Ford sniffs out an edge in China car market

Nanjing, China

WHILE Western drivers like the "new car" smell fresh off the production line, the Chinese would rather their cars didn't smell of anything - a cultural divide that's testing car makers seeking an edge to revive sales in the world's biggest car market.

At Ford Motor Co, for example, 18 smell assessors - dubbed "golden noses" - at its research plant outside the eastern city of Nanjing test the smell of each material that goes inside a Ford car to be sold in China and around Asia.

The China smell test isn't unique, but illustrates the lengths that carmakers go to to attract buyers in markets where consumer attitudes vary wi…