Rebirth 99 to become a car giant

As we enter December, 2009 has come to an end.

For all automobile OEMs, the last month is definitely a time for another sprint.

But this year’s pattern has actually been basically formed.

In order to cope with the increasingly large Chinese automobile market in the future, various OEMs have begun to expand their ideas and think about whether there are better ways to increase their sales.

GM, Ford, Volkswagen, Hyundai, Toyota, Honda, Nissan...

Every company is considering this issue internally.

Without the pressure of China's own brands to thrive, even if China's automobile market continues to expand, they can continue to enjoy the good days without having to worry so much.

But it's obviously not possible now.

If there are no new moves, then the newly added automobile market is likely to be eaten up by China's own brands.

This is obviously not a situation those international auto giants want to see.

"President, our best-selling models around the world have basically been introduced or are being introduced into the Chinese market."

"But because we have two joint ventures in China, all products are produced by Spring City Toyota and Yangcheng Toyota."

"This results in the product lines of the two companies not being so rich."

"For example, Spring City Toyota's RAV4 sells very well, but Yangcheng Toyota does not have a mid-level SUV."

"Similarly, Yangcheng Toyota's Highlander sales are decent, but Spring City Toyota does not have the same type of model."

"Other models such as Camry and Yaris also have similar problems."

Within Toyota, a special meeting is being held for the Chinese automobile market.

As the person in charge of design, Zheming Kobayashi mentioned an issue that everyone knew about in the past, but did not pay enough attention to.

Toyota Motor has the ambition to become the world's largest automobile company.

But in the Chinese market, Toyota's sales are far from worthy of this ambition.

Within Toyota Motor Corporation, this issue is naturally being discussed.

"What Kobayashi Sang said makes sense. There are indeed some problems with our product line layout in China."

"In the beginning, we established two joint ventures to prevent Spring City Automobile Group from being too strong and affecting our interests in China, so we cooperated with Yangcheng Automobile Group to establish Yangcheng Toyota."

"But this also resulted in two joint ventures, each of which did not have a particularly rich product line."

"This issue really needs attention."

As the head of the sales department, Wu Zhihui naturally recognized the issue mentioned by Zheming Kobayashi.

For OEMs, to a certain extent, the more models they have, the higher their sales will be.

Now the product lines of Toyota's two joint ventures in China are no longer able to compete with China's own brands.

This is something that needs to change ASAP.

"In China, there are two joint ventures like ours, and the most typical representatives are Volkswagen and Honda."

"I won't talk about Honda's situation. The difficulties they face are similar to ours."

"But Volkswagen's situation is a little different. They have launched a relatively unique model strategy earlier than us."

"For example, the Magotan of Spring City Volkswagen and the Passat of Modu Volkswagen are essentially the same car, but the appearance has been changed."

"Then Spring City Volkswagen's Bora and Modu Volkswagen's Lavida are actually the same model, but the appearance has been adjusted."

"I heard that Volkswagen will launch more sister cars internally in the future, and they will be produced by two joint ventures at the same time."

As soon as Kobayashi Zheming said it, Watanabe Yoshiaki's interest arose.

Sister car?

This statement is relatively new!

"You mean that we at Toyota can also develop one model, but produce two versions and sell them to Spring City Toyota and Yangcheng Toyota respectively?"

Watanabe Ketsaki couldn't help but asked a question.

Kobayashi Zheming immediately gave his answer, saying: "Yes, that's what I thought about."

"For us, the development cost of developing a sister car is similar to that of developing a single model. At most, the difference is 1.2 times the development fee."

"If we take into account that the basic model was developed globally, and now we are just developing an additional version for China, then the overall development cost will not increase by more than 20%."

"But when we gave these two almost identical models to Spring City Toyota and Yangcheng Toyota, they could each be used as two new models."

"Technology royalties can be collected normally, allowing us to obtain greater benefits from China."

When Kobayashi Zheming said this, Wu Zhihui couldn't help but raise a concern, saying: "The launch of two similar models will definitely have an impact on the original sales, right?"

