Interview with Marc Lapine, Vice President of Product Marketing at Ford, and Tim Wang, Manager of GTM at Ford
We have talked about Ford's layout speed in China before, how to get a "fast" word, I didn't expect there to be faster, it was expected that the "spring" will be unveiled Ford Flame Bronco, I didn't want to meet you at the end of January, for this Ford ace product, we also have a lot of questions, the core of which is that it is different from North American models, is it original, or optimized, taking advantage of the Ford Flame Bronco debut, We spoke with Marc Lapine, Vice President of Product Marketing at Turbo Horizon, and Tim Yi Wang, Manager of GTM at Ford, to find out what they can do for us.
Marc Lapine, Vice President of Product Marketing, Ford
Q: What is the difference between domestic and imported horses? Because when the Ranger Ranger was launched before, a lot of optimizations were made for the Chinese market, could you please introduce the trade-offs or upgrades of the Fierce Horse?
marc lapine：The needs of off-road users in various markets are different, and many cars have made different trade-offs or different judgments when entering different markets. In 2020, when the Ford Flame was launched in the United States, I was still working in the United States, and we were still thinking about importing to China, and I was also thinking about what version to import into China. Just when Jeffery said that the interior upgrade is a large part, because the Chinese have a strong demand and awareness of the interior, from the material, including the coverage above the dashboard, including a lot of coverage on the door panel, in foreign countries are very hard plastic, but in China we are all soft covering, many things in foreign countries are only some configurations of the Raptor version, including our full LCD instrument, but also the foreign Raptor version. Users in the United States may prefer some more natural materials, and Chinese customers like to have some small details and colors in the interior, such as the Badland Edition, which is the car you see outside, and it actually has a lot of interior upgrades, because the Badlands itself is a badlands national park in the United States, and it will have a lot of designs for the peaks of that park, and some yellow ones are embellished on its sub-dashboard. The air outlet in the second row is also very different from that of foreign countries, foreign users may not need such an air outlet in the second row, but when Chinese users go out to play as a family, there are people sitting in the second row, so he will need an air outlet, and we have also brought this small detail.
If you compare the versions, the difference will be more obvious, you will find that we have a lot of configuration devolved, there are six versions in the United States, several low-profile versions in the United States configuration is very low, basically no configuration, but a lot of American customers like this feeling, he likes this more pure off-road. But this is not the case with Chinese customers, even if Chinese customers want to be pure, they also want some configurations, so if you compare the overseas version and the domestic version, you will find that we are actually much higher than them in every configuration. The selection of the wheel eyebrow is another point, you will see this wasteland version, its wheel eyebrow is the same as the Everglades version, but the foreign wasteland version is actually more inclined to the square wheel eyebrow, but the wheel eyebrow is a modular design, it can be easily removed through a few screws, Chinese customers can also change it themselves, we change it to a partial round wheel eyebrow from the design point of view, but also think it will be more suitable for the Chinese market. The Everglades version is an official modification upgrade in North America and China, in North America we use the version of the black diamond to upgrade, we have done different paths to achieve the same goal, we are using the wasteland version to do the upgrade, the wasteland itself is higher than the configuration of the ink diamond, so the configuration of the Everglades version will be higher than the foreign one, for example, we have the anti-roll bar disconnection, which is another point.
This is about the difference between the two versions of some products, and I hope you can understand that this is a product that is more suitable for the Chinese market. The most important thing is that we have no compromise on off-road ability, which is the purest product we bring to the Chinese market.
Q: I know that Ford has a lot of events abroad, but it's very unfair, many events can't be recorded, you will only get a number, you can't spread these things to Chinese users, will Ford adjust its communication strategy in the future?
marc lapine：In the course of these events, Ford has been investing a lot, including the previous F-150 Raptor, which is a very pure running car, including the Ranger, we also participated in the Dakar Rally, and we also participated in this year, and we also did some publicity, so Ford has been involved in such events, and there are a lot of equipment or technologies in the race, and we will slowly apply it to production models. The two types of events are different, some are track races, and the track races are easier for everyone to see the whole process, easier to know, and even everyone can imitate and try this kind of circle winding behavior. But it's hard to see the whole thing in a rally, and you don't even know how tough it is, like the Baja 1000, which is something that Ford would be working on on a lot.
