Rebirth 99 to become a car giant

Zeng Tingting's work efficiency is very high.

Although there was no press conference for the G8 and G9, Xingchen Auto released two specially processed car pictures for two consecutive days on its official Weibo account.

You can see the shadow of the G7 from that outline, but it is obviously larger.

On Autohome, there are also some "prediction" articles starting to appear, believing that in addition to the G7, Xingchen Motors will also have larger hardcore off-road vehicles such as the G8 and G9.

Regarding this situation, Xingchen Automobile did not deny it in its official Weibo.

As a result, Spring City Toyota's Land Cruiser sales were immediately affected.

"Mr. Miyazaki, Star G has suddenly released some information about the G8 and G9. According to feedback from 4S stores, many potential Land Cruiser consumers have begun to wait and see, and even some consumers who have placed orders have already gone to the store. Order canceled."

"This has a huge impact on our bottom line."

Whether it is Prado or Land Cruiser, they are not mass-market models in Spring City Toyota's model structure.

However, their two models accounted for less than 10% of sales and contributed more than 40% of Spring City Toyota's net profit.

The most important thing is that these two cars have greatly enhanced the brand influence of Spring City Toyota.

this is very important.

Now, whether it is Prado or Land Cruiser, there are sales problems, which is undoubtedly very fatal for Spring City Toyota.

For ordinary cars and SUVs, Toyota's advantages are no longer obvious in the face of the rapid development of China's own brands.

Now that the original flagship product began to suffer a fatal blow, Chen Wenzhan immediately became a little panicked.

"This situation is indeed a bit surprising. Xingchen Motors only released a little information, and it can have such a big impact on Land Cruiser's sales."

"It's just unbelievable."

Miyazaki Himasa also felt a little depressed at this time.

In the Toyota system, the Land Cruiser actually has a higher status than the Prado.

Over the decades since its birth, Land Cruiser has been the hard-core SUV model with the highest cumulative sales in the world.

More than 8 million units have been sold so far.

This data is absolutely exaggerated.

Of course, this also has a lot to do with the fact that the overseas price of Toyota Land Cruiser is not as exaggerated as that in China.

Toyota Land Cruiser can be seen almost everywhere in the world.

If this failed in China, Miyazaki Himasa felt that he would definitely be questioned by the headquarters.

This is a situation he doesn't want to see.

"The Nanshan Group behind Xingchen Motors has too much influence in China. They control Autohome and Weibo, which can greatly influence the attitudes of some consumers."

"The most important thing is that through various marketing measures, Chinese consumers have a very high degree of recognition of the Xingchen Automobile brand."

"When driving various models of Xingchen Motors, the style is already a bit higher than that of Mercedes-Benz and BMW. It is basically the same as driving a Porsche."

"This invisible influence is also very huge and cannot be ignored."

"Although the prices and specific information of the G8 and G9 have not been announced, it can be inferred from the situation of the G7 that the price of the G8 is estimated to be around 1 million, and even the starting price is less than 1 million."

"The G9 is definitely a large-sized model, and the price is estimated to be more than one million yuan."

"Nanshan Engine now has V12 and W16 engines, which will definitely be installed on the G8 or G9. The power performance will be much higher than that of the Land Cruiser."

"In this case, unless our Land Cruiser can have strong cost competitiveness, it will be difficult to compete with others."

Chen Wenzhan's words obviously mean that he will continue to use price reduction methods on the Land Cruiser like the Prado.

But he is definitely not simply cutting prices like before.

This will affect Spring City Toyota's earnings, which is not what Chen Wenzhan wants to see.

Although Land Cruiser has been made in China for a long time, almost all parts and components are actually imported from overseas, and only the assembly has been localized.

As a result, the cost of various parts must be very high.

For the same part, the production cost in China is much cheaper than overseas.

When importing, there are various fees such as tariffs. In the end, a part that originally cost only 100 yuan in Japan may cost 200 yuan at Spring City Toyota.

In the middle, Toyota will make extra money.

Spring City Toyota had a good time in the past. The price of the Land Cruiser was so high that it could maintain sales of one to two thousand vehicles per month.

Therefore, neither Chen Wenzhan nor the Spring City Automobile Group behind it particularly bothered with this matter.

But now things have changed.

Chen Wenzhan naturally hopes that Toyota can lower the price of imported parts.

Only in this way can the terminal price of Land Cruiser be truly reduced to a more competitive level.

Otherwise, if they are also million-level models, why not buy Xingchen Automobile's G8 or G9 instead of buying a Land Cruiser?

However, I have to admire Toyota. It is a mid-range brand, but sometimes it can sell some models at the price of luxury cars.

