{"id":30334,"date":"2017-10-05T21:31:03","date_gmt":"2017-10-05T21:31:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inhalio.com\/?p=30334"},"modified":"2022-02-14T16:57:33","modified_gmt":"2022-02-14T16:57:33","slug":"keith-kelsens-scent-narrative-new-car-smell-love-hated-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/multi.inhalio.com\/fr\/blog\/keith-kelsens-scent-narrative-new-car-smell-love-hated-china\/","title":{"rendered":"Un R\u00e9cit Olfactif de Keith Kelsen : Cette odeur de nouvelle voiture que nous aimons"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For decades, the American dream is the open road, a fast car and that New Car Scent <\/em>we love.<\/em>  In China, it seems the majority hate it.  Associations with that Scent can go back to childhood. It’s when your family or someone in the neighborhood had that dream come true.  Most people love that intoxicating feeling that makes them pay thousands of dollars more to get a brand-new car.  Yet, Ford Motor Company\u2019s luxury brand, Lincoln, found that in China<\/a> they preferred no new car smell at all.  An olfactory note of zero.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The experiences are different, expectations are different between U.S. and China,”<\/em> Kumar Galhotra, Lincoln’s President, told The Detroit News<\/a> in early 2015 about the New Car Scent, “They don’t like it.  We’ve gone through a very thorough process of understanding the materials that contribute to that smell.”<\/em><\/div><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

To eliminate the Scent, every new Lincoln gets a container of odor-absorbing carbon sheets placed inside before shipping to China. When it arrives, the Scent is gone. This is part of Lincoln\u2019s comprehensive cultural program, and the results are amazing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Growth in China has been phenomenal<\/em>,” Galhotra said to the press this year, “If you step back to November of 2014, Lincoln had no presence in China. Then we were the first luxury brand to surpass 10,000 units in our first year of operation.<\/em>“<\/div><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Could the Chinese be Ahead of the USA?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

That “new car smell” can be divisive both culturally and generationally.  On a recent Weekend Edition Saturday<\/a> broadcast, host Don Gonyea reported that last year, 28 million cars were sold in China. That made it the world’s largest automobile marketplace. However, they do not want our beloved American new car smell.  J.D. Power reported that unpleasant car smells were the top concern for the Chinese, ahead of engine issues, road noise or fuel consumption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Signaling it is time for a change\u2026in Scent. <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Manufacturers are taking notice.  The fastest growing market is so valuable that, according to Reuters<\/a>, http:\/\/www.reuters.com\/video\/2017\/07\/20\/fords-golden-noses-sniff-out-what-drives?videoId=372136292<\/a> Ford alone has 18 smell experts in its Chinese research plant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“In North America, people want a new car smell and will even buy a ‘new car’ spray to make older cars feel new and fresh. In China it’s the opposite<\/em>,” says Andy Pan, supervisor for material engineering at the China Ford facility.<\/div><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The scent may be the key to the future of car sales.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Scent will be the key reflecting a wider concern globally about chemicals and interior pollution, a concern of both American Millennials and the Chinese.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“When I lived in the United States, I might look at the suspension or the engine<\/em>,” said Don Yu, China general manager at CGT, which makes interior materials for Ford, General Motors, and Volkswagen, “In China, though, people open the car and sit inside. If the smell isn’t good enough, they think it will jeopardize their health.<\/em>“<\/div><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n