Abstract: With the establishment of a new joint venture and the release of a smart SUV, Jiangling Ford challenges the passenger car market
Text | Guo Yu
Edit | Zhao Cheng
When it comes to Ford's two joint ventures in China: Changan Ford and Jiangling Ford, everyone tacitly agrees that the former is mainly in the passenger car market (cars, SUVs, etc.) and the latter is mainly in the commercial vehicle market. But Jiangling Ford was "not willing to do so" and began to challenge the passenger car market.
On March 28, Jiangling Ford Automobile Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Jiangling Ford Technology") officially launched the SUV Jiangling Ford Lingrui, launching a total of four models, priced at 139,800-16.98 million yuan.
This is not the first passenger car launched by Jiangling Ford. As early as 2016, Jiangling Ford launched passenger cars such as Ford Toureo (MPV), The Frontier, and began to enter the passenger car market from the original commercial vehicle field.
But this is the first passenger car of Jiangling Ford Technology. On January 26, 2022, Jiangling Ford Technology officially announced the establishment. The new joint venture is jointly funded by Jiangling Motors Co., Ltd. and Ford Motor Company with a registered capital of 200 million yuan. Among them, Jiangling Motors holds 51% of the shares, and Ford Motor holds 49% of the shares, and is headquartered in Shanghai. At present, Jiangling Ford Technology has 5 SUVs and 1 MPV product, namely Ford Lingyu, Ford Lingrui, Ford Lingrui, Ford Lingjie S, Pure Electric Ford Lingjie EV, Ford Roadbreaker and Ford Toureo.
Whether it is this new car Jiangling Ford Lingrui, or this new company established in 2022, Jiangling Ford Technology, it has labeled itself a "challenger". The new car has to challenge its competitors, such as Toyota Rongfang, Honda CR-V, Volkswagen Tanyue; the new company wants to challenge the entire passenger car market.
Ford's competitiveness
A few days after Changan Ford's new Ford Mondeo opened pre-sale, Jiangling Ford also began a new action.
On March 28, the first model of Jiangling Ford Technology: Jiangling Ford Lingrui was officially listed, priced at 139,800-16.98 million yuan. The ford lingrui has been warming up for some time, and before it officially went on sale on March 28, it has already experienced its debut at the 2021 Guangzhou Auto Show and a pre-sale in February 2022.
Wide enough, it is the most prominent feature of the Ford Lingrui in appearance. Nearly two meters wide (1935mm), 295mm of aisle space combined with the rear flat floor, so that both front and rear passengers can enjoy a comfortable ride.
In terms of technological intelligence, Ford Lingrui also has highlights, such as automatic driving-related capabilities.
Ford's Co-Pilot360 Intelligent Driving Assistance System, which uses millimeter-wave radar + vision fusion solution, incorporates cutting-edge technologies such as LRAS track reversing, DCLC intelligent lane change assistance, and APA 5.0 fusion vision automatic parking. According to Wang Tianyi, product manager of Jiangling Ford Lingrui, the ability to achieve so many functions is the result of more than 20 sensors, including millimeter-wave radar and cameras.
According to the R&D team members of Ford Lingrui, the vehicle has obtained 105 patents in terms of intelligence during the development process. "It's a new car for users, and it's an intelligent iteration for Jiangling Ford."
In terms of safety, the new car is equipped with 1500MPa of high-strength thermoformed boron steel as standard, which can reach the strength level of the aircraft landing gear, and is also equipped with 6 airbags. In terms of offline scenarios, Jiangling Ford Technology launched the Family Space Home Space Ford Experience Store, and as of now, there have been more than 180 Family Spaces in more than 150 cities across the country.
"With the most competitive and sincere products, we will build China's cutting-edge and beloved young new Ford." At the launch conference, Xiang Dongping, president of Jiangling Ford Technology, expressed high hopes for the car. After all, Jiangling Ford Lingrui is the latest model to land the "Ford China 2.0" strategy, and it is also the first model after the establishment of Jiangling Ford Technology in 2022.
▲President of Jiangling Ford Technology to Dongping Enterprise courtesy of the enterprise
The Challenge of Jiangling Ford
Compared with commercial vehicles, the passenger car market is indeed several times larger, and it has grown in the past two years.
According to the China Automobile Association, in 2021, mainland passenger car sales were 21.482 million units, up 6.5% year-on-year, and commercial vehicle sales were 4.793 million units, down 6.6% year-on-year. The China Automobile Association expects china's total automobile sales to reach 27.5 million units in 2022, an increase of about 5% year-on-year. Passenger cars totaled 23 million units, up 7% year-on-year, and commercial vehicles at 4.5 million units, down 6% year-on-year.
Therefore, it is not difficult to understand that Jiangling Ford is not willing to "encircle itself".
Since 2016, Jiangling Ford has begun to enter the passenger car market, launching new models such as Ford Toureo (MPV) and Collar. On October 10, 2020, the recruitment of Jiangling Ford passenger car dealers was officially launched, and at the Shanghai Auto Show in April 2021, Jiangling Ford Lingyu was listed. On September 26, 2021, Jiangling Motors announced that it will establish a new joint venture. On January 26, 2022, Jiangling Ford Automotive Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. was officially established.
Also in 2016, Ford began to go "downhill" in the Chinese market. Ford sold 1.27 million vehicles in China that year. Next, Ford's sales in the Chinese market fell for three consecutive years. In 2017, Ford's sales in China fell by 6%, 37% in 2018 and 26.1% in 2019, and sales in 2019 have become 568,000 units, only half of what it was in 2016. Sales rebounded in 2021, but only 625,000 units.
In the face of the decline in sales in the Chinese market, Ford launched the "More Ford, More China" Ford China 2.0 strategy in 2019, and will launch more than 30 models to the Chinese market within three years, of which more than 10 are new energy models.
Jiangling Ford Technology, which was born in this environment, put forward the "New Four Modernization Strategy", focusing on user needs and user experience, and accelerating the expansion and layout of the passenger car market with "specialization, differentiation, personalization and youth".
"Gone are The days when Ford lost money in China for several years in a row, and the days when a Ford label could sell well are gone." Jim Farley, Global CEO of Ford Motor, told Caijingqiche and other media outlets in September 2020.
In front of Jiangling Ford Technology, in addition to challenging Jiangling Ford itself, it is also necessary to work with Ford's 2.0 strategy to break Ford's current dilemma in China. As Xiang Dongping said at the end of the press conference: "Today's challenge night is nearing the end, but our challenge has just begun. ”