Feedback from Chinese buyers suggests that they hate ‘new-car-smell’ enough to be put off buying a car altogether, so Ford is responding

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Mustang interior

Ford is reportedly developing a process to eliminate the wonderful, marvellous aroma that comes only from a brand new car. The combination of freshly-stamped leathers, resins and plastics all joined amid the lingering whiff of industry helps make a brand-new car one of the best-smelling things in the world. Unless you live in China, that is.

A leather-clad Volvo interior is a fine-smelling thing

Analysts at JD Power say that the smell of a new car’s interior is actually the most frequently-reported problem in the Chinese automotive market, at more than double the frequency of the next-biggest frustration – cars not meeting their official fuel economy figures. Chinese noses are said to be so offended by new-car-smell that many buyers will refuse to buy an overly pungent one. The market there is so large that Ford is taking no chances, choosing to develop a ‘baking’ process that effectively neutralises the smell we westerners love before it even gets to the showroom.

Fiesta interior