Rebirth 99 to become a car giant

After the Nanshan Group's recruitment of aircraft designers caused a stir on the Internet for a few days, it was quickly covered by other news.

Because the time has come to November 1, 2009.

As usual, car companies with good sales are actively releasing the sales data of the previous month on the first day of every month.

And I also want to emphasize what achievements I have achieved from January to October, and what goals I want to challenge and achieve this year.

Since the entire Chinese automobile industry is very popular this year, almost all sales in October hit a new high.

Well, except Audi!

Seeing that Xingchen Automobile, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Porsche, Cadillac, Lexus and other luxury car brands have announced their sales in October, Spring City Volkswagen belatedly announced its sales last month.

Spring City Volkswagen's sales in October increased by about 10% compared to October last year, but there was a historic decline of 5% compared to September this year.

Among them, the Audi brand has suffered the greatest decline.

Even looking at Audi's sales alone, its year-on-year data actually declined.

Obviously, the odor door has had a significant impact on Audi's sales, and no one knows how long it will last.

Audi is naturally very worried about this situation.

But for other brands, it is something worth celebrating.

After all, the market size is there. If your sales volume decreases, other manufacturers can get more cake.

This is a great thing.

"Mr. Su, the sales data for October are very good. Your sales department can receive more bonuses this year than other departments."

Austin is in a good mood now.

In the past October, Modu GM's sales have been very optimistic. Now it has surpassed Modu Volkswagen and Spring City Volkswagen, and is expected to become the highest-selling car company in China.

The sales of the Buick brand owned by GM are the most eye-catching. In addition to the support of long-lasting best-selling models such as Excelle, the newly launched Regal and LaCrosse have shown very good sales.

Due to the impact of production capacity, these two cars have been very scarce in current car conditions, and their prices have also been strong.

In addition, the Chevrolet brand under Mordu General Motors also achieved a relatively big change in 2009.

The fact that Cruze continues to have no existing cars at the market terminal is the best illustration.

In addition, Jingcheng's replacement of the power system has also allowed this model to achieve a multiple increase in sales.

As for Cadillac, it is just starting to show its strength. Sales data have increased by 30% compared with 2008, which is already very good.

Of course, Su Huasheng was also looking for nice things to report. Strictly speaking, not every model layout of Modu GM is very reasonable and smooth.

For example, Cadillac's CTS actually failed to achieve its goal.

In fact, what I want to say is that the CTS is a good car. The mainstream configuration is equipped with a 3.6L direct injection engine with a power of 310 horsepower and a torque of 374Nm. It is matched with a six-speed automatic manual gearbox and has a fuel consumption of 11L, which is no longer good. It's not as crazy as it used to be.

However, people's impression of Cadillac is still that of a "gas tiger". In many people's traditional impression, the rugged and powerful appearance brings unbearably high fuel consumption.

At the same time, the traditional impression that Cadillac's workmanship is rough and not meticulous enough still hinders people from buying a Cadillac model.

Moreover, CTS is a mid-size car after all, and the price of 400,000 has entered the territory of traditional medium and large cars.

While BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Audi have all lowered the prices of their entry-level models to less than 300,000 yuan, Cadillac, which is relatively niche in the Chinese market, still stubbornly places the CTS at a price close to 400,000 yuan.

No matter how outstanding the performance of the CTS is, for many consumers, buying a new Audi A4L or BMW 3 Series at this price is obviously more attractive.

That is to say, Austin increased his support for Cadillac after taking office, otherwise the current results would not be so easy to stabilize.

Of course, Su Huasheng wouldn't say much about these things.

"This year is indeed worth looking forward to, and we can hit the annual production target of 700,000 vehicles."

"The sales of Excelle, Regal, LaCrosse, and GL8 are all stable and their performance is very good."

"The sales of LeFeng and Aveo are also stable at more than 10,000 units."

"The sales of Cruze and Jingcheng have been rising since the beginning of the year, and now Cruze's monthly sales have stabilized at more than 10,000 units."

Su Huasheng is in a very good mood now.

General Motors has become the car company with the highest sales in the country, and it has achieved this sales volume at such a difficult time at General Motors headquarters. It is definitely a very impressive achievement.

Especially with the support of the people in the magic city next door, this achievement is even more impressive.

"In the next three years, GM headquarters will continue to introduce a variety of new models, especially Cadillac, which will introduce several SUV models at once for localization, striving to quickly make Cadillac a brand on par with XABB."

