Rebirth 99 to become a car giant

2012 was a good year for China's independent brand car companies.

Seven manufacturers in the TOP10 are self-owned brand companies. This fact alone has been worthy of coverage by various media for quite some time.

As Xingchen Motors broke into the TOP10 for the first time and even directly ranked fourth, it naturally attracted the attention of many people.

Nanshan Automobile Group is making some internal summaries on this matter, and other car companies in the industry are also making summaries on the situation of Xingchen Automobile.

"Ai Moha, although the company's sales in China last year historically exceeded 350,000 vehicles, which is higher than mainstream joint venture car companies such as Yangcheng Toyota."

"But the gap between us and Xingchen Automobile is widening. This point must be paid attention to."

Phillips called Aimoha and others to his conference room to specifically communicate about the performance of BMW and other luxury car brands in China.

"The situation of Xingchen Automobile is so special. The sales of the big G series were very good last year, which allowed Xingchen Automobile to quickly achieve a sales breakthrough."

"Actually, our main global competitor is Mercedes-Benz. Their sales in China last year were only 250,000 units, which was a lot less than us."

"Of course, as Mercedes-Benz launches more SUV models this year, I estimate that their sales will quickly exceed the 300,000 mark."

"However, we also have more and more models on the market. Sales this year exceeded 400,000. I think there is no problem."

Aimoha feels that BMW China's performance last year was already very good. There is no need to feel that it is not doing well just because Xingchen Automobile sells well.

Besides, half of Xingchen Motors' more than 800,000 sales were sold overseas.

If you include BMW's global sales, there are 2 million vehicles.

"I naturally agree with the logic you said, but now not only the sales of Xingchen Automobile are very impressive, but Jaguar Land Rover is also not to be outdone."

"Throughout 2012, Jaguar Land Rover's sales in China exceeded that of Mercedes-Benz, which is close to 300,000 units. It may surpass us at any time."

"At the same time, General Motors' Cadillac is not to be outdone and will continue to launch several SUV models this year."

"When the time comes, we may not be able to keep our second position in China's luxury car sales."

When Phillips said this, Amoha couldn't directly refute it.

After all, what he said were objective facts.

"The headquarters should give the Huaxia branch more authorization and support, and try to introduce some configurations suitable for Huaxia."

"For example, in terms of wheelbase, I think we can consider further strengthening the wheelbase of our X3 and X5."

"Consumers here in China often buy cars not for the owner to use alone, but as a family car."

"In this case, they are very concerned about the seating space in the back row."

"Many people go to see the car as a family, and their family members sit in the back seat. They feel that it is not spacious enough, so they may not consider us."

"Xingchen Automobile has done very well in this regard. Their cars of the same level must have longer wheelbases and richer configurations than ours."

Naturally, Aimoha also wanted to take this opportunity to find Phillips for some resources, otherwise the development speed of the Huaxia branch would definitely be affected in the future.

What he said was based on objective facts, so Phillips did not refuse.

"We will work hard on this, but in addition to the requirement you mentioned, I think the Huaxia Branch needs to carefully consider the development strategy of electrification."

"Compared with other markets, the sales volume of electric vehicles in China is very impressive, and it is estimated that it will exceed 1 million units this year."

"But although we at BMW entered the electric vehicle market relatively early, we have never launched any high-selling models."

"I think it is a more important thing for the headquarters to set up a dedicated electric vehicle research and development center in China."

Phillips proposed a more ambitious goal, hoping that all electric vehicles produced by BMW in China would be designed by the R\u0026D center in China.

These R\u0026D centers arrange some people from Germany, and then recruit more people from the local area to achieve localization of R\u0026D.

Ten years ago, few international automobile giants would have thought so.

After all, there were relatively few qualified design talents in the automotive industry in China at that time.

But now, whether it is Xingchen Automobile, Future Automobile, or various car companies such as BYD and Changan Automobile, the R\u0026D capabilities are rising rapidly. It is no longer particularly difficult to spend money to poach people in the market.

Even as long as you give enough money, you can dig out any type of person.

"This proposal is very good. I think we should develop electric vehicles."

"The sales volume of Future Auto this year has exceeded 100,000 units, and the sales volume of Changan Automobile's electric vehicles has exceeded 150,000 units, and is estimated to exceed 200,000 units this year."

"The sales volume of electric vehicles in Yangcheng Aian also exceeds 100,000 units, and the electric vehicles of several other car companies are also performing well."

