Rebirth 99 to become a car giant

Spring in Yangcheng is often accompanied by the return of the southern sky and non-stop rain.

In severe cases, the entire ceiling of the house became a water curtain hole, which surprised northerners who had never been in Yangcheng.

Yesterday the temperature was still in single digits, which was considered very cold in Yangcheng.

Today, the temperature suddenly rose to more than 20 degrees. It was as warm as summer, that's it.

And the result is to return to Nantian.

The floor was wet, the walls were wet, and the clothes were wet.

I feel uncomfortable all over.

When Cao Yang returned to the office early in the morning, he no longer needed to water the dieffenbachia.

Fortunately, there is a dehumidifier in the office, otherwise it would be uncomfortable to stay there.

"Mr. Cao, at last night's March 15 party, China Channel exposed the safety hazards of Volkswagen's DSG transmission."

Today is March 16. As usual, Mi Ying came to the office early and sorted out the day's schedule and yesterday's hot news items.

Obviously, the most popular thing yesterday was the 3.15 party.

“Is there finally something wrong with Volkswagen’s DSG?”

"Then they'll be in trouble this year."

In the past two years, Chinese independent brand car companies such as Nanshan Automobile Group and Chery Automobile first encircled and suppressed Korean car companies, and then dealt with Japanese car companies.

Nowadays, the market share of Korean car companies and Japanese car companies has dropped significantly, and it will be more difficult to decline further.

However, the growth rate of the overall automobile market is limited. If independent brands want to continue to grow, they must find ways to further eat up the share of other companies.

And now the most prominent ones are Volkswagen and General Motors.

Cao Yang has not yet decided whether to cause trouble this year, but Volkswagen was given a 3.15 by China Television.

"Sagitar, Magotan, Golf, Scirocco, CC, Skoda and other Volkswagen vehicles all have DSG faults, which can cause the car to suddenly stall or accelerate while driving."

"Looking at the third-party car quality evaluation platform Cheqi.cn, we can see that there are many complaints about the transmission, mainly focusing on abnormal noise, stumbling and shifting out of the transmission, accounting for 38.8% of the total failures."

"You can see through the pipe that Volkswagen's DSG defects exist on a large scale."

"So I feel that when China Channel exposed this issue this time, the words used were harsher and the words were more straightforward. This is something that was difficult to see in the past."

In Mi Ying's view, it is not strange that China Channel exposed the quality problems of Volkswagen DSG.

After all, there have been many DSG-related complaints in the past few years.

But the intensity of the exposure is a bit strong, as if it is going to severely suppress Volkswagen, but this is a bit different.

"Independent brands have made rapid technological progress in recent years, and their dependence on joint venture car companies has been relatively low."

"But Volkswagen's DSG problem has not been paid enough attention for so many years since it broke out."

"In other words, they can't pay enough attention to it, because some of the inherent problems of DSG are not so easy to solve."

"Didn't they upgrade DSG's warranty before?"

"This is actually a disguised admission of one's own problems."

"It's just that the problem has not been solved, so don't blame everyone for being rude."

The relationship between Nanshan Automobile Group and Volkswagen is not good.

Everyone has been competing against each other since the 2008 Olympic Games, and everyone has used a lot of tricks in the process.

Even the fact that Volkswagen was forced to extend the DSG warranty time was the result of Nanshan Automobile Group's push behind the scenes.

It's just that this time Huaxia Taiwan took the initiative to rush forward, and Nanshan Automobile Group will naturally not miss this opportunity.

It is estimated that among domestic independent brand car companies, except for Spring City Automobile Group and Modu Cycling Group, which have joint ventures with Volkswagen, other car companies are very happy to see this situation emerge.

"Then why don't we call Mr. Zeng and the others over to discuss how to deal with Volkswagen?"

Mi Ying is quite clear about some of Cao Yang's thoughts, so she knows that she can consider asking Zeng Tingting to do something at this time.

"You let her make some preparations first, but we don't have to rush directly to the front."

"It is estimated that people from other companies will contact us soon to see what everyone thinks."

As the only automobile company exposed on March 15 this year, Volkswagen is now sitting on the forefront.

Naturally, all car companies want to see it suffer, and they will not remain indifferent.

Sure enough, Honda, which is also worried about being in the news, is now discussing how to deal with this situation.

"Watanabe, our Honda sales in China have been declining in the past year, and last year even fell a lot compared to last year."

