With the "promotion" of Changan Automobile, will the situation of the "Big Three" group holding the first camp for a long time be shaken?

Partially southwest, but the brand made a living, Chang'an, unable to hold back.

On June 2nd, the opening ceremony of the new fishery group of Chongqing Newtown, the opening of a new base for Changan Automobile and Engine, and the establishment of the Chongqing Energy Conservation and New Energy Automobile Industry Alliance were held.

The new base covers an area of ​​more than 2,000 mu, with a total investment of 2.5 billion yuan, reaching 300,000 complete vehicles and 1 million engines, and will eventually build 600,000 complete vehicles and 2 million engines. The goal of Chang'an is to build China's largest and lowest carbon emission production base.

Chang'an intended to be what?

As early as February 28, 2009, China Armed Forces Group held a signing ceremony for the joint signing of Changan minicar and the six major motorcycle brands at the Shangri-La Hotel in Beijing. Xu Liping, president of Changan, announced that it would achieve a total sales volume of 2 million. The goal of the vehicle. On March 18th, Xu Liuping proposed: In order to achieve the 2010 target, Changan will invest 6 billion yuan for independent innovation, concentrate on building 7 car platforms, 5 mini-vehicle platforms, 3 new engine platforms, and accelerate the launch of a series of independent research and development. The self-owned brand cars and engines entered major market segments.

Coincidentally, the announced target was four days after the “Detailed Rules for the Adjustment and Revitalization of the Automotive Industry” was published; 2 million units sold no less than a few and happened to step into the threshold of the first camp of the Chinese automobile industry as specified in the “Detailed Rules”. It is not difficult to read Xu Liuping's thoughts after a short while.

There are three major automobile groups in the United States, as well as in China. It is known to all that it is FAW, SAIC, and Dongfeng. After the "Detailed Rules" was exposed, the more clear information was that the state will increase the merger and reorganization of domestic automobiles, and bring the number of auto enterprise groups with annual sales of more than 2 million units to two to three. Compared to the "Eleventh Five-Year Plan" development plan for China's auto industry that began in 2007, the introduction of the "Detailed Rules" brought about subtle changes. The number of people in the first camp will change from 1 to 2 homes to 2 to 3 homes. If it is two, it seems that there is not much suspense; if it is three, the location of the probe will be the Dongfeng sit still?

The "big three" or "four big", but the difference between the number, but attracted companies to compete.

When the spring came to a smile, Dongfeng

Both Health Yu, He Shengliang?

After failing to see FAW and SAIC, the Dongfeng, which is closest to itself, has clearly become the most direct catch-up target of Chang'an. Of course, for the Dongfeng, this point of view is also tacit.

After the New Year's Day in 2009, Chang'an sales appeared blowouts. In just a few days, Nissan sold 2,000 units, and its 2008 average daily production and sales volume was about 1,000 units, which doubled. In the January 2009 domestic automobile sales ranking published by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, Changan’s overall car sales exceeded Dongfeng Motor by a margin of 200 units.

Although Chang'an itself believes that this time it is favored by the state because the government authorities affirmed Chang'an achievements in recent years, there are still many people who questioned whether it was because of the background of the military. Chang’an needs a victory to prove that it was worthy of being included in the “first tier” by the “Plan”.

Next, the media began to appear in the Chinese auto industry's "exploration of flowers" who spent their discussions. On the stock market, after Changan Automobile resumed trading on February 16, 2009, it continuously pulled out 7 daily limit, which was very aggressive.

Objectively speaking, Chang'an does show a strong upward trend, but in a sense, its sales in January surpassed Dongfeng with certain contingency. On the policy front, due to the fact that Dongfeng does not dominate in micro-vehicles, self-owned brands, and new energy vehicles, it naturally lacks the benefits of policies; because the overall macroeconomic environment has not been significantly changed, fuel tax reforms and the purchase of low-emission vehicles The favorable scope of tax incentives is limited, and the situation of Dongfeng Commercial Vehicles is still grim. However, due to the delay in the changes in senior personnel within the company, the rumors of resignation from the office have become rumors, and it has also brought many uncertainties to the development of Dongfeng.

Of course, the market does not always operate with the will of one side. Although the Dongfeng is currently facing difficulties, but in the top three dominated for more than 30 years, the strength is beyond doubt, how could we sit still? Even if the actual decline in January 2009 is so fierce, but in terms of sales, there is still a considerable gap between Chang'an and Dongfeng.

