Ford sniffs out an edge in China car market
The Chinese consumer does not like the smell of a new car, reflecting a wider concern about chemicals, pollution
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.
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