Ford CEO Jim Farley has a message for Elon Musk’s Tesla: Your fancy new Cybertruck won’t keep me awake.
Appears on CNBC’s crazy money from Ford headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan,” Farley told Jim Kramer that Musk’s upcoming Cybertruck wouldn’t steal customers from the company’s F-150 Lightning electric pickup.
“If he wants to design a Cybertruck for people in Silicon Valley, fine,” Farley said. “It’s like a cool high-end product parked in front of a hotel. But that’s not how I make trucks. I make trucks for real people doing real work.”
The release of the Cybertruck – Tesla’s first electric truck – has been fraught with delays since Musk first announced it in 2019. But in an earnings call last April, Musk assured investors that the EV would be ready by the end of the year.
Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images
Telsa is eager to enter the electric truck market. Pickup trucks were from America top selling vehicles in 2022, with Ford’s F-series leading the way. However, Tesla dominates the EV market.
It is still unclear how similar the Cybertruck and the F-150 Lightning will be. According to Business Insider, the Cybertruck is estimated to sell for around $50,000, while the F-150 Lightning has a sticker price of $60,000. Some have ccompared the Cybertruck for GMC’s Hummer more than a Ford pickup.
Related: 3 old-school automakers are making big EV strides
Ford will use Tesla charging stations
Despite Farley’s harsh words about Tesla, the two companies recently entered into a charging station partnership. Ford drivers will be able to use more than 12,000 Tesla Superchargers in the US and Canada sometime by 2024.
When asked if that was a conflict of interest, Farley replied, “I have no problem being opportunistic when it comes to favoring my clients.”
He added that Musk was friendly during the negotiations. “More by Henry Ford than by Jim Farley.”