Recently, Ford Motor's stock price jumped 5.7% to $25.87, not only setting a new high in more than 20 years, but also driving the market value to exceed $100 billion for the first time, and the stock price that has strengthened all the way shows that the capital market has great confidence in it.
Behind the praise and expectation, it is not without reason. Looking back at 2021, Ford's global strategy Ford+ plan has achieved remarkable results more than a year after the release, its explosive pure electric model Mustang Mach-E market demand is strong, F-150 Lightning pure electric pickup truck has received more than 200,000 bookings, the performance exceeded expectations.
At the same time, under the leadership of the Group's global strategy Ford+, the "Ford China 2.0" plan has also accelerated the landing, enabling Ford to be widely recognized by the Chinese market in SUVs, electric vehicles and Lincoln domestic models, creating excellent performance.
It can be said that although the new crown epidemic and the global chip shortage have had a considerable impact on the car market, it has also made Ford a success and given it a chance to prove itself, which may be the key to boosting the confidence of the capital market.
Breaking through the cold winter of the joint venture, sales rose against the trend
The sharp rise in stock prices is both driven by the outlet and reflected in the company's own value, and the market is the most honest witness to all this. In 2021, although the Chinese auto market has picked up a lot, many joint venture brands have not yet come out of the cold winter.
According to the data of the China Automobile Association, the sales volume of the joint venture brand in 2021 fell by more than 10% year-on-year, and under the dual influence of the epidemic and the "lack of core", the sales volume of mainstream joint venture car companies including Volkswagen, GM, Nissan, Hyundai and other mainstream joint venture car companies collectively dived, and the survival state was like walking on thin ice.
However, in the industry's toughest times, Ford China seized the best development opportunities - the cumulative sales of nearly 625,000 vehicles in 2021, an increase of 3.7% year-on-year, successfully outperformed many first-line joint venture brands.
What is even more valuable is that under the guidance of the "Ford China 2.0" strategy, Ford not only bucked the trend in sales, but also further optimized the market structure, and its high-end products such as SUVs, intelligent and Lincoln domestic models have grown steadily.
Ford SUV stable output, widely recognized by young consumers
Among them, Ford brand passenger cars contributed 237,600 units in 2021, and sales in the fourth quarter increased by 18.1% sequentially. It is worth mentioning that the high-end trend of Ford brand passenger cars is obvious, taking Ford's medium and large SUV explorers as an example, its annual sales increased by 43.4% year-on-year, and its performance was gratifying.
In addition, sales of SUVs such as Ford Ruijie, Ford Ruiji, and Ford Lingyu have also continued to grow; the first strategic model of "Ford China 2.0", Ford EVOS, which began to be delivered at the end of November, has won the love of many young consumers through intelligent, trendy and fashionable design, and rich driving fun, and sales have continued to rise.
Electrification milestone, Mustang Mach-E begins delivery
In addition to delivering excellent answers in the fuel vehicle market, In the field of new energy, Ford Motor also performed well. With the wave of "new four modernizations" sweeping in, Ford Motor accelerated the electrification process.
In 2021, Ford's first domestic pure electric SUV, the Mustang Mach-E, began to be officially delivered, making a good start for Ford's electrification process in China. This sports SUV, known as the "electric horse", has a long endurance of 619km and a powerful performance of 3.65 seconds of "zero hundred acceleration", and the comprehensive product power is outstanding.
Ford also launched a series of disruptive business models, including opening 25 Ford Select high-end smart electric vehicle exclusive brand city stores in the past year, and simultaneously launched the blue worry-free after-sales service, providing Chinese users with a worry-free appointment, maintenance worry-free, and worry-free experience of using a car, and for the first time bringing the driving passion and fun of smart pure electric SUVs to Chinese consumers.
By the end of last year, Ford had opened 25 city showrooms in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Chengdu and other places, and more than 100 in the next five years.
Lincoln sales hit a record, and the high-end brand began to bear fruit
According to the "Ford China 2.0" plan, Lincoln China will also electrify all models in 2030. Since the start of localization in 2020, Lincoln's sales in the Chinese market have grown rapidly.
In 2021, Lincoln brand sales broke through the highest record since entering China, and the annual sales exceeded 90,000 vehicles for the first time, reaching 91,621 vehicles, an increase of 48% year-on-year, not only refreshing the brand's sales record in China, but also becoming the fastest growing luxury brand in China in 2021.