The MPV model Alfa is like this, and the hardcore SUVs Prado and Land Cruiser are also like this.

No wonder it can become the leader in global car sales.

Apparently there are a few brushes too.

"The starting price of our Land Cruiser is more than 700,000 yuan, and the high-end models go up to more than 1.1 million yuan. It is estimated that the price is relatively close to the G8 and G9."

"The most troublesome thing is that our power is a 4.0L naturally aspirated engine and a 4.7L V8 naturally aspirated engine. The performance is definitely not comparable to other people's 12- and 16-cylinder engines."

"Ordinary consumers in China don't care much about engine power performance, but consumers who like hard-core off-road vehicles care more about this."

"Even if we want to reduce prices, if we simply reduce prices like Prado, the effect will probably not be very good."

What Miyazaki Himasa said was exactly what Chen Wenzhan wanted.

So he immediately went on to say: "Yes, it is indeed the case. We should have a comprehensive plan."

"The price of Prado in the United States is only about US$50,000, and Land Cruiser is also US$80,000, which can be purchased in mid-to-high-end configurations."

"In this case, we should find ways to reduce the cost of imported parts and increase the localization rate."

"If the price of the Prado can be adjusted to 300,000 to 400,000 yuan and the price of the Land Cruiser is reduced to about 450,000 to 600,000 yuan, then it will be possible to maintain the current sales volume or even further increase the sales volume."

"Otherwise, under the pressure from Xingchen Motors, our combined sales of these two cars may not be able to reach 1,000 units per month."

"This will have a very significant adverse impact on the company's earnings."

When Chen Wenzhan said this, Miyazaki Himasa fell silent.

He was not stupid, so he naturally understood the meaning of Chen Wenzhan's words.

This is asking Toyota to cut its flesh.

After all, the current high prices of Land Cruiser and Prado are partly related to the high cost.

The main reason for the high cost is that parts and components are imported from overseas. Not only is the cost itself high, Toyota also makes a lot of money from the process of changing hands.

Now that he wants to spit it out, naturally he, as the general manager of Spring City Toyota, cannot have the final say.

However, he also knew that what Chen Wenzhan said was reasonable and was not purely aimed at Toyota.

If the prices of Prado and Land Cruiser cannot be further reduced, the prospects will be really bad for the Xingchen G7 and G8\\G9 models that have all-round advantages in terms of brand, power, and interior and exterior decoration.

"I asked people in the sales department to sort out the market performance of Prado and Land Cruiser in China over the past few years, and then make some predictions for the future."

"When the time comes, I will make a special trip back to Japan to report the relevant situation to the headquarters."

After a moment of silence, Miyazaki Himasa could only give this answer.

However, this is better than what Chen Wenzhan expected.

After all, he also knew that even if he said it bluntly, Miyazaki Himasa would not be able to say OK directly.

If he really said that, Chen Wenzhan would not believe it.

…

Big G of Xingchen Motors made Spring City Toyota very uncomfortable, but Pan Jianghui also felt miserable at Jaguar Land Rover China.

Because of the emergence of the G7, the publicity of G8 and G9 information has not only affected the sales of Toyota's Prado and Land Cruiser, but also the Land Rover Defender owned by Jaguar Land Rover.

Originally, Land Rover Defender and Land Cruiser were direct competitors, but with different styles, each has its own fans.

Now that the Xingchen Big G has come out, it can be said that it has sold out all the high-end hardcore SUVs in one go.

Basically, any insider can deduce that the three cars G7/G8/G9 present a step-by-step arrangement.

Everyone can guess its appearance, size and power configuration.

In this way, there will naturally be some relevant articles in the media, and consumers will make their own judgments after reading them.

Compared with the Xingchen Big G, the Land Rover Defender's advantages are not obvious.

Obviously, as the latest developed Xingchen Big G, the car is equipped with various advanced technologies of Nanshan Group, and the interior is also very comfortable.

This new trend, which changed the traditional hard-core off-road vehicles that were not comfortable enough, immediately attracted the love of many potential consumers.

After all, consumers who can afford such a car are actually considered high-income people.

These people naturally care about enjoyment.

"Mr. Pan, I think the Land Rover Defender also needs to upgrade its interior and electronic equipment."

"Otherwise, facing the competition from Star Big G, there will basically be no advantage at all."

Li Wenxiong is the sales director of Jaguar Land Rover China.

With the increase in Jaguar Land Rover's sales in China and the commissioning of the Magic City factory and R\u0026D center, Jaguar Land Rover China's influence in Jaguar Land Rover's global market is growing.

According to Cao Yang's plan, in the future, the influence of the English headquarters will be further weakened and the influence of the Huaxia branch will be enhanced.