The teacher mentioned earlier that Ford has participated in many rallies abroad, and how to better spread it in China. Cross-country rallies are harder for everyone to experience, and only some people who are very enthusiastic will follow these events all the time, unlike track races, where you can watch live all the time to see who wins. But in the cross-country rally, each car is in a different place, and it is difficult to track it well, which is also a difficult point, and it is difficult for us to convey the cross-country rally to each customer well.
Ford Performance has put a lot of money into this event, and there is a DR version of the Liema, which is the Desert Crossing version, which is very cool. As I mentioned just now, we have a testing ground in southern California, and there are actually many such testing sites around the world, all of which are very strict. Ford has high requirements for durability standards, and our actual off-road testing is another means of testing the ultimate durability of the vehicle, and the actual off-road test can also be directly reflected in the development of the durability of the whole vehicle.
In the process of internationalization, a number of Ford Lie Horse series will continue to participate in various events, and we will try our best to disseminate some information, and the products will also be respected by users. In China, we want to tap into such a market, and we have also found some suitable for Ford to participate in and spread in China, and work with the event party to make this plate bigger and pass it on to users.
Recently, our team has also done a lot of research and found that more and more Chinese customers want a car to take him outdoors and do more things, and their current car may not work, so he will think that there is a strong connection between racing and off-road. I am a person who likes to travel a lot, I will go to Dunhuang, and I found that as long as there is an off-road vehicle, you can explore different worlds. The same is true of the event, people will continue to challenge themselves and constantly improve themselves, which has a strong connection with cross-country, maybe we can slowly make this circle bigger through the opportunity of cross-country and some events in China.
Q: Earlier, a teacher asked about the differences between China and the United States in the product, I would like to ask what is the difference between China and the United States in user portraits or potential customers? Such as occupation, average age, and so on. Second, in China, the penetration rate of new energy SUVs is increasing, and in our product plan, will there be such EVs specifically for China in the future?
marc lapine：There are many differences in age, 35 years old in the United States is still very young, and there are many older users who will also buy off-road vehicles to enjoy life. However, in China, it seems that 35 years old is considered an old age, and I may be an old man myself. On the other hand, the Chinese market has changed more in the past three years. When I first came to China in 2021, the most popular off-road vehicles in the Chinese market were probably the Pajero and the Wrangler. The Wrangler doesn't import much, but it's stable in the market, and there are a few models from other brands. However, 2022 changed everything with the launch of its own brand hardcore off-road vehicle, which brought a huge impact to the market, and the shape of the square box made it look very cool. In 2023, more new models will enter the market, all with the design of a square box, which will bring changes to the market. That's the overall background.
In the United States, there are relatively few competitors for fierce horses, mainly Wranglers. Because the Wrangler was unique in the United States, or at that time it was the market leader, it could sell 200,000 units a year. There is also Toyota's 4runner in the United States, but its sales are not very high. As a result, there are relatively few competitors in the United States. But in China, where there have been a lot of competitors with square box shapes in the past three years, there will be more competitors in China.
