Technology Strategy Determines Global "Overlord"

At the beginning of the second decade of the new century, the Chinese automotive market ushered in the wave of secondary car consumption. At this time, first-tier cities have entered the era of second-wheel car purchase, and the third- and fourth-tier cities will become the main force of future consumption. This dual consumption structure will have a profound effect on the Chinese auto market.

In response to this, before the Shanghai Auto Show, Yu Hongjiang, deputy general manager of FAW Mazda Motor Sales Co., Ltd., accepted the newspaper's exclusive interview, admitting that the above changes are having some negative effects on the company. "Because we don't have low-end products, the sales channel is not sinking at a high speed," Yu Hongjiang quickly explained, because the "retreat" rate in the first-tier cities is also relatively slow, so the first-tier cities have increased the threshold for car purchase. Little influence on a horse.

The positive and negative effects of the trend "21st Century": The second wave of consumption is coming. What will be the impact on Chinese auto companies?

Yu Hongjiang: The shift in the consumption of the automotive market from the first-tier cities to the second-tier and third-tier cities is an inevitable historical development. In fact, major auto makers have basically predicted the development trend since 10 years ago and have already started their own layout. Therefore, when the second wave of consumption came, the impact on most car companies was not significant. Except for the special situation in Beijing, car companies have already prepared for the gradual evolution of other levels of markets.

"21st Century": How does FAW Mazda respond to this changing consumption pattern?

Yu Hongjiang: To be frank, the emergence of this dual consumption structure has some negative effects on FAW Mazda (hereinafter referred to as a horse). The Mazda brand's market layout in China is different from others. Although other brands have two joint ventures, the product line of each company is complete from high to low. And Mazda will be the high-end models and low-end models were assigned to a horse and Changan Mazda, which makes a horse is currently the cheapest model is also 15 million. When the market began to shift to the second and third-tier cities, because we did not have low-end products, the sales channels did not sink quickly, which is a disadvantageous aspect. On the positive side, our “retreat” rate in the first-tier cities is also relatively slow. Therefore, the increase in the threshold for car purchases in first-tier cities has almost no impact on one horse.

Of course, we have also taken some specific measures to enhance the marketing network coverage of one horse in third-tier cities. For example, we have divided the distribution agent's hardware conditions into fine ones, one, two, and three levels of agents. Each class of agents has an accurate calculation of the operating costs and the rate of return on investment, making it possible to develop a small scale. Investors with few investments but certain operational capabilities to cover third- and fourth-tier cities will be able to get rid of the short product line problem.

"21st Century": Some people think that the growth momentum of the third and fourth tier cities can only last about five years. After five years, where is the driving force of China's auto market growth? Do you have any thoughts on this issue?

Yu Hongjiang: First of all, everyone has a different understanding of the concept of third- and fourth-tier cities. There are several thousand cities in China. If we follow the general definition of third- and fourth-tier cities, the future five- and six-tier cities will also develop. This is one aspect. In addition, in fact, the consumption of auto markets in first and second-tier cities is not saturated. Super-large cities like Beijing and Shanghai are special cases. The future second-tier cities will gradually reach the level of consumption released by the current first-tier cities, and the third and fourth-tier cities will achieve Second-tier cities' consumption levels are recursively step by step. According to the concept of thousands of people, China's auto market has continued to grow for another decade without problem.

"21st Century": You just mentioned that this year's auto market in Beijing will be rather special, so whether the horse has introduced some measures to deal with changes in the Beijing market policy?

Yu Hongjiang: At present, we have not taken any measures to respond to the Beijing market. We believe that it is not appropriate to respond to the Beijing market now. From the beginning of the year to the present, the change in the Beijing auto market is not only due to the influence of policy factors. At the same time, there was also the early release of sales last year and the wait-and-see attitude of the users for the market this year. Coupled with the restrictions of the policies, the Beijing market was surprisingly cold in the first quarter of this year.

For example, in terms of sales of new cars, due to the phenomenon of discarding numbers, monthly sales of new vehicles are much lower than expected. In terms of replacement of used cars, due to the higher prices of used cars in Beijing, most of the second-hand cars have to be transferred to the foreign market, which makes users have a wait-and-see expectation on the market price of used cars in Beijing. In both cases, I believe that any measures taken by companies will not produce very good market results. However, once Beijing’s replacement of used cars is restored, our response to this situation is already well prepared.

"21st Century": What kind of development trend do you think this year's auto market will show in the event of sudden changes in policy trends?

Yu Hongjiang: The development of China's automobile market is based on the increase in GDP and the increase in residents' income. As long as the growth rate of GDP does not diminish, the consumer demand for cars will always exist. Policy restrictions can only change parts or delay some of the demand, but this demand is rigid. The desire of the Chinese people to change their living standards is very strong and unstoppable. Therefore, the prediction of the automobile market need not focus too much on micro factors. As long as GDP is rising, the growth rate of the auto market is rising.

In my opinion, the growth rate of China's auto market this year will surely be in double digits. It will not be a single digit. Although the auto market conditions in January and February were very cool, there was a clear return to heating from the end of March. The warming up in early April was even more apparent. Perhaps the April sales data will still show a significant year-on-year growth. The phenomenon.

"21st Century": Now everyone is more concerned about the impact of the Japanese earthquake on Japanese cars. What is the situation on Mazda's side?

Yu Hongjiang: In all Japanese car companies, Mazda's impact may be relatively small. Because Mazda was headquartered in southern Japan and was not affected by the disaster, its current problem is mainly in fittings, so as soon as the accessories can keep up, it will be able to resume production immediately. While several other Japanese manufacturers may have problems with their power supply, it will be more difficult to resume production.

"21st Century": At present, Toyota, GM, and the public are seeking global "dominant" status. Who do you think is most likely to achieve this goal?

Yu Hongjiang: From a technical point of view, Japanese car companies generally put their future technology strategies on electric vehicles, while VW’s technology strategy is to improve the technology on conventional internal combustion engines. Currently, this technology is becoming more and more mature. Take advantage of it, so the successful sales of VW models in the market are based on technology. The advantage of GM is reflected in the strategic layout. It is globally deployed, so it has mastered the improvement techniques of some conventional internal combustion engines from Europe. Therefore, GM has a leading edge over Japanese cars in terms of technology. According to this kind of logic analysis, GM and Volkswagen are more likely to be closer to the world's number one than Japanese automakers. From the perspective of historical development, it is more likely that GM will approach first.