Traditional car giants "worry" and "crisis" of new carmakers

[Traditional car giants "worry" and the "crisis" of new carmakers] The new and old contests have not become the subject of this year's Beijing auto show. Instead, the two forces in the auto industry have come together. Whether it is regarded as a traditional car manufacturer or a so-called “new force” that is entering, all of them are undergoing a transition under the reality and changing the waterway, but the mood of the two is very different. "If you are not fully prepared, then one day in the future, this era has eliminated you, it really has nothing to do with you." On the evening of April 23, Zhang Baolin, chairman of Changan Automobile, said at the corporate strategy conference that all words are full of sense of crisis. Starting from the announcement that Changan will start the “third entrepreneurial plan”, from the black technology to the screaming high-end brand models, from the "Beidou Tianshu" intelligent strategy to the "Shangri-La" new energy summit. Zhang Baolin said that everything Changan had to do until 2025 was still finished.

Like Zhang Baolin, he was worried about being abandoned by the times, but he did not even have the chance to say goodbye. There are many other things that have almost become the common heart disease of Chinese traditional automobile manufacturing groups. At the same time as Changan’s press conference, Beijing Automotive Group Chairman Xu Heyi also announced Beijing Automotive’s new brand strategy “Drive New Ecology” on the stage screen of T4 (Beijing Automotive Industry R&D Base), announcing consumption based on the digital age. With the trend of upgrading and rejuvenation, BAIC will shift its focus to creating a new mode of travel experience ecology, and begin the transition to “travel experience operators” and “brand upgrades”.

On the same day, the Dongfeng brand's strategic conference was held in Beijing. Baidu DuerOS's AI-enabled vehicle system—Dongfeng Fengshen Windlink3.0 and Dongfeng eπ New Energy High-performance Coupe Concept Vehicle became Dongfeng's demonstration of its active embrace of the automotive industry. And the core achievements of technological change. At the same time, the three major state-owned car enterprise groups made a declaration and promise of opening up and transformation. Before them, car companies such as Geely, Chery, and Great Wall have abandoned their hesitation in the past year, and they have been in new energy and intelligence. Travel quickly on the industry chain.

This is considered to reflect the anxiety of the traditional giants in the new energy, smart interconnection and other new technologies, as well as under the pressure of competition from the new vehicle manufacturers. It is conceivable that, like Li Shufu, who has hugely invested in Daimler, the cruel expectations of "only 2-3 companies in the world's traditional automotive industry can survive in the future" have made these board members sleepless.

Although compared with the start of the new vehicle manufacturers to talk about the ecological chain, the traditional car company bosses to build the ecosystem although a bit late, but a strong resource integration capability still allows the traditional car companies have the opportunity to come from behind. No matter whether it is the third venture of Chang’an, or the new strategy of Beiqi and Dongfeng, it is based on the trend of consumption upgrade and youthfulness in the digital era, and it has to be transformed into a high-end brand and a provider of smart travel service solutions. .

It is not easy to make this decision. At the last Beijing Auto Show two years ago, when the new vehicle builders were busy launching PPT, attracting the first VC with new energy and smart travel ecology, the traditional car giants They are still taking a wait-and-see attitude to emphasize their irreplaceable advantages. Nowadays, when the new vehicle builders enter the room, the anxiety and urgency of the transformation of the traditional car companies are also highlighted. "Difficult ship turnaround" has always been the most criticized point of the traditional car companies. This is also the biggest advantage of the new vehicle builders. In the Beijing Auto Show in 2018, from the giants of local auto companies to multinational giants such as Volkswagen, Toyota, Jaguar Land Rover, etc., all proved that the big ship is relentlessly reorienting and no longer sticks to the wealth of the original waterway, and decided to The new sea area competes with new vehicle builders. "They seem to suddenly wake up," said a senior executive of a new car company.

While the new vehicle builders made their debut, the pressure reached a new high. After completing the research and development of the first product and launching a prototype car, when it came to the final step of mass production, most new car manufacturers also stopped in front of their own factories. In order to bridge the gap between manufacturing capabilities, during the Beijing Auto Show, the cooperation between Singularity and Beijing New Energy, Changjiang EV and Futian has sprung up. This is considered to be the beginning of a new round of vertical integration.