"Under this situation, if we don't launch more electric vehicles as soon as possible, the future situation will be very passive."

Aimoha also wants to make some achievements in China, so that he can go further when he returns to Germany.

If China becomes BMW's largest overseas market in the future, and even electric vehicles become BMW's largest market, then Almoha's position within BMW will be even more stable.

"After the Chinese Spring Festival, we went to Nanshan Automobile Group to visit Cao Yang and have in-depth exchanges with Nanshan Battery and Nanshan Auto Parts."

"If we don't cooperate with them on key parts of electric vehicles such as batteries and motors, I don't think we can find a better partner."

"But our current electric vehicle sales are a bit embarrassing. I am ready to do some long-term cooperation with the other party to obtain more favorable conditions for our electric vehicle project."

Phillips is obviously preparing to hand over all the main components of BMW China's future electric vehicle projects to Nanshan Battery and Nanshan Automotive Parts for production, and obtain lower costs and business conditions by providing orders.

There is a relatively good cooperation background between the two parties, so it is not impossible at all.

Phillips has now completely thought about it.

BMW and Nanshan Automobile Group are in a competitive relationship, but they are not in a life-or-death relationship.

Objectively speaking, there are some differences in the positioning of each model. BMW's competitive relationship with Mercedes-Benz and Audi is actually stronger.

Taking advantage of the fact that Mercedes-Benz and Audi have not launched large-scale cooperation with Nanshan Battery and other manufacturers, it is definitely not a bad thing for BMW to seize the opportunity.

Especially in terms of Nanshan batteries, their production capacity already accounts for more than 70% of the entire Chinese battery industry.

Even globally, Nanshan Battery's production capacity accounts for more than half of the world's power batteries.

This situation will make the cost advantage of Nanshan Batteries very obvious.

With good quality and cost advantages, Phillips sees no reason why BMW China should not cooperate with Nanshan Battery and other manufacturers.

Naturally, Aimoha had no objection to this.

Soon, they reached a general direction internally, preparing to increase investment in electric vehicles and increase cooperation with Nanshan Group.

However, certainly not every car company has the same idea as BMW.

Take Toyota Motor, let alone cooperating with Nanshan Automobile Group, they hate Nanshan Automobile Group to death.

"President, China's sales fell sharply last year due to the island dispute. The combined sales of Spring City Toyota and Yangcheng Toyota for the whole year were only more than 500,000 vehicles."

Kobayashi Zhemin was quite satisfied with the company's global sales performance last year.

After all, even though the global auto market is not growing much, Toyota's global sales have increased by several points.

But when it comes to the Chinese market specifically, he is definitely not satisfied.

However, he has already found a reason and is not worried that the company will blame him for this issue.

"Is it just because of the island dispute?"

"Why did sales in November increase compared to September and October, but then fell sharply in December?"

Watanabe Katsuaki obviously doesn’t know anything about the Chinese market. Kobayashi Tetsuaki attributes all the responsibility to the island dispute, which he definitely doesn’t agree with.

The Chinese market is the world's largest market, and it is a market that Toyota is reluctant to give up no matter what.

But now Toyota's sales in China are less than half of those in the United States.

This situation is definitely unacceptable.

"In addition to the island dispute, the main reason is that there are many local brands in China that are targeting us."

"Even the independent brands owned by our joint venture partners are attacking us."

"Recently, because of the 'pedal door' incident, public opinion in China is very unfavorable to us, thinking that we treat Chinese consumers and American consumers differently."

"So sales in China may not be able to pick up so quickly in the short term."

"But I think with the launch of more models in the future, sales should slowly return to normal."

Watanabe Katsuaki had already asked this question, and Kobayashi Zheming knew that he couldn't continue to avoid the question.

However, he is still relatively optimistic about Toyota's prospects in China.

"According to our original plan, it was indeed like this."

"But the situation in China is very different now from a few years ago."

"Car companies mainly focusing on independent brands such as Xingchen Automobile and Chery Automobile have quickly gained recognition from local consumers."

"We have to think carefully about how to carry out differentiated marketing in order to capture the hearts of Chinese consumers."

Watanabe Yoshiaki is obviously not so optimistic about Toyota's development prospects in China.

He knows that China's independent brands are no longer what they used to be, and the good days of joint venture car companies in China will soon come to an end.

