Ford Focus Fastback

Trabalhar com marketing traz um poder interessante. Investir em luxo, desempenho ou eficiência costuma gerar produtos fabulosos, mas que de nada valem se não entregam o que o cliente quer. O mercado de carros tem muitos exemplos bons e ruins disso, mas também uma característica mais particular: nunca se pode ficar imune a este tipo de falhas. Estudos extensos há muitos, mas entender o passado nem sempre ajuda a estimar o futuro. O modelo que a Ford acaba de lançar no Brasil teria tudo para ser apenas mais um na multidão. Mas o marketing se fez valer mais uma vez, e o resultado é o que você está prestes a conhecer.

Ford EcoSport 2016

Not long ago, Chevrolet and Honda went through bitter moments thanks to Malibu and Civic. Despite bringing all the improvements one came to expect from a new generation, those models had weaknesses that their customers just couldn’t overlook. The rejection was big enough to force the companies to give them an emergency update just one year after the original debut – not to mention releasing their next generations much earlier than usual. EcoSport’s case isn’t nearly as serious as those. But since recurring to such operation is too big a risk to take, Ford opted towards prevention.

Ford Fiesta 2016

Meses após ganhar uma versão esportiva, o hatchback premium agora investe no custo/benefício. A versão de topo, Titanium (R$ 65.290), passa a oferecer chave presencial e partida por botão. Ela e a SE 1.6 (R$ 53.890) ganharam também sensor de estacionamento traseiro. Já a S (R$ 46.790) e a SE 1.5 (R$ 50.890) somam dois alto-falantes nas portas traseiras. Todo o demais permanece inalterado, desde o resto das listas de equipamentos de série até as opções para motor e câmbio; o 1.6 tem ao câmbio automatizado Powershift como opcional na SE (passando R$ 58.390) e só usa o manual na Sport (R$ 60.190).

Ford Focus 2016

Sete anos atrás, a Ford lançava no Brasil a segunda geração do Focus. O atraso em relação ao modelo europeu teve uma razão bem conhecida nesta indústria: equilibrar as contas do projeto anterior antes de investir em um próximo. Como quatro anos são muito até para isso, a empresa aproveitou para trazer a novidade já com o face-lift realizado lá fora pouco antes. Assim, ao ver que a terceira geração voltou a atrasar, todos esperavam ver a mesma sequência. Mas a Ford resolveu surpreender. Para tentar agradar a todos, o Focus brasileiro foi renovado em 2013, e acaba de fazê-lo outra vez.

Ford Taurus China

One of the numerous reasons why the Chinese automotive market is so peculiar is its dark-hole quality: pretty much anything you throw at it gets sold. Since there are so many companies doing that, the number of cars offered there is growing quickly enough to make it almost impossible for a new model to earn the desired attention. Naturally, over the years the companies have dealt with this problem in many different ways, even though not all of them are exactly what car enthusiasts would like to see. One of these cases is what was done to the vehicle to which this article is dedicated.

Ford Fiesta 2015

Depois de ter a central multimídia Sync melhorada com as funções AppLink e Assistência de Emergência, agora o Fiesta ganha a versão Sport. Custando R$ 58.990, ela parte da SE 1.6 e traz farois com máscara negra, grade dianteira, aplique traseiro, retrovisores, e rodas de aro 16” em preto brilhante, defletores de ar na tampa traseira e em toda a parte inferior, e o emblema Sport na traseira e nas soleiras das portas. Com todo o resto inalterado, ela toma o lugar da Titanium manual, para complementar àquela com o Powershift. As opções de cor são branco Ártico, preto Bristol e vermelho Arizona.

Ford Galaxy 3

Fact 1: In marketing, one of the most important phenomena to avoid is cannibalization. Offering too similar products tends to divide the current buyers between them, instead of attracting new ones. The company, therefore, ends selling roughly the same, but with increased production costs. Fact 2: after sailing through twenty years as the “cars of the future”, minivans are losing many buyers to crossovers, leading most companies to reduce their offering as much as possible. Twist: Ford keeps a full range of minivans in Europe, including not one, but two full-size siblings. Now, both in all-new generations.

Ford Figo Aspire

The 1980s were the first time when the automotive industry really worried about the cost of its products. The oil crisis affected countries such as the United States, which suddenly had to ignore its fondness for superlatives so as to consume less fuel. Parallel to that, emergent countries were dealing with high inflation and low growth rates, so it was necessary to do anything that could keep the industry active. This article’s vehicle is interesting because even though its manufacturer probably never thought of it, in each of its names it’s possible to visualize a reference to one of those events.

Ford Ranger 2016

Gone are the times when selling pick-up trucks was easy. Until the 1990s, there were few competitors made by few companies, and all of them were restricted to hard work. Since they weren’t concerned with style or luxury, they spent years receiving mostly mechanical updates, and it was more than enough to keep everyone happy. However, ever since they were made fashionable, making money with them started to require the very same worries brought by coupés or crossovers. The new Ranger proves that not even the automaker which sells the F-Series can afford not to deal with those.

Ford Edge China

Who said only sedans had to bow to Chinese tastes? The wheelbase stretching which even the German trio executes now affects the brand new Edge, exclusively in that country. The sporty style was replaced with a family-crossover silhouette, increasing even the rear overhang so as to seat seven. While there’s no numerical information yet, Ford claims enough room and comfort for all of them. Everything else will stay untouched, such as the rest of the design, equipments and mechanical components. The Chinese crossover will have local production and use a 2.7-liter EcoBoost engine.