Back in 2004, Chang’an also once lost its sales to the automobile group's top three by virtue of its absolute superiority in the micro-vehicle industry and temporarily pushed out Dongfeng on the sales scale. However, one year later it was regained by the east wind and this nightmare was heavy. Wen maintained only for a month. In February 2009, Dongfeng took the lead of 10,440,000 units to reach Chang'an's 93.5 thousand units. In March of that year, it further expanded its sales advantage to 145,300 units. In the statistics report of the Automobile Industry Association in mid-May 2009, the top four car sales remained as follows: SAIC, FAW, Dongfeng, and Chang'an, with sales of 768,900 units, 527,300 units, 498,800 units, and 427,800 units.

"Exceeding Dongfeng's objective conditions requires Chang'an to have sufficient capital to invest in product R&D and the rapid expansion of production lines. Otherwise, it will probably lose a good opportunity." Car industry veteran Jia Xinguang thinks this way.

Good fighters seek momentum

What is important in life is not the position it stands for, but the direction it is facing. This sentence is as useful as business management.

Although the position of the “third child” was quickly recaptured by Dongfeng, Chang’an's sales and sales boom in the first quarter of 2009 was still gratifying. In April, domestic car sales were generally brighter. Changan Automobile released its own data and sold 118,800 vehicles in the month, a year-on-year increase of 50%, and the growth rate was 2 times that of the industry. Among them, self-owned car sales increased by 80% year-on-year.

Undoubtedly, macroeconomics and the automotive market tend to be warmer. In particular, the country’s supportive policies have great influence on market confidence and consumer sentiment. However, not only Chang’an, but also Chang’an enjoys the benefits of tax reform. Chang'an's good start is not just about luck, but also related to its accurate policy pre-judgment and related market preparation in advance.

With technical and marketing capabilities, Chang’an may not dare to specialize in expertise, but Chang’an is a middle school leader in policy research.

“There has never been a pure economics, only political economics. From my personal point of view, I think that political science determines economics.” Xu Liuping said at an open media exchange. The chief of Chang'an and Zhuang's forces has a professional background in Doctor of Management Economics and is well-versed in the martial arts of “One step ahead, step by step”.

Micro-cars are the traditional strengths of Chang'an, but since 2006, after the throne of the “big boss” was taken away, Chang’an mini-cars have been reluctantly tried. On December 21, 2008, after Premier Wen Jiabao visited Chang'an, Chang'an took the lead in setting off a round of offensive in the field of micro-vehicles, intending to stage a "return of the king."

On the inspection day, Wen Jiabao saw Xu Liuping’s first sentence: “What I care about most is how difficult the auto industry has been since the financial crisis.” Xu Liuping showed that after Chang’an’s determination to overcome difficulties, he lost no time in proposing to encourage micro-cars. Township, development of new energy vehicles and other proposals, after the approval of Premier Wen Jiabao, Changan immediately began preparations for micro-car to the countryside.

On January 14, 2009, the State Council meeting reviewed and approved in principle the “Industrial Revitalization Plan”, and Chang’an threw out a well-prepared “deciding to win rural” plan at the earliest time: the plan put out 100 million yuan to carry out Changan mini vehicle terminal subsidy. The plan will be implemented until March 30. This will enable Chang'an to achieve seamless integration before the national policy on March 1 comes out. This plan won first and it also substantially promoted Changan mini-vehicle sales to increase by more than 30% in January.

Not only that, Chang'an has another way.

Before the car went to the countryside, home appliances and motorcycles have been approved. Chang'an felt their demand keenly and quickly seized the opportunity. On January 13, 2009, Changan entered into a sales agreement for 10,000 microcars with Jiangsu Sunyu New Energy Group; on February 17, 2009, it was determined on the “Changan Micro-vehicle and Motorcycle Jointly-to-Country Strategy Promotion Summit”. Chang'an tailored tens of thousands of micro-vehicles for the five motorcycle brands owned by the Armed Forces Group. As a motorcycle propaganda and service vehicle for the county-level network after going to the countryside, Changan also tasted the happiness of “brothers”.

Indeed, Changan, as a subsidiary of the Chinese Armed Forces Group, has a strong sense of government. It naturally has its own innate advantages for the pre-judgment and study of state policies. However, only these are not enough, rapid market reaction capabilities and work-around strategies are the keys to their ability to take the lead in the market.

To further expand market share, business policies and network construction are very important. However, since 2004, Changan Automobile has shifted its focus from mini-vehicle to “based on sedan-based, micro-based”, and has not had the same level of business policies as dealers, directly affecting the mini-vehicle business. The construction has also been plunged into relative stagnation, which has directly led to SAIC-GM-Wuling’s overtaking in 2006.

