Ford has solution to China’s hatred of new-car smell

The new-car smell is a combination of materials in a new car, such as leather and plastic, releasing gases into the air, mixed with various sealants and adhesives.

In North America, we mostly love it. But apparently, people in China don’t. According to Car Advice, Ford has patented a system that will help its Chinese-market autonomous or semi-autonomous cars get rid of their new-car smell after purchase.

The system has been designed to remove the smells by “baking ” the cars: essentially having them selfpark in the sun and automatically open the windows to help the heat remove the odour. The system can also run the engine and turn the heater up to full, so make sure you don’t leave any children or animals in the car when it starts up.

The scent of cars is the No. 1 car problem for Chinese consumers, rated higher than engine noise, road noise or bad fuel economy.