[News-Oxcart Network]
In the past 2021, the repeated epidemic situation, the environment of "lack of core and lack of electricity", and extreme weather disasters in many regions at home and abroad have continued to make various industries unstable, making the supply chain worse at the same time, but also making major car companies walk on thin ice.
However, throughout the industry, even in the face of challenges, there are still car companies in the turbulent environment against the trend of breakthrough, in the past year, Ford China's cumulative sales reached nearly 625,000 vehicles, an increase of 3.7% year-on-year, successfully ran the best performance in the past three years. Among them, Lincoln's annual sales broke through the highest record since entering China, breaking through 90,000 vehicles for the first time, an increase of 48% year-on-year. Undoubtedly, this is due to Ford China's ability to respond quickly to market changes and industry changes. For car companies, in the current tide of changes, it is particularly crucial to quickly promote business transformation, establish competitive advantages, and open a new situation in the changing situation.
Ford's counter-trend growth in 2021 is obviously due to the phased success of the "Ford China 2.0" strategic transformation plan, which has enabled Ford to successfully gain wide recognition in the market in SUVs, smart technology and Lincoln domestic models.
Behind the growth is the "Ford China 2.0" strategy to go further
In 2019, at the beginning of the great changes, five months after Chen Anning took the helm of Ford China, Ford China put forward the concept of "More Ford, More China" and the "Ford China 2.0" strategic transformation plan, opening the road of transformation with a change rooted in China.
In Chen Anning's view, Ford China 2021 is a key year for the "Ford China 2.0" to be effective.
In the past year, under the leadership of Ford's global strategy Ford+, the five major plans of "Ford China 2.0" focusing on products, technology, innovation, partners and talents have been fully implemented and continuously improved and improved, and the layout of the four centers has also shown results, significantly improving Ford China's R&D capabilities, product launch speed and product structure optimization and upgrading in terms of electrification, product and intelligent technology.
Just this Monday, Ford announced the official opening of the new Ford China Design Center in Shanghai's Ford China Dx Hub "Fortron Valley." The design center has the ability to design the whole process from design trend research, interior and exterior design, color material design, digital interaction experience design to digital model and full-size clay model production, focusing on the design and development of products for the Chinese market.
Full-size sludge model workshop
In addition to the design center, "Fuchuang Valley" also has a number of cutting-edge innovation teams such as intelligent networking and digital experience team, cutting-edge trend research team and electrification team. In the future, the design center will collaborate with the teams of Ford China Product Center, New Energy Center and Innovation Center to create product technology and services that meet the needs of Chinese consumers.
Jim Farley, president and CEO of Ford Motor, has said that for the Ford China team, it is more important to create a new DNA for Ford, a DNA with Chinese genes, which can deeply understand the Chinese market and Chinese consumers, and can truly be "consumer-centric".
Today, with the gradual implementation of the five major plans of the four centers, the Chinese team has accumulated for many years in artificial intelligence technology, digital technology, product and service experience, etc., which not only brings younger, intelligent, and high-end models and technologies with Chinese genes to Chinese consumers, but also gradually feeds back the global market and plays a leading role in the transformation of Ford Motor's new four modernizations around the world.
Taking advantage of the upward momentum, Ford is more electrified and intelligent
The so-called work desires to do good, and it must first be used. Ford Motor can successfully break through in 2021, and the strong product structure and technology that are constantly optimized and upgraded are one of the "sharp weapons" to help it achieve counterattack.
Although the trend of the new four modernizations in the Chinese market is rapid, Butt China is still based on years of deep experience in the Chinese market, with its own perfect and mature SUV product line layout, as well as the brand appeal in the high-end SUV market, catering to the domestic SUV market is still a strong momentum of development, its Ford Explorer, Ford Ruijie and Ford Ruiji as the representative of the Ford SUV model camp performed well throughout the year, explorer annual sales increased by 43.4% year-on-year.
The Lincoln brand's domestic SUV "Three Musketeers" also contributed to the wonderful performance, selling a total of 82,835 vehicles throughout the year, accounting for 90% of the total sales of the series, and strongly promoting the Lincoln brand sales to exceed the 90,000 mark.
In addition to continuing to expand its advantages in the field of SUV models, Ford is also accelerating its pace in the field of electrification and intelligence with a challenger attitude, and is committed to comprehensively improving product competitiveness.
Previously, Ford announced that it would invest more than $30 billion in global electrification by the end of 2025, aiming to achieve that by 2030, pure electric vehicles accounted for 40%-50% of Ford's global sales.
With the official opening of ford's electrification milestone, the mustang Mach-E, the first domestic pure electric SUV, the electrification process in China is accelerating.
