Good Leap: Ford Launches New Brand In China

by Bertel Schmitt

Published: November 27th, 2012

Ford and TTAC think alike. A few days ago, we told you that “the Chinese government wants its joint ventures to venture into China-only brands, and even a Ford won’t succeed in resisting governmental charms.” And a few days thereafter, Carnewschina reports that Ford has succumbed: No longer One Ford adds a new brand to its stable. It is called ‘Jia yue’, which Carnewschina translates as ‘Good Leap’.

‘Jia Yue’ will be Ford’s Chinese joint venture brand, a brand jointly owned by Ford and China partner Changan via their Chinese joint venture. This appears to be Jia Yue’s new badge. Looks like chickenfingers.

According to Carnewschina, the first car of Jia Yue will be a rebadged Ford Focus Classic. The Ford Focus Classic is the last-gen Ford Focus which is still in production in China. This is S.O.P. with these joint venture brands, usually they get the hand-me-down models.

The Jia Yue brand hasn’t spent much money in the design dept. If the first pictures from China ( more at Carnewschina) are an indication, there has been minor work on grille, light and bumpers, the rest remains vintage Focus. The engine remains the old 1.8 liter mill.

#BertelSchmitt #Carnewschina #China #Ford #JiaYue

Bertel Schmitt

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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Islander800 on Nov 27, 2012

Let me guess: the charming Chinese made Ford "an offer they couldn't refuse". Something like, do as we ask or else you're outta here....

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- Ranwhenparked on Nov 27, 2012
  
  The Chinese government "suggesting" something to a company is rather like a politician "advising" the monarch in a constitutional monarchy. In other words, we're not technically forcing you to do this as long as you pretend like we're not forcing you.
  
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Infinitime on Nov 27, 2012

Take it from someone who has driving the current production "second-generation" Jetta, which will remain in production in China until 2015, the car has worked out every possible gremlin. I would say that the car is as reliable as any VW can hope to be... It is actually an interest phenomenon, where newer hardware from other VW models have been slowly introduced and integrated to this ancient design. http://www.germancarforum.com/community/threads/chinese-market-vw-jetta-mk-ii-facelift-spotted-without-camo.32263/ One thing which cannot be improved though, is the circa-1980s crashworthiness (or unworthiness).... However, given that most traffic in Chinese cities go no faster than 40km/h, this really isn't that big of an issue. Given that fleet purchases have the unit price down to about $11,000US, and the ease by which parts can be sourced from virtually any Chinese city, these make great taxis and inner-city police cruisers.... http://www.carnewschina.com/2012/10/23/police-in-china-buys-50-mk2-volkswagen-jetta-patrol-cars/

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