Ford‘s struggles in China have intensified as hundreds of existing Mondeo sedan owners have launched a collective complaint against the automaker, coinciding with the launch of the new 2026 Mondeo model today.

The protest centres around significant infotainment system failures in 2022-2025 Mondeo models, with owners describing their systems as “functioning like a brick” – frequently freezing, crashing, and potentially compromising driving safety. One owner reported a system blackout while driving on the highway, raising serious safety concerns.

Infotainment system issues spark customer outrage

More than 360 Mondeo owners have joined the collective complaint, criticising the outdated Qualcomm 820A chip that powers their infotainment systems. Owners report frequent navigation failures, voice command issues, and system reboots, particularly during hot weather.

Customers claim Ford marketed the vehicles as featuring “intelligent cabins” with promised OTA (over-the-air) updates, but the systems lack standard connectivity features like CarPlay, CarLife, and HiCar, instead offering only Ford’s proprietary app, which owners describe as unreliable.

When contacted about these complaints by Sina Technology, Ford China customer service stated that older models cannot be upgraded because their hardware configurations differ from the new Mondeo, citing safety and user experience concerns.

New models also face criticism

Ford’s troubles extend beyond the Mondeo. The recently launched Ford Bronco PHEV, positioned as an “all-terrain camping SUV” with pre-sale prices between 229,800 and 272,800 yuan (32,300 and 39,800 USD), has also drawn criticism.

Industry experts quoted by Sina Technology have questioned the Bronco’s design, suggesting it bears little resemblance to the original Bronco Sport and instead looks like a copycat of a domestic competitor model, Chery’s Jetour Traveller. Furthermore, the vehicle’s heavily marketed one-touch roof-lifting and bed-conversion features, which Ford promoted as industry firsts, are actually paid optional extras not available on the base model.

Ford’s struggling position in China

Ford China President and CEO Wu Shengbo candidly admitted earlier this year that “if Ford China was previously in the emergency room, it’s now in the ICU.”

The numbers support this assessment. From a peak of 1.27 million vehicles sold in China in 2016, Ford’s sales have plummeted to just 442,000 units in 2024 – roughly one-third of its former volume. The company experienced seven consecutive years of quarterly losses in China from Q3 2017 to Q3 2023, only returning to profitability in 2024.

Internal conflicts and reorganisation

A significant factor in Ford’s Chinese market difficulties has been the competitive relationship between its two joint ventures – Changan Ford and JMC Ford. Initially, Changan Ford focused on passenger vehicles while JMC Ford specialised in commercial vehicles, but as sales declined, Ford began pushing passenger vehicles to JMC Ford as well, creating internal competition.

JMC Ford produces the newly launched Ford Bronco PHEV.

In September, Ford China announced the establishment of a new Ford Sales and Services Company in Shanghai, a wholly-owned subsidiary that will manage marketing and services for Ford passenger vehicles and pickup trucks in China. This move appears aimed at addressing the longstanding channel conflicts between the two joint ventures.

However, with lacklustre sales across both ventures (Changan Ford down 7.56% and JMC Ford down 33.8% in the first three quarters of this year) and without breakthrough success in new energy vehicles, Ford’s path to recovery in the Chinese market remains highly uncertain, even with this restructuring effort.