"Although the downward trend has stopped since the first quarter of this year, the total sales volume is still relatively low."

"Now that Volkswagen's DSG has been exposed, it has attracted consumer dissatisfaction."

"Should we consider adding fuel to the fire behind the scenes, so that Chinese consumers can vent their grievances on Volkswagen?"

As the general manager of Honda China, Seiji Nagaseki oversees all Honda’s business in China.

He is in charge of two automobile joint ventures, Xifeng Honda and Yangcheng Honda, as well as motorcycle joint ventures and auto parts companies.

But in the past year, the sales of these companies have been declining.

Now that I finally see an opportunity to improve the situation, I naturally don’t want to miss it.

Volkswagen has always been the car company with the largest sales volume of a single brand in the Chinese automobile industry. If it can capture a piece of their share, it may be able to make up for last year's decline.

At this point, Changshi Chengsi still has expectations.

"Yes, yes, but if our Chinese partners do this, the effect may be better."

"We can provide some financial support and let them find some local media and trolls to add fuel to the flames and drive down the sales of Spring City Volkswagen and Magic City Volkswagen."

"Their Passat and Magotan still put some pressure on our Accord."

"Golf and POLO compete with our Fit."

"Lavida is the most direct competitor to our newly launched Lingpai."

"Under this situation, as long as the sales of North and South Volkswagen decline, then our sales will definitely increase to a certain extent."

Taro Watanabe was previously the head of the sales department of Yangcheng Honda. Less than a year after returning to China, he was once again assigned to China and became the general manager of Yangcheng Honda.

After taking office again, he naturally hopes to boost the sales of Yangcheng Honda, so that his future will be brighter.

"Do you think Toyota and Nissan have similar ideas?"

If you fight alone, the effect will definitely not be very good.

Changshi Chengsi is relatively clear about this.

So at this time, he naturally thought of several other Japanese car companies that also had factories in Yangcheng.

Especially Toyota Motor. In Japan, Toyota Motor is the big brother, and Honda is just a local private enterprise.

"The situation of Toyota and Nissan is very similar to ours. Although the Camry, Teana and our Accord are direct competitors, if we can jointly take away a little of the market share of German car companies, then we will not be under so much pressure. It’s big.”

Taro Watanabe definitely supports pulling Toyota and Nissan together to deal with Volkswagen.

There is strength in numbers.

In this matter of encircling and suppressing Volkswagen, it is naturally more appropriate for everyone to unite.

"Then go and communicate with the people from Xifeng Nissan and Yangcheng Toyota."

"Especially Yangcheng Toyota, which has a common shareholder with Yangcheng Honda."

"We can let the Yangcheng Automobile Group communicate with us and let them work together to help."

Changshi Chengsi naturally knew that this was the time to make full use of the strength of the joint venture parties.

When doing things in China, it is definitely more convenient to find partners.

"I estimate that not only will we deal with Volkswagen this time, China Honda's own brand car companies will not miss such a good opportunity."

"When the time comes, all parties will act together to carve up part of Volkswagen's market share."

“As for who can grab the most share in the end, it all depends on their own abilities.”

Taro Watanabe is still relatively confident that he can overtake China's own brands.

After all, the brand power of North and South Volkswagen is relatively high, and it cannot be easily surpassed by China's own brands.

There is not much difference between the Honda brand and the Volkswagen brand. Even in South China, the influence of the Honda brand is slightly stronger than that of the Volkswagen brand.

"What you said makes sense, so act as soon as possible."

Following the conversation between Nagase Seiji and Watanabe Taro, Japanese car companies soon started to make news.

In this day and age, which car company doesn’t have several long-term advertising agencies?

Which advertising agency doesn’t know several marketing companies that specialize in trolling?

So when these actions came together, there was immediate movement on the Internet.

At the same time, China’s own brands will definitely not miss this opportunity.

"Mr. Cao, Volkswagen has gone too far. The DSG problem is so serious, but it has never come up with any decent solution."

"There is no harm without comparison. There have been very few consumer complaints about our various products of Nanshan Transmission in recent years."

Yin Chuan from Changan Automobile personally called Cao Yang.

Among domestic independent brand car companies, many are already using some of their own engines and are even developing their own gearboxes.

Only Changan Automobile has so far not operated the engine and gearbox in its passenger cars.

