Jim Farley, CEO of Ford Motor, recently said publicly that the company's biggest competitor in the field of electric vehicles is not the US leader Tesla or its former rival General Motors, but China's own car brands, according to SmartCar.

Ford Motor

According to media reports, Ford's CEO told Morgan Stanley's sustainable Finance Summit that Chinese companies like BYD, which is backed by Warren Buffett, are ahead of big U.S. automakers and startups in electric vehicles. Especially in battery chemistry and other emerging technologies.

"We see Chinese automakers as our main competitors, not GM or Toyota," Ford's CEO said. He held up BYD as an example of a Chinese automaker's success in developing and selling electric cars, first in China and now in Europe.

Notably, when the Ford CEO was asked which company was doing the best with electric cars, Farley said, "I like BYD. The company is completely vertically integrated, aggressive and impressive." His comments echo those of many industry experts and investors who are bullish on the future growth prospects of BYD and other homegrown Chinese car brands.

Moreover, Philip Ripman, portfolio manager at Storebrand Asset Management, said last week: "BYD has a huge market share, both from an electric vehicle perspective and from a battery production perspective."

Byd's sales in China grew from 445,000 vehicles in 2015 to nearly two million last year, making it one of the country's top five automakers by sales, according to statistics.