The more difficult it is in the United States, the more General Motors values ​​the market in China.

The direct result is that General Motors is rapidly introducing various new models in China to enrich its product line.

This is true whether it is a Buick brand, a Chevrolet, or a Cadillac.

In the next few years, China's automobile market will definitely become more lively.

The purchasing power of Chinese consumers will continue to rise, eventually increasing China's car sales to an unprecedented number.

…

When various car companies released their sales figures for October, the China Automobile Association suddenly released a piece of bombshell news.

According to the current production and sales data released by mainstream car companies, China's car production volume from January to October this year has reached 9.92 million vehicles.

In other words, with just a few more days of production in November, the 10 millionth car this year will immediately roll off the assembly line.

Spring City Automobile Group, which received the news immediately, immediately invited the media to Nanshan Hongqi to hold a "China's 10 millionth car off-line ceremony in 2009" after coordinating with all parties.

"Mr. Cao, is the HS5 that goes off the assembly line in Nanshan Hongqi tomorrow really China's 10 millionth car this year?"

Cao Yang would definitely attend such an important event.

After all, Nanshan Hongqi owns 40% of the shares of Nanshan Group.

So even though the arrangement was a bit sudden, he asked Mi Ying to reschedule other meetings and go to Nanshan Hongqi in person to participate in this year's 10 millionth car off-line event.

This is considered a relatively important marketing activity of Nanshan Hongqi this year.

"Does it matter?"

Cao Yang asked back, "Actually when was the 10 millionth car produced and which OEM produced it? This is a very difficult thing to confirm."

“Even some data will not be more accurate until the statistics are collected early next year.”

"Maybe the 10 millionth car this year has already rolled off the production line in October, and it might take a few days before it rolls off the production line."

"But it doesn't matter. The car production this year will definitely exceed 10 million units anyway, so there is no problem in holding this event."

"Spring City Automobile Group is the first automobile company in China, and the Hongqi brand is the most special brand."

"It is basically acceptable to all parties to hold the event of the 10 millionth car rolling off the assembly line in Nanshan Hongqi."

"So this event is more of a ritual for the Chinese automobile industry."

Cao Yang obviously saw this matter very clearly.

There are so many domestic automobile companies, and some companies have not even announced production and sales data for October.

Even if it is published, it is very common to sometimes get production data, sales data, terminal sales data and other data wrong.

Therefore, sometimes the data collected by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers cannot be fully trusted, and there may even be situations where the data collected by some automobile groups are inconsistent with the data released by their affiliated joint ventures.

There is absolutely no need to worry about these things.

"That's true, but the sales of 10 million vehicles have been achieved ahead of schedule this year. In the United States, which was once the largest car market, the sales for the whole year this year are estimated to be less than 10 million."

"Under the circumstances, the status of China's automobile industry in the world should continue to rise."

Mi Ying naturally hopes that the greater the influence of China's automobile industry, the better.

In this way, everyone in the industry chain has the opportunity to receive dividends.

Many times, choice is greater than effort, because there are some things that you cannot control personally.

For example, in 2019, if you entered the real estate or education and training industry, who should you cry to?

"Car sales can only show that China is a big car country, but it cannot prove that China is a powerful car country."

"It's hard to say whether the status of China's automobile industry in the world will continue to improve in the future."

"But the importance that various automobile giants and parts giants attach to the Chinese market will definitely continue to increase."

"Look, those companies on the world's top 100 parts and components companies that have not yet invested in and built factories in China will definitely choose to invest and build factories in China in the past two years."

"New models from various automobile giants will continue to be imported into China for domestic production."

"In another five years, the number of new models that consumers can choose from in the Chinese market is estimated to be twice as many as now."

Cao Yang's judgment is not a spoiler, but an inference that can be made based on objective facts.

So after listening to this, Mi Ying nodded frequently.

However, not every company is satisfied with the fact that the off-line ceremony of China's 10 millionth car was held at Nanshan Hongqi this year.

For example, the joint venture car companies under Spring City Automobile Group feel that they are also worthy of recognition.

Especially Spring City Volkswagen, because Audi is deeply involved in the "odor scandal", it needs a positive publicity campaign to help itself.

However, Zhu Zhengfeng disagreed.

"Mr. An, Audi contributes nearly half of Spring City Volkswagen's profits every year, and now it is trapped in an unfavorable public opinion environment."

