Turned off by that new-car smell? Help may be on the way
It probably won’t come up at this week’s G20 summit, but there is one topic that Chinese and Americans won’t budge on: new-car smell. Americans have been known to bask in the vapors given off by the leather, plastic and vinyl in a new car’s interior. Many Chinese, however, can’t stand it.
The odor originates from volatile organic compounds used in assembling a car’s interior.
Ford Motor Co has a tentative plan to eliminate the smell from its semiautonomous vehicles for future sale in China.
“While ‘new car smell’ is ingrained in American culture, we know Chinese customers dislike that scent,” Debbie Mielewski, senior technical leader in materials sustainability at Ford, told the Detroit Free Press.
The automaker has applied in the United States for a patent on technology that will bake off and whisk away the offending aromas.
The cars themselves will contain the latest artificial intelligence, but the process for banishing the scent contains some wonderfully lowtech elements.
The vehicle will park itself in the sun, open the windows, and, if necessary, start the engine and run the heater fan to blow out the fumes — all done autonomously by the car itself before delivery.
“This patent is the result of years of research and is just one idea we are considering for future use,” Mielewski said.
Last year, Ford put together a team of 18 people in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, dubbed the Golden Noses, whose task was to sniff each component of a car’s interior and reject scents that Chinese buyers might find objectionable.
I happen to like the new-car smell and conducted an informal survey.
“I still remember the day I purchased my first new car over 30 years ago, and that new-car smell was a big part of the experience,” said China Daily USA reporter Paul Welitzkin, who, coincidentally, is from Michigan, the auto capital of the world. “I can’t imagine purchasing a new car without it.”
I turned to another Michigan-based expert.
“What’s fascinating about the story … is how indicative it is of the global complexities of the automotive business,” said David Zoia, director of research at WardsAuto. “Something consumers here in the US tend to enjoy prompts a negative reaction from car-buyers in China. Those types of cultural differences are why it’s important for automakers to really understand the market they’re trying to sell to and make sure their vehicles are tailored to local taste.”
“Engineering out the newcar smell is taking things to a new level, but I have to applaud Ford for reading the market and potentially getting a technological jump on its competitors to better meet the needs of Chinese consumers,” said Zoia, who has “always liked the new-car smell in most cases”.
China Daily’s Chief Correspondent in the US, Zhao Huanxin, who is from Beijing, said, “The brand-new scent of a car may not be so welcome for many Chinese as it is for Westerners, because people are increasingly air-quality conscious, especially in enclosed spaces where they may spend a lot of time every day.
“In fact, a car salesman will advise a buyer to put some fruit, like pineapple, in a car to help disperse the odor that can linger a long time in a new car. It’s not rare to find one or two pineapples or oranges placed near the rear window of a car on Chinese streets.”
“I don’t like the smell,” said reporter Zhang Ruinan, a Beijing native. “But still, I think it depends on different people. My father once said he enjoys the smell. But it’s true that most people in China don’t like it.”
Gao Tianpei, China Daily USA social media specialist from Changsha, Hunan province, said “I personally dislike it, and I think most Chinese customers feel the same.”
“Some sources claim the smell contains formaldehyde and is bad for your health. … I normally feel uncomfortable with the smell when driving for a long time.”
Reporter Hong Xiao, who is from Maanshan, Anhui province, recalled: “When I was 4 or 5, my parents took me on a half-day drive. We were sitting in a new car driven by an uncle; my mom and I could not stop feeling sick.
“In China, private cars first appeared in the 1990s. For most Chinese families, private cars were not something necessary, since public transportation is very convenient,” she said, adding that many buyers of small cars in China are between 25 to 35 years old. “I believe for most of them, it’s their first new car, and the smell is a new thing they have to deal with.”
Car-Freshener Corp, the Watertown, New York company that has been making iconic Little Trees car air fresheners since 1952, offers some 50 scents, including … new-car smell.
Contact the writer at williamhennelly@ chinadailyusa.com
Bilingual: Shaxian Delicacies