2014 Changan Ford Escort

[daewoo-chevrolet]

SHANGHAI, China, April 20, 2013 – Ford's commitment to Chinese automotive customers took a giant leap forward today at Auto Shanghai 2013 with the unveiling of the Ford Escort Concept – the latest example of how the company's global DNA continues to evolve and cater to a growing and diverse mix of customers.

The Ford Escort Concept showcases Ford's vision for how the company could serve additional customers in China's compact car segment – a segment that accounts for over 25 percent of the country's total vehicle industry and includes the Ford Focus, the best-selling nameplate in China last year as well as the best-selling nameplate worldwide.

Building on the success of the Focus, the Ford Escort Concept is a new kind of compact car, designed for a very different customer. Both Focus and Escort Concept deliver high quality, safety and fuel economy. While Focus successfully meets the needs of those seeking a fun driving experience and high level of technology, the Escort Concept is for those customers who value exceptional roominess, uncompromised functionality and sophisticated design.

Press release + photo gallery: http://www.flickr.com/photos/upcomin...7633282200329/

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@ Auto Shanghai 2013:
http://car.autohome.com.cn/chezhan/exps52/3113.html
http://www.autoblog.com/2013/04/20/f...shanghai-2013/

SHANGHAI, China, April 20, 2013 – Ford's commitment to Chinese automotive customers took a giant leap forward today at Auto Shanghai 2013 with the unveiling of the Ford Escort Concept – the latest example of how the company's global DNA continues to evolve and cater to a growing and diverse mix of customers.

The Ford Escort Concept showcases Ford's vision for how the company could serve additional customers in China's compact car segment – a segment that accounts for over 25 percent of the country's total vehicle industry and includes the Ford Focus, the best-selling nameplate in China last year as well as the best-selling nameplate worldwide.

Building on the success of the Focus, the Ford Escort Concept is a new kind of compact car, designed for a very different customer. Both Focus and Escort Concept deliver high quality, safety and fuel economy. While Focus successfully meets the needs of those seeking a fun driving experience and high level of technology, the Escort Concept is for those customers who value exceptional roominess, uncompromised functionality and sophisticated design.

"By listening to our customers in China, we have developed the Ford Escort Concept to serve a new class of compact car customers," said Jim Farley, executive vice president, Global Marketing, Sales and Service and Lincoln, Ford Motor Company. "These are customers whose needs are not being completely met by existing compact cars. They are discerning, modern families, who want uncompromised functionality, quality and safety for themselves and the ones they care about."

Simple, elegant, harmonious design

Ford's success and experience in the compact car segment with Focus – along with customer feedback – provided valuable guidelines for the overall design of the Ford Escort Concept.

In Ford's market research, customers in China described seeking a vehicle that is stylish – but not one that is arrogant or pretentious – while also allowing for a balanced life that almost always includes family and friends.

"We found a large segment of compact car buyers in China appreciate sophisticated design and want a more spacious family-size vehicle," said Martin Smith, executive design director, Europe and Asia Pacific. "The Ford Escort Concept reflects those desires.

"Its roomy interior, attention to detail, and precise and refined surface language really give the concept car its harmonious aesthetics, where desirable is actually attainable."

Ford designers started by adding length and then sculpting the vehicle with elegant lines to give it a natural flow. The longer profile creates more room for a comfortable and spacious interior while maintaining harmonious proportions.

While being designed for the specific needs of this subsegment, the Ford Escort Concept is true to the new global face of Ford, which was introduced on the all-new Mondeo – currently on display at Auto Shanghai 2013 – and made its first appearance on the Ford Evos Concept in 2011. On the Escort Concept, the slightly more upright grille and elongated, jeweled headlamps – carefully designed to resemble the lucky figure eight – provide a distinctive front end.

"The Ford Escort Concept represents the idea that you can get a compact vehicle with a premium aesthetic without sacrificing key features like space for families or having to pay a premium price tag," said Smith.

Committed to China

"The Ford Escort Concept gives an indication of how we could expand our offerings to compact car customers and further solidify our commitment to growing our presence in China," said John Lawler, chairman and CEO, Ford China. "Combined with the new Ford Mondeo, our terrific SUV lineup and the best-selling Focus, you can start to see what our lineup will look like when we reach our goal of bringing 15 new vehicles to China by 2015.

