At this Chengdu Auto Show, Jiangling Ford Ranger 1st Edition launch version started pre-sale, with a pre-sale price of 269,800 Yuan, limited to 800 units for sale. In addition, it is officially announced that the price of the entry-level model of Ranger will not be higher than 160,000 yuan.
After the press conference, we visited the Ford Beyond booth and interviewed several senior leaders of Jiangling Ford to discuss the stories behind the domestically produced Ranger and the soon-to-be domestically produced Bronco that are worth knowing. The following content is the interview transcript:
Interviewee:
Ford China and International Market Group Design Director: Max Wolff
Vice President of Jiangling Ford Technology Product Marketing: Marc Lapine
JMC Ford Technology Product Marketing Planning Director: Derek Wang
JMC Ford Technology Modification Director: Zhou Huanren
Ford China Design Manager: Chen Liang
Marc Lapine
Why would you consider introducing Ford Ranger?
Marc Lapine: From the perspective of the overall environment, we believe that the pickup truck market will show a growth trend in the future as policies are loosened. The usage scenarios of pickup trucks are actually much larger than those of ordinary cars and SUVs. However, due to previous policy constraints, the functionality of pickup trucks was not fully utilized. Now operating licenses, reflective strips, city entry restrictions, etc. have been gradually relaxed, and 97% of the country’s prefecture-level and aboveThe city has lifted restrictions on pickup trucks entering the city. Moreover, the passenger-oriented trend of pickup trucks is becoming increasingly obvious. Now is the best time to introduce Ford Ranger.
From the perspective of the entire market, the current market share of domestic pickup trucks in the entire industry is only about 2%. Compared with foreign countries, the share of pickup trucks in the domestic market is very small, but this also means that there are opportunities and potential in the pickup truck market. huge. Therefore, we introduced Ford Ranger in the hope of further leveraging the market.
From a product perspective, Ford Ranger inherits the spirit of the Build Ford Tough brand. With its safety, toughness, excellent performance and durability, it can bring Chinese consumers an indulgent and professional outdoor off-road lifestyle.
What optimizations has Ford Ranger made for the Chinese market? What are the characteristics of the Ford family?
Marc Lapine: Ford Ranger has gone through Ford’s global unified verification and development process and complies with Ford’s global standards for pickup trucks. At the same time, in order to further meet the needs of Chinese users, we have also made some localized optimizations for Ford Ranger. For example, our panoramic sunroof is specially built for Chinese users. In addition, in terms of intelligence of Ford Ranger, our entire series is equipped with the 8155 chip as standard and more than 30 sensors in the entire vehicle, bringing a new smart pickup experience to pickup truck users. In terms of comfort, Ford Ranger has deeply optimized and upgraded the vehicle configuration. Including rear seat angle adjustment, further optimization of interior space, and addition of interior soft packages.
Max Wolff
Max Wolff: Ford Ranger inherits Ford's accumulation and understanding of pickup trucks and is a global masterpiece that inherits the essence of Ford's "Built Ford Tough" brand. In terms of appearance design, we hope that the Ford Ranger can present a tough and hard-core feel, with very obvious characteristics of the global Ford pickup truck family.
Compared with the previous generation model, the Ford Ranger is built on the world's most advanced third-generation medium-sized pickup truck platform. It has a longer wheelbase, wider body, and larger wheel and tire sizes. This can not only further It improves off-road passability and visually highlights the strength of the vehicle. At the front of the car, the Ford Ranger's raised hood shows strong muscular lines, adding a strong sense of strength to the entire vehicle; the large-size front grille has a sharp outline, and the interior adopts a honeycomb design and is equipped withPrepare two horizontal chrome-plated decorative strips. The iconic "C" shaped headlights further enhance the recognition of the vehicle. On the side of the body, a stronger waistline and a more powerful wheel arch shape make the Ford Ranger's body posture more stable and calm. At the same time, the rear taillights also have a "C" shape, echoing the iconic headlights.
In addition, you can take a look at our Ford Ranegr 1st Edition first edition. We have installed many optional accessories as standard equipment on the car. In terms of off-road appearance, the Ford Ranegr 1st Edition has two exterior colors: Danxia Orange and Volcano Black, a sports grille, Digital Mud’s exclusive legendary mud print decals, blackened decorative parts, and orange interior Lines and "1st Edition" exclusive laser logos and other more off-road elements. At the same time, in terms of off-road performance of the vehicle, the Ford Ranger 1st Edition is equipped with steel front and rear bumpers, high-strength fiber cable front winch, steel off-road side steps, steel off-road chassis armor, rear entrance The air-high wading hose, all-terrain off-road tires, off-road anti-falling wheels and decorative rings, and cabin-mounted control paddles create a more powerful and ultimate off-road experience for Chinese users.
[The following is the content of Ford Bronco]
What elements does Ford Bronco have in its design?
Max Wolff: This generation of Ford Bronco has many elements that inherit and pay homage to the first-generation Bronco in design. Of course, we have also added many contemporary design elements into it.
The design of Ford Bronco not only visually highlights the sense of power, but also contains many functional designs. The overall vehicle proportions are relatively compact, with a short wheelbase, front and rear overhang ratio, and large-size wheels. Not only does it visually look tough and hard-core, it also improves the vehicle's off-road passability to a certain extent. . In addition, Ford Bronco is a very playable model. The roof and doors can be quickly removed, and it can be transformed into a convertible or a desert motorcycle at any time, so that one vehicle can cope with all changes.
Is it very cumbersome to remove the doors and roof of the Ford Bronco?
Max Wolff: At the beginning of the design, we fully considered the convenience of user disassembly, so the Ford Bronco doors and roof are very convenient to disassemble. For example, the car roof can be easily disassembled and assembled by users through the handle. At the same time, the roof part adopts segmented disassembly and assembly, and will be divided into several independent roof panels, which users can customize according to their needs. Choose disassembly
When is Ford Bronco expected to be introduced into China? When will the price be announced?
Chen Liang: Thank you very much for your attention to the Ford Bronco. This car will be officially introduced to you next spring.
What other information is behind Ford Bronco’s products?
Derek Wang Desheng: Ford Bronco may be the "toy" in every big boy's mind. All its designs and product configurations are designed to bring everyone to have fun. For example, the Ford Bronco can not only remove the doors and roof, but also directly rinse the interior with water after off-roading. This design is almost impossible to exist on a home commuter model. At the same time, we have specially prepared storage bags for the removed car doors and roof, and the trunk has fixed anchor points to fix the storage bags inside.
[The following is the content of Ford Beyond]
When Ford Beyond was just released, it mentioned a variety of modification plans. Can you elaborate on it?
Zhou Huanren: The new generation of Ford Ranger itself has reserved multiple modification interfaces for users to modify. At the same time, we bring users a large number of official modification accessories, with more than 16,800 official modification combinations, to fully meet the needs of users' personalized expressions. Moreover, the official modification kit has been registered and is legal and compliant, allowing users to navigate any scene through personalized modification, fully stimulating users' imagination and helping users create more possibilities.
At our Ford Beyond booth, there is a dedicated modification area, which is also the modification area for the subsequent Ford Beyond experience store. In the subsequent experience stores, we will have screen projection, and users can see the effect of installing modified accessories on the vehicle on the spot. In addition, taking our Ford Ranger as an example, in the future, users can not only choose official modification parts, but also many third-party modification parts for users to choose from. Official modification parts and third-party modification parts will also appear in our experience store. Of course, official modifications can be installed before the license plate is issued and will not affect the license plate.