It is said that 2024 is a turning point for "50% penetration rate of new energy vehicles", but there is not much new in the new energy products that can be seen in 2024. On the contrary, it is those fuel vehicles that are considered "old, backward, and about to be eliminated" that bring many surprises: such as Toyota's new Prado, such as the Ford Mustang Dark Horse, and the Ford Bronco-Liema, which will be produced locally by JMC Ford.
Speaking of the domestic production of Ford Liema, it can be traced back to about 2022 to participate in the preliminary research project for the localization and introduction of this product.
At that time, Ford put the Bronco that was about to be introduced alongside competing models such as the Prado and the Tank 500, and asked Chinese consumers: "How much do you think this model is suitable for selling and what are the shortcomings?" ”
At that time, the answer I gave was that the biggest difference between the hardcore off-road users in the Chinese market and the North American market is that the Chinese market needs an off-road vehicle with both hard-core styling and luxurious interiors, and off-road performance may not be the decisive factor, and ** is not the final consideration.
For Chinese consumers who have money and leisure, they can spend 400,000 yuan to buy a hard-core off-road vehicle, but they can't accept that 400,000 yuan can buy a hard-core off-road vehicle with an all-hard plastic interior.
When I first saw the domestic version of the Ford Spirit, in addition to the Wasteland Edition and the Everglades version almost the original version was introduced, what surprised me even more was that JMC Ford, with the support of the Ford China Design Center, improved the exterior details and interior of the Ford Spirit, making the original rugged North American version of the interior more luxurious, and combining the model name and design features to show the ability of "storytelling". It was also the first time in history that Ford Lie Horse had a custom design for the local market outside of North America.
The domestic version of the Ford Spirits has not improved much in terms of exterior details, and the two top-of-the-line versions have almost only tweaked the branch separator above the hood and placed the license plate frame in the middle, which is more in line with domestic regulations.
Other details such as the Everglades Edition's 35-inch OD tires, high-mounted air intakes, and wide wheel arches have been retained, as have the Wasteland Edition's Mineral Yellow side fender logo. But in terms of colours, the Ford Flame has introduced three new colours specifically for the Chinese market – Terrain, Cactus Grey and Vapor Blue, plus the classic Panther Black and Crystal Pearl White – for a total of five colours, not counting the exclusive exterior colours of the Wasteland and Everglades editions.
The interior adjustment of the domestic version of the Liema is obviously to meet the "luxury" demand of the Chinese market for the 400,000-yuan model. For example, the choice to wrap the seats, dashboard and door handles with softer textures with a more delicate texture enhances the luxurious feel of the car's interior, at least not the all-hard plastic of the North American version.
The color and material designers of the Ford China Design Center revealed that they used soft material wrapping for the upper and lower layers of the front IP platform, and the stitching was also matched according to the different body versions. At the same time, the front trim of the passenger seat of the wasteland version adopts a contour line design in mineral yellow color, and the seat pattern also adopts a contour line design to highlight the rock climbing ability of the wasteland version; The interior of the Everglades Edition is inspired by water, and the dark green trim and patterns highlight the version's wading performance.
Ford's interior designers hope to bring more intuitive product performance selling points to users of domestic Lie Ma through these different themes.
In addition, in response to the demand of Chinese consumers for intelligence, this time the domestic Liema uses 8155 chips, has an LCD instrument panel, and the car machine system is also replaced with a SYNC+ system.
In fact, because of these customized seats, materials, and chips for the Chinese market, JMC Ford also needs to do a complete interior material verification process, including the wear resistance of the seats. Therefore, the introduction of the domestically produced Ford Flame is much later than overseas, and the official sale will not be until the spring of this year.
It may be that for the highly competitive new energy vehicles, the late launch of three months will have a completely different market situation, but for a fuel hard-core off-road vehicle like Liema, three months will not have any impact - because Liema does not have too many opponents.
The first is the advantage of styling.
As the pioneer product of this round of retro off-road vehicles, whether it is the Tank 300 or the new Prado, there is a shadow of the Ford Horse. And the real selling point of the Liema is not actually the design - although the competitors also have retro round lights, large outer diameter off-road tires, and square box shapes - but the versatility of the Liema is the real "differentiating competitive point" of this car.
The most unique thing about the Ford Horse is that it adopts a modular design, the owner can easily remove and assemble the doors and roof, and buying a Lie Horse is equivalent to buying an off-road vehicle + convertible + pickup truck in one. And after the door and roof are removed, they can be just put into the trunk, and they will not be dismantled like the Jeep Wrangler and have no place to put it.
