Ever since versailles C5 X announced that it would be sold back to Europe, rumors about it seem to have been unbroken. First of all, it was rumored that the European version sold back was different from the domestic materials, so that Citroën officials had to announce the whole production process, each part was marked with a digital code, and the European version and the Chinese version were completely collinear production. After that, there were rumors that the European version of the rear suspension used a five-link bar, and the recent exposure of the external network real shot, the unique spring bracket of the torque beam was particularly obvious, and the configuration table was also clearly exactly the same as the domestic version.
It seems that since the launch of this car, it has been accompanied by various doubts. Even after all these doubts are cleared, the evaluation is still, if there is no problem, why do you sell so cheaply?
At first, Kung Fu Cars thought it was biased against the Citroën brand, and until the recent pre-sale of the new Ford Mondeo, it was also controversial. Kung Fu Auto realized that it may be the emergence of these new generation of joint venture cars, which has been rebounded by traditional forces. Why do they provoke the wrath of the people? Let the kung fu car take everyone to see it together.
(1) Joint venture Class B with less than 160,000 yuan, also equipped with 8AT
In January this year, the Versailles C5 X was officially launched, and the new Mondeo opened pre-sale in mid-March. These two cars have a lot in common, both are joint venture B-class cars, both are high-performance from the beginning, both equipped with 8AT gearboxes, and both have extreme entry prices, which is quite unreasonable.
It would be interesting to compare them to the mainstream joint venture B-Class sedans. Taking the Versailles C5 X as an example, its positioning is a 5-door 5-seat hatchback, which is a combination of a sedan and an SUV, which can be seen from its size. Although the body length is "only" 4805mm, its wheelbase reaches 2785mm, which is longer and wider than the Magotan wheelbase, which is known for its space. Coupled with the hatchback design, its storage space is also quite advantageous, which means that its usable space is at least not inferior to Magotan.
The new Mondeo, on the other hand, is directly crushed in size, with a body length of 4932mm and a width of 1875mm, making it reach the B+ level, which naturally provides a good space experience.
In terms of power configuration, these two new cars also do not talk about "love" at all. Versailles C5 X is equipped with a 1.6T high-power engine, with a maximum horsepower of 175 hp and a maximum torque of 250 Nm, which has great advantages over the 2.0L naturally aspirated engine and 1.4T and 1.5T turbines in the mainstream of the joint venture. Paired with the engine is the Aisin 8AT gearbox, which should be a gearbox with a fairly good reputation at this level, not only fast gear change, but also quite economical.
The new Mondeo is equipped with an EcoBoost 2,0T high-power engine with a maximum horsepower of 238 hp and a maximum torque of 376 Nm. Compared with the volkswagen 330TSI version of the same 2.0T, its performance advantages are still relatively prominent, which allows it to have better acceleration performance. The key to matching the engine is Ford's own 8AT gearbox, which was jointly developed by Ford and GM, and the same platform produced the Ford 8AT and GM 9AT. After the launch of this gearbox, the word of mouth is also quite good.
The key is that these two cars are also added 92 # gasoline, which is also relatively rare in the same level. Overall, compared with their counterparts with DCT and CVT, the Versailles C5 X and the new Mondeo are really quite generous, and they are priced more than 60,000 lower than the same class B-class cars, which is estimated to be an important reason for their criticism.
(2) Safe fully matched, first-class control, quality has not declined
In addition to the high configuration in terms of size and powertrain, the versailles C5 X and the new Mondeo are also very well equipped, and there is no decline due to the low starting price.
Take the Versailles C5 X, for example, it has been awarded the "2021 China Top Ten Body" before. Its high-strength steel accounted for 80%, and the proportion of double-sided galvanized steel sheet reached 96%. In addition, it also uses an all-aluminum alloy hood (inner and outer plates), TRB unequal thickness front and upper stringers, super strong thermoformed B-pillars and front and rear aluminum alloy energy-absorbing boxes, etc., the entire body safety is still quite good, can cover C-NCAP, E-NCAP, C-IASI and other crash test requirements.
The body strength of the new Mondeo is also very high, of which the strength of the key parts of the body reaches 1700MPa, which is also the highest grade steel for civilian use.
Both cars start with 6 airbags, and the Mondeo is equipped with 7 airbags. Versailles C5 X is equipped with fixed speed cruise and reversing images at the beginning, supporting three modes of comfort, economy and sports, and is equipped with LED light sources throughout the series. Mondeo is equipped with automatic parking on the start, and intelligent voice can control air conditioning and navigation, making driving easier and safer.
The material is also reassuring enough, the interior sound insulation of the Versailles C5 X uses high-quality cotton, the central control uses the TPO vacuum blister skin, and the interior bonding also uses environmentally friendly hot melt adhesive, which is also a good guarantee for the air quality in the car.
Both cars are very focused on handling tuning, and the new generation of Mondeo uses a lightweight aluminum control arm suspension that can absorb up to 75% of the vibrations for the body, making driving lighter and riding more comfortable. Versailles C5 X uses Citroën's original chassis tuning technology, which is combined with PHC adaptive hydraulic stabilization technology through suspension to control the vibration frequency of the body between 1.05 Hz and 1.2 Hz, which can enjoy the "1 Hz" dynamic and comfortable driving experience as much as possible.
Overall, the materials, configuration and handling of these two cars are still remarkable in their class.
(3) Hit the market with sincerity, can they do it?
The entry price of the Versailles C5 X is 143,700 yuan, and the new Mondeo is 159,800 yuan, which is basically the limit of the current 1.6T/2.0T joint venture B-class car.
Even before citroën executives have revealed that versailles C5 X is completely priced at a cost, hoping to impress the market with sincerity, which to some extent is actually a leak to fill in the gaps. After all, Dongfeng Citroen was once a very popular car company in China, in 1992, the Citroën ZX sedan was launched in the Chinese market under the name of "Fukang", and quickly grew into the "old three" with jetta and Santana, which is also the initial cognition of many people about high-end cars.
Subsequently, Dongfeng Citroen launched a series of models such as Triumph, Picasso, sega and so on, all of which achieved a good reputation. But in recent years, it has been gradually marginalized in the market because of the problem of model positioning. A large part of the reason is that the configuration of the low configuration is not high enough, and the guidance price is against the public, and after the price reduction, not many people pay attention. Therefore, the purpose of the Versailles C5 X is very clear, that is, to get started, that is, to match high and set a more sincere price.
Judging from the results, the Versailles C5 X quickly became the sales burden of Dongfeng Citroen, and also won back the high heat that had not been seen for a long time.
In fact, Ford's idea is similar, it was once one of the hottest car companies in China, Fox, Mondeo, Impreza these are very classic joint venture models. However, due to the problems of the previous market strategy, Ford has slowly been left behind by the market.
In the past two years, Changan Ford has launched a large-scale revitalization, launching a series of new cars such as Ruiji, Explorer, EVOS and MUSIC MACH-E, including the new Mondeo. Their characteristics are also very similar, they are all equipped with such a stable and strong power combination as 2.0T+8AT, and the price is also very sincere, and it has also achieved a good reputation.
(4) Kung Fu shooting
To say whether Citroën and Ford can completely turn over with these two cars is not easy to say for the time being. But the sincerity they have invested is truly impressive. By allowing profitable consumers to return to the center of the market, how to see it is a "yang conspiracy". If other joint venture car companies do not follow, they will watch them gradually recover, and if they follow, they will lose a lot of profits. This is probably the biggest reason why these two cars have been criticized so much, and even speculated.
But for us ordinary consumers, it is definitely a blessing that more such high-priced models have broken into the market.