The engines and gearboxes on their passenger cars are all supplied by Nanshan Engine and Nanshan Transmission.

This is also an important reason why the relationship between Changan Automobile and Nanshan Automobile Group is getting better and better.

Even Nanshan Auto Parts is willing to take the initiative to help Changan Automobile make some improvements to the small engines used in microcars so that their microcars can maintain full competitiveness.

"Spring City Volkswagen and Modu Volkswagen are both well-established domestic joint venture car companies, and their recognition in the north is still very high."

"I guess people think that no matter how hard it is, consumers will still choose mass brands."

"This time, we have to teach them how to behave and let them put away their arrogance."

Cao Yang could naturally guess the purpose of Yin Chuan calling him at this time to talk about Volkswagen.

So let’s just jump into the topic directly.

To encircle and suppress Volkswagen, it is definitely not possible to simply rely on Nanshan Automobile Group.

We need everyone to take action together.

"Yes, Changan Ford has contacted me and said that Ford also wants to take this opportunity to teach Volkswagen a lesson."

Yin Chuan inadvertently sold the Ford car.

"This is normal. Ford's second position in the world can no longer be maintained, and Volkswagen is responsible for this."

"Ford has invested in many new models in China in the past few years, and many more models will be launched intensively this year and next year."

"It can be said that this year is when Ford is hitting high sales in China, so it naturally hopes to seize some markets from other OEMs."

Cao Yang is relatively familiar with the situation of Ford Motors.

Among the major car companies in the world, the relationship between Ford Motor and Nanshan Automobile Group is relatively good.

Of course, this is really just relative.

After all, the other party has never planned to form a comprehensive strategic cooperation with Nanshan Automobile Group.

On the contrary, in terms of gearboxes and engines, we hope to carry out re-development based on the technology of Nanshan Automobile Group.

This is certainly not the result Cao Yang wants to see the most.

"Yes, Ford headquarters hopes to hit the sales target of 1 million units in the next five years. Now Changan Ford is also trying its best internally to expand the market."

"If everyone wants to attack Volkswagen together, Changan Ford will definitely be willing to take the lead."

"When the time comes, we will work together to make this matter continue to be popular."

"Only in this way can the final effect be achieved."

Yin Chuan knew that simply dealing with Volkswagen in a certain month would have very limited effect.

After all, consumers are often forgetful and easily led by various propaganda.

If everyone can work together to make Volkswagen's bad news appear in the eyes of consumers every day, only then can it have real effects.

Yin Chuan is very sure about this.

"I also think we need to encircle and suppress Volkswagen, otherwise his position as the boss will be too comfortable, which will not be conducive to the further development of China's automobile industry."

With Cao Yang, Yin Chuan knew what was going on.

This time, Huaxia TV’s sharp 3.15 can be regarded as the beginning of a new war to encircle and suppress the masses.

However, in the face of the news exposed by China Television, not every company has the same attitude.

For example, Great Wall Motors is a bit confused now.

"Mr. Wang, the DSG I am developing has the same working principle as Volkswagen's DSG."

"Although we have tried our best to avoid the recurrence of various problems that occurred on Volkswagen DSG during the development process, there are some things that cannot be completely avoided due to structural reasons."

"Now that Volkswagen DSG has been exposed by China Channel, public opinion on the Internet is very unfriendly to DSG."

"At this time, many people feel that AT is the most suitable."

"Don't even say 10AT or 8AT, just 6AT and 4AT. Many consumers think they are good."

"So I think the company's plan for installing DSG on new models should be appropriately conservative and only install it on some models."

"Even for the same model, we can equip part with DSG and part with 6AT or 8AT."

“This way we can fully avoid related risks.”

As the director of Changan Automobile Technology Center, Zhu Jianbo felt the need to make things clear to Wang Ying.

Otherwise, when Great Wall Motors equips its own DSG on a large scale, and the same problems as Volkswagen arise, he will probably be in trouble.

Even though Great Wall Motors has been developing very smoothly in recent years, it is not without pressure.

In the past few years, competition among independent brands was not so fierce. Everyone was busy grabbing share of joint venture car companies and new markets.

However, as the market growth slows down, it is inevitable that competition among independent brands will become more intense.

Great Wall Motors focuses on SUV models, but other car companies such as BYD, Changan, Chery, Geely, Yangcheng Trumpchi, and Nanshan Hongqi also have their own specialty SUV models.

