Safety and cost-effectiveness have advantages, and the workmanship of some parts needs to be improved
Changan Ford Mondeo-Zhisheng 2.0T Owner Survey and Analysis Report
"Quality Car" Editorial Department
A total of 108 valid car owner samples were obtained in this survey. 52% of the car owners conducted face-to-face interview surveys, mainly including car owners in Beijing, Tianjin and other places. The remaining 48% of the car owner surveys were conducted mainly through the survey platform of China Automotive Quality Network, involving Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, Yunnan, Chongqing, Hebei, Shandong, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Zhejiang, Guangxi, Guizhou, Shaanxi and other places.
The investigation was conducted for one month by the investigation team of Product Reliability Report magazine.
As the flagship model of the Ford brand in the Chinese market, although the Mondeo-Zhisheng has a fashionable and dynamic appearance, flexible handling, cost-effective and wheelbase advantages, its power performance has been regarded as the soft underbelly of the model. In March 2011, Changan Ford launched the 2.0T model, which comprehensively improved the power of Zhisheng, which also became the biggest change for the new model. The 2.0GTDI engine used is the latest generation of Ford Group products, combining turbocharging and gasoline direct injection technologies. The application of new technology allows the maximum power and torque of this engine to reach 149kW/6000rpm, 300N · m/1750~ 4500rpm. At the same time, the 6-speed PowerShift dual-clutch transmission also made a splendid debut. This product, jointly developed by Ford Group and Gertruc, uses a wet clutch and is equipped with a ramp start assist system to ensure that the vehicle does not slip within 2 to 3 seconds after the brake and handbrake are released.
The power replacement of Zhisheng has indeed given consumers a refreshing experience in using the car. Although safety and cost performance are still the most satisfactory factors in the minds of consumers in this survey, we also found that the higher fuel economy and lower maintenance costs of Zhisheng 2.0T under high power are also talked about by many car owners, and Zhisheng’s new unique competitiveness is also formed. If the Mondeo-Zhisheng 2.0T model can do better in the workmanship and assembly of some key components and interior comfort reported by car owners, it will surely make a greater breakthrough in future market performance.
Car owner fundamentals
The proportion of male car owners is large, and safety factors are valued
In terms of the purchase time of the 108 car owners surveyed this time, the proportion of Changan Ford Mondeo-Zhisheng 2.0T models in each car purchase time period is relatively balanced as a whole. Specifically, the proportion of car buyers within 1 month is 18.52%, 11.11% for 1 to 3 months, 29.63% for 3 to 6 months, 29.63% for 6 to 12 months, and 11.11% for more than 1 year (see Table 1). In terms of mileage, statistics show that the proportion of vehicles traveling between 5,000 and 10,000 kilometers is relatively high (see Table 2).
In terms of the age composition of car owners, the vast majority of car owners are under the age of 50, and the proportion of car owners aged 50 and above is only in single digits. Specifically, the proportion of car owners aged 20 to 29 is 25.93%, the proportion of car owners aged 30 to 39 is 62.96%, and the proportion of car owners aged 40 to 49 is 7.41% (see Table 3). Further survey data show that the vast majority of these car owners are male, and the proportion of female car owners is only 3.70% (see Table 4).
In terms of car purchase characteristics, 37.04% of the surveyed owners said that they chose the Changan Ford Mondeo-Zhisheng 2.0T for their first purchase, and 51.85% of the owners said that the model was their second private car. The proportion of the third car and above was relatively small, at 11.11% (see Table 5).
From the group of car owners surveyed, we found that the consumer group of Changan Ford Mondeo-Zhisheng 2.0T is younger. This group of car owners are often elites in their respective fields. They have unique tastes and a positive attitude towards life. They value family and friendship, and the cars they choose tend to focus on family and business. Another detail can also reflect the focus of car owners. When answering the survey option "What are you most satisfied with this car", more than 90% of car owners chose safety, which also proves that Zhisheng’s five-star safety building has indeed paid off.
product reliability
More than 60% of car owners agree that the problem of abnormal noise cannot be ignored
As the core evaluation content of "100 car owners evaluate new cars", the reliability of the model has always attracted our attention, because the reliability data is often more able to reflect the true quality of a model. If a model is of good quality at the beginning, then its long-term reliability is also worth looking forward to.