Toyota entered the Chinese market not particularly early. It has only enjoyed a few good years, and the situation has changed so much.

To be honest, he was very uncomfortable.

"I will arrange a trip to China as soon as possible to see how to deal with the situation there."

Xiao Lin Zheming sighed in his heart.

My life will be difficult next year.

…

While various car companies are actively summarizing the past and planning for the future, there is also a small-scale discussion going on within Xingchen Motors.

Zeng Tingting specifically analyzed the main models that contributed to sales last year.

"Mr. Cao, judging from the current situation, among the big G series, G9 has the highest proportion of export sales, and G7 has the lowest."

"Among the markets where the G9 is exported, sales in the Middle East market reached 34,000 units, surpassing all other overseas markets."

"However, our market potential in the Middle East has not yet been fully realized. The sales of Toyota Prado and Land Cruiser in the Middle East are still several times that of ours."

Zeng Tingting organized a group of people to conduct a detailed analysis of the sales of the big G series models.

We strive to double the sales of the Big G series in 2013 and continue to contribute to the increase in sales of Xingchen Automobile.

In overseas markets, Zeng Tingting found that the market potential of hard-core off-road vehicles is greater than that of urban SUVs.

Of course, this may be related to the fact that the urban SUV market is mainly in the United States and Europe. The car market there is relatively mature, and it is difficult for Xingchen Automobile to break the situation.

"Normally, the sales volume of the lower-priced G7 should be the highest, but now the situation is reversed."

"Is there something wrong with G7's product positioning?"

Cao Yang's main focus in the past year has been on Daystar Technology Group, and he has not paid special attention to a lot of information about the Big G series.

Now I'm going to have a good chat with Zeng Tingting and the others to see if they can find any good improvements.

"The price of G7 is actually relatively embarrassing. For wealthy people, they think it is better to spend more money to buy G8 or G9."

"For consumers with insufficient budget, the price of G7 is still a bit expensive."

"However, if the G7 is divided by province in China, the sales champion is Xijiang Province. This is something that makes us very surprised."

"For a long time, due to population base and economic level, our sales in Western Xinjiang have not been very good."

"But the sales volume of G7 there is not only higher than that in other provinces, but also higher than the sales volume of any of our models in Western Xinjiang."

“This sales champion surprised us all.”

When Zeng Tingting said this, Cao Yang became interested.

Can you become the sales champion in Xijiang?

This shows that the market potential of G7 is still huge.

Continuing from Xijiang to the west and north, there are also large overseas markets, which Xingchen Motors did not pay much attention to before.

If the demand for G7 is relatively strong in these places, then it is completely worth pursuing it.

Thinking of this, Cao Yang immediately said: "There is no doubt about the off-road performance of G7. In places in Western Xinjiang where the roads are not very good, the requirements for off-road performance are very high."

"Among the models of the same class, our engine displacement should be the largest."

"The situation in neighboring Central Asian countries is similar to that in Western Xinjiang. However, due to tax rebates, the selling price of our export vehicles can be similar to or even lower than domestic levels."

"In this case, people with a small fortune in Central Asia should be very interested."

"If we can make the Central Asian market one of the most important markets for the Big G series, the significance will definitely be extraordinary."

"When the Middle East, Africa, and Central Asia become the main markets for the Big G series, there will be no problem in doubling the annual sales volume of the Big G series, let alone exceeding the current 200,000 units. .”

Cao Yang gave his instructions very directly.

Soon, China will have policies related to the "One Road, One Belt" and "Silk Road" policies, which will be very beneficial for Chinese car companies to enter the Central Asian market.

There is no rush to promote Xingchen Auto’s other products in Central Asia, but the Big G series can be put to good use and sold.

Even if it does well in the future, the Big G series can rely on sales in countries and regions with poor terrain and environment, and it will be able to do very well.

This kind of differentiated marketing is something that other car companies have not noticed yet.

Sales volume has reached more than 800,000. If Xingchen Motors wants to develop further, it must work on some details.

Otherwise, everyone has BMW and Mercedes-Benz models to choose from, and there are also models with higher brand power such as Porsche.

If Xingchen Automobile wants to make further breakthroughs, the pressure will be greater.

"Our sales department did not pay special attention to the vast Central Asian region before."

After listening to Cao Yang's words, Zeng Tingting first expressed her attitude of admitting her mistake.

Even in this matter, she couldn't say she was at fault.

