In Shanghai, Ford pulls the curtain off the Evos, a new crossover with a steeply sloping roofline. The Evos is currently only intended for the Chinese market, but could eventually succeed the Mondeo in Europe.
Traditional D-segmenters are struggling. The consumer seems to prefer to step into a high-legged SUV and that has prompted Citroën to make the new C5 the more crossover-like C5 X. The Ford Mondeo will be removed from the European market in March next year and that car also seems to get a higher-standing and SUV-laced successor. In China, Ford presents the Evos, a C5 X-style crossover for the D-segment.
The Ford Evos is the Americans’ first car to be drawn according to the ‘Progressive Energy in Strength’ design philosophy. The Evos, for which Ford has the name of a slickly lined study model from 2011, is a cross between a large liftback, a coupé and an SUV. According to the manufacturer, the Evos was largely developed in China and specifically for the Chinese market, but it is quite possible that this car will eventually succeed the Mondeo in Europe. He has already surfaced on European soil in camouflage trim. Ford is still talking tight about plans to bring the Evos to Europe to be built by Changan Ford. The Evos has a Ford muzzle with headlights placed high above the grille. The Focus and Escort, facelifted in China, already received similar viewers. The Evos has a strongly rising shoulder line, a ditto sloping roof line and rear lights that cover the entire width of the rear. In the center of the bottom we read the model name in cow letters. Another nice detail: Ford gives the Evos recessed handles.
Ford Evos
The Evos not only has a striking exterior, Ford has also made work of the interior. The dashboard is made up of a 1.1 meter wide panel in which a 12.3 inch measuring digital instrumentation and a no less than 27 inch wide 4K touchscreen are placed. That huge second display functions as an infotainment screen and ends right in front of the passenger’s nose. The system can be kept up to date via OTA updates (Over the Air). The infotainment system runs on software from the Chinese Baidu, complete with a ‘digital assistant’ that you can chat to. In Europe, Ford will use operating systems from Google. Technical specifications of the Evos are not yet available, so we have to guess not only about the drivetrain, but also about the exact dimensions of the car.
The Evos is not only on the market in China via the regular channels, you must also be able to take out a kind of subscription to the Evos. Ford is filling the Evos with smart software and hardware called BlueCruise, a system that allows you to drive around semi-autonomously (level 2).