Photo: Ford
Even though Christmas is not celebrated in all parts of the world, it seems to have brought some wonderful “automotive gifts” in places like China too, where the first lucky owners of the Mustang Mach-E finally got their hands on the coveted SUVs.
Ad executive Jin Zhang was among the first Ford customers in China to get their Mach-E. Zhang is described by Ford as a Mustang fan, who will be using the award-winning EV as a family vehicle. He got the keys straight from Mark Kaufman, general manager of the Ford China BEV Division since the Mach-E for the Chinese market is locally produced. At the moment, there are 25 stores dedicated to Ford EV sales in this huge market.
The road to this “Kodak moment” was a bit bumpy. Only a couple of months ago, we were sharing that several Chinese customers had reportedly canceled their Mach-E orders, because of the delivery delays.
This wasn’t just a superficial complaint, but a serious money-leaking issue. Even though electric car owners in the country don’t have to pay for license plates before purchasing them, as it is with other vehicles, there’s a tight deadline for this “privilege.” The ones that gave up on their future EVs did so because their quotas were about to expire. Initially, the deliveries were expected by October and, instead, it looks like the first Mach-E SUVs were only delivered on December 26.
Although these delays obviously didn’t help, Ford is still confident in the Mustang Mach-E’s record sales. Earlier this month, CEO Jim Farley stated that keeping up with the demand for the electric crossover is a challenge, considering that current reservations exceed 200,000. The carmaker even intends to focus its efforts on the Mustang-E manufacturing process, while postponing that of the electric Explorer and Lincoln Aviator models.
With the first locally-manufactured Mach-E unveiled in China in October, the first deliveries to local customers mark another milestone for the Ford Mustang’s journey in this huge, highly-competitive market.
The road to this “Kodak moment” was a bit bumpy. Only a couple of months ago, we were sharing that several Chinese customers had reportedly canceled their Mach-E orders, because of the delivery delays.
This wasn’t just a superficial complaint, but a serious money-leaking issue. Even though electric car owners in the country don’t have to pay for license plates before purchasing them, as it is with other vehicles, there’s a tight deadline for this “privilege.” The ones that gave up on their future EVs did so because their quotas were about to expire. Initially, the deliveries were expected by October and, instead, it looks like the first Mach-E SUVs were only delivered on December 26.
Although these delays obviously didn’t help, Ford is still confident in the Mustang Mach-E’s record sales. Earlier this month, CEO Jim Farley stated that keeping up with the demand for the electric crossover is a challenge, considering that current reservations exceed 200,000. The carmaker even intends to focus its efforts on the Mustang-E manufacturing process, while postponing that of the electric Explorer and Lincoln Aviator models.
With the first locally-manufactured Mach-E unveiled in China in October, the first deliveries to local customers mark another milestone for the Ford Mustang’s journey in this huge, highly-competitive market.
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