As far as the actual reliability performance of Changan Ford Mondeo-Zhisheng 2.0T is concerned, its exterior, temperature control system and transmission system can withstand the reliability inspection of most car owners in actual driving. We have not received any relevant fault reports from surveyed car owners in these systems. The faults reported by car owners are mainly in the interior and interior of the car, electronic equipment and accessories, engine, steering system and braking system, with a proportion of 21.43%, 14.29%, 14.29%, 10.71% and 10.71% respectively (see Table 6). In terms of specific faults, in the item "What do you think is the most serious quality problem or defect", car owners reported the following problems: abnormal sound of shock absorber and abnormal sound of power pump (see Table 7). It is worth noting that these abnormal noise issues were also reflected in the subsequent segmentation survey options in the "comfort" area.
Leaving aside the fault itself, in this survey, 25.93% of the owners answered in the affirmative when answering "whether your car has had a failure due to non-human factors", and the remaining 74.07% of the owners said no (see Table 8), and the proportion of the model failure was moderate. In terms of the mileage of the vehicle’s first failure, half of the failures occurred within 1,000 kilometers, 25.00% for 1,000 to 3,000 kilometers, and 14.29% for 3,000 to 5,000 kilometers (see Table 9). The survey also found that among those vehicles that failed, 64.29% of the owners had repairs, and 35.71% did not choose repairs because it was not a failure problem.
In the last part of the "reliability" survey, we asked owners to give a comprehensive evaluation of the Changan Ford Mondeo-Zhisheng 2.0T. In the survey options for "Your overall evaluation of the quality and reliability of this car", 17.59% of owners chose "very good", and 48.16% chose "good", which means that more than 60% of owners agreed with the reliability level of this car. In addition, 28.70% of owners chose "average", 3.70% and 1.85% chose "poor" and "very poor" (see Table 10). Although the overall proportion of faulty vehicles under investigation is not high, it can be seen from the faulty parts and related typical problems reported by the owners that the emergence of abnormal noises and other problems has indeed affected the reputation of some owners for the quality of this model. On the complaint platform of China Automotive Quality Network, we also found some owners’ complaints about abnormal noises, which has obviously become an aspect that Changan Ford Mondeo-Win 2.0T models need to strive to improve in the future.
comfort
More than 70% of car owners approve, and the seat is the most well-received
As an important aspect of measuring the quality of the whole vehicle, the Changan Ford Mondeo-Zhisheng 2.0T performs well in the comfort of some key parts of the car. In the owner evaluation of the four parts of the air conditioner, seat, driving space and audio, the seat and driving space have been recognized by more than 80% of the owners, but the satisfaction of the audio and air conditioner is relatively low, 59.26% and 51.85% respectively. No owner chose the "neither satisfied" option (see Table 11).
Mondeo-Zhisheng has a lot of advantages in terms of body size, with a length, width and height of 4854mm x 1886mm x 1495mm and a wheelbase of 2850mm, ensuring a spacious interior space. Specifically, the 95cm front head space is better in the same class, and the 92cm rear head space and 84cm longitudinal space are also quite satisfactory. In addition, Zhisheng not only has wide seats that can suit consumers of different body types, but also has soft seat cushions. On the top model, the "boss button" is provided on the left side of the passenger seat backrest, which can adjust the seat cushion and backrest, and it is not easy to cause fatigue after long-term riding.
In this survey, we also conducted a targeted investigation on the "abnormal noise" and "odor" of Changan Ford Mondeo-Zhisheng 2.0T. In the option of "whether this car has abnormal noise during driving (including braking) ", 42.59% of the owners chose "Yes", while 57.41% of the owners chose "No" (see Table 12). Statistics show that the abnormal noise problem mainly stems from the abnormal noise of the shock absorber and the abnormal noise of the power pump reported by the owner. When answering the option "Does the interior of this car have any odor problems that bother you", 20.37% of the owners made a positive choice, while 79.63% of the owners believed that there was no odor, indicating that Changan Ford Mondeo-Zhisheng 2.0T is relatively good in interior materials.