"The unprecedented growth and significant size of the vehicle market – especially the compact car segment – combined with the high degree of dynamic change in China is allowing Ford to extend its product plans to take advantage of the pace being set by this market."

The compact car segment in China today is around 5.5 million units per year, approximately the size of total annual auto sales in Germany and the UK combined, and larger than the total annual volume of vehicles sold in Japan (the world's third largest car market).

A number of manufacturers serve customers with legacy products in this segment, including Ford with the Ford Focus Classic.

The Ford Escort Concept offers a potential all-new compact car alternative that is attainable. It is the perfect embodiment of Ford's Go Further brand promise.

Today's unveiling of the Escort Concept is the latest example of Ford Motor Company's commitment to China, and follows the recent introduction of the new Mondeo and at Auto Shanghai 2013, and the latest launches of the all-new EcoSport and Kuga.

Since 2006, Ford has invested a total of $4.9 billion in China. The company's presence in the region will only continue to grow.

By 2015, Ford plans to launch seven new plants in Asia Pacific – five in China – and have the ability to produce 2.7 million vehicles a year in the region.

Less than a year ago, Ford announced that as part of its largest expansion in 50 years the company would build a new state-of-the-art assembly plant in Hangzhou and double its production capacity in China to over 1 million passenger cars annually by 2015. Ford and its joint venture Changan Ford are investing $760 million in the plant.

The Hangzhou investment is in addition to a $1.1 billion investment the company made to expand capacity at its Chongqing facilities including at Changan Ford Assembly Plant No. 2, the plant that makes Focus in China.

Ford also has been expanding its dealer network in China and further developing its supply chain to deliver 15 vehicles by 2015.

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Production version of Ford Escort testing in China:
http://auto.ifeng.com/diezhao/20140114/1007232.shtml

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Escort caught:
http://www.autohome.com.cn/news/201404/767831.html

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Production version of Escort debuted at Beijing Auto Show:
http://car.autohome.com.cn/pic/series/3347.html
http://www.autoblog.com/2014/04/19/f...jing-official/









Press release

All-New Ford Escort Makes Global Debut at Auto China 2014; Offers Elegant Design, Exceptional Roominess and Outstanding Safety in a Compact Car

• Ford unveils the all-new Ford Escort at Auto China 2014, confirming production of the company's latest new vehicle for China, built for Chinese consumers using Ford's global capabilities

• Built on Ford's global C-car platform, the all-new Ford Escort is designed specifically for Chinese customers who value interior roominess, superior safety and sophisticated design in an attainable compact car

• Featuring a fuel-efficient 1.5L Ti-VCT engine, the all-new Ford Escort will offer outstanding fuel economy and smooth power delivery

• The all-new Ford Escort will be built in China through Changan Ford (CAF), Ford's passenger car joint venture, and distributed through CAF dealers

BEIJING, China, April 20, 2014 – Building on its deep understanding of consumer needs in the world's largest automotive market and leveraging its global product development capabilities, Ford unveiled the all-new Ford Escort today at Auto China 2014, Asia's largest motor show.

At the unveiling, Ford announced that the all-new compact car will be manufactured by Ford's Changan Ford joint venture, proving Ford's continued commitment to introducing 15 new vehicles to China by 2015.

The unveiling and production announcement follows the reveal of the Ford Escort Concept in Shanghai last year. Built on Ford's global C-car platform, the Ford Escort has been designed specifically to meet the needs of consumers in China, and extends Ford's offerings in China's fast-growing compact car segment, which accounts for more than 25 percent of the country's total vehicle industry.

"The Ford Escort is a perfect example of how Ford's global approach can be fine-tuned to meet the needs of individual markets by listening to customer feedback," said Marin Burela, president, Changan Ford Automobile. "Taking Ford's hugely successful C-car platform as a foundation, the all-new Ford Escort puts us in a perfect position to serve Chinese customers looking for an alternative and attainable compact car."

