The "mess" of the new Mondeo and the "can't run" electric horse, Changan Ford threw to Lu Yi?

Text: Zheng Driving @ Tan Qing said AI editor-in-chief

At the end of the last century, Ford began the development of a new car, on which, according to Wikipedia, Ford poured a record six billion dollars into the automotive industry, and its name from the Latin word "mundus" also indicates Ford's ambition to use this car to conquer the world market.

This car is the noble Mondeo.

With the passage of time, today, with the official advent of the fifth generation of Mondeo, a "world car" that has been around the world for many years has been completely localized in China and will only be listed in China in 2022.

Localization of Mondeo, after the release immediately triggered a lot of attention in the industry and consumers, if you want to count those who are concerned, the price is definitely the number one.

Yes, as a B-class car widely recognized by Ford, the murderous fifth-generation Mondeo directly killed the price range of 15.98-21.98 million, if you consider the price reduction of future dealers, this play is really a bit "not talking about Martial Virtue".

So, can the new Mondeo succeed? Old Ford, can the new era still fight? Today, we might as well take a closer look.

New Mondeo: Under the surface of boosting sales, is it difficult to hide the heart of "killing chickens and taking eggs"?

We should not be too surprised by the "enchanting" price of the new Mondeo, after all, with the wave of car electrification, the strange tricks that traditional car companies once had difficult to see are really a lot today.

Just like Dongfeng Citroen threw out the Versailles C5 X smoke bomb, the price is still big, A class car or B class car? All of a sudden, many people will not be able to do it.

Indeed, Changan Ford's life in recent years seems to be not very good, in the face of the continuous loss of the market, although the slight increase in sales in 2021 has saved a little face, but if you want to completely crush the phrase "a hundred years of Ford, destroyed by Changan", Ford and Changan comrades do have to work harder.

This seems to mean that whether it is versailles C5 X or the fifth generation of Mondeo, one of their missions is to reverse the increasingly prominent decline of the "owner" in the Chinese market.

We do not deny that the new Mondeo may indeed bring new sales to Changan Ford, and the public opinion information of the Tianyancha APP shows that from this month, the public opinion of Changan Ford, which has been silent for several months, has begun to increase, which seems to be the result of the blessing of the new Mondeo.

But such a price reduction strategy is applied to Mondeo, and two hidden worries cannot be ignored.

First, the long-term value of price for quantity may be difficult to work.

On the one hand, the price reduction of Mondeo seems to boost Changan Ford's sales in the B-class car market, but in the long run, Mondeo's positioning will most likely be downgraded under the free choice of the market.

Just like Luckin Coffee just came out, it seems to be intended to benchmark Starbucks, but this is obviously not up to Luckin Coffee to decide, after several years of free choice by consumers, Starbucks is still the "unattainable" Starbucks, luckin is more like a flat replacement.

Price is often the "source of all evil" in positioning and downgrading.

Today, Mondeo stepped on the A-class car market with one foot, at that time, under the hidden worries of positioning and downgrading, what will Changan Ford take to fight with Accord and Camry in the B-class car market? It will be a problem that it will have to face.

On the other hand, just like Luckin, using low prices to stabilize the new market actually requires a long cycle of advancement. But unfortunately, under the wave of electrification, will Changan Ford really have the patience to develop another fuel vehicle?

Today's surging new energy market, just like the previous implementation of the National 6 emission standards, the National 5 car has nowhere to be placed, and it has to reduce the price to save itself. Therefore, from the low price of Mondeori, it seems difficult to see that this is Changan Ford's strategic layout based on long-termism.

If you look at it along this line of thought, there is also a guess that has to be mentioned, that is, from "global car" to "localization", Mondeo's feathers, Changan Ford may no longer cherish. Its remaining mission is likely to be to release its last ability in the Chinese market, AKA to "kill chickens and eggs".

Specifically, in early March, Ford officially announced that it would split its electric vehicle business and fuel vehicle business into Ford Model e and Ford Blue.

It is worth noting that the fuel vehicle division Ford Blue will no longer develop new models, which seems to be in line with the above analysis, that is, if Mondeo positions even if it is downgraded, Ford will not add new recruits to the possible missing fuel car matrix.

