[New Car Launch in car home] On April 7th, iCAR V23 officially made its debut. This car is the first model jointly built by Chery and Zhimi Technology, and it is positioned as a pure electric small SUV with a cruising range of 500km. At the same time, it will also create a new V series of iCAR, focusing on off-road vehicles (the 0 series represented by iCAR 03 will focus on exquisite technology style). It is reported that the car is expected to officially meet with you at the Beijing Auto Show, and it is planned to start pre-sale, listing and delivery in the second half of the year.

　　Looking at the new car, although its appearance is still square box shape, many classic designs have been modernized, including thick bumper, round lamp design, raised front hatch cover and widened wheel eyebrow shape, which makes it retro and fashionable. In terms of details, we can see that the car will also adopt a brand-new LOGO design and be equipped with millimeter-wave radar.

　　Coming to the side, the new car adopts a four-wheel and four-corner layout and a square body shape, which not only has outstanding visual effects, but also helps to improve the performance of the interior space. In addition, the car is also equipped with a roof rack, hidden door handles and side pedals, etc., and the details are full. In terms of body size, the length, width and height of the new car are 4220/1915/1845mm, the wheelbase is 2730mm, the approach angle is 42/43, the departure angle is 40/41, and the minimum ground clearance is 206/212mm (front two-wheel drive version and rear four-wheel drive version), and 19-inch and 21-inch wheels are provided respectively.

　　The tail of the new car is also designed to be full, and the design of the small schoolbag is very eye-catching, but it is actually connected with the inside, which can be regarded as extra storage space and cannot be opened from the outside. The new tailgate adopts the side opening mode, and two anchor interfaces are reserved on the left side, which enriches the feasibility of subsequent personalized modification. It is worth mentioning that the car is equipped with four millimeter-wave radars, which can realize the L2+ intelligent driving assistance function.

　　Entering the car, the new car continues to use a large number of rounded rectangular design elements, and at the same time enhances the visual effect through two-color design with yellow embellishment. The center is equipped with a large screen, the lower part is equipped with physical buttons, and the knob is also embossed. It is worth mentioning that the real model is still in the trial installation state, so the specific functions can not be experienced. According to the official introduction, the car will be equipped with 8155 chips.

　　In terms of power, the new car will be built in a new platform architecture, providing single-motor rear-drive and dual-motor four-wheel drive models. The official did not disclose the specific parameters, but said that the cruising range of the rear-drive model is above 400km, and the cruising range of the four-wheel drive model is above 500km. It is expected that the battery capacity will also be quite different.

●　Cooperation mode of Chery+Zhimi:

　　Zhimi Technology is a Xiaomi eco-chain enterprise, and its team covers modeling design, engineering research and development, marketing and other departments. The cooperation with Chery will adopt a fusion model. Zhimi Technology’s car-making team will be integrated into Chery, and the core members of the team will also be appointed in the iCAR brand. Therefore, the cooperation between Chery and Zhimi is different from Huawei’s smart car selection model, and it is not directly related to Xiaomi Group and Xiaomi Automobile.

　　Take iCAR V23 as an example, its product definition, modeling design, engineering pre-research and innovative marketing are all taken care of by Zhimi Technology Team, while development, manufacturing, channel construction and sales, delivery and service are all taken care of by Chery iCAR. The two sides will build more products in this mode in the future. According to the plan, 6-8 models will be launched in the next three years.

Editor’s comment:

　　Perhaps recently, we have seen more advanced and sci-fi designs, and products like iCAR V23, which combine retro and modern styles, are even more eye-catching and have a good impression. However, the target audience of this car will be young consumers such as post-95 s or even post-00 s. Without the blessing of historical feelings, I wonder if they will like this design style. In addition, the cooperation between iCAR and Zhimi Technology is also very novel, and their subsequent development and new products are also worth looking forward to. (Text/car home Guo Chen)

Produced by | Sohu Auto Original Video

Planning | Shi Jie

Appear | Shi Jie

Shooting | Liu Yiqi

Editing | Liu Yiqi

Editor Ma Liang

The fourth-generation Ford, which was redesigned in the mid-term, will be listed soon. Due to the three cylinders before the redesign, the sales of this generation have plummeted. The king who once sold 30,000 to 40,000 units a month now has only a few hundred units left. While focusing on the new car, let’s review the development history of Ford, which has been brilliant and depressed.

The first generation (1998-2003)

First generation fox

In the late 1990s, Ford decided to introduce a compact car to replace Escort, and the first generation was born. This is Ford’s first global compact car, designed by Ford’s European team. The first generation won the sales champion of the same class in the British market for 50 months in a row, and won 60 automobile awards. Once it was launched, it could compete with the gold-medal models of the same class as, 307, which made it instantly become the focus of the world automobile industry.

The second generation (2004-2010)

Second generation fox

In 2004, the second generation was released at the Paris Motor Show, which was also developed by the Ford European team. It adopted Ford’s latest C1 platform and shared the platform with other global models of Ford Group, such as, and so on. At the same time, this model is also the first one made in China: in 2005, Changan Ford introduced the European version into domestic production, and since the change in 2008, it has sold tens of thousands of cars almost every month.

The third generation (2010-2019)

Third generation fox

The third generation debuted at the Detroit Auto Show in 2010, and the best-selling five-door hatchback version became the main model. In March 2012, the third generation landed in the China market and continued to be put into production by Changan Ford. However, the localization of the third generation did not stop the second generation in the domestic market. The old model continued to struggle in the market in the name of classics, and the price further dropped.

The fourth generation (2018-present)

Fourth generation fox

In 2018, the fourth generation was released, which was produced and supplied to the global market by China and German. The sense of existence of this generation has been relatively low. In fact, since around 2015, the market in China has gradually declined. We can no longer see the record of selling 30,000 or 40,000 units in the past month, and the fourth generation has fallen into an unprecedented trough. Since switching to a full-range 3-cylinder machine, the sales volume has dropped more and more obviously, because China consumers may be the consumers who care about the "3-cylinder" most in the world.

The mid-term change of the fourth-generation Focus

The mid-term redesigned model to be launched soon has been upgraded in terms of appearance, interior, power and chassis, and the overall product strength has been greatly improved. Most importantly, the new car will be equipped with a 1.5T four-cylinder turbocharged engine with a maximum power of 130kW(177 HP) and a maximum torque of 243 Nm (super-supercharged mode can reach 270 Nm). The transmission system is matched with a 6-speed automatic gearbox, and the acceleration time of 0-100km/h is 7.9 seconds.

It has been more than 20 years since it debuted in Europe in 1998. For me, today’s recession can’t be concealed. Since we live in the present, we should adapt to the present. In the medium term, we made a choice to adapt to the market and changed the engine from three cylinders to four cylinders. Under the current general trend, Ford may indeed have no better choice than to use this old four cylinder.