Ford's market research found that many Chinese customers in the compact car segment want a sedan that places a premium on exceptional interior space, outstanding storage and great practicality.
The Escort is the result of a vehicle development program aimed at addressing these needs, which brought together a team of Ford designers and engineers from across Asia Pacific and around the globe. Ford's Australia-based Asia Pacific design team, working closely with the Ford Research and Engineering Center in Nanjing, focused on combining the best of One Ford design and engineering capabilities to deliver a world-class vehicle created solely to meet the needs of Chinese consumers.

Together, they created a vehicle with a stylish and unpretentious exterior housing a refined and roomy interior, outstanding safety features and innovative technologies.

The Ford Escort will join the company's best-selling Ford Focus to provide more choices for consumers in China's compact car segment, which is expected to grow to 7.2 million vehicles by 2017 – bigger than the total auto market in Germany, the U.K. and France combined.

"Even as the Ford Focus remains the best-selling nameplate in China, we recognize that many consumers in China are looking for something else in a compact car," said Luo Minggang, executive president, Changan Ford Automobile. "The Ford Escort is the answer to the question of what these consumers really want and value in a car for themselves and their families."

Harmonious, elegant design

To help it stand apart in the competitive compact segment, Ford designers gave the Ford Escort a clean, harmonious and sophisticated design built on the One Ford global design language.

At the front, elongated, jeweled headlamps set apart from the distinctive inverted trapezoidal grille give a greater sense of width. Moving around the side, designers extended the wheelbase and pushed back the A-pillar to create more athletic, premium proportions. At the rear, tail lamps that echo the headlamp design are embraced by an elegant line that creates a sculpted shoulder. Throughout the design, crisp edges and harmonious details add to a refined and elegant appearance.

The design of the Ford Escort's interior extends the elegance of its exterior. Inviting, roomy, and refined, the interior features premium materials, exceptional second-row legroom and design elements more typically seen in luxury vehicles.

Outstanding safety and fuel efficiency

Ford has equipped the all-new Ford Escort with a comprehensive range of safety features and technologies to protect all occupants, while also fulfilling a key requirement for consumers in the compact car segment.

Passive safety features on the all-new Ford Escort include an advanced airbag restraint system, with six airbags delivering outstanding crash protection for occupants. Offering excellent safety characteristics while improving efficiency, the body of the Ford Escort features high-strength steel, which helps to reduce the vehicle's overall weight and improve fuel economy.

Fuel economy is also optimized thanks to an advanced 1.5-liter four-cylinder Ti-VCT engine that offers smooth power delivery and high efficiency.
Ti-VCT, or Twin Independent Variable Camshaft Timing, allows precise, variable control of "valve overlap," the window of time in which both intake and exhaust valves in an engine are open at the same time. By continuously adjusting this overlap, the engine can maximize fuel economy and power output depending on conditions. For the driver, this means improved low-speed torque, increased fuel economy and greater power, all while delivering lower emissions.

To extend the benefits of this fuel-efficient engine, Ford has implemented a number of features on the Ford Escort to drive fuel consumption even lower, including Electric Power Assisted Steering (EPAS) and advanced battery technologies to reduce engine load.

Innovative and convenient technologies

Inside the elegantly designed cabin, the Ford Escort comes with a host of useful features to keep drivers and passengers entertained without compromising safety.

With the Device Dock, an innovative central dock located above the vehicle's center console, the Ford Escort introduces a new way to store, mount and charge devices such as mobile phones, MP3 players and satellite navigation systems, seamlessly integrating them into the in-car entertainment system. Drivers will appreciate the convenience of the Device Dock as it perfectly houses an array of portable devices and keeps them within easy reach.

The Ford Escort also features Connect Radio, a smart system that allows the driver to connect a smart phone to the vehicle's radio using Bluetooth.

"With its smart, safe and green features, the all-new Ford Escort is a compelling and attainable addition to China's compact car segment, and a sign of how Ford continues to go further to serve customers old and new in markets around the world," said Burela.

[daewoo-chevrolet]

More pics: http://www.netcarshow.com/ford/2015-escort/

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http://price.pcauto.com.cn/cars/sg10740/
http://price.pcauto.com.cn/cars/m31840-o1/

[dmitra]

Article on the Ford Escort with new outdoor pix:

http://auto.163.com/14/0703/11/A07PC7KU00084TUO.html