The statistics found that when answering the survey option of "Your overall evaluation of the driving comfort of this car", the proportion of owners who chose "very good" (18.52%) and those who chose "good" (55.56%) was as high as 74.08%, the proportion who thought it was "average" was 20.37%, and the proportion of owners who thought its comfort was "poor" or "very poor" was very small, 3.70% and 1.85% respectively (see Table 13). More than 70% of car owners recognize the overall comfort level is undoubtedly a good result, but when answering the survey option "What are you most satisfied with this car", the proportion of car owners who choose "comfort level" is only 35.19%, and considering the reaction of many car owners on the problem of abnormal noise, it shows that Zhisheng still has room for improvement in comfort level in the future.
Maintenance cost
The average fuel consumption is more than 8~ 12L, and the maintenance price is slightly advantageous.
From the comprehensive operating condition fuel consumption value provided by MIIT, the fuel consumption of Changan Ford Mondeo-Zhisheng 2.0T urban working condition is 9.8~ 10.9L, and the fuel consumption of 100 kilometers comprehensive working condition is 7.9L. So, what is the consumer feedback on the actual fuel consumption of Mondeo-Zhisheng 2.0T.
In the survey item "The average fuel consumption of 100 kilometers during the use of your car", all car owners chose more than 8L: 37.96% chose 8 to 10L; 52.78% chose 10 to 12L; 9.26% chose 12 to 15L, and no car owner chose more than 15L (see Table 14).
In response to the above fuel consumption performance, the survey owners also gave their own comments. In the subsequent "What you are most satisfied with this car" survey item, 40.74% of the owners chose the fuel consumption level, and in the "What you are most dissatisfied with this car" survey item, only 11.11% of the owners chose the fuel consumption level, indicating that many consumers are still very satisfied with the overall fuel consumption of this model. Of course, the level of fuel consumption is also closely related to the maintenance of the vehicle the owner usually drives, road conditions, fuel products and personal driving style.
In fact, the comprehensive upgrade of the power system is the biggest change of the Mondeo-Zhisheng 2.0T compared to the old 2.3L model, and the 6-speed PowerShift dual-clutch transmission is also another highlight of the Zhisheng 2.0T model outside the engine. According to official data, the 0-100km/h acceleration time of the Zhisheng 2.0T model is 8.3s, the maximum speed can reach 222km/h, and the fuel consumption is significantly lower than the 14.3L/100km of the Zhisheng 2.3L model. Although turbocharging technology has been widely used, coupled with in-cylinder direct injection and variable valve system, this will definitely contribute more to fuel saving: on the one hand, in-cylinder direct injection can make the combustion more full, improve power and fuel economy; on the other hand, the variable valve system can adjust the gas distribution time of the engine at different speeds to improve combustion efficiency.
Most of the cost of buying a car is spent on fuel and maintenance, so maintenance costs became a key item in our survey. The survey found that when it comes to the choice of "repair/maintenance place", all surveyed owners choose 4S shop (see Table 15). When it comes to the choice of "gasoline label", 53.70% of owners choose 97 gasoline, 42.59% choose 93 gasoline, and 3.70% choose 98 gasoline (see Table 16).