Anxiety of Traditional Giants: Late Ecosystem

Indeed, after being "traditionally" detained, these carrier-class auto groups began to look for ways to change. "In the future, there will be no conventional cars and new cars, only smart cars and non-smart cars." This sentence appeared in Dongfeng Motor’s official press release. “There are no old or new forces in building a vehicle. I believe that they will not find it so easy after they actually landed the product.” An executive from Dongfeng Passenger Vehicle told the Economic Observer Indicated.

Once they are determined to turn around, the speed of their diversion exceeds the imagination of the outside world. At least three or four press conferences were required to warm up, build up momentum and deliver content. Now it is time to land. The media praised the fact that the amount of information is too large. It is the decision made by the traditional car companies in the past year or even only a few months. The new financing process and product promotion speed are almost calculated by the new forces of the constructors. Under the stimulus, the implementation speed of the new strategy is also constantly being refreshed.

Under the announcement of the plan to ban the sale of fuel vehicles and the continued decline in the performance of self-owned brands, BAIC will adopt a comprehensive new energy strategy. Beiqi New Energy will be listed in the third quarter of this year. BAIC Group will also have unique advantages in new energy sources. , And in terms of intelligence. It has already cooperated with Bosch, Baidu, HKUST, and other well-known high-tech companies in the fields of automatic driving, car networking, online navigation, and voice interaction, allowing BAIC to position itself as a “killer”; the same is true for travel services. Establish a number of companies. At the strategic conference on April 23rd, BAIC once again signed a cooperation agreement with a number of ecological partners and released the new concept car OFFSPACESUIT and three new-brand autos.

The new program for Chang'an's third venture is even more overwhelming. The first mention of "return to zero mentality" to start a new business, in addition to re-carding the brand structure, put forward to create a new high-end brands, and all traditional car companies, around the "intelligent" and "new energy" to create a new car ecosystem. On the eve of the Auto Show, a joint venture between Changan and Tencent, Changan's own brand will launch 30 new products on the smart car platform in the next three years. Although no major strategic move was announced at the Beijing Auto Show, SAIC and GAC have also been driving on new routes.

Li Shufu, chairman of Geely Group, declared as early as 2014 that “the automobile industry is facing a change. Although the sea looks quiet, the bottom of the sea is actually surging. Whoever does not change will die first.” 2018 In February of this year, Geely decided to invest Daimler with huge capital, but also hoped to play against Daimler in the new energy and more technical aspects of the fight against the future.

The most accumulated Chery in research and development, the progress in intelligence is even more unexpected. In this year's auto show, the theme of Chery Automobile is "The Wonderful Unlimited AI Has Come," and it showcased a smart cock named LION at the booth and an EXEED concept car - this product presents Chery Automobile's forward-looking design concept for the future. . LION's smart cockpit is part of the Chery Lion Project. In this plan, Chery released an enterprise-level intelligent strategy to intelligently upgrade all aspects of production, management, and design.

The LION Smart Cockpit incorporates the latest technologies such as holographic projection, augmented reality AR, and smart home connectivity, and is a “mobile living space” for all things connected. Chery’s interconnection plan also showcased its joint development platform. In addition, the Czech Republic under the Chery Holdings Group has also released its own platform plan, and associated industries to build cars and travel ecology. Undoubtedly, vehicle manufacturers are opening up cooperation windows to the maximum extent possible, and cooperate with companies such as the Internet, smart technology companies, and smart travel platforms. Innovating in the automobile ecosystem has become the unanimous choice of all traditional car companies. The concept of "ecology" is not new. Although the concept of music as the founder of the concept has been faltering, the ecological concept in the automobile circle is still growing. With the customer as the starting point, providing integrated solutions for product + service + travel will become the core competition of the car companies in the future. This has also become a consensus. Their decision to change comes from a series of "shocking" data: The average age of high-end cars in China is 15 years younger than the United States; they are more demanding and more receptive to the concept of intelligence and digitization, and young Chinese consumers are unmanned. The acceptance rate is 85%, compared with only 35% in the United States; the profit share of vehicle companies in the industry chain will decline from 22% to 17%, while the profits of travel companies will gradually increase from 5/1000 to 17% to 2030 The annual auto factory will be equal to the profits of travel service providers.

