Published by Ash July 16th, 2008
in Chang'an Ford.
As often mentioned on CCT, the last Ford Fiesta died a death in China, silently removed from the market and passed over to Landwind to see if they can do anything better with it. The new Fiesta looks set to do battle with other recently launched mini cars such as the Toyota Yaris, and the new Honda Fit.
The new Fiesta, the mk6 or 8th Generation of Fiesta is quite possibly the best one yet. Although the silver air vents on the front look to be rather awkward rather than sporty. You can see that the Kinetic Design theory that Ford have employed across their range (S-Max, Mondeo, and now Fiesta) is well at work in the latest Fiesta, with the back end of the super mini resembling the S-max in many ways.
Engine wise, research has shown that both 60PS and 80PS 1.25-litre, 91PS 1.4-litre and 115PS 1.6 Ti-VCT engines will be used in the Fiesta.
The Chang’an Ford Fiesta is expected to be on the market in late 08, possibly around October and will be sharing a production line with its brother, the Mazda 2.
Published by Ash July 11th, 2008
in Chang'an Ford.
The next generation of Ford Fiesta has been spotted out testing in Chongqing:
This generation of Fiesta is expected to be launched in November 2008 once an initial production run has finished in October 2008. This Ford Fiesta is Ford’s second crack at China with the Fiesta, the previous Fiesta sedan was launched in China but was a relative failure for Ford when compared to other sedans launched at the same time.
Published by Ash June 10th, 2008
in Chang'an Ford.
Ford have given the new Mondeo a massive price cut in China to make it ‘more competitive’ with its rivals. The price cut, a massive 20,500rmb (Honestly, one of the biggest we’ve ever seen) will take the base model 2.3l manual Mondeo to a bargain 170,480rmb, the base model 2.0l version will reach the mid 150,000rmb range. The 2.3 automatic gearbox model doesnt have as big as price cut, but will be cut in price by 15,000rmb.
The price cuts put the gigantic new Mondeo in direct competition with the similar priced VW Magotan, Passat, and the new Mazda 6. The price cut could also have been due to the fact that May sales of large cars were down an amazing 50% for that month alone, and many other brands have been forced for cut prices.
Published by Ash June 9th, 2008
in Chang'an Ford.
The S-Max was not one of Ford’s great success stories in China, in fact, it was quite a disaster. The 7 seating arrangement was great for families, but not so great for business users who preferred the more business looks of the Buick GL8, and the ease of access to the rear row of seats. In fact, even as a family car, it was too big. How many people in China have 5 kids? Not that many, we can bet. Ford has taken to the idea of dumping the back seats, and giving the Chinese some more trunk space instead with the new 5 seater S-Max, which will hopefully boost S-Max sales from the low hundreds to the several thousand unit marker in 2008.
Previously, VW introduced the 7 seater Touran into China, but the 5 seater version proved to be a more popular model.
Hopefully by following VW’s lead, Ford will be able to raise sales, the price isnt bad, 190,480rmb.
Published by Ash May 29th, 2008
in Chang'an Ford.
The facelifted Ford Focus we mentioned the other day will be on the market in China in September 2008 which will no doubt bode well for Ford sales. It seems that Chinese automotive sales aways pick up in the cooler months, but summer is just too hot for many Chinese to beat the forecourt!
The new Focus was recently spotted leaving the Chang’an testing ground (above)
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