"Mr. Cao, next we plan to promote the Big G series to various countries around China, especially the herdsmen in some places, who actually have a lot of money in their hands."

"Their demand for hard-core off-road vehicles is objective."

"At the same time, we will further increase our promotion efforts in Africa and South America and strive to achieve some breakthroughs in these markets."

Zeng Tingting also realized that the previous promotion plan of Xingchen Automobile’s Big G series was not perfect.

Different models of the same brand may have very different audiences.

In different markets, the popularity is completely different.

For example, Japan's K-CAR sells very well in their country.

But if this kind of car is sold in China, it will definitely be a disaster.

Similarly, various large-displacement pickup trucks are selling very well in the United States.

But if these cars are vigorously promoted by China, they will definitely be sold on the street.

The most appropriate solution is to adapt to local conditions and choose the most suitable model to promote in the corresponding market.

…

When the Xingchen Automobile G series achieved very good results both at home and abroad, Pan Jun also came to Cao Yang with a special plan.

"Mr. Cao, the relevant departments want to specially customize a batch of Xingchen G7 and G9. These cars only need to maintain the current powertrain system, body and chassis, and the interior can be simplified to the greatest extent."

"For example, you don't need to have large screens, leather seats, various high-performance speakers, refrigerators and other things."

"As long as it does not have a big impact on vehicle performance, all configurations that can reduce costs can be eliminated."

Just after the New Year's Day holiday, Pan Jun brought a special order to Cao Yang.

The Xingchen G series models have been on the market for more than a year, and everyone knows how good they are.

To put it bluntly, in terms of off-road performance, the Xingchen Big G has no rivals.

The relevant departments are naturally knowledgeable.

In many places, vehicles from relevant departments often have to travel in areas with poor road conditions.

Even if they are stationed near cities, the usage environment of their vehicles is very different from that of ordinary consumers.

Therefore, ordinary vehicles are not suitable for them.

Hardcore off-road vehicles are basically their standard equipment.

In the past, Mitsubishi's Pajero and Toyota's Prado were their favorite models.

But after all, these cars are models of foreign brands, and they are not suitable for use by relevant departments.

Especially last year, driven by the Spring City Automobile Group, international automobile giants were excluded from most official vehicle purchases.

The use of cars by relevant departments naturally follows this trend.

If you really can't find a suitable vehicle in China, you have to continue to buy a joint venture brand or an imported car, and everyone will accept it.

For example, fire trucks in various places are basically imported from Germany under the Mercedes-Benz brand.

Few people have an opinion on this.

Of course, as China's automobile industry continues to develop and grow in the future, some changes will surely slowly occur.

"Let me understand what you mean."

After listening to Pan Jun's words, Cao Yang thought for a while calmly, "The relevant departments want to use the G7 and G9 models of the Xingchen G series on a large scale as duty vehicles."

"But now the prices of these models are too high. Not only are they not expensive, they also do not meet relevant standards."

"So we hope to reduce the cost of these vehicles to the greatest extent while keeping the basic skeleton unchanged?"

What Pan Jun said was not that difficult to understand.

So Cao Yang just sorted it out briefly and clearly understood what the other party meant.

"Yes, we hope that the price of the specially customized G7 can be reduced to 300,000 to 400,000, and the price of the G9 can be reduced to 700,000 to 800,000."

Pan Jun very directly expressed the thoughts of the relevant departments.

In fact, strictly speaking, the purchase price of 700,000 to 800,000 yuan is also beyond the standard.

However, considering that the G9 is equipped with a W16 engine, which has special uses in special circumstances, and can also be used as a vehicle for leaders, the demand will naturally arise.

"If the quantity is large enough, it is not impossible to launch a customized version. We can even launch a special military green paint appearance."

"But if the quantity is small, the cost estimate will be difficult to reduce."

Cao Yang definitely supports the work of relevant departments, but he cannot make money at a loss.

A lot of money earned from related departments, at least the cost of the parts themselves must be recovered.

Some marketing expenses can be deducted from the cost, and even some R\u0026D expenses can be specially deducted from the cost.

When the time comes, it will be entirely possible to cut down on various comfort equipment and lower the prices of customized versions of G7 and G9.

To a certain extent, if relevant departments equip Xingchen cars on a large scale, it will also have a very good advertising effect for the big G series models.

Therefore, this business can definitely be considered carefully.