Chang’an Ford to start work on self developed brand for low end of market

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Chang’an Motors have seen some amazing growth in the past few years for their self developed vehicles, and last month alone they beat both FAW and Dongfeng in monthly sales. Chang’ans joint venture with Ford has also seen some excellent sales thanks to the popular Fiesta, Focus and Mondeo models. Now Chang’an and Ford are teaming up together to start on a new project that will see them create a new brand and a new range of models for the low priced segment of the Chinese automotive segment.

Luo Ming Gang, the Executive Vice President of Chang’an Ford Mazda announced in a recent interview that Ford and Chang’an will link up to take on the second and third tier cities. Luo cited that the Ford Fiesta, Focus and S-Max remain targeted towards the high end of the market where joint venture groups rain supreme, but noted that Ford performs particularly well in first tier cities but has noted a large gap in the second and third tier cities that Chang’an Ford plan to exploit over the course of 2010.

Exact plans for the brand have yet to be announced, but it is expected that Chang’an will provide the car and Ford will provide the quality that will take them into the targeted markets.