Is the most important thing
The Edison team responsible for Ford Motor’s global pure electric business was founded less than two weeks ago, including management of Ford Pure Electric Vehicle Global Project Director Darren Palmer. The first country to visit was China.
For the past year, Ford executives have been the most frequent in China, with the highest number of meetings between Chinese and American executives. More than 50 of the more than 300 employees of the Edison team in four of the world’s four locations are based in Shanghai. About a month ago, Ford Motor Company established the independent department “D-Ford”, which specializes in consumer demand. The team has a considerable part of its energy in China, trying to understand the needs and ideas of Chinese consumers, learning from the Chinese market and copying it. To other markets around the world.
For Ford, the importance of the Chinese market is unquestionable.
China is the world’s largest new energy vehicle market, with government support and consumer enthusiasm far beyond those of other countries. In a report, management consulting firm McKinsey predicted that with the increase in consumer awareness and acceptance, China’s new energy vehicles will sell more than 5 million vehicles by 2024, of which 70% are pure electric vehicles.
Palma bluntly said that the Chinese market is the top priority for Ford’s new energy business. The design and development of Mach-E has injected a deep understanding of the development team’s needs for Chinese consumers. Hau-ThaiTang, executive vice president of product development and procurement at Ford, said that Chinese companies are at the forefront of many technologies such as artificial intelligence and smart interconnection. “China’s progress has inspired many people.”
Onwards, for the first time, Ford opened its Silicon Valley Innovation Center (GreenfieldLabs) to Chinese media including the auto-time (ID: auto-time), trying to give the Chinese market a more comprehensive understanding of Ford’s electrification. And intelligent efforts.
Ford Silicon Valley Innovation Center’s “Maker Center” Source: Future Automotive Daily
In July 2012, Ford established its first automotive lab in Silicon Valley with only eight employees. In 2014, nine car-enterprise laboratories including GM, BMW, Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Mercedes-Benz and Tesla were stationed in Silicon Valley.
After only one year, the first-tier suppliers including Bosch poured in, a large number of start-ups were born, Google’s self-driving cars ran on the road, and Apple wanted to build a car.