Ford Mustang Mach-E never became a hit began to be assembled in China
In China, the Changan Ford joint venture in Chongqing has started production of Ford Mustang Mach-E electric crossovers for the local market. Prices are at the level of the Tesla Model Y of the Chinese assembly.
Ford announced the Chinese assembly of the Mustang Mach-E in January with a promise to begin sales before the end of this year, and now, despite the global shortage of microchips that disrupted the launch of more than one new product, it kept its word: on October 18, the plant in Chongqing assembled the first copy of the electric crossover with emblems in the form of horses.
Price range – from 265,000 yuan (2.94 million conventional units at current exchange rates) for the base rear-wheel drive version with a range of 513 km on a single charge under the Chinese driving cycle CLTC to 379,900 yuan (4.21 million conventional units) for the all-wheel drive version of the GT First Edition with rich equipment, exclusive finishes and a range of 492 km. The most “long-playing” rear-wheel drive version of the Extended Range Premium RWD costs 309,900 yuan (3.43 million conventional units) and can travel 619 km on a single charge.
The base rear-wheel drive version has a single electric motor with a maximum output of 201 kW (273 hp) and 430 Nm. The top Mustang Mach-E GT with two electric motors produces 359 kW (488 hp) and 860 Nm, such a crossover can accelerate to 100 km/h in 3.65 seconds.
For comparison, let's say that the Tesla Model Y crossover, which is assembled at the Gigafactory in Shanghai, costs from 276,000 yuan (3.1 million conventional units) to 387,900 yuan (4.29 million conventional units) and can travel on a single charge from 525 up to 640 km (depending on modification), but according to the outdated NEDC cycle. Due to differences in methodology, it is unfortunately impossible to directly compare the range according to the Chinese CLTC cycle and the European NEDC, as well as with the new European WLTP driving cycle and the American EPA, but in general, CLTC is closer to reality than NEDC.
The European version of the Ford Mustang Mach-E has a WLTP-certified range of 400 to 610 km, while the American version has an EPA-certified range of 340 to 490 km. Ford does not name the Mustang Mach-E battery capacity for the Chinese market, but we believe it is the same as the global version – 75.7 or 98.7 kWh. In terms of equipment, the Chinese-assembled crossover is not inferior to the American one and can be equipped with a level 2 autopilot according to the SAE classification.
Prior to the start of production in Chongqing, Mustang Mach-E was assembled only in Mexican Cuautitlán. It is possible that crossovers assembled in Chongqing will be exported. Mustang Mach-E has not yet become a hit in the US or Europe and has not shown sales records, trampling around in the middle of the EV segment (in the US, 18,855 units were sold in the first three quarters of this year, while the Tesla Model Y sold out 121 229 items). Now let's see how things go for the Mustang Mach-E in China, where Ford as a whole is also treading water in the middle and selling an order of magnitude fewer cars than the market leader, Volkswagen.
Ford is going to use the same scheme as Tesla to sell the Mustang Mach-E in China, that is, to sell the crossover directly, and not through intermediary dealers. By the end of the year, 25 Ford “factory” showrooms will appear in major cities in China, and over the next five years their number will increase to 100.
We add that the Ford Mustang Mach-E recently failed the famous moose test performed by experts from the Swedish magazine Teknikens Värld, while its main competitors – Hyundai Ioniq 5, Skoda Enyaq iV and Tesla Model Y – coped with this test well.