Written by / Long Shihui
Edited / Kilig
Design / Zoi.
Changan Ford Mondeo was listed, but the starting price was still pressed at 159,800 yuan, which was not lower than the starting price announced last month, but the top price was lowered by 3,000 yuan as a psychological hint. Indeed, with the money for the entry 2.5L Camry, you can buy 2.0T (238Ps), wheelbase of nearly 3 meters, the car is still very smart top with a new car, is this not fragrant? According to official sources, the new Mondeo received nearly 10,000 orders before it was listed, which was placed in the Ford brand, and the results were indeed outstanding.
Of course, a car with high attention is also a very common thing to be turned over by netizens. For example, the war of words questioning whether this Mondeo is a "Chinese special car" has never stopped, not only because the "Mondeo" has stopped production outside of China, but also the new car from the appearance to the interior, intelligent configuration, are ford's Chinese R & D team to dominate, is not a "special car"?
Questioning Mondeo, as early as the end of last year, Changan Ford launched a new medium-sized SUV EVOS (light chaser) there are similar two opinions, conservatives also question the "China special car", and people with open opinions think that Ford is out of the circle, and EVOS level, positioning equivalent volkswagen, two field SUV, at least sold to 250,000, not enough EVOS large-screen intelligent configuration can play.
In fact, in 2022, as long as the "China Special Supply Car" is no longer linked to "old platform goods" and "reduction and difference substitution", we should clearly support the empowerment innovation and flexibility of the joint venture brand in the Chinese market. This time Mondeo and EVOS have been widely discussed, which is a breakthrough of the "Ford China 2.0" strategy; especially in the context of the emergence of new products in the Chinese car market and the decline in the influence of the Ford brand, the new car will bring its own traffic as soon as it is launched, which is something that many car brands cannot ask for.
The new "China Special" is no longer pejorative
In the past, the reason why "China's special supply" was criticized was that in the face of the limitations of a single market, it was difficult for car companies to invest in technology equivalent to global models in research and development, so "special supply" meant that new cars were derived from old platforms and some overseas models, but the design concept and technology used were old.
Ford's EVOS and new Mondeo have changed this "unspoken rule" and changed from passive to active. In Ford's global system, there was a concept of "Ford Europe" and "Ford Germany", that is, although Ford adopted a global research and development system, some product systems were developed based on the needs and feedback of a certain market, without considering the needs of the North American market. Not only to understand the local market demand, but also to concentrate global research and development resources, is the biggest advantage of these cars.
Since China is the only market for these models, why don't you want to do everything possible to get close to the preferences of domestic consumers?
In terms of positioning, the Mondeo has always been a proper B-class car, but the new Mondeo has a wheelbase of 2945mm, which is about to match the wheelbase of Ford's own B+ sedan - Taurus (2949mm). And in terms of appearance, the conservative design of the old model has been changed, replaced by the favorite sports style of young Chinese consumers, breathing scale mesh, hidden handles, ST-Line kits, and a series of bold ways of playing that new energy vehicles like, such as 1.1 meters long giant screen and smart car machine, have all been "moved" into a fuel B-class body.
"When did Ford become so bold?" According to the description of colleagues who returned from ford's store, this is the biggest question that many consumers in 4S stores have after seeing new cars. We believe that Changan Ford is to use such a radical, differentiated design to quickly find its own rhythm in the joint venture market in a cost-effective manner. Only in this way can new cars attract enough attention in the early stage of listing to avoid passively falling into homogeneous competition. EVOS after lightweight design, than the same level such as Guandao, Tiguan X and other large five-seat SUVs lighter, and the price is more than 50,000 yuan lower; and Mondeo can play the best with Camry, Accord, and 2.0T LaCrosse, the advantages of sports are also obvious, naturally attracting the attention of young sports consumer groups. Of course, such a radical product force is less of an all-round audience, but with the appeal of the Ford brand today, if a new car is labeled "mediocre" as soon as it is listed, it is the most terrible.
(Changan Ford's main sales model in 2021)
Moreover, the radical style of the new car, which is also related to the current sales dilemma of Changan Fu, compared with the displacement in 2021, the annual sales of almost every car of Changan Ford are hovering between 20,000 and 30,000 vehicles, lacking the absolute main force of carrying the brand banner, and the disadvantages in the field of cars are more prominent, when the three-cylinder Focus can no longer become the pillar of the brand, the old 1.5T Mondeo sinks to the 150,000 range, and the dimensionality reduction strikes the Civic, Sagitar and other A+ class cars are also almost on the edge, and the new Mondeo's move is quite "to the old and the new" Meaning, Even if this dangerous move is not easy to move, the result is at least no worse than it is now.
How many opportunities are there for American cars?