The best thing is to have the Chinese branch as the main force and the English side as the auxiliary.

In that case, Jaguar Land Rover will completely become an industry under the Nanshan Group.

"It does need to be updated. I have arranged for the R\u0026D center to make some plans. Then you will connect with each other to see which configurations need to be updated."

As a hardcore off-road vehicle, in terms of appearance, power and chassis, it has not changed for many years and there is no need to worry about it becoming outdated.

After all, there are only a few hardcore SUV styles that come and go. Pan Jianghui feels that the Land Rover Defender is already one of the classic types.

Therefore, this time the upgrade is only for the interior and electronic and electrical equipment, and other things are not the focus.

"I will also communicate with Minister Zeng Tingting of Nanshan Group at that time. She should also hope that the sales of Land Rover Defender can be stabilized."

"What Xingchen Big G wants to grab is the market of competitors such as Toyota Prado, Land Cruiser, Jeep Wrangler and Mercedes-Benz Big G, not the share of our Defender."

Li Wenxiong didn't have any objection to Nanshan Group because of this matter.

After all, the appearance style of the Xingchen Big G is really different from that of the Land Rover Defender, and it has created a new trend.

Now that Land Rover Defender's sales have been affected, that's because it's not competitive enough.

Of course, if Jaguar Land Rover were not an industry under Nanshan Group, maybe Li Wenxiong would have another idea.

"You can work with R\u0026D and communicate with Nanshan Auto Parts. They should have many new technology parts waiting to be installed on cars."

"We can be bold and try something that no other car has done before."

"I think the appearance of this generation of Land Rover Defender is still very classic. As long as we cultivate our internal skills, not to mention stabilizing sales, even a surge is possible."

"After all, the emergence of Xingchen Big G will make more consumers pay attention to hard-core off-road vehicles."

"In this market, there are generally not many competitors."

Although Pan Jianghui is worried about the current situation, he has not lost confidence.

Today's Jaguar Land Rover also has a backer.

After being squeezed by one's own people, there are completely other ways to break the deadlock.

"Mr. Pan, can we also talk to Mr. Cao directly and see what he thinks?"

"I feel that many things are in a deadlock from our point of view, but maybe with some advice from Mr. Cao, the situation will suddenly become clearer?"

The level gap between Li Wenxiong and Cao Yang is a bit big, so unless Cao Yang takes the initiative to find him, it is not suitable for Li Wenxiong to go to Cao Yang by himself.

But Pan Jianghui is different.

Although it was not easy for him to see Cao Yang, it was still within the scope of normal communication.

It happened that Pan Jianghui also wanted to increase his presence in front of Cao Yang, so after listening to Li Wenxiong's suggestion, he called Mi Ying without much hesitation and asked Cao Yang to go in and report in person.

…

"Mr. Cao, Star City Big G has been very popular recently. It is said that it has defeated Spring City Toyota's Prado and Land Cruiser."

Pan Jianghui is Cao Yang's most valued spokesperson in Jaguar Land Rover, so although we don't meet him often, our relationship is not unfamiliar.

After Mi Ying reported Pan Jianghui's schedule information to Cao Yang, the meeting was quickly arranged.

When we met, we naturally couldn't complain right away.

Instead, let’s talk about fun and popular things first.

For Xingchen Automobile, or for the Chinese automobile industry, Xingchen Big G is a hot thing during this period.

Except for Nanshan Group, no other company has the ability to turn hard-core off-road vehicles into popular models in one fell swoop.

"Toyota's cars are as expensive as luxury cars, but consumers didn't have many choices before and had to accept them."

"Now that there are better choices, people are naturally not willing to pay the IQ tax."

The emergence of Xingchen Big G will have an impact on competitors. This is something Cao Yang has long expected.

Just like Toyota Alfa's sales plummeted after the Dreamer came out.

But any consumer who is not a die-hard fan of Overbearing and Land Cruiser will not continue to consider them.

"Yes, obviously Toyota's brand influence is similar to that of Volkswagen and General Motors, but their Land Cruiser can be sold at a price similar to our Land Rover Defender."

"I just don't know how to explain this."

"If a Lexus model of the same level were sold at that price, it would still be justifiable."

Pan Jianghui secretly involved the Land Rover Defender.

Cao Yang is not stupid, and he can naturally understand that the emergence of the Star Big G must have had a certain impact on the sales of Land Rover Defender.

"The Land Rover Defender is considered a classic among hardcore off-road vehicles, and I think its appearance will not be outdated in another ten years."

"In the future, we only need to make certain optimizations to the grille, bumpers and lights, and there is no need to make any major changes to the appearance."

