Ford China Puts its Trust in SUVs

According to the executives of the Michigan-based, Ford Motor Co., in China the four-wheel drives is firming its grip and the company is strategizing four new vehicles with four-wheel drives for this largest auto market of the world. Ford Motors wishes that the people belonging to the budding middle class of China should zero on Ford when they go to buy their first four-wheel drive and for this the company has planned to roll out 15 vehicles for China by 2015. More emphasis will be laid on the utility vehicles as Ford projects that the market for this segment has the potential of growing more than 10 percent every year.

The SUV’s are a complete package since they are perfectly capable of seating families and are engineered to drive safely on the rugged and unkept roads of the rural areas of China. In China, more than 2 million four-wheel drive vehicles were sold last year. The smallest 4WD for the car market of China will be the compact Ford EcoSport that is housed with a 1-liter EcoBoost engine which is the smallest engine of the family of turbocharged engine of Ford. In China, the Ford EcoSport will be built in Chongqing; Ford has invested the maximum of its total investments of 4.9 billion USD for China, here. This 4WD Ford SUV will also be assembled in Camacari in Brazil and Rayong in Thailand. Ford India will assemble the Ford EcoSport at its plant in Chennai.

At the Beijing Motor Show 2012, Ford Motor Co. showcased the Ford Explorer which is another member of the family of Ford SUVs, the Ford Kuga SUV which is sold in USA as Ford Escape SUV and the Ford Focus ST which is a compact performance car. The Ford Kuga will be built at the Changan Ford Mazda Automobile Chongqing Plant 2 along with the Ford Focus ST. The fourth four wheel drive for China is the Ford Edge Crossover which is already being imported from Oakville, Ontario for sale since one year. The new Ford Focus ST will be sold in China along with the existing one which will be rechristened as the Classic Focus. The Ford cars will also be flaunting the Sync in-car connectivity system. The CEO and Chairperson of Ford China, Mr. Dave Schoch expressed its excitement about the availability of Sync in Mandarin (voice recognition).