Changan Ford, a 50:50 joint venture between Changan Automobile and Ford Motor Company, has been producing Ford vehicles for the Chinese market – including the Ford Mondeo and Ford Mustang Mach-E – for a number of years now. Now, that venture has been recognized by J.D. Power’s 2021 China Tech Experience Index (TXI) Study, which measures new-vehicle owners’ perceptions of that vehicle’s technology across 42 categories, as well as how effectively the automaker brought those technologies to market.
Ultimately, the study combines these measurables to determine the adoption of new technologies, excellence in execution, owner satisfaction, and the number of problems experienced with these features. As J.D. Power points out, China-based automotive startups tend to fare better in this regard than other, more established automakers, a finding evident in this year’s study, which is based on responses from 32,141 owners that purchased their vehicles between June 2020 and March 2021.
Changan Ford fared quite well in this regard, ranking 11th out of 21 mass-market automakers in the TXI study with a score of 503, which also placed it above the segment average of 492. That ranks the joint venture above a number of rivals, including FAW Toyota, Dongfeng Nissan, Beijing Hyundai, GAC Mitsubishi, and GAC Honda.
In addition to these rankings, J.D. Power’s 2021 China TXI Study also found that Chinese automakers are generally hesitant to launch advanced technologies in new vehicles, while the number of customers that utilize these advanced technologies also tends to grow gradually over time. Technologies that drew the biggest number of complaints include rear-view cameras, remote parking, and touch ID, while owner satisfaction in regards to smart-driving-related features and intelligent cockpit-related features tends to draw the most ire among owners.
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Comment
Well, this is new! Changan’s performance in China has been miserable since its inception. It was a second-tier car manufacturer. As Ford’s local partner in China. It also means Ford’s local reputation has been affected by Changan. That is why GM’s performance and reputation in China are better than Ford’s. (GM’s local partner is reputable Shanghai Motor Co.) If the quality and reputation of Changan Ford are improving. Then is less to do with Ford’s in China, more to do with Changan has messed up less in China. (JV manufacturers in China do not have as much control as they would prefer) Manufacturing is majority controlled by Changan, Ford can not do anything even if Dearborn and Cologne are not happy with the end result. Therefore good for Changan to step up, it also means China is no longer the executive graveyard within Ford.