The night before the southern and northern ford merger: Openly Building Ecosystems, Covertly Addressing Internal Conflicts, Chen Xiaobo Restructures 300 Stores

Since the beginning of this year, rumors of the "merger" between Changan Ford and JMC Ford have been circulating, but it wasn't until the second half of the year that we received further information.

Chen Xiaobo has become the leader of this integration. His new KPI, publicly announced, is to create an outdoor living ecosystem, but in reality, it is to address the internal friction caused by the independent operations of the two joint ventures.

With more than 300 stores from the two Ford dealerships in front of him, the pressure on the shoulders of this newly appointed head of sales is substantial.

In the past two days, Ford China announced that it will establish Ford Motor Sales and Service (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. in Shanghai. The company will officially begin operations on October 1st, fully responsible for managing the marketing, sales, and service operations of Ford brand passenger cars and pickup models in the Chinese market.

Chen Xiaobo, former Vice President and General Manager of the Marketing Center of Changan Ford New Energy Automobile Technology Co., Ltd., will officially join Ford China as the President of Ford Sales & Service Company.

This means that this move is not the "merger of Changan Ford and Jiangling Ford" as speculated in the market, but merely a sales channel integration.

Many people naturally think that after the integration, the store name should be called "Ford China" or something similar, but reliable sources say that after the integration, it will be unified under the name "Ford Zongheng" as the store sign.

This is strange. The Ford Zhongheng channel, released by Jiangling Ford two years ago, primarily gives us the impression of a brand focused on off-roading and outdoor lifestyle communities and ecosystems, serving Jiangling Ford's pickup and off-road vehicle products.

This inevitably raises questions about the position of Changan Ford.

However, from the perspective of the leader's background, the situation seems to be entirely different.

The new president of the company did not come directly from Ford China, nor is it possible to promote someone from the smaller Ford Lio Ho; instead, he is Chen Xiaobo from Changan Ford. It's clear who holds the reins now.

Under Chen's management, Changan Ford's transition to new energy has been slow, with the electric Mustang almost forgotten. The profit mainly relies on the Explorer, which sells based on sentiment, while the Mondeo, which exchanges price for volume, is currently priced down to 120,000 RMB to barely achieve a monthly sales volume of around 3,000 units.

Fortunately, the fundamentals still exist. Perhaps after experiencing a sharp decline, Changan Ford achieved a year-on-year growth of 5.97% in 2024 thanks to its fundamentals.

Although there is a joke that says "a century-old Ford is ruined by Changan," Jiangling Ford is not much better off.

In 2024, JMC Ford's sales reached 35,000 units. As the pioneer of the boxy design, the Ford Bronco had a highest monthly sales of 1,560 units since its launch, but this year's monthly sales have consistently failed to exceed 1,000 units. Another model, the Ranger, has met a similar fate.

Regardless of how the product is, the situation after the merger is also worth pondering.

Whether it is Changan Ford or Jiangling Ford, the product positioning of both is distinctly clear. Imagine consumers walking into the store, where not only are there passenger cars like the Mondeo and Edge, but also pickups and commercial vehicles like the Transit. It’s inevitable that they may feel a bit confused at first.

In addition, the internal friction that damages vitality is also one of the issues. It is reported that as early as 2018, Ford established a national sales service organization in an attempt to unify the sales channels of Changan Ford, Jiangling Ford, and Ford imported cars, but it ended in failure due to opposition from Jiangling Ford.

Currently, Jiangling Ford has about 110 channels, while Changan Ford has around 270, totaling over 300 channel stores. Whether this can support Ford's "outdoor dream" remains an unknown.

Six years ago it was like this, will the outcome be different in six years? It depends on how Chen Xiaobo handles it.