If we look at the hardcore off-road models in the Chinese market, we will find that their customer base is different. Basically, it can be divided into three categories: the first category is what we consider to be the most critical Lie Ma customers, and they are:"challenge seeker", that is, the seeker of the challenge. They want an extreme dirt bike to do the adventures they want, and they want to take on the challenge of achieving those goals with a car like Liema. The second type of customers, which we think are more core, want an off-road vehicle, hoping to take them out and go off-road to Badain Jarin, or feel the fun in Alxa Left and Right Banners. The purpose of this kind of people to pursue off-road is to have fun and entertainment, and they are also the core users that we think are the core. The third category of people buying dirt bikes is:"just in case", that is, just in case. They may not plan where they will go this year, but one day they have a whim to go to Chengdu, western Sichuan and other places, and this car can give them no worries. Of these three types of users, the first type of users is currently relatively small, but it is growing; The second and third types of users are the potential users that Lie Ma needs to attract. There are many people in China, who work in office buildings and rental houses every day, feel the pressure of life, and they are eager to own a car that can take them to explore different places and experience a different life outdoors. This type of person is currently a large group in China, and it is also a potential user target. The third type of users, there are many consumers in the Chinese market who are only attracted by the square box shape, and they buy such a model, not because of its off-road performance, but because of its fashionable appearance. The off-road ability is just an added highlight for them. Recently, there have also been a lot of sleek electric vehicles on the market, and although they don't have strong off-road performance, they are loved by many people. These consumers won't necessarily buy Liema, but they may be attracted to it, but they just don't belong to our very core users.
The second problem, simply put, is that there is nothing to announce yet. There is a clear trend towards electrification in the Chinese market, and we are taking some steps as well. But at this moment, we have no news to announce to you for the time being. For the time being, many off-road users are also concerned about some of the limitations of electric vehicles, such as charging time, the hassle of battery carrying, and the reliability of electric vehicles during off-road processes. As a result, many core users may also prefer to choose a gasoline vehicle, whether it is gasoline or diesel. They currently believe that electric vehicles are not as reliable when it comes to off-roading.
Q: Will there be some more pure models in our product planning in the future? For example, at the beginning, we asked that users in the U.S. market would like models that look very pure and are just used as toys. Will there be such a plan for the Chinese market in the future? Users of this model bought it to modify, go off-road, go Hook Road and so on. Second, will we introduce a raptor version? Will there be a raptor version of a model like a fiery horse or a ranger in the future? Either in the form of imports, or in the form of domestic production.
marc lapine：Ford has a special vehicles division, and we have been working on improvements to the F-150 Raptor version. We have made a lot of attempts, such as rebuilding the F-150 into a special vehicle that is suitable for road driving or drifting. Sometimes such a makeover can seem a little strange because of the relatively small user base. Improvements were made on several raptors, which is equivalent to Ford's toy transformation of off-road vehicles at one time. For example, in the Ranger Raptor, when I was still in Thailand at the previous generation, the Ranger Raptor made a lot of improvements that Ford hadn't tried before, such as the tweaks to the suspension to achieve powerful off-road performance in a relatively small body size. The launch of the Raptor version on the Fierce Horse is an extreme toy transformation of the model. You'll notice that, although similar on the outside, a number of adjustments have been made, such as the chassis elevation, the formation of extra-long suspension, and also the anti-roll bar. For the Bronco Raptor, we wanted it to be the most powerful off-road vehicle of all, which is actually a toy reinvention of these models by Ford.
As mentioned in the press release, we used 35-inch big foot tires on the F-150 Raptor, and in North America, the Bronco Raptor can even use 37-inch big tires. The 33-inch tires are already very large, but we continue to offer larger sizes of 37-inch tires to achieve a number of goals, including extreme off-road ability and driving on the road. With these improvements, we hope that the model can become the "toy" model you just mentioned. We've also launched the Bronco DR, the Desert Running version, which is a desert crossing version of the Burning Horse. Despite its exterior resemblance to the Burning Horse, it is an illegal vehicle on the road in the United States, but it is a very extreme model that fully demonstrates Ford's extreme understanding of "toy" models. We've made a lot of upgrades to its suspension and powertrain, and here are some of the "toy" car improvements that Ford is working on.
The second question, on the question of whether the Bronco Raptor or Ranger Raptor is imported, I don't have any specific information at this time. But we've just released the new Bronco, so you can keep an eye on the car.
Postscript: About Ford Fierce Horse Bronco, the simple summary is not only the original, but also deliberately for the Chinese market to do a lot of "increase" operations, originally in the foreign Raptor version of the model will have part of the configuration, this time basically given, the rest is actually only one thing, that is, the final pricing of Ford Fierce Horse, I believe it will not be long, we will get the answer, it is better to look forward to it.