On December 20th, a new generation of Ford Ranger Ranger, an important member of Ford's "hard off-road" product matrix, was officially launched, with three versions of the new car: wilderness version, exploration version and mountain version, and the official guide price is 14580,000 yuan-24080,000 yuan;At the same time, deliveries of the first edition of the Ford Ranger Ranger 1st Edition began.
As the first domestically produced Ford pickup truck model, the Ford Ranger Ranger will bring users a pure American pickup truck experience with its pure-blooded genes, strong off-road ability, and versatile rear bucket function. Wu Shengbo, vice president of Ford Motor Company and president and CEO of Ford China, said in an exclusive interview with the Beijing News that since its birth, the Ford brand has had the courage to challenge the "ambition", whether it is on the road, the track or the outdoor off-road field has a leading position.
"How does the new car man plan Ford's new strategy in China?".
In March this year, Ford China welcomed a "new car man", and Wu Shengbo, a former die-hard Ford fan of Ford Motor, became the president and CEO of Ford China.
Shengbo Wu, Vice President of Ford Motor Company and President and CEO of Ford China. Figure: The official website of the car company.
Why is he called the "new car man"?Prior to joining Ford, he served as President of Whirlpool Corporation Asia Pacific and a member of the Global Executive Committee. "I started as a B2B businessman, and I have gone through four or five industries from GE to Honeywell to Siemens and Whirlpool. Wu Shengbo said, "Years of experience in the industry give me the deepest understanding is that the market changes greatly, the past success may not be able to succeed today, the past failure is not necessarily the future." ”
It is precisely this concept that when he met Jim Farley, CEO of Ford Motor Company, Wu Shengbo directly asked "Is Ford ready to stay or leave in China?""This soul torture. And Jim Farley's answer that "Ford won't go" also gave Wu Shengbo confidence.
He told me that Ford's purpose in the Chinese market is not just to make money, the Chinese market is more like a 'gym' for Ford, and only by working out and building muscle mass can it achieve long-term development in the competition." ”
After Wu Shengbo took office, Ford launched a new strategy in the Chinese market. Wu Shengbo said that as a foreign-funded enterprise, we must do a good job in market segmentation, and the market segment label must be very clear, Ford will focus its resources on the core advantage business, and Ford will focus on the hard Ford, the performance Ford and the luxury Lincoln in the Chinese market in the future. He further said that the hard-core Ford will develop models based on Jiangling Ford, and the performance Ford will develop models based on Changan FordIn the future, those that do not meet these three aspects will gradually fade out, and those that meet will continue to invest resources and must do their best.
Ford will further accelerate its electrification transition and unite with its partners. Wu Shengbo said frankly, "China's new energy vehicle industry chain is very sound, do not build behind closed doors, and develop together with partners to do as fast as possible." He said that he will cooperate with Changan in the electrification of passenger cars and Jiangling in the electrification of commercial vehicles and off-road vehicles.
In addition, the expansion of export business is also an important part of Ford's new strategy in China. "This year, Ford's cumulative vehicle exports to China exceeded 100,000 units, which is three times that of last year, and our goal is to triple this year's export volume by 2027, that is, to achieve vehicle exports of 300,000 units. "Ford will use the strength of the Chinese market to make up for Ford's shortcomings in other markets around the world, especially those that lack low-end products." ”
Wu Shengbo, with his experience in the home appliance market, said that market segmentation is very important, and you can't please everyone. The development of automobiles presents a trend of personalization, and the changes in consumer demand have a great impact on the industrySecondly, automobiles are also consumer goods, but different market segments have different characteristics, but the soul of the brand is not grasped, and it is impossible to do a marathon by relying on products and first-class battles alone, and we must pay attention to products and brands.
"Wild" has always run through the Ford brand.
Five months after Wu took office, Jiangling Ford Technology, a joint venture between Ford Motor and Jiangling Motors, launched a new channel brand, Ford Beyond. The industry believes that Ford Zongheng has opened the way to make niche hard-core off-road models into popular consumer goods.
Wu Shengbo once said, "Car owners go wild as much as they want!."Leave the rest to Ford!And what he said about "leave the rest to Ford" is not only a product that reassures consumers of the "wild", but also a supporting service that reassures consumers of the "wild". According to Ford's planning, in addition to the Ranger Ranger, Ford's off-road product matrix also includes Ford F-150 Raptor, Ford Bronco and other hard-core off-road products, and the sixth-generation Ford Bronco domestic version will be released next spring.
In addition, compared with the previous channels of Ford in the Chinese market, Wu Shengbo said that the key difference between Ford Zongheng is experience, and their sales models are the same, but Ford Zongheng not only focuses on how to sell cars well and after-sales service well, but also provides a platform for service, modification and travel to build a real community.
What's more worth mentioning is that Ford Zongheng has registered 16,800 official modification combinations for Ranger in the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, which means that no matter how the owner changes, it can be legally on the road. Not only that, Ford Zongheng has launched outdoor off-road community activities covering the world, created a number of off-road life experience centers, selected 24 Ford Zongheng official recommended routes, and will carry out 2,400 professional off-road experience activities across the country next year.
A new generation of Ford Ranger Ranger. Figure: The official website of the car company.
Wu Shengbo said frankly that with the change of living habits, consumption habits, outdoor life pursuit and other factors, car owners hope to turn the car into a "base", and in this process of change, SUV has been unable to meet the demand, pickup truck hard off-road ability and level is gradually highlighted. He once said that no matter what background everyone comes from, even different cultures and languages, off-road fans all over the world are very simple people when it comes to driving outdoors to the wild, and they can be very happy.
It is reported that Ford Zongheng intends to become a leader in the outdoor off-road lifestyle, providing users with the most leading, purest and personalized top product experience, and allowing users to immerse themselves in the most "wild" outdoor life through extremely rich modification services and global community co-creation. In order to allow more Chinese users to truly experience the most "wild" outdoor life, Ford Zongheng has launched three vertical and horizontal services: outdoor off-road community activities covering the world, a new outdoor off-road product purchasing platform "Ford Zonghenggou", and "Zongheng worry-free" service with ten off-road service initiatives, so that users can not only have fun but also feel at ease.
Ford will focus on the advantages of the Ford brand and its products "wild", hoping to bring professional, unique and exciting products and experiences to Chinese consumers from outdoor off-road, to mountain light wilderness, and then to the wilderness on the track, so that consumers can enjoy the most "wild" outdoor life.
And in the long run, Wu Shengbo said, we are confident that this year.
In the third and fourth quarters, we will achieve profitability in the Chinese market, and strive to achieve full year profitability next year. Ford will continue to upgrade its product technology to make people who like the Ford brand love the Ford brand more, and do better than when Ford was at its most glorious in the Chinese market.
Text: Wang Linlin.
Edited by Song Yuting.
Proofread by Lucy.