In the past, the U.S. car is taking the "price for volume" large-scale expansion route, the market terminal price is often lower than the guide price of tens of thousands, to pry open the consumer's wallet, which in 2018 before the incremental market went through, aiming at the 100,000-300,000 demand for the most exuberant backbone of the market, positioning lower than the German Japanese system, but the product force to catch up with or even exceed the former, when the U.S. car was born at the right time.
It is true that the competition in the stock market is not the same, the luxury brand pressure and independent upward impulse are compressing the living environment of the joint venture brand, and in the face of the scale advantages of the north and south Volkswagen and the top five joint ventures in Shuangtian, the United States and the Korean system that is more cost-effective are indeed not good, not to mention that GM and Ford have suffered losses in the three-cylinder strategy. Since 2018, the US market share has always hovered around 8%-9%; the increase in the US market share in recent years has largely because of Tesla's strength, and the share lost by GM and Ford in comparison with the highlight moment has mostly fallen into the pocket of German brands.
No matter how "price for volume" is not fierce, it is not a self-owned brand, and no matter how big the heart is, it is not better than the scale of the top five joint ventures, and The American car must have a new direction in China.
According to the statistics of Geran Road Consulting, in the first 11 months of 2021, the average transaction price of domestic bicycles was 179,000 yuan, while the transaction price of Ford was 182,000 yuan, which is the only joint venture brand higher than the average transaction price, and it is several times higher than the sales scale of Toyota and Honda, which means that even if the absolute sales volume is behind, the profits of Ford manufacturers and dealers are good.
This effect is attributed to the "Ford China 2.0 Strategy" that began in 2019, starting from Ruiji to EVOS and Mondeo, it is obvious to cut into the joint venture Red Sea market with price advantages, and make more exclusive optimizations for the needs of Chinese users in terms of configuration. Che Lizi believes that the deep level of "Ford China 2.0" is to get out of the vicious circle of "price for volume" of american cars in the past, the same to give up the price, but in the product personalization, differentiation is more competitive, the price of the initiative in their own hands, rather than involved in the passive terminal preferential war; at the same time, compared with the joint venture five powerful and comprehensive model matrix, Ford layout of several star models, in the same level have unique advantages, to expand the brand's influence in intelligence and electrification with point and face, Re-establish the market image of this American car company.
It is understood that in the whole year of 2021, Changan Ford's sales entered the 300,000-vehicle mark, and the growth rate of 20% mainly depended on the performance of luxury sub-brand Lincoln; recently, Ford China announced the sales volume of the Chinese market in the first quarter of 2022, a total of nearly 125,000 vehicles, down 18.8% year-on-year, highlighting the luxury brand Lincoln bucking the trend, "electric horse" Mach-E delivery, F-150 Raptor orders and Ford commercial vehicles better than expected performance.
It can be seen that the current Chinese market strategy of Changan Ford is more forward-looking than other joint venture brands, and this direction is indeed in line with the rapid growth of the luxury car market, the acceleration of electrification, and the rise of the personalized market in China.
At present, Ford China products mainly follow the "330 Plan" idea, that is, in the next three years from 2019, 30 new Models of Ford and Lincoln brands specially built for Chinese consumers will be launched. Therefore, whether it is EVOS, Mondeo, Lincoln Z or the upcoming four-cylinder Focus, the replacement of these pure fuel vehicles that have long become the Red Sea will only cater to the localization needs of young Chinese consumers in intelligence and personality.
In the pure electric market that has not yet been cured, Ford has made a bolder move, establishing an electric vehicle division balanced with the fuel vehicle division in China and launching an exclusive brand "Ford Select". Global strategic model Mustang Mach-E into China and domestic rhythm, than many joint venture brands to be fierce, although affected by the epidemic, the end of last year after the delivery of the volume has not yet risen, but compared to many joint ventures, luxury brands launched pure electric SUVs, Mach-E price, comprehensive strength are the most likely to impact the Model Y.
I believe that this American car company dares to introduce models that show the future product design and electrification and intelligent technology development direction of the brand into China, and it is also a statement and action that regards China as the most important market during the "ALL in electrification" transformation.
Write at the end
Ford in China is to eat the loss of the globalization strategy, Fox peak monthly sales of nearly 40,000 vehicles, after replacing the three-cylinder engine, now the monthly sales of only more than 2,000, this does not pay attention to the Lesson of Chinese consumers is too big, and since 2019 , the "Ford China 2.0" strategy, the "emphasis on the Chinese market, attention to Chinese consumers" to an extremely important position. But the current market environment, after all, is different from the incremental era, Changan Ford's comeback can not be urgent, more important than sales, consumers' confidence and affirmation of the Ford brand.
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