"For example, the Camry can currently sell 15,000 units a month in China. If Spring City Toyota also produces a model similar to the Camry, will the Camry's sales drop to less than 10,000 units?"

"In the end, if the combined sales of the two cars are not as much as that of the other car, wouldn't it be in vain?"

Wu Zhihui was not opposed to Kobayashi Zheming's proposal.

On the contrary, he was actually very interested in this proposal.

But since this proposal was made by Kobayashi Zheming, he naturally wanted to take this opportunity to express his concerns in the sales field.

In case the final sales data is not very ideal, he has to consider how to explain it.

"This possibility cannot be 100% ruled out, but basically the probability of it happening is very low."

"We have already seen this benefit from Spring City Public and Magic City Public."

"If this approach is not beneficial to sales, Volkswagen will definitely not continue to do this."

"Of course, I think it's normal for everyone to have this worry."

"We can definitely take out one or two models as a pilot and launch our Toyota sister cars to see how the market responds."

"Only changing the appearance of the existing model, and keeping the powertrain, chassis, and configuration almost unchanged, we can launch the new product on the market as soon as the first half of the next year."

"Even if the changes are particularly minor and most parts are shared, small-scale mass production may begin at the end of next year."

When Kobayashi Zheming said this, Wu Zhihui became more interested and said: "There is no harm in giving it a try. Anyway, the development cost and mold investment are relatively small, but the possible benefits are very large."

"It just so happens that we can take this opportunity to block the mouths of the two joint venture companies."

“Aren’t they clamoring for more new models every year?”

"Then we'll give it to him!"

Regarding the opinions of Kobayashi Zhemin and Wu Zhihui, Watanabe Katsaki did not struggle for too long.

After thinking about it, this matter does seem to have more advantages than disadvantages for Toyota.

So Watanabe Jiashi quickly agreed to this plan.

Within Toyota, action began immediately.

Also considering similar issues is Porsche.

After Macht replaced Wedekind as president of Porsche, he naturally hoped to make some achievements.

Nowadays, the Chinese market is the largest automobile market in the world, and Porsche also hopes to achieve better results in the Chinese market.

But now, except for the Cayenne, none of Porsche's best-selling models in China can be said to be hot-selling.

This result naturally did not satisfy Macht.

"Mebona, if the company wants to increase sales in the Chinese market, what good suggestions do you have?"

Macht called sales director Mei Bona over to see what surprise he could bring him.

"I just came back from a business trip in China. The market there is quite different from that in Germany."

"For example, our main competitor Xingchen Motors, the best-selling SUV models in China are the Upward and Xingtu models."

"Our best-selling SUV model in China is the Cayenne."

"So I think the best way to increase Porsche's sales in China is to launch another mid-level SUV."

Maybona gave his reply without much hesitation.

In his opinion, Porsche needs to have more SUV models like Xingchen Motors.

Otherwise, it will be difficult to increase sales quickly.

But the cost of developing a model from scratch is very high.

It is not an exaggeration to say that it will cost more than one billion US dollars.

Especially for luxury brands such as Porsche, the requirements in all aspects are higher.

Whether it is worth spending such a large cost to develop a new model is a question that must be fully discussed internally.

Thinking of this, Macht couldn't help but frowned and said: "The cost of developing a new SUV model is a bit high. It's okay if it succeeds. If it fails, our situation will directly fall into passivity. .”

Although the failure of a model will not put Porsche on the edge of bankruptcy immediately, it is definitely not a good thing for Porsche, whose current situation is not particularly ideal.

However, Meibona did not have any solution for Macht's concern. He said: "Actually, we have a simpler solution, which is to directly take a platform from Audi for development. In this way It only requires a small development cost to launch a Porsche SUV model."

"I have already selected the car model. For the Audi Q5, I changed the design of the front, rear, wheels, and interior. The powertrain and chassis can be directly shared, and even most of the body parts can be directly shared. .”

"In this way, we can launch a new SUV model as early as 2011."

"Judging from the current sales of SUVs in China, the mid-level SUV market where the Q5 is located is the largest. By then, it may be possible to directly double our sales in China."