After knowing shame and being brave, Changan began to adjust the mini vehicle strategy and tried to further explore the network.

The goal of Chang’an is to build 1,000 “Changan Family Houses” on the basis of more than 1,260 service outlets in 2009 to facilitate maintenance. In the entire country, it is necessary to reach each county's outlets in Chang'an, and in the more developed eastern regions, the outlets must also be allocated to the township level or even the village level. At the same time, establish a mobile service station and regularly go to the village for maintenance and service.

Chen Jiang, a research partner at Beijing University, and a researcher in the automotive industry, pointed out that “sales network sinking” is the deadly weapon of SAIC-GM-Wuling’s anti-super Changan microcar that year.

In order to restore the lost mini-car dynasty, Chang’an worked hard for nearly two years. In addition to improving channel construction, new product development and structural optimization are also important links. New products such as the S460 and Starlight 4500 have made many improvements to the special needs of the rural market, including raising the chassis; replacing spiral springs with leaf springs to enhance the loading capacity of mini vehicles; widening the mini vehicle body, expanding space, and rear Seat flexible design and more.

As if losing the lover who knew and cherished, Chang'an began to counterattack.

The bumper sales of the mini-vehicle business in the first quarter of 2009 provided a reason for Chang'an. Once the micro-vehicle was successfully restored, it was not just a one-time increase in sales volume. Linked to the threshold of 2 million in the first camp of the "Detailed Rules", the rapid growth of the mini-vehicle business is a qualitative leap for Changan.

Infinity scenery in the dangerous peak

In fact, if it wasn’t for the “car to the countryside” policy, the enormous potential it released would make Chang’an himself pleasantly surprised once. Micro-vehicle, a disfavored child, could hardly get such a care. Since the product development strategy has been adjusted to "wealth-based, sedan-based", Changan has already shouted: I want to do a big job in sedan.

If we say that micro-car is the reality of Chang'an, then the car is the ideal of Chang'an.

As the fourth-largest auto sales group in China, the major profit leader is the joint-venture brand. Changan has not been straight in front of collaborators such as Suzuki and Ford, and both the former and the latter chairman are well aware of their own brand strategy. Meaning, despite the ups and downs along the way, it did not shy away.

On March 18th, 2009, Changan launched the latest global strategic model - Chang'an Yuexiang in Chongqing.

But when it comes to the word "strategy," people will inevitably take a high look because it means the direction and trend of development. As a result, new cars are often given the title of "strategic cars" to show their unusual status. However, this time listed Yuexiang did not take the word “strategy” as a gimmick. After successively launching several self-owned brands of cars, they faced the cold market. For Changan, the pressure was far more than joy.

In fact, Chang’an, which was launched at the beginning of the introduction of passenger cars in 2006, had also won the first battle, but then, the road to autonomy was no longer smooth.

Changan’s first MPV product, Jiexun, was listed on April 20, 2007. Due to the fact that its competitive advantage in terms of price is not as obvious as that of similar self-owned brand models, it is weaker than its major competitors in the product brand, and its performance is poor after the listing. .

In January 2009, Jie Xun as the only hybrid car to enter Zhongnanhai, brand awareness is expected to increase, but the performance is still unpredictable.

Zhixiang, which was listed on April 20th, 2008, is Changan's first brand new mid-size sedan. The company won the bid for the government official car project shortly after its listing, but the market competition it faces is unprecedentedly strong. Overall, the price advantage is still not obvious. Zhixiang’s The situation is worrying.

The Benben situation is slightly better, but due to the emergence of new models in this market segment, it seems that there is not enough stamina.

At the time when the Changan headquarters's own-brand car was hit, the classic case of the Yangtze River, once hailed as a reorganization of the automobile industry, was under tremendous pressure.

The first child's landwind style bred beyond imagination. The original plan was launched in 2005 to catch up with the rapid growth of automobiles in 2006. However, due to off-site production, it was not released until December 30, 2005, and it was only launched on May 18, 2006. The slowdown in listing directly led to a missed sales opportunity. Since then, the slow construction of the sales network has also caused a dismal start to the fashion of the landwinds. The monthly sales volume has been between one and two hundred vehicles, and even several tens of vehicles in individual months. Landwind Fenghua, which was listed on October 28, 2007, is known as the “Changan Carnival” but its performance is still not satisfactory. In 2008, it sold 3,265 vehicles.