In addition, the Ford Horse has up to 7 modification switches inside and out, from roof lights to grille lights, front bumper lights, trunk lighting, on-board refrigerator power supply and so on. Even considering the needs of users when exploring off-road, a bracket that can hold mobile phones and shooting equipment is specially designed in the front instrument panel.
Since the domestically produced Ford Lie Ma is almost the original version, it is still 2 of the 202kW output in terms of powertrainThe 3T engine and the longitudinal 10AT gearbox with low gear ratio spacing design are completely sufficient in terms of power output and performance. At the same time, in order to ensure off-road climbing performance, the rear axle speed ratio is as high as 47. The total torque of the wheel is about 23000N·m.
In addition, this time, the domestic Lima is also matched with a strong three-lock design, the front and rear electronically controlled mechanical differential locks can transmit 100% torque, and the EMOD intelligent full-time four-wheel drive from BorgWarner provides strong off-road performance, supporting low-speed four-wheel drive mode, motor intervention and active locking, torque volume of 1850N·m, and more silky switching in four-wheel drive mode.
What's more, the top-of-the-line variant will also feature Bilstein's three-stage nitrogen shock absorbers, which form Ford's exclusive HOSS2The 0 suspension system can not only enhance the stability and support of off-road, but also take into account the comfort of road driving.
In terms of off-road geometric parameters, the approach angle of the horse is 45 degrees, the departure angle is 37 degrees, and the passing angle is 26 degrees, and it supports one-key disconnection and connection of the electronic anti-roll bar; The new car has a minimum ground clearance of 273mm, and the normal version has a wading depth of 850mm, while the Everglades version can reach 925mm.
Some people say that Liema has been listed overseas for two years, and it is only late, will it be too late? However, we believe that JMC Ford's launch of domestic Liema at this time is actually a very appropriate time for several reasons
1. The popularity of the domestic hard-core off-road vehicle trend, that is, from the tank 300 in the first two years, to the emergence of a large number of square boxes in 2024, it can be said that it is now generally accepted, from the niche to the mainstream. Assuming that the Ford Liema came in two years earlier, the market's perception of hard-core off-road is still stuck in the concept of "five big and three rough", and it may not be able to sell.
2. After the Tank 300 opens up the entry-level hard-core off-road market, it can be clearly seen that 2024 is a stage of off-road upgrades. This year, in addition to the Ford Liema coming, the new Prado will also come, as well as the emergence of Tank 700 and Formula Leopard Leopard 5, the common feature is that they are all in the range of 30-500,000 yuan. These products are not only aimed at traditional off-road players, but also users who have bought the Tank 300 in previous years and can upgrade and change their vehicles this year. These trade-in users, as well as those who are affected by the mainstream market, are the basis for the development of high-end luxury hard-core off-road vehicles.
3. The new energy vehicle market has developed rapidly in recent years, and the homogenization of products has been very obvious, and the freshness that can be brought to users has begun to weaken. At this time, the domestic production of Ford Liema brought the long-lost "freshness", coupled with innovative gameplay such as modification and detachable components, which made the attention of Liema rise rapidly. If it had been a few years earlier, Liema might not have been able to grab traffic from the blooming new energy heat.
4. Another point is the change in consumption, as new forces and domestic brands begin to pull the product to 300,000 yuan, or even more than 500,000 yuan, which is also helpful for JMC Ford to price Liema. Under the consensus of "if you don't work hard, you can only drive BBA", even if Liema puts the main sales model at 350,000 yuan and the high configuration at 400,000 yuan, referring to the current domestic new energy vehicles, it obviously will not make consumers feel exaggerated. If Jiangling Ford's products were set at more than 300,000 yuan a few years ago, it is estimated that it would be a one-sided shout.
5. The most important thing is: Ford Lie Ma has a story about "feelings", which is more historical than Prado, and has more "emotional value" than the Tank 300. The best example is the Mercedes-Benz G-Class and Land Rover Defender, which have achieved contrarian growth in recent years, and the "legendary attributes" are the indelible advantages of this old hard-core off-road vehicle.
In short, the Ford Flame came to the Chinese market at the right time, and in addition to its strong off-road performance, it also made changes for Chinese users quite sincerely. What's more, it brings with it a 60-year-old Bronco legend and sentiment, which gives us reason to believe that the Ford Flame will get off to a good start.
And **For the buyers of this car, it is actually not so important.
Text jackielxx
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