"I think Spring City Automobile Group, as a major shareholder, has an obligation to help give Audi some opportunities to change its image."

"If an event like this, the 10 millionth car rolling off the production line, is held here at Audi, the effect will be very good."

Although there was no way to change the situation, Tariq still found An Tiecheng.

He wanted to use this complaint to ask Spring City Automobile Group to help find a way to get Audi out of the trough as soon as possible.

Otherwise, Audi's sales will soon be surpassed by Mercedes-Benz and BMW, which would be ridiculous.

"Tariq, I think you should be very clear about the special meaning behind this year's 10 millionth car rolling off the assembly line ceremony."

"This kind of activity is destined to have nothing to do with joint venture car companies."

"The Red Flag has its own special status in China, and hosting it there is something that is recognized by most people."

"Although we at Audi are encountering some problems now, we can solve them by finding other ways."

An Tiecheng didn't dare to go to Zhu Zhengfeng because of this matter.

This is bound to be criticized.

After all, in terms of symbolism, how can Spring City Volkswagen compare with Nanshan Red Flag?

As a large state-owned enterprise, it must be political.

If you don't have this awareness, you won't be able to sit in this position.

Of course, since Tariq was chatting with him so formally, he had to give an explanation to others.

And the decline in Audi sales is not a good thing for Spring City Automobile Group.

Naturally, he also hopes that Audi's sales can recover as soon as possible.

Otherwise, his position as the general manager of Spring City Volkswagen will also be loosened.

"China's auto market is very hot now. I heard that Xingchen Automobile's full-year sales target has been raised to 300,000."

"Half of the sales are contributed by the domestic market."

"As for BMW, it is expected that sales this year will reach a new high. Even if it does not reach the important threshold of annual sales of 100,000 vehicles, it will not be too far behind."

"As for Mercedes-Benz, although there is still a slight gap, they will have several domestic models on the market next year, and sales will catch up very quickly."

"And if we want to maintain the same level of sales as last year, we will definitely be under pressure. This is absolutely unacceptable."

"According to the goal set at the beginning of the year, we need to grow by more than 20% this year compared to last year."

"In the end, if there is not only no growth, but a decline, then BMW will really be surpassed."

Tariq was really worried.

The new A4L is launched this year, and the A6L has always had high expectations.

In addition, the two SUV models Q5 and Q7 are logically good cars that meet market demand.

But the overall sales volume is a bit pessimistic.

According to the current pace, it is estimated that this year will only be able to maintain a level of about 100,000 vehicles.

This is definitely not an impressive result.

At least for the Huaxia Branch, this result is unacceptable.

"I understand everything you said. The issue of car odor has gradually subsided."

"The car market is so hot right now. Many models are in short supply and there are very few discounts."

"Mercedes-Benz and BMW models are no exception. Under such circumstances, our best-selling models such as the A4L have begun to reduce prices, and consumers will soon slowly start buying our products again."

"After all, Audi has been working hard in the Chinese automobile market for so many years and still has a very high reputation in many cities in the north."

"Just one smelly door is not enough to defeat us."

"I have also arranged for the sales department to prepare marketing words carefully, so that the sales managers of 4S stores can have sufficient confidence and words to persuade everyone to relieve their concerns when facing consumers' questions."

"According to my speculation, the situation will be greatly alleviated after the Spring Festival."

"The Audi brand can achieve at least the sales target of 120,000 units next year, and it will not be a big problem to achieve the sales target of 200,000 units in 2015."

An Tiecheng was not trying to fool Tariq by saying this.

It is based on his judgment on the development of China's automobile market and his confidence in Audi.

Although Audi has become the target of everyone's shouting and beating now, this matter will soon pass.

Chinese consumers are always very forgetful.

The influence of Audi's four circles has always been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

When the time comes, the price reduction effect will soon be reflected in the comparison that car companies do not have price concessions or even have to increase prices.

After Audi's sales return to normal levels, price concessions will be slowly adjusted.

"Of course I want to believe what you say, but the objective fact is that Audi's sales are very difficult now, and we need to reverse this situation as soon as possible."

After hearing An Tiecheng's words, Tarik breathed a sigh of relief.

He is very confident in the ability of this partner.

The other party believes that Audi can sell 120,000 units next year, so there is a high probability that this goal can be achieved.

If this is the case, it is still acceptable.

After all, not every market can grow at a rate of 20% at every turn.

