Ford and Jiangling Motors (JMC) has signed an agreement that further expands the export of Ford-branded vehicles produced by JMC. This announcement follows a move by the American carmaker to produce more pickup trucks in China.
The agreement intends to combine JMC’s industrialization capabilities with Ford’s global distribution network. The planned export products include “affordable EVs” and internal combustion commercial vehicles.
Though the announcement didn’t contain any product details, one possibility would be an EV version of the Territory. Although the next-generation Territory (Equator Sport in China) still isn’t offered with an electric powertrain globally, the previous model (see lead photo) is.
The Territory EV is still being sold in China and uses a single motor setup delivering 161 horsepower and 280 Nm of torque. A 49.14-kWh lithium-ion battery delivers a maximum cruising range of about 360 kilometers.
Another possibility is that Ford would launch an EV version of the next-generation Equator Sport and export that as the next-generation Territory EV. The Mustang Mach-E, another EV produced by Ford in China is unlikely since that global EV isn’t assembled at the Ford-JMC joint-venture. It’s assembled at Ford’s other China joint-venture, Changan.
Ford became JMC’s major shareholder with its strategic investment in JMC in 1995. JMC has successfully produced several Ford-branded vehicles and components in the China market.
In 2022, JMC exported more than 60,000 units to countries in the Middle East, the ASEAN region, and South America, including the Ford Territory and Transit van. In the Philippines alone, the Territory moved 9,269 units last year (and so far, 4,493 units this year).
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ReplyDeleteA brilliant move for a car manufacturer (Ford) that has been doing business for over 120 years, but of course, that kind of idea Ford and JMC (Jiangling Motors) have been doing to each other (as said on this article) is something that a partnership between Hyundai and Ford were to benefit from since Hyundai (though it already sells more cars in India as Ford is no longer marketing products there) may have already sold more cars in other right-hand drive (RHD) markets — particularly in Australia and New Zealand — it seems that Ford's decades-long success in the Aussie (and NZ) markets would also help Hyundai gain from Ford's partnership with JMC (since the Ford cars that are currently marketed mostly in RHD countries are also developed in Australian grounds) and while Hyundai (if they were already partnering with Ford) were to distinguish their India and South Korea-made cars, Hyundai's Ford-JMC-developed cars instead would be developed in both China, Thailand and Australia and also manufacturing of Hyundai and Kia cars being based on Ford-JMC products would end up in Thailand instead since Hyundai and Kia doesn't have much presence in the Thai market but of course it would be interesting for Hyundai/Kia, Ford and JMC to collaborate with each other and have Ford bring the Laser (or Fiesta) back as a Sino-Koreano-Anglo-Americano-Australian (Ford is also popular in the UK and even Ireland) competitor to the Toyota Vios (aka Yaris ATIV) and Mazda2. (Also that kind of Vios/Yaris challenger could also have Hyundai to offer that as the "Hyundai Excel" and Kia doing the same as the "Kia Pride" or "Kia Rio".)
Because they're cheaper to make so Ford can make more money.
ReplyDeleteFord tying up with JMC is like Suzuki with Maruti and Toyota with Daihatsu, all with the aim to make their entry lineup more affordable. Joint venture of Ford is nothing new historically.
DeleteJMC and Ford should look at product issues first before going global. There are several Territory troubles being reported also locally, it is best to tackle these first or it is a deal breaker for some including me. All vehicles have their own headaches and quirks, lux brands are not exempted. But such breakdowns will give Ford and to some extent China-made vehicles a bad name.
ReplyDeleteThat was why I mentioned before that Ford should rather partner with Hyundai (as it also partners Kia) while Ford maintains a partnership with JMC, thus bringing an also-well-established brand like Hyundai into Ford's joint venture with JMC as a result could even solve many problems between Ford and JMC because its clear that Ford is deeply known for making cars that rather suffer from unreliability even though Ford cars also have advantages like possessing very excellent exterior stylings and also safety (which is why in other countries abroad like in Kenya in Africa see Ford as useful because their cars are well-suited for African conditions).
DeleteAlso these are the following that Hyundai could be eligible for being added in Ford's JV with JMC as I already said long before:
1. Hyundai has a straightforward business approach because that is also the reason why Hyundai (also Kia) also has a strong sales presence in Vietnam together with Ford — in fact the latter's Ranger pickup (ute in Australia/New Zealand and bakkie in South Africa aka Elon Musk land) is currently the Vietnamese market's best-selling pickup as the Toyota Hilux and Nissan Navara aren't selling well in Vietnam. (Fuel economy and price were the reasons why the Hilux and Navara is not a strong seller in Vietnam.)
2. As a result of that, Hyundai may even do things to Ford (along with Ford-JMC) that Hyundai and Ford alone can't, as given the reasons why the Ford Territory (Chinese Ford crossover) does not have a right-hand-drive (RHD) variant is also because Ford struggles for money to make one (well Ford in Thailand only has Ranger, Everest and Mustang there) so if Ford were to build RHD Territory models with Hyundai and JMC at the same time therefore since as I said that the Thai market (which is RHD) only prefers the Ranger and Everest means Ford in Thailand (along with Hyundai and JMC) would instead opt for developing a competitor to the Toyota Vios (Toyota Yaris ATIV in Thailand) and Mazda2 by Mazda (a former Ford associate) but in turn that Ford product co-developed with Hyundai and JMC (while competing with Vios and Mazda2) would be based on the Territory's platform instead. (And possibly that could bring either the Laser or Fiesta back but possibly the Laser since the Fiesta was not a strong seller in Southeast Asia either but a Hyundai and Kia equivalent would even co-exist with the former having to resurrect the Hyundai Excel or Hyundai Pony and the latter doing the same with the Kia Pride as the Pride was also introduced when Kia was a partner for Ford until 1998.)
3. As Hyundai and Kia have already planned to release their own pickups later this century, then seeing Hyundai to team up with Ford and JMC means three (plus one and that is Kia) car manufacturer would not change all of their components just as Nissan and Mitsubishi are currently doing to each other for example. (Same for Toyota and Mazda with the latter retaining their own technology in the cars they made rather than to switch to Toyota tech.) Also inexpensive labour costs could also be discussed in Hyundai's partnership with Ford and plus JMC since its worth to note that Hyundai and Kia struggled in the Philippines for trying to sell their Kona and Stonic siblings there... (Also Kona in Thailand does not sell well as Stonic is also unavailable in the Thai market too...)