In this way, Yue Xiang was pushed to the back-to-back situation and became a fighter who did not allow defeat. Chang An understands that if Yue Xiang fails again, many of its follow-up plans will be hindered, and the road for passenger cars will go even further.

It is said that Xu Liuping approved the "unsuccessful is a benevolence" in Yue Xiang's design plan, which shows his great expectations. In order to make this car, Changan invited the world's top designer, Mr. Lucia Arro, to design his own knife, and brought together experts from international companies such as BMW, Toyota, and Mazda. "The cost of 300 million yuan, which lasted 3 years" shows that it is well-intentioned.

However, the cruelty of the market is that if you don’t work hard, it will not be successful, and your efforts will not necessarily succeed. Condensed with such efforts, Yue Xiang can carry the hope of Chang'an?

All along, the mid-size car has always been a contestable place for major brand manufacturers. Both sales volume and market contribution have an unparalleled position, such as the free-ship's in Geely, F3's in BYD, A3+A5's in Chery Automobile and so on. Junjie’s Yuhua Chen, these relatively smooth independent brands, have not been firmly established in the mid-size car.

For the back-to-back product, Yue Xiang originally decided to go public last year, but it was postponed until this year, and a lot of effort was put into the consistency of reliability and quality.

From the aspect of product strength, relative to 60,000 F3, A7 starting from 74,000, Junjie around 75,000, and Yuexiang starting from 53,900 occupying a cost-effective opportunity, it has the opportunity to compete with the leader, with the help of this country. It is difficult for the policy to support independent brands and enter the second-line camp of the same class. However, whether it can truly gain a firm foothold in the market, sales must achieve a qualitative breakthrough.

In order to complete the strategic layout of the model, the external role as a leader in the attack, strong headed, Yue Xiang did not retreat. As a production vehicle, both sales volume and brand building are days that will reduce the number of employees.

Changan, who has always insisted on independent development, is not very clear about the external image of its own brand. When it comes to self-owned brands, people think of Chery, Geely, BYD, etc., and few people include Chang'an among them. However, as early as the Yin Jiaxu era, Changan had already invested huge funds for independent research and development. In 2003, Changan invested 3 billion yuan to establish an Italian R&D center. After several years of research and development, Changan has established a complete R&D system: Chang'an Automobile Engineering Research Institute in China, Japan and Italy, and Chang'an Automobile Shanghai Engineering Research Institute. , Chang'an Automobile Japan Design Center, Chang'an Automobile Europe Design Center and other "three countries and four places" global R & D pattern.

In comparison, Dongfeng has not yet possessed its own independent brands in the real sense. The only one that can be called its own brand is only Dongfeng “well-to-do” or the platform technology of the old Chang’an Star, which is also a great deal of its own. The cause of criticism in the industry. At the Shanghai Auto Show in April 2009, Dongfeng debuted its first self-owned brand model, Fengshen. However, from the perspective of the positioning of its C-class car, the difficulty of fighting will not be less than Yue Xiang. As a new and new human being with its own brand, Dongfeng wants to be accepted by consumers and needs to wait longer than Changan.

Wall of flowering wall outside incense

Foreign award-winning movies may not be called in the country. The ugly women in the eyes of the people may be the beauty of foreigners. Although the status of China's self-owned brand cars in the domestic market is not yet firm enough, its cost-effective advantages can only obtain greater market space after “going out”.

According to Changan's "8882" overseas strategic plan, by 2010, Changan will push 8 models, 4 passenger cars and 4 commercial vehicles overseas, form 8 core markets, establish 8 overseas production bases, and realize overseas sales of 200,000 yuan. Vehicle. The newly launched Yuexiang will also be exported overseas as Changan’s best-selling small-displacement vehicle.

Chang'an’s overseas expansion news at this time undoubtedly led to many arguments—to go to the United States to set up a joint venture, to produce pickup trucks that the old American is best at; to enter the humble Malaysian market, to enter the Southeast Asia as a springboard; then go further Detroit, in the United States under the eyes of the three major car companies to open recruitment competitions ... ... Chang'an car every move, there are some unpredictable.

The US market, which has always been regarded as a ban on the export of Chinese automobiles, was finally achieved a “zero breakthrough” by Chang’an on July 30, 2008. In the United States, in Potau City, Oklahoma, the United States Tiger Trucks and Changan established a joint venture to build two small-displacement trucks and become the first “American car manufacturer in China”. Although starting from the low end, for a company that has unlimited opportunities for the US market, the development of the market will not stop there.