Tan Qing said that AI believes that as a fierce general who guards the B-class car fortress for Ford in the Chinese market, Mondeo has made price downgrades, and in the long run, there are probably two results, one is not to do downgrading on the product, then the profit will undoubtedly become ugly, and the other is to do downgrading in the product, then this for the Ford brand, as well as the positioning of Mondeo, will cause damage that is difficult to ignore.

No matter how you look at it, Mondeo, which has reduced prices, will not have the advantage of competing with old rivals such as Passat and Accord. Therefore, the price reduction seems to be more or less like Changan Ford's "killing chicken and egg" to Mondeo's past glory.

Such speculation actually buries a grass gray snake line, that is, after announcing the split of the fuel vehicle and electric vehicle business, Ford CEO Jim Farley said that the traditional business will become the company's "profit and cash engine". So what role will Mondeo, who has reduced the price, have to take on a good taste.

Speculation about the new Mondeo goes about this. However, the words of Ford CEO Jim Farley seem to have shown us that fuel vehicles are becoming cash cows to be slaughtered by Ford in order to feed the electric vehicle business.

But how much nutrients is there on this cow, especially the back of Changan Ford's buttocks?

The divided brand connotation and the Chinese market in the cracks

Ford's separation of fuel vehicles and electric vehicles is actually a very reasonable thing, and it can even be said that it is still a bit conservative to a certain extent.

After all, Tesla stimulated Ford's bloodline is not a day or two, more importantly, last year has not sold a few cars of the hairy boy Rivian, the market value soared to $90 billion on the first day of the opening, directly to the market value of the century-old Ford to come a reduction in dimension, at this time If Ford can still sit, then Nokia is likely to laugh.

How attractive is electrification? We can see from ford's announcement of the new organizational structure, the stock price rose more than 7% in less than 2 hours, not difficult to see.

Therefore, Ford's split move is completely based on evidence, if purely from the perspective of market value, It seems that It is understandable for Ford to even completely divest the electric vehicle business.

But Ford's seemingly correct strategy fell on Changan Ford's head, and it is likely to be a new mountain.

* Inside: The new hill that Lu Yi wants to cross

As Zhu Huarong, chairman of Changan Automobile, once said, "When the product is not working, it must rely on marketing." ”

Changan Ford seems to be in the marketing in recent years, quietly carrying out a series of changes. Since last year, Changan Ford's management changes seem to be gradually frequent.

On May 1 last year, not long after He Xiaoqing's appointment as president of Changan Ford came into effect, Ford announced that Yang Song, who had just completed two years and one month as president of the National Sales service organization (NDSD), would be transferred to Ford China.

Yang Song will be replaced by Lu Yi, a veteran auto industry veteran who has served as vice president of BMW China, general manager of Infiniti China, vice president of Audi China, etc., and lu Yi will also serve as a member of the executive management committee of Changan Ford.

Before looking forward to the veteran Lu Yi's Changan Ford, let's briefly return to the era of Ford fuel vehicles.

Tan Qing said that AI believes that in fact, ford's brand entering the Chinese market, it is a rather embarrassing thing, because all along, Ford's brand and product tone have a clear sense of separation from the Chinese market background to a certain extent.

Specifically, according to the statistics of Pacific Automobile Network, Changan Ford's best-selling models in China in 2021 Top2 are Forres and Mondeo, both of which are cars.

In the US domestic market, according to Ford's latest US market sales report, in 2021, Ford sedan sales have fallen to less than 70,000 vehicles, SUV annual sales exceed 700,000, Truck is more than one million per year, only the hottest F-Series pickup truck, it broke through 700,000 sales, accounting for more than 30% of the Ford brand's annual sales in the United States.

It is not difficult to find that such an American "big boss" is obviously not something that the Chinese market can quickly digest and absorb. This seems to mean that Ford has been missing a brand tone that runs through the world in China. It neither has the international symbol of Japanese cars that have saved fuel and durable for many years, nor is it different from the well-known mechanical qualities of the Germans.

Therefore, behind the brand that is quite fragmented in the Chinese market, Changan Ford has been able to achieve today's results in the Chinese market for many years, which is actually quite respectable.