When the time comes for everyone to fight together, it’s really hard to say what the situation will be like.

It would be embarrassing if the DSG developed by Great Wall Motors fell out of fashion at this time.

"I heard that Chery Automobile is also developing a DSG gearbox, right?"

Wang Ying can naturally feel the meaning contained in Zhu Jianbo's proposal.

However, the company finally came up with a core component of its own, but it ended up being unable to use it on a large scale due to quality concerns. This must be a bit frustrating.

So she also wanted to see how other friends and businessmen responded to this situation.

"Yes, Chery Automobile is developing its own engines and gearboxes."

"It has become less and less that they directly purchase Nanshan engines and Nanshan gearboxes."

"If it weren't for the fact that many parts of the entire vehicle were purchased from Nanshan Auto Parts, their relationship with Nanshan Automobile Group would probably become worse and worse."

Zhu Jianbo is naturally very familiar with the situation of several major domestic competitors.

In his opinion, these opponents use different methods, and it is difficult to say which one is the best.

"In other words, even if DSG still has some problems, Chery Automobile continues to use it?"

Wang Ying further confirmed.

DSG is essentially an AMT gearbox developed based on MT, and the cost is relatively low.

Especially when the relevant parts are purchased from China, the cost can definitely be much lower than that of 6AT.

Therefore, whether from the perspective of reducing costs or getting rid of dependence on Nanshan gearboxes, Chery Automobile and other car companies have the idea of ​​​​promoting the development of DSG.

"Yes, you can say that."

"But I think if the Volkswagen incident becomes a big deal this time, I guess Chery Automobile will also appropriately reduce the loading rate of DSG models."

"Otherwise, their position as China's number one independent brand may not be preserved."

When Zhu Jianbo said this, Wang Ying also thought of something and said: "Aren't we discussing with Daystar Technology about investing in the Starlink satellite system?"

"Representatives from several other car companies should also be communicating with each other."

"Do you think there is any other meaning behind China TV's use of DSG to specifically target Volkswagen this time?"

Wang Ying suddenly lost his mind.

She knew that Xia Qingqing, the niece of the deputy director of China Channel, was the general manager of Honor Technology and had a very close relationship with Daystar Technology.

Therefore, among the various domestic car companies, Nanshan Automobile Group has the best relationship with Huaxia Taiwan.

The large-scale popularization of DSG gearboxes has the greatest harm and impact on Nanshan gearboxes.

It seems that it is not impossible to use the help of China Television to suppress the development of domestic DSG gearboxes?

Thinking of this, Wang Ying's mood became complicated.

"It's a little hard to say, but what is certain is that after this incident, the reputation of DSG gearboxes in China has definitely deteriorated."

"It will also have some bad effects on us."

"I heard that Changan Automobile is in contact with our sales department and wants to use this opportunity to start a campaign to suppress Volkswagen."

"After learning about the news, Director Lian Furong of the Sales Department specially talked to me."

"That's why I came to you to report on the gearbox planning issues for new models in the future."

When Zhu Jianbo said this, Wang Ying became even more confused.

Within Great Wall Motors, she has always been known as the Iron Lady and is not someone who gets entangled easily.

However, the situation this time is a little different.

Great Wall Motors is definitely not suitable for swimming against the current, as that would be very bad luck.

After all, there are many car companies that hope to carve up a share of Volkswagen.

Even Great Wall Motors itself wants to grab a piece of cake.

"Our DSG gearbox will be installed on some models in the future."

"Then we must also design and develop a gearbox equipped with 6AT at the same time, and complete the relevant certification work so that it can be launched into the market at any time."

"Once our DSG-derived models become difficult to sell, we will launch the 6AT model."

After much deliberation, Wang Ying came up with a more compromise plan.

Promoting the independent development and production of Great Wall Motor's engines and gearboxes is the company's grand strategy.

This is not something she can directly overturn.

Under this grand strategy, how to make some adjustments based on the actual situation is an issue she needs to consider now.

Zhu Jianbo can understand Wang Ying's difficulties.

This plan is also more in line with his ideas.

After all, they have made two preparations. If any problem occurs, Great Wall Motors can respond quickly.

However, Great Wall Motors can make two preparations, while some car companies are more embarrassed.

At this moment, Zhu Zhengfeng of Spring City Automobile Group was debating whether to call Cao Yang to communicate.