By integrating global resources and local advantages, and daring to subvert itself in terms of brand and sales model, Ford launched the exclusive brand Ford Select for electric vehicles, accelerating the layout of exclusive direct sales of electric vehicles in the city showroom, and creating an industry-leading electric vehicle business model with Ford characteristics. By the end of last year, 25 urban exhibition halls had been opened in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Chengdu and other places, and more than 100 in the next five years.
Ford Select high-end smart electric vehicle city store
The Mustang Mach-E and The Speed and Passion Journey with Chinese Car Owners has begun, as an epoch-making symbol model that combines the historical accumulation of automotive culture and the spirit of freedom and uninhibited, the successive deliveries of electric horses in 2022 will inject new strength into the electrification of Ford China.
In addition to the increase in the field of electrification, now with the post-90s and post-95s gradually becoming the main group of market consumers, these young consumers are more enthusiastic about the pursuit of personalization and intelligence.
The new models launched by Ford China in the past year, whether it is Ford or Lincoln brand, are equipped with a new generation of SYNC+ 2.0 Intelligent Travel Interconnection System, which is known as the "best car machine for joint venture brands", which is a new in-car entertainment system created for Chinese consumers based on Baidu's leading artificial intelligence technology, fully integrated into the rich Chinese application ecology. Even compared with the new local car-making forces, SYNC+ 2.0 is absolutely competitive.
The new generation of SYNC+ 2.0 Zhixing interconnection system
It is worth mentioning that through the cooperation with EVOS's 1.1-meter-wide giant screen, SYNC+ 2.0 can also achieve split-screen, interactive and other functions, creating a smart cockpit with a smooth and rich use experience for users, and the strength circle fans of the new generation of consumers.
Not only that, as a new benchmark in the industry in the era of intelligent vehicles, in 2021, as the industry's first vehicle enterprise to mass-produce and apply the vehicle-to-road collaboration system, Ford has realized the standard vehicle-to-road coordination system in four mass production models of Mustang Mach-E, Ford EVOS, New Explorer and Ruijie PLUS, and also connected to the intelligent transportation network of nine major cities in China, promoting the comprehensive development of China's smart cities.
Ford is the industry's first mass-produced vehicle company to apply C-V2X vehicle-to-road collaboration technology
In addition, Ford has also completed the most extensive and frequent OTA upgrade in history in China, covering 9 Models on sale of the Ford brand, with more than 350,000 vehicles and a total of 11 times. Through the OTA upgrade, Ford owners can experience new and optimized features that double the index of the use of the SYNC+ Intelligent Travel Interconnection System in the car.
The OTA upgrade makes the SYNC+ system of "the best car machine for joint venture brands" commonly used and constantly new
Stand at the forefront of the tide to help customers experience new and upgrade
The industry is changing, and the needs of a new generation of consumers are constantly changing and upgrading, showing a diversified style. The launch of the Ford Select high-end intelligent electric vehicle city experience store shows Ford's determination and determination to pioneer innovation and stand at the forefront of the tide in the new era of electrification and intelligence.
Combined with a hospitality-like service concept, the Ford brand accelerates the overall upgrade of the customer experience and expands it into the new design of the showroom, the upgraded after-sales service process and the new online member community. By establishing full-time, all-round customer relationships with consumers, providing them with exclusive customized services, empowering intelligent digital experiences and social spaces in the intelligent era, to create an innovative customer experience with more Ford brand characteristics.
At the same time, Lincoln is also insisting on promoting the modernization of the network layout, innovating to create a new retail model that subverts the industry's tradition, and creating a new Lincoln Way Experience Center with the design concept of "American Luxury Club", and five new Lincoln Way Experience Centers have been officially put into operation.
"Lincoln Way 2.0" New Lincoln Way Experience Center
Under the guidance of the "Ford China 2.0" strategy, Ford's performance in China has achieved steady growth in 2021, and products and services have been continuously renewed and upgraded; compared with the improvement of China's performance, Ford's market value is more eye-catching. Last week, Ford's market capitalization exceeded $100 billion, the highest in the company's history, becoming the most valuable company among traditional American car companies.
As a century-old enterprise, successive generations of Ford people have experienced various difficulties and challenges in the great waves of the times, until today, in the century-old changes in the automobile industry, Ford upholds the spirit of pioneering innovation, through drastic reforms, established its own advantages on the runway of the new four modernizations, and the sales performance broke through against the trend.
As Chen Anning, president and CEO of Ford China, said, "A hundred years ago, Ford was a challenger to 'put wheels on the wheels for the world', and people began to pursue their dreams with wheels; for a hundred years, the brand spirit of pioneering innovation has always been rooted in Ford, and this time, Ford has renewed and upgraded its brand in order to surpass again in the wave of electrification and intelligence." ”