Ford Ranger 2023 launched in China with new name

At the end of November, Ford officially introduced the new Ford Ranger to Chinese customers in an unprecedented way. They announced the strange name for this car line in China: Youqixia (meaning "Ranger" in Chinese).

Ford’s choice is surprising. At the same time as the Ranger was launched, the company also introduced the Bronco SUV to regional users. However, this vehicle line kept its original name.

According to information released by Ford in China, the Ford Youqixia will be assembled domestically with many updates specific to this version compared to the international version. The car's interior is guaranteed to be better, considering the tastes of Chinese users, which probably means a larger screen.

According to the photo set released for Ford Youqixia, the car's interior uses two large 12.3-inch screens on the dashboard by default. The car's interior is covered in black leather with contrasting orange stitching - a color scheme similar to the exterior.

The off-road trend is clearly shown when the company emphasizes the "invisible hood" technology on Youqixia. This technology uses an under-the-hood camera to provide a panoramic view of the front of the car for the driver when operating off-road.

This is an innovation that has been used very successfully by Land Rover for its vehicle lines, such as Defender. This technology is not yet available on vehicles sold in Vietnam.

The reference price for the Ford Youqixia in China is 264,800 yuan, equivalent to 897.3 million dong. The standard version uses a 2.3L EcoBoost gasoline engine with 190 horsepower and 450 Nm of torque.

The diesel version uses a 2.3L Puma engine with 137 horsepower, but the price is slightly higher (268,800 NDT, equivalent to 911.5 million VND).

Due to emissions barriers, Ford is not bringing the 3.0L and 2.7L EcoBoost V6 engine options to the Chinese market.

In Vietnam, Ranger has only 2 diesel engine types. Neither of them is similar to the Chinese Ranger model mentioned above.

China is the world’s largest car market, with sales hovering around 20 million vehicles per year. Any car company that wants to reach the top of the global car market must pay special attention to this market.

Toyota and Volkswagen - the two leading brands in the world's auto industry for many years - have done very well in attracting domestic Chinese customers.

Ford, in an effort to catch up with international rivals in China, may have chosen to rename the Ranger as a highlight. They are eager to please Chinese consumers, after a disastrous mistake two years ago when they mistook the Year of the Ox for the Year of the Horse.