When Maybona said this, Macht was immediately moved.

In the past, Audi and Porsche were two independent companies, and it was very difficult for Porsche to use Audi's platform.

Now that Volkswagen has acquired Porsche, he has the opportunity to become the new president of Porsche.

So taking full advantage of Volkswagen's acquisition of Porsche and using the Audi platform to develop new Porsche models is definitely a politically correct thing within the new Volkswagen.

Thinking of this, Macht couldn't sit still and said immediately: "Your proposal is very constructive. We can start the development of mid-level SUV models immediately, which will share the platform with the Audi Q5."

"In the next step, some other models can also consider sharing a platform with Audi, so that one plus one can give full play to the effect of two."

"Greatly reducing our development costs and procurement costs is of extraordinary significance to the company's long-term and healthy development."

Matthe roughly knows the price and cost of the Audi Q5.

Porsche's mid-size SUV is developed on the basis of the Audi Q5, and the final cost will not be much more expensive than the Q5.

Even if development costs are included, the cost of Porsche's mid-size SUV may be lower than that of the Audi Q5.

But the final price will definitely be higher than that of the Audi Q5.

In this way, the price of entry-level models of Porsche models can be significantly reduced while maintaining sufficient profit margins.

It is definitely very beneficial for cultivating more Porsche owners.

Even by then, this approach will become a relatively classic approach within the Volkswagen Group.

After all, Volkswagen now has many brands.

For example, Skoda has many models that use Volkswagen's platform, and Audi also has some models that share platforms with the Volkswagen brand.

Now that Porsche and Audi share a platform, it can be said that the advantages of internal resource allocation within the group are fully utilized.

It can be said that Volkswagen is the best at marrying one girl to two, or even one girl to three.

This may be the reason why their sales later exceeded those of General Motors and Ford.

…

Facing the rapidly changing market, various car companies are also moving quickly.

After discussing the sister car plan internally, Toyota immediately started the development projects of Camry sister car and RAV4 sister car at Spring City Toyota and Yangcheng Toyota respectively.

The two joint ventures even announced on their official Weibo accounts that they would introduce new mid-level SUVs and mid- to high-end sedans in 2011.

In this way, the relevant car companies will naturally inquire about the specific situation.

Everyone knows what models Toyota has in the world.

Now it is suddenly necessary to introduce more mid-sized SUVs and mid- to high-end sedans to China. The specific meaning behind this action is actually not that difficult to understand.

Soon, information about the Camry sister car and the RAV4 sister car was dug out by Autohome.

"Mr. Yu, why do I feel that the 'one woman marries two' plan spearheaded by Volkswagen seems to be becoming a trend?"

"Even Toyota has started to follow suit."

"As the leading company and benchmark company in Japan's automobile industry, Toyota's practices often have strong reference significance."

"I feel that after Honda and Nissan see this news, they will definitely take action."

"Especially Honda. They also have two companies in China, Yangcheng Honda and Xifeng Honda."

"We can definitely follow Toyota and launch a sister car of the mid-size SUV CRV and a sister car of the mid-to-high-end sedan Accord."

"In this way, the products of Honda and Toyota in China will look much richer at once."

As the editor of Autohome, He Ling, in addition to writing some articles, also needs to process and judge the collected information in a timely manner in order to refine more meaningful opinions.

Obviously, He Ling, who has a keen sense of smell, has noticed the arrival of the sister car era in the Chinese automobile market.

In the future, more and more models of this kind will surely appear in the Chinese market.

"Whether it is Spring City Toyota or Yangcheng Toyota, they definitely hope to have a richer product line."

"But it is impossible for Toyota Motor to have two choices for every product in the world, which can be divided between Spring City Toyota and Yangcheng Toyota."

"Nowadays, one woman is married to two, and they simply change the shape of the front and rear of the car. They don't even bother to change the shape of the front and rear of the car. They just simply change the LOGO and a new model can be released. Naturally, they are very willing to do so. .”

"Anyway, the current automobile market in China is so hot. As long as we launch a sister car for a best-selling model, it is impossible to fail."

