25a gallon, but, you know, six or more, you know, it may be a different story.
03:30But I do think we've seen hybrids just go from sort of strength to strength the last couple of years.
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