As the current Lincoln domestic strategy in China, the three musketeers of SUVs: adventurers, navigators and aviators sold a total of 82,835 vehicles throughout the year, accounting for 90% of the total sales of the entire series, which strongly promoted the sales of the Lincoln brand to exceed the 90,000 mark. As Lincoln establishes a foothold in the luxury car market, Ford China's new round of high-quality development will also be injected with more confidence.
In addition, the Lincoln brand's "smart new generation of cars" new Lincoln Z has also opened pre-sale, the model with a very creative new design and breakthrough in the imagination of intelligent technology, redefining the future experience of "smart" travel, so far the order has exceeded 3,000 vehicles.
Behind the growth,
"Ford China 2.0" accelerated landing
In the great changes in the industry, why can Ford China take the lead in achieving such excellent results? Behind this, it is inseparable from the smooth transformation and phased results of the "Ford China 2.0" plan.
As early as 2019, 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.
Ford's new design center in China
Under the guidance of the "Ford China 2.0" strategy, the layout of the "four centers" has shown results - product development center, new energy center, design center and innovation center have been put into use, which has significantly improved Ford China's research and development capabilities in new energy, product research and development and digital technology.
Thanks to this, products such as Ford EVOS and the new Lincoln Z built around the needs of Chinese consumers came into being. These localized products bring together the 100-year experience of Ford's automobile research and development, as well as the innovation and accumulation of the four center teams of "Ford China 2.0" in electrification, intelligent technology and service experience, etc., and establish a new competitive advantage with leapfrog products and provide more development momentum for the brand.
In terms of intelligence, Ford has hired Doug Field, a former apple automotive business program director, to develop advanced technologies and embedded systems.
In The latest models launched by Ford China are equipped with the latest technologies such as SYNC+2.0 Intelligent Mobility Interconnection System and the new BlueCruise L2+ level active driving assistance, and based on the intelligent interconnection network architecture (FNV), it creates a "better understanding of you" intelligent cockpit, "more road-aware" intelligent driving and vehicle OTA functions, and the strength circle is a new generation of consumers.
Not only that, Butt is also the first car company in the industry to mass-produce C-V2X vehicle-to-road collaboration technology. As a new benchmark in the industry in the era of intelligent vehicles, in 2021, Ford realized the standard vehicle-road coordination system in four mass production models of Mustang Mach-E, Ford EVOS, New Explorer and Ruijie PLUS, and connected to the intelligent transportation networks of nine major cities in China, promoting the comprehensive development of China's smart cities.
In the future, as the automotive industry advances to the "new four modernizations", Ford China will continue to take innovation as the engine, take user experience as the center, and constantly surpass itself to provide higher quality products for the Chinese people.
Deeply cultivate user needs,
Lead the consumption experience upgrade
At the same time as the industry changes, the needs of users continue to change. It is undeniable that the era of product is king, is quietly shifting to experience is king, to the stage of experience is king, consumers are increasingly pursuing emotional and interactive consumer experience.
Ford understands that in the past, a single function or form of service has been difficult to meet the needs of young circles. In order to establish a full-time, all-round customer relationship with the new generation of consumers, Ford has created an innovative customer experience with more brand characteristics, and constantly optimizes it to strive to be industry-leading.
After insight into the characteristics of high-end, family and diversification of Chinese consumers, Ford China took the lead in integrating the brand spirit of "pioneering innovation" and the service concept of "hospitality as a friend", and integrated digital channels by upgrading the design and service of dealer showrooms, so that consumers can experience more convenience and added value in the process of car purchase/use.
At the same time, the "Lincoln Way" originating in China has entered the 2.0 era in an all-round way. With the design concept of "American Luxury Club", the new Lincoln Way Experience Center has been created, and five new Lincoln Way Experience Centers have been officially put into operation.
Written at the end: stock price, sales volume, system, product, service... Behind the good things, in essence, is the all-round leap in ford china's product strength, strategic planning and user recognition, which is a new look of Ford China and the accumulation of a century-old Ford.
Although the greater changes in the auto market will continue, it is foreseeable that with the deepening of the "Ford China 2.0" plan, Ford will always uphold the spirit of pioneering innovation, focus on consumer demand, create more good products, provide better user experience, fulfill the promise of "more Ford, more China", and usher in a broader sea of stars.
Text | Huluwa
(This article is the author's personal opinion only and does not represent the position of DearAuto.) )
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Mr. Li Guoyong of Guangdong Green Law Firm