"The uncertainty is simply not knowing how successful it will be."

Obviously, Yu Yu is also optimistic about the practices of sister cars.

This kind of thing may be very strange in other markets, but for China, it is indeed a plan to give consumers more choices.

Just like the Asia Dragon and Camry of Spring City Toyota in later generations, RAV4 and Landa, Highlander and Landscape, overall they are relatively successful.

There are also Honda's CRV and Haoying, XRV and Binzhi, Civic and Xingge, Odyssey and Alison, which are all relatively successful sister cars.

After all, for a market with more than 20 million vehicles, if there are two choices for consumers of the same brand and the same level of models, it will not be too much.

"Indeed, Volkswagen's approach has told everyone that this road can work."

"Faced with the rapidly growing automobile market, more automobile brands will definitely choose to follow up quickly."

"I estimate that in a few years, consumers will have twice as many choices when buying cars as they do now."

He Ling's guess is not unreasonable at all.

Not to mention the emergence of sister cars, the fact that various car brands continue to accelerate the introduction of new models will give everyone a lot more choices.

For example, Yangcheng Toyota and Yangcheng Honda actually only had four or five models on sale in 2009, but later on, they could easily go to eight or nine models, or even more.

This increase in choice can be regarded as a typical feature of the changes in the Chinese market.

To some extent, this is also a good thing for consumers.

Therefore, Autohome made a special report around the topic of sister cars, which attracted the attention of many people in the industry.

Even some joint venture car companies were inspired to develop sister cars after seeing this news.

"Mr. Jin, I suggest that the company speed up the introduction of new Kia models in Xifeng Yueda. As long as they are models that our Imperial Hyundai has, we can change the car logo and use it on the Kia brand."

"In this way, of our two brands, one can compete with joint venture brands such as Volkswagen and General Motors, and the other can compete with China's own brands."

"Only by focusing on both dimensions at the same time can our group's sales increase rapidly in China."

The sales of Teitu Hyundai in 2009 were very good, and there was no problem in exceeding 500,000 units.

But as the head of the sales department, Park Jung-xi also knows that it will be much more difficult to continue rapid growth in the future.

However, the sales volume of its sibling Kia this year is only about half of that of Teitu Hyundai.

This result is definitely unqualified.

At least it's considered substandard within Hyundai.

According to Park Jung-si, if the Kia brand can be as good as the Hyundai brand, it will achieve sales of 1 million vehicles in China this year, making the Chinese market one of the most important markets for Hyundai Motors.

Then all employees stationed in China will have more opportunities for promotion and salary increase.

"This proposal is very timely. I plan to go back to Korea next week to report to the leaders at the headquarters."

"The automobile market in China is different from any other automobile market. We must come up with some methods that are different from other markets."

"Based on the current situation, it is estimated that China's car sales this year will reach about 14 million, and next year it will exceed 16 million."

"Such a large market can fully support Hyundai Motor's sales of more than 1 million units here."

For many car brands, 1 million vehicles is a very important goal.

But in many cases, 1 million vehicles is a very difficult threshold to pass.

Even if you have a brief impact on this data, it is very difficult to stabilize it.

After all, the sales volume of a car brand in one country exceeds 1 million, which is no longer a small number.

For many countries, annual sales are less than 1 million.

"It is true. Volkswagen is pursuing a sister car strategy, and Toyota, which has always been relatively conservative, has also begun to do so."

"I guess other car companies such as Honda will definitely follow suit."

"We can't afford to fall behind here."

Jin Chenglin has also been paying attention to articles in media such as Autohome in the past few days, and naturally he has also seen reports related to sister cars.

Combining the changes in the Chinese automobile market and the reactions of opponents, Jin Chenglin can naturally realize that the sister car strategy is a good strategy.

At least from a sales perspective, this is a good plan.

Since it is a good plan, he must go for it.

In this atmosphere, the trend of automobile giants marrying one woman and two women unexpectedly became popular in China in advance.

Invisibly, it can be regarded as putting greater pressure on China's independent brands.

After all, with more models from competitors, consumers have more choices, which naturally puts more pressure on everyone.