On February 10, local time in Mexico, Changan moved again. Xu Liuping visited Mexico with Vice President Xi Jinping and signed a joint venture and cooperation agreement with AUTOPARK. At this point, Changan's sixth overseas factory officially landed.

Zhong Shi, an analyst in the automotive industry, said that there are three purposes for domestic companies to build factories in Mexico: Mexico is one of the world’s largest automakers, and it is a “double market” with a base number and growth potential; economical cars are in the Mexican market. It is vast and more profitable than a domestic economy car; it can open up access to the US market through Mexico’s special geographic location.

Chang'an's partner, AUTOPARK, is Mexico's largest automotive sales and automotive finance company. It has a relatively complete automotive sales network and a wealth of automotive sales experience. The products produced by the joint venture company are not as good as those of the previous Tiger Truck Company. Single, but including Ben Ben, Zhi Xiang, Yue Xiang and other models with strong price advantage.

But very often it is a very extraordinary move. Courage and jealousy alone are not enough.

Chang’an chose a different strategy. Although the export market is as many as 55 countries, in the short term, it will only focus its advantage on the key sales regions, not prolong the front lines, effectively integrate and utilize resources, and focus on brand building. Once the time is ripe, it is considered. Further broaden the show. At the same time, we will strengthen the planning, sales, and service of the three major systems. Now, even if it is costly, Changan Automobile is gradually introducing a globally accepted customer claim system in key markets to ensure that customers enjoy high-quality services.

It is worth noting that, given the importance of energy conservation and environmental protection in markets such as the United States and Europe, Changan intends to promote its own cars with new technologies first, which in turn promotes sales in the domestic market.

By the end of 2008, the first batch of 30 Changan Benben electric vehicles had been put into the Canadian market. At the same time, Changan Automobile also formally signed an electric vehicle cooperation agreement with the Canadian green battery manufacturer ELECTROVAYA. In the future, Changan will directly export its self-developed electric vehicles to the North American market.

There is no doubt that Xu Liuping will not allow Changan Automobile to only be a traditional product supplier that meets the low-end needs of overseas markets. Starting from the low end, although it is the first step to open the door to overseas, next, whether it is an economical car or In high-end cars, passenger cars and commercial vehicles, whether traditional or new energy models, Changan Automobile needs to build its own rich product line overseas, although this will take a long period of time.

The advent of the financial crisis has made it harder for China’s autonomous car companies to export, including Chang’an Automobile. This is an unquestionable fact. It must be realized, however, that the financial crisis is not the only factor in frustration. The lack of technical quality, the decentralization of overseas marketing systems, and inadequate maintenance and after-sales service are all important reasons for the decline in competitiveness. It is necessary for Changan to consult with Dongfeng Modesty in these respects, because although Dongfeng temporarily misses opportunities in the areas of automobile going to the countryside, independent brands, and new energy, according to the data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, Chang'an exports in 2008 are more than those of the previous year. At the same time, Dongfeng’s export growth rate was the fastest.

Curse: The speed is not up to

Another way to expand sales is through mergers and acquisitions, which is what the "Rules" said. But thinking and doing it is not easy to unify itself. When happiness comes too suddenly, not all people can stay awake.

Although Changan launched many products in the market, it is mostly submerged in the rolling market. Looking at Chang'an's product lines, micro-cars, MPVs, compacts, mid-size cars, and new energy - many categories, cost-effective, but the fact proves that the most cost-effective line of self-owned brand models have encountered the market Waterloo, This shows that the cost-effective route cannot win. In the next five years, Changan will launch more than 10 self-owned brand cars. What are the secrets?

It is not too early for Changan’s own-brand sedan to start. It is very difficult for domestic overseas, micro-car jiajiao, and new energy vehicles to do a lot of markets at the same time, because the operating rules of various markets are not consistent, which leads to the design of models. Production, sales, and even culture all have different requirements. Perhaps the introduction of a variety of models in a short period of time can, to some extent, reflect the R&D speed of car companies. However, the marginalization of listing is very painful. At the same time, this “experience” also lays a foundation for subsequent development. The "landmines" will certainly become scars for advancement.

Chang'an has a manager who is good at judging the situation and knowing the formation of troops is a great blessing, but it is necessary to guard against the diversification traps. Chang'an's fate will depend on the construction of core competitiveness in a certain area and mature market support, not on a large scale.

This is not just a problem that plagues the Chang'an family. How to get rid of the dilemma of isolation and bring into play a synergistic advantage to reduce risks and jointly agree on industrial standards? Perhaps, we need to explore our own brands together.