Ford Explorer 2015

Seven millions. This is the number of Explorers Ford has sold since 1990, over five generations and in many countries. However, in order to persuade so many people to buy a vehicle with such strong competitors, it was mandatory to keep following the market tendencies. The variations Explorer has presented over these years include luxury trims, sporty trims, police-car preparation, three-door body and even a pick-up version. There have been some bitter moments, as always, but all in all, this has been a story of true success. Whose brand new chapter you are just about to meet.

Ford Everest 2

For around half a decade, Henry’s automaker has worked according to One Ford. This is a complex corporate plan whose goal is to optimize Ford’s global production. Instead of just releasing new products, the company wants to make the best of its existing lineup: some new cars appear, others are dropped, others converge into a common successor… Anything to maximize profits. Following that train of thought is what brings you this article’s SUV. After eleven years restricted to a few Eastern countries, Everest’s success has proved itself worthy of a whole new self with much broader prospects.

Ford Ranger 2015

Para melhorar o custo/benefício, a Ranger vira o ano mais equipada. Dependendo da versão, passam a vir de série controle de cruzeiro, fechadura da caçamba com chave, novos porta-objetos debaixo do banco traseiro, tapetes de borracha e até bancos de couro. Por outro lado, o sistema Sync ganhou a Assistência de Emergência estreada no Brasil pelo Ka, e o AppLink, que permite acessar aplicativos de smartphones. Outra novidade é que o plano de manutenção trocou as revisões de dezoito e trinta meses (ou trinta e cinquenta mil quilômetros) por apenas a troca do filtro de combustível.

Ford Fusion 2015

Cintos de segurança infláveis. Esta é a maior novidade do sedã, criada pela Ford para atuar como um airbag a mais em caso de acidente, protegendo a região do tronco dos passageiros e distribuindo a força do impacto em uma área maior que o cinto comum. Também de série em todas as versões, o Fusion traz Assistência de Emergência e comando elétrico para banco do passageiro e retrovisores externos. Já a Titanium soma bancos dianteiros refrigerados, ao passo que a Plus pode combinar a carroceria branca ao revestimento interno Soft Ceramic. Seus preços vão de R$ 102.990 a R$ 133.900.

Ford Mondeo 5

Even though working with global cars is becoming increasingly common among most automakers, there is still some struggle when it comes to its execution. Dealing with all the factors that vary with each country, such as technical changes, staff training or particular marketing studies, results in a new vehicle taking several months to reach all the markets to which it was intended. The biggest victims of that are usually emergent countries, but this article presents an interesting exception: Europe is where Ford’s lineup is arriving late, under the name Mondeo, and with a delay of three years.

Ford C-Max and Grand C-Max 2015

Ford’s European minivans have followed a life cycle which became interesting for its synchronism. The oldest sibling, Galaxy, entered its second generation in the same year as the sportier S-Max debuted, 2006, and months before the smaller C-Max was facelifted. After that, the first two were facelifted and the other updated both in 2010, and now they are going the other way around – the only exception is B-Max, which was released two years ago. Right after releasing the all-new S-Max, now it is the time to present another facelift for the Focus-based midsize minivans.

Ford S-Max 2

Over the past few years, Ford’s European division has given a lot of attention to minivans. S-Max and Galaxy were facelifted, so as to keep attracting the bigger families. In the same year, 2010, C-Max reinforced its role in the mid-size category by following Focus’ new generation. And two years later, B-Max appeared to seduce those for whom the other two seemed too much. However, the market has suffered so many changes ever since that Ford had to rethink most of its strategy. This year’s Paris Auto Show hosted the debut of the very first result of this direction change.

Ford Fusion Titanium FWD 2015

Importado do México, o sedã mais luxuoso da Ford nacional ganha mais equipamentos na versão Titanium FWD. Alertas de mudança de faixa, de ponto cego e de tráfego em cruzamento, farol alto automático fonte de 110 V e sensor de chuva deixaram de ser exclusividades da opção da mesma Titanium associada à tração integral. Todo o demais segue inalterado, incluindo o teto solar como opcional de R$ 4.000, o motor 2.0 EcoBoost de 240 cv e 34,5 kgfm e o câmbio Powershift de seis marchas. Nesta versão, o Ford Fusion custa R$ 108.700.

Ford Ka+

Para quem o analisa olhando para o passado, ele vai parecer uma subversão sem tamanho. Um veículo que, para a intenção original dos anos 1990 seria sob todos os pontos de vista inconcebível. Porém, aqueles que o observam voltados para o futuro vão alegar que ele tem tudo para ser um sucesso de vendas em vários mercados. Vão até perguntar por que ele não foi lançado antes. Quem poderia imaginar que um simples três-volumes compacto projetado com foco em países emergentes poderia chegar a despertar opiniões tão diferentes?

Ford Ka 3

Pode-se dizer que Claude Lobo ficou muito desgostoso da Ford brasileira. Nos anos 1990, o designer projetou o primeiro Ka valorizando a inovação, usando um design tão marcante que “não podia passar por facelifts”… mas o que se viu aqui foi o exato oposto. No entanto, apesar de na Europa ele ter se mantido fiel à receita original, suas vendas de lá foram caindo quase tanto quanto as daqui aumentaram. Depois de muitas especulações sobre qual caminho passaria a seguir, hoje é possível afirmar que ele escolheu o melhor de ambos.