"However, in terms of comfort equipment, it still needs to be upgraded according to consumer preferences and changes in the times."

Cao Yang's understanding is basically consistent with Jaguar Land Rover's internal understanding.

Seeing Cao Yang take the initiative to bring up this topic, Pan Jianghui breathed a sigh of relief.

After all, if this matter came from Pan Jianghui's mouth, it would have some intention of blaming the group.

This is naturally not a situation Pan Jianghui wants to see.

"I have asked the sales department to communicate with the Modu R\u0026D Center to see how to upgrade the interior and some equipment when the Land Rover Defender is replaced next year."

"From now on, China's high-end off-road vehicle market will be dominated by the Xingchen Big G and Land Rover Defender."

Although Pan Jianghui came here to ask Cao Yang for advice today, the specific communication process was like a casual chat.

"Jaguar, what do you think if it also launches an SUV model?"

Although Pan Jianghui didn't complain much, Cao Yang definitely hoped that Jaguar Land Rover's sales would continue to increase.

So taking this opportunity, he also wanted to have a good communication with Pan Jianghui.

"Jaguar is building an SUV?"

Pan Jianghui was stunned for a moment.

Jaguar has always focused on sedans and sports cars, while Land Rover has focused on SUVs.

This pattern has been going on for many years.

Although SUVs have become very popular in recent years, Jaguar has not officially discussed whether it will produce SUVs.

"Mr. Cao, there are a lot of SUVs now, and we need to come up with new ideas to achieve outstanding performance."

"Do you have any special ideas?"

Pan Jianghui knew that Cao Yang would ask this, so he must have thought about this question.

In this case, just listen to what the boss wants.

"You know everything about Xingchen Big G."

"Although it is a hardcore off-road vehicle, its appearance has a strong urban SUV feel."

"As long as we soften the appearance on the basis of the big G to make it look more elegant and soft, then it will be a very good urban SUV appearance."

"Jaguar has never produced an SUV before, so there is no need to directly launch a series of SUV models."

"But based on the appearance of the big G, after making certain adjustments, developing a high-end luxury SUV model for particularly high-end people may have unexpected effects."

At this moment, Cao Yang naturally thought of Rolls-Royce Cullinan again.

Although Star Big G was developed based on Cullinan, Lai Ping still made a lot of adjustments.

Now it seems completely okay to give the unadjusted solution to Jaguar.

After all, when Rolls-Royce launched the Cullinan, it immediately refreshed the high-end ultra-luxury SUV market.

This responsibility can be given to Jaguar.

"That sounds like a good idea."

Whether it was true or false, Pan Jianghui definitely wanted to agree with the plan proposed by Cao Yang at this time.

After all, Xingchen Big G has proven that the appearance is successful. Now if we optimize it, there is no reason why it is inappropriate.

"However, both Xingchen Auto and Land Rover already have many SUV models."

"There are also many SUV models from Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi and Porsche."

"For Jaguar's SUV to have a blockbuster effect, it should still have some unique positioning of its own."

Pan Jianghui still has this understanding.

However, although he was aware of this, he had no idea how to do it specifically.

"You're right, it does need to be a little special."

"I think since this car is positioned as a super luxury SUV, there is no need to design it like other car companies."

"We can refer to the design style of Rolls-Royce and design the car doors to open in half."

"Then we made the car length 5.3 meters, which is similar to the G9, but it doesn't have a 7-seater or 6-seater layout."

"Instead, it is directly designed into two layouts, 5-seater and 4-seater, to provide different choices for high-end people."

When Cao Yang said this, Pan Jianghui's eyes immediately lit up.

This positioning is indeed very unique.

As for high-end models, their positioning must be unique.

Rolls-Royce is an ultra-luxury brand. If Jaguar's SUVs have a hint of Rolls-Royce, it will be very beneficial to enhance the brand's influence.

Jaguar itself is an English car company, and it also knows the situation of Rolls-Royce relatively well.

"Mr. Cao, I think this positioning is completely acceptable."

"I will ask the Modu R\u0026D Center to officially start the development of this model when I get back."

At this time, there is no need for any hesitation, just start moving.

"Well, I've already thought of a name. It's called Cullinan."

"Cullinan? Is it the world's largest rough diamond, the Cullinan of the Star of Africa?"

Obviously, Pan Jianghui also knows the goods.

The origin of the name Cullinan was immediately revealed.

"That's right, it's this Cullinan!"

"Jaguar Cullinan, I hope it can become the top presence in the luxury SUV market!"

When Cao Yang said this, Pan Jianghui felt that his whole body was full of energy!

If this goal is achieved at Jaguar Land Rover China, then the position of Jaguar Land Rover Global President will be very close to him!