Addition is done where you can see it, and subtraction is done where you can’t see it. Sharp boundaries are hard to achieve.

In the early years, China's special-supply cars were developed and produced according to the needs of Chinese consumers and sold only in China. Therefore, in terms of experience, China's special-supply cars are often more suitable for domestic consumption than directly imported from overseas. who. Volkswagen is considered to be the originator of specially-produced cars in China. Star models such as Bora and Lavida are only available in the Chinese market.

Seeing the popularity of Volkswagen's special-for-China cars in China has made other joint venture brands extremely jealous. In recent years, they have also been launching so-called special-for-China cars. But now the so-called special-supply cars for China have long lost their original intention. They are almost always adding in visible places and subtracting in invisible places. Therefore, "special-supplied in China" has become a derogatory term. For example, Changan Ford's Ruijie L has just been launched.

The so-called China special offer is a joke

In the past domestic mid-size SUV market, the Ford Edge definitely had a place, and at its peak it could compete with the Highlander. However, Changan Ford has not upgraded the Ruijie for many years, causing the Ruijie's influence to plummet. Last year, the cumulative sales volume was only about 22,000 vehicles, and the average monthly sales volume was less than 2,000 vehicles.

In this regard, Changan Ford also upgraded the Ruijie, which has not been revised in eight years, this year and launched the Ruijie L. At the same time, the Ruijie L has also become a special model for China.

On the surface, the Ruijie L is quite conscientious. The pre-sale price range is only 229,800-319,800 yuan. There is also a choice of hybrid models. The price changes are not the same as the current Ruijie. Not big. In terms of appearance design, Ruijie L also adopts Ford's latest design language. The body size has been stretched to 5m, and the wheelbase has reached 2950mm. It is definitely a big guy in the field of mid-sized SUVs.

At the same time, Ruijie L has also been comprehensively improved in terms of interior design and materials, and both the sense of technology and luxury are well created. In addition, the L2 level automatic driving assistance system, which was only available on mid-range models in the past, has become standard equipment on the Edge L. It can be said that increasing the quantity does not increase the price.

But upon closer inspection, Ruijie L only made visible additions, such as elongating the size, adding configurations, etc., which makes people feel that Changan Ford is full of sincerity. But in invisible places, the Edge L has made a lot of subtractions. For example, the Edge L is based on the Ford C2 platform, while the old Edge is based on the Ford CD4 platform.

The difference between the two platforms is that the C2 platform is mainly used to produce compact cars or SUVs such as the Focus and Escape, while the CD4 platform is a dedicated platform for the production of medium and large cars. The former Edge and Taurus It is built on the CD4 platform, and the vehicle chassis born on this platform is made of aluminum alloy.

It is not difficult to see that Ruijie L is actually a dimensionality reduction product. It adds in visible places and subtracts in invisible places. Coupled with the seemingly sincere pricing, Ruijie Jie L may attract many novice car buyers in a short period of time, but it is bound to lose a considerable number of Ford loyal users, so this must be a double-edged sword.

Changan Ford, whose nature is hard to change, is losing popular support

In recent years, Changan Ford's domestic sales performance has not been good, and it has been forced to speed up product upgrades under pressure. At the same time, the so-called "China special supply" was also launched. The new generation Mondeo launched last year and the EVOS launched at the end of 2021 are both Changan Ford's special domestic models, and they are both built on the C2 platform, including the Ruiji, which was launched earlier and is also a product of the C2 platform.

It is not difficult to find that Changan Ford's "little cleverness" has long been exposed. As for the results, it is obviously not much better. The cumulative sales of Ford EVOS last year were 6,094 units, and the average monthly sales volume was only about 500 units; the new generation Mondeo performed slightly better, with monthly sales basically around 5,000 units, but Compared with Accord and Camry of the same level, the gap is obvious.

Whether it is Mondeo or Edge, although they were not the sales champions in their respective market segments, they were still mainstream products. It's just that Changan Ford has not updated its Mondeo and Edge models for many years, resulting in products that are not as powerful as its competitors, resulting in bleak sales. But in terms of reputation and quality, Mondeo and Edge don't have much problems. If Changan Ford sincerely upgrades Mondeo and Edge, many consumers will still pay for it.

However, Changan Ford, whose sales performance is getting worse, does not first consider launching more competitive products, but still thinks about how to make more profits at lower costs. But then again, Changan Ford can't even guarantee its sales volume, so how can it make profits?

Looking at what Changan Ford has done in the past ten years, whether it is the broken axle of the former Escape or the common gearbox problem of the old Focus, it is all the consequences of Changan Ford cutting corners. But Changan Ford, which has no retreat, does not understand this truth. It seems that for Changan Ford, the profit margin of a single vehicle is more important than sales volume. If things go on like this, Changan Ford will only completely lose the support of the people.

Written at the end:

The original intention of China's special car supply is good. After all, it has been specifically optimized for the domestic automobile market. But now the so-called special-supply cars for China are all for the sake of fair distribution reduction, because once there is no comparison with the same model overseas, it does not count as a reduction in distribution. This is the ugly face of Changan Ford. And in the face of this year's wave of price cuts in the domestic auto market, can Changan Ford really be able to withstand it?

This article comes from Che Zulu, the author of Yichehao. The copyright belongs to the author. Please contact the author for any form of reprinting. The content only represents the author's opinion and has nothing to do with Bitauto