On the eve of last year's Shanghai Auto Show, Ford officially announced its new "Ford China 2.0" strategy. In short, it is to make Ford "more Chinese." Among them, Ford China will launch more than 30 new models to the Chinese market within 3 years. Recently, the upstream news reporter learned in an interview that Ford China's strategy is accelerating its implementation.
On January 10, Ford's new high-energy Pioneer wide-body SUV: Ford Lingrui officially opened reservations. It is reported that the new car is a new high-end mid-size SUV model landed in the "Ford China 2.0" strategy, which will be officially launched in the first quarter of 2022.
It is worth noting that the new cars released by Ford this time are more "Chinese". For example, according to the usage environment of Chinese users, the model is preset with in-vehicle WeChat and massive applications. In addition, there are more than 20 intelligent driver assistance technologies.
In fact, as early as 2019, Ford announced the Ford China 2.0 strategy and proposed a new development concept of "more Ford, more China", and the core of development is mainly five major plans, namely to accelerate product development and launch speed, develop intelligent technology, deepen strategic partnership, adhere to innovation and local talent training.
Last year, the "Ford China 2.0 Strategy" accelerated again, and Ford China reorganized its market strategy in China, determined the ford brand passenger car, commercial vehicles, and further strengthened the Lincoln brand, and quickly promoted the development direction of the electric vehicle business. In terms of products, Ford China's 2.0 strategic first models, Ford EVOS and Jiangling Ford Lingyu, have successively appeared, and the market feedback is good; in terms of sales, Ford China's sales in the first three quarters have reached 457,000 vehicles, an increase of 11% year-on-year.
Among them, the cooperation with Jiangling is a key part of the whole plan.
At present, Jiangling Ford has launched Ford Lingyu, Ford Lingyu S, Road Shakers, Toureo and other models, covering a complete product architecture from hardcore off-road to business travel.
"In the future, Ford will launch more and more new models in China, combining China's local advantages and Ford's global R&D strength, 'tailor-made' for Chinese consumers, so that Ford can catch up with the 'Chinese speed'." Ford related people said.
Industry insiders said that Ford, which was once in the first camp of joint venture brands, has experienced a "darkest moment" in recent years in its development in China.
Public data show that in 2016, After achieving 1.27 million vehicles in China, Ford Began to go "downhill". In 2017, Ford's cumulative sales in China for the whole year were 1.197 million units, down 6% year-on-year; in 2018, the cumulative sales in China for the whole year were 752,200 units, down 37% year-on-year; Andd's annual sales in China in 2019 were only 567,900 units, down 26.1% year-on-year.
Ford China's 2.0 strategy is the transformation and upgrading from the past "product-centric" corporate strategy to the "all consumer demand-centric" corporate strategy. "At the business level, Ford has at least half of its focus, and even more on the East." The person said.
"If Ford wants to start over, it has to rely on some core models. In addition, whether Ford can develop in China depends on its investment and dedication in new energy. Another industry source said that since the middle of 2019, Ford Motor has made a new upgrade to its models, improving the competitiveness of products, which is the main reason for the increase in Sales of Ford Motor in China.
Upstream journalist Yan Wei