The Ford EVOS was debuted on Sunday at the Shanghai Auto Show., a new vehicle it says brings to life its "China 2.0" plan. Although this looks a lot like the rumored car planned to replace the Ford Fusion in North America and the Mondeo in Europe, Roadshow can confirm that this isn't it.
Cast your mind back to the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show. There, Ford took the wraps off the gorgeous Evos Concept—a sedan with gullwing doors and styling well beyond Ford's contemporary production cars. The whole point of the original Evos was to showcase—and evolve—Ford's styling at the time. The new Evos is here to do something similar for Ford in China, and this time it isn't just a concept.
The new Evos is actually a fully production-ready car headed for the Chinese market. It's also the first Ford that was largely developed by Changan Ford, a joint venture between Chinese automaker Changan Automobile and the Blue Oval. The styling is fresh and thoroughly modern. An SUV with the proportions of a lifted hatchback, the Evos reminds us of the Acura ZDX (at least, in terms of ethos) with a bit of the attitude of the Subaru Outback SUS of yore. But putting old Acuras and Subarus to one side, the new Evos does help usher in a new era for Ford in China.
Ford only revealed a single shot of the exterior, which draws heavily for inspiration from the old Ford Evos concept car from 2011. That car ultimately previewed the current Mustang and the now-departed Fusion, but designers found a way to make it look fresh with plenty of cues from the Mustang Mach-E, too. The Evos also does a great job of blurring the line between a wagon and crossover, though the black roof and pillars may help that a lot. We'll have to see a couple of other angles before making more of a judgment, but right now, it doesn't look half bad. It's actually surprising Ford has no plans to sell the Evos outside of China because it straddles the car-SUV line pretty well from this angle.
The interior is where things really make a departure from current Fords. As with the Zephyr Reflection concept from Lincoln, Ford designers also tossed in what the company calls a "coast-to-coast" screen that spans the driver's side to the passenger's side of the cockpit. This includes a digital gauge cluster, the infotainment display, and another screen for the passenger. All of it measures 27 inches and boasts 4K definition. Below the giant screen are the interior vents and the center console keeps things minimalistic with a dial for the gear selector and a couple of other physical buttons. Virtual assistance powered with artificial intelligence and Ford BlueCruise, its new hands-free highway driving assistance, round out the technology onboard. Future owners will also be able to subscribe to features and receive free updates via over-the-air capabilities.
Chinese buyers will see the Evos reach dealers in the months to come.\
-by Amaan Attar
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