Mondeo-winning first guarantee is carried out at 5000 kilometers, the first guarantee is free, after the vehicle is maintained every 5000 kilometers, the oil and oil filter should be replaced at each maintenance, the cost is about 300 yuan; the oil filter is replaced every 5000 kilometers, the air filter and the gasoline filter are replaced every 10,000 kilometers, the overall cost is about 500 yuan; the brake fluid and steering power fluid are replaced every 40,000 kilometers or two years; the spark plug is replaced at 30,000 kilometers. In the survey of "average cost per maintenance", 7.41% chose less than 400 yuan, 37.04% chose 400-600 yuan, 31.48% chose 600-800 yuan, and 24.07% chose more than 800 yuan (see Table 17). The maintenance cost of car owners in the survey is related to the number of maintenance, items and vehicle conditions. In response to the above expenses, car owners also gave their own comments: 14.81% of the owners of Changan Ford Mondeo-Zhisheng 2.0T who participated in the survey thought that the maintenance cost of Changan Ford Mondeo-Zhisheng 2.0T was "cheap", 62.04% of the owners thought that the maintenance cost of Changan Ford Mondeo-Zhisheng 2.0T was "average", 18.52% of the owners thought it was "high", and 4.63% of the owners thought it was "very high" (see Table 18).
Reducing fuel consumption while harvesting stronger power is obviously what Zhisheng 2.0T has been striving for, and judging from the feedback from consumers this time, Zhisheng 2.0T has indeed achieved this. It is also worth mentioning that in order to make this engine more suitable for the Chinese market, Ford’s engineers have also made various improvements to make it fully adaptable to domestic No. 93 gasoline, which has really saved fuel costs for car owners. From the actual investigation, compared with the 2.3L model, the new engine with in-cylinder direct injection technology has not increased in maintenance costs, and it has also saved a lot of expenses for car owners in some maintenance items. Compared with the same level of models, the maintenance price is slightly superior.
conclusion
The safety price is well recognized, and the interior and after-sales service need to be strengthened
During the survey, the Changan Ford Mondeo-Zhisheng 2.0T model received high praise from owners in different fields. When answering the survey option "What are you most satisfied with this car", the safety and price of Zhisheng 2.0T were recognized by more than 80% of owners (see Table 19), and these two options were not selected by any owners in another "What are you most dissatisfied with this car" survey.
In fact, as early as 2011, at the launch conference of the Mondeo-Zhisheng 2.0T model, people gave high praise to its high cost performance. In terms of power, the EcoBoost GTDi engine uses turbocharging, in-cylinder direct injection and intake and exhaust dual variable valve timing systems, which belong to the three core technologies that are currently leading in the world’s engine field. The new Mondeo GTDi 200 model is equipped with a 2.0T engine with a maximum power of 203 horsepower and a maximum torque of 300N · m. The GTDi 240 model has a maximum output power of 240 horsepower and a maximum output torque of 340N · m. In terms of configuration, the 2011 Mondeo-Zhisheng uses leather seats except for the lowest matching models. The high-matching models have 8-way electric adjustment seats, dual-zone independent air conditioning, B-pillar trend and navigation systems. But in terms of price, compared with the lowest price of Regal 2.0T and Maiteng 2.0T, the entry-level model of Zhisheng 2.0T is nearly 50,000 yuan cheaper than the opponent.
In terms of safety, the 2.0T model is equipped with ESP body dynamic stability, TCS traction control, EBA emergency braking assistance, and HLA ramp assistance system. In addition, the 2.0T top model also has the driver’s knee airbag (240 horsepower version is equipped with side air curtains), front parking radar, blind spot monitoring, reversing imaging system, tire pressure monitoring system, electric child safety lock, and rain-sensitive wipers.
However, in this survey, some parts workmanship and assembly problems were also mentioned by car owners in the "reliability" and "comfort" sub-surveys, focusing on the abnormal noise of the shock absorber and the power pump. These problems also reduced the overall satisfaction rating of car owners on the interior and quality of this model to a certain extent. When answering the survey option "What are you most dissatisfied with this car", 19.44% of car owners chose the interior, 16.67% of car owners chose the after-sales service, and a small proportion of car owners chose the quality due to the occurrence of abnormal noise problems (see Table 20). Obviously, these proportions are not high, and judging from the satisfaction ratings of all 108 owners who participated in the survey who gave the Changan Ford Mondeo-Win 2.0T a score of 83 out of 100, these issues did not affect the overall heartfelt liking of this model by most owners. However, for Changan Ford, which hopes to make greater progress in the market in the future, these details cannot be ignored.
Product Reliability Report, May 2012
