Instead of One Ford, There Could Be Two, Three Fords In China
Ford will have to deviate from its “One Ford” strategy if it wants to break into the Chinese market in a serious way, says Reuters. Ford is developing what it calls a “Value B” model that is aimed at the increasingly important sub $10,000 market in China. And that’s only the beginning …
According to Ford executives, the “Value B” car will rival the 57,000 yuan ($9,100) Chevrolet Sail, which is the second-best selling vehicle in China. The best selling car is the Ford Focus, but only by a sleigh of hand: While the new “global” Focus is grabbing headlines, the older and cheaper “classic” Focus is making volume. Then, sales of both are added to look good in the stats.
If launching a China-specific car qualifies as two Fords, Ford will have to get used to the thought of three Fords. As discussed here several times, the Chinese government wants its joint ventures to venture into China-only brands, and even a Ford won’t succeed in resisting governmental charms.
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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So you don't think a low-cost car designed for China might also be of interest in India, Brazil, Russia, etc? No reason this would have to be specific to China.
One Ford has always been a dead end, ignorant plan by someone who doesn't know what they're doing. Edge/Lincoln Edge Flex/Lincoln Flex Taurus/Lincoln Taurus Explorer F-150 F-250 F-350 F-450 Mustang etc Are all NOT on global platforms. And even cars that are, we don't get variants like the Focus wagon. Add to that the different power trains all over the world and it's clear that One Ford was a ploy to dupe investors into believing Ford actually has a plan to being a legitimate, healthy company. Clearly they don't.
So Ford is following the VW template for China? Could work if you get the right partners. I don't see them having the same model depth that VW brings with all the different iterations of models that VW allowed.
I thought "One Ford" was to try and harmonise what made sense in the Western World - i.e. the Fiesta, Focus, Mondeo and Kuga models. F-150, Explorer etc were not included as they are regional models. I didn`t think one Ford ever meant the exact same vehicles sold everywhere.