Even if there is no increase this year, if the 20% is extended to two years, it is equivalent to an increase of about 10% every year.

This result is also very impressive.

It's just that when reporting to the headquarters at the end of the year, you need to think carefully about the words of the report, so that the headquarters will not feel that the work of the Huaxia Branch is not done well.

…

Unlike China's automobile sales, which reached an important milestone of 10 million ahead of schedule, this year's American market is bleak.

In the first few months of 2009, U.S. automobile sales have been falling frequently. The annual U.S. automobile sales volume will be 9.3 million units, which will hit the lowest level since 1982 and almost fall to the average annual U.S. automobile sales volume from 1999 to 2007. Half of the total, the average annual sales of automobiles in the United States is about 16.8 million.

Although 2009 has not yet passed, judging from the past 10 months, this forecast data will not change much.

There is a high probability that even the number of 10 million will not be reached this year.

In this regard, several major automobile companies are naturally anxious.

General Motors, for example, went bankrupt and reorganized this year, so if this year is a low point, everyone can accept it.

But for Ford, which survived on its own, the situation is different.

"Melgen, except for the F150, the sales of almost all mass-market models are declining this year. What suggestions do you have to deal with this situation?"

As an outsider, Mulally served as the CEO of Ford Motor. In the past two years, through the "sell, sell, sell" plan, Ford's financial report has improved a lot.

However, the overall sales volume has not increased significantly and has even continued to decline.

Naturally, he hopes to change this situation.

But except for the F150, Ford's other models have not performed well enough.

The F150, a pickup truck that Cao Yang helped design, has won the favor of the vast majority of Americans with its large space and super power.

The Ford F-series pickup truck has maintained its leading position in the large pickup truck market in the United States for 28 years. This is a good interpretation of the American cowboy dream, with spacious space, super power and practical passenger and cargo capacity.

Mulally originally planned to introduce the F150 to the Chinese market, but the feedback from the Chinese branch made him completely put off this idea.

However, the fact that the F150 cannot be imported into China does not mean that other models cannot be imported.

Today he called Melgen, the vice president in charge of sales, over. In fact, the topic of the discussion was how to increase Ford's sales next year and how to increase Ford's sales in China next year.

After all, he has also seen the news that Huaxia Automobile's production and sales exceeded 10 million units.

Based on China's momentum, it is estimated that America's car sales will no longer be able to catch up with China's.

So if Ford wants to continue to maintain its past global position, it must obtain its due position in China.

But what about now?

Not only are Spring City Volkswagen, Modu Volkswagen, and Modu General Motors far ahead, but even companies such as Didu Hyundai, Yangcheng Honda, Spring City Toyota, and Xifeng Nissan all have higher sales than Changan Ford.

This certainly did not satisfy Mulally.

In his opinion, Changan Ford's sales must be on par with GM.

After all, Ford has always been focused on General Motors' sales.

"Mulally, our sales department's proposal is to introduce more than three new cars for sale in the Chinese market every year in the next five years, and to increase our sales in China to 1 million vehicles in 2015."

"In this way, our position in the Chinese market can match our global position."

Melgen directly put forward his own suggestions based on the theme of today's meeting.

Nowadays, every automobile giant is updating and releasing its own China strategy.

Ford is no exception.

After this meeting, Ford is preparing to officially release the "Ford China 2015 Strategy" at this year's Yangcheng Auto Show.

By then, information such as various new models and future sales targets will not be announced at the press conference.

Before the official announcement, there will naturally be a series of internal discussions.

"The Chinese market is indeed worthy of our investment in more resources."

"There, we can also strengthen cooperation with Nanshan Group and give full play to the advantages of both parties."

"Anyway, Nanshan Group does not have much competition with our Ford Motor Company in the Chinese market. On the contrary, we can consider purchasing the new models and gearboxes from Nanshan Transmission, and even the engines of some models can also be considered. Nanshan Engine Purchase.”

"But I hope Nanshan Group can support Ford's development in China."

Mulally has gained some understanding of China's automobile market.

Therefore, a more pertinent judgment was quickly given.

If it followed the style of the previous president, Ford would definitely not be willing to bow to others easily.

But Mulally is different. He cares more about actual interests.

As long as it can make Ford a profit, then some illusory face is not so critical.

Besides, working with Nanshan Group actually doesn’t make people feel that they are losing face.

It's just that Ford cars stood too high in the past, and now they have to sit on equal footing with others, which is a bit unaccustomed.