However, it seems somewhat unfortunate that with the advent of the electrification era, Changan Ford's years of marketing accumulation are likely to face a situation of overturning and restructuring. So ford's mudslide reform fell on Changan Ford, how long does it take Lu Yi to digest?

It is not easy to judge at present, but Tan Qing said that AI believes that based on the separation of fuel vehicles and electric vehicles, Ford may create new product lines for electric vehicles in the future (such as BYD's Ocean series), or open a new electric vehicle brand (such as SAIC's Zhiji and Dongfeng's Lantu).

If this is the case, then Changan Ford must start from zero to a certain extent, put aside the glory of the past, and enter the electrification battlefield to carry out a new battle. For Lu Yi, who has been in office for less than a year, it is like a new mountain in his career.

It is also worth noting that Lu Yi's previous appointments have a distinctive feature, that is, BMW, Infiniti, Audi, etc., a luxury brand of Yishuier. Then Changan Ford, who took office facing the mass market, seems to be an additional unstable factor for Lu Yi's future ability.

In the face of the treacherous prospects, we have only blessings.

* Outside: The Chinese market in the cracks

Whether it is "a century of Ford destroyed by Changan, or China's Changan destroyed by Ford" is unknown, but according to Changan Automobile's sales data in 2021, of the total sales volume of Changan Group of 2.3005 million vehicles, the joint venture sector of Changan Ford and Changan Mazda totaled 437,000 vehicles, accounting for less than 19%, which seems to be enough to explain some problems.

After all, when people are now struggling to buy Mondeo or Accord, there are new competitors such as Hongqi H5 and Lynk & Co 03. Changan Ford's situation may be more difficult, after all, compared with major joint venture automobile groups such as FAW, Dongfeng and SAIC, changan Ford's joint venture plate sales ratio cannot be said to be too high.

Just like Ford's new product EVOS unveiled at the end of last year, it cut into China's hotter mid-size SUV market, the industry's first 1.1-meter giant screen, the same level of leading 2945mm wheelbase, L2+ driving assistance system, etc., how to see is still a very competitive product.

However, according to Pacific Auto data, in the first two months of this year, EVOS combined to less than 2,000 units sold, in the mid-size SUV market is obviously not a presence.

Tan Qing said that AI believes that with the improvement of national confidence in the mainland and the rise of independent brands, the original competitive environment for joint venture cars has now undergone essential changes, that is, it has begun to expand across the circle. The diversification of such industry competition seems to be one of the reasons that exacerbate the confusion of Changan Ford's product force architecture.

The other side of Changan Ford's dilemma is the long-term absence in the electrification market.

Although Today's Ford has launched the Mustang Mach-E, the brand's sense of separation is likely to continue further, which is not good news for Changan Ford.

According to Ford's official disclosure information, the Mustang Mach-E will sell 23,424 units in the European market and 27,140 units in the US market in 2021.

In contrast, in the Chinese market, we have not found specific data disclosure from the official, but according to the traffic insurance data, in January 2022, Ford Mustang Mach-E only sold 352 vehicles in China, it seems that it has been able to peek into the leopard Mustang Mach-E's market prospects in China.

It is difficult for us to objectively assess the quality of a product, but the more fierce competitive environment in China's new energy market than the world seems to be the difficulty of Mustang Mach-E, can it compete with the Endless Wei Xiaoli in the Chinese market? It really remains to be seen.

Tan Qing said that AI believes that perhaps what can really make Changan Ford stand up is not a cool EVOS, or a new Mondeo that has begun to "lose the ring" in price, or an electric horse that kills through the Mustang Laodice.

What Changan Ford really needs is a blockbuster in the era of electrification.

So how did the blockbuster come out?

We have seen the determination of The Ford Group to split the electric vehicle division, but behind the determination, is the objective fact that the Ford brand has been separated from the Chinese market for a long time in the international market, so will this explosive model be a Chinese car or a world car? Even if it extends to the entire Ford Group, will it still uphold the connotation of the tough guy that has always been in the era of electrification? There is no doubt that there are too many small pieces of the unknown.

The only thing we can be sure of is that as Ford's entire group begins its strategic transformation, the rolling mudslide will eventually fall.

At that time, how much real money and silver Can Changan Ford can catch, we can only wait and see.