At the same time as the “big ship” turned, the “reduction of burden” on the hull and the cleanup and reorganization of outdated assets have also become inevitable actions. Take Beiqi as an example, the "rising plan" released recently and the "add, subtract, multiply, and divide" business plan in 2018 include reducing low-value products, streamlining operational procedures, and removing inefficient production capacity and products. At the same time, Beiqi Deben, a joint venture with Mercedes-Benz, is highly integrated with Beiqi's off-road resources, and the Internet and new retail resources have opened up.

And it is not coincident that not only do Chinese local car companies turn around in light, but also the same for multinational car companies. The new CEO of Volkswagen Group, the CEO of Volkswagen Group, is in the position of a tough reformist. After taking office, Diss's first decision was to reorganize the business of the Volkswagen Group and reorganize it into six business segments and Chinese business operations. With a more efficient group management structure, the company quickly adapted to the Volkswagen Group and made full use of new energy and intelligence. Transformation of new business directions such as logistics and travel service providers. For non-core assets after integration, the possibility of sale is not ruled out.

Opponents or comrades? New cooperation tides rise

The new force of building a car is the biggest driving force for the traditional giants to divert. On April 25, on the first day of the auto show, Ni Kai, President and CEO of Mercedes-Benz China, began to seriously visit the exhibition after participating in the press conference of the Mercedes-Benz brand. After first visiting the new car of Audi, the new vehicle builders came to visit and worship. Teng's stand has become a stop-gap for him to stop and seriously visit and listen to the introduction.

The first collective appearance of the constructors at the Beijing Auto Show was stunning enough. Through the glass windows, Wei Li’s CEO Li Bin was welcomed to the important guests on the second floor of the booth. Although the old and new sides both talk about "subversion" cautiously, it is undeniable that standing at the head of the old generation of Zhang Baolin, Xu Heyi, Yan Yanfeng, and Xu Liuping is the vehicle of Li Bin and Qidian Automobile of Weilai Automobile. The Shen Haikai, Xiaopeng’s He Xiaopeng, Che Hejia, and Li Xiang’s new generation after the 70th and 80th generations, as well as the Huima Auto’s Shenhui and Baiteng’s Dailei, etc. Become a new star at the auto show.

However, it cannot be overlooked that the anxiety of the new vehicle makers before the product landed on the production line also began to appear. Apart from the barriers to qualifications, it was more like “worries that the desired product did not come out” with Li Bin. As a personalized smart product facing young people, most of the new car manufacturers’ models have claimed to follow a customized route. However, Tesla’s past experience is in sight. Musk also slept in the MODEL3 factory and beckoned to the new forces in the "pit" of laymen. How to avoid repeating the mistakes of Musk? It is a problem that all new car companies are seriously thinking about.

There is no permanent opponent, only permanent interest. This sentence in the current Beijing auto show, got the clearest interpretation. On the first day of the auto show, Singularity and BAIC New Energy reached a strategic cooperation. Under the principle of openness and sharing, it will launch comprehensive strategic cooperation with BAIC New Energy in smart car technology development, charging and replacement of electric facilities, distribution networks, and sharing of manufacturing resources. . With Beiqi New Energy, Singularity will join the National Center for New Energy Vehicle Technology Innovation, and at the same time it will not rule out the possibility of BAIC New Energy putting into production its first product before its Tongling production base is completed in 2019. On the same day, the same new generation of Changjiang Automobile and Beiqi Foton entered into a strategic partnership to collaborate on new energy commercial vehicles. On the eve of the auto show, Beiteng, which is positioned as a smart connected car, announced the strategic investment of FAW at the same time that it released the first car. "Now the degree of opening and cooperation of car companies has exceeded imagination, even including the development of funds can be shared." Relevant person in charge of a new energy car company said. Collaborate in complementary fields to achieve maximum benefits and jointly promote the expansion and maturity of the new energy automotive market.

At the same time, it is not only between the old and the new forces. In the face of competition and common interests, the pattern of traditional car companies has also begun to change, including the cooperation between the Great Wall and BYD, and Xu Heyi and Wang Chuanfu discussing the issues of cooperation and cooperation, all of which have become the automotive industry. One of the subversions brought about by the revolution.