As the new energy wave continues to accelerate, Chinese brands are becoming more courageous, while joint venture brands, including Toyota, Honda and Volkswagen, are gradually showing fatigue.
According to the data of the China Passenger Car Association, Chinese brands retailed 1.13 million vehicles in October, up 20% year-on-year and 5% month-on-month. The domestic retail share of Chinese brands in the month was 556%, a year-on-year increase of 4 percentage points;In 2023, the cumulative share of Chinese brands will be 51%, a year-on-year increase of 49 percentage points.
It is an indisputable fact that the right to speak and price has shifted to Chinese brands. Therefore, in order to win traffic, some self-esteem blindly sing about the joint venture, and even say that "the joint venture brand is dead". But these self-leading companies often ignore such a detail - joint venture car companies still account for half of domestic car sales, and more than seventy percent of the new cars sold on the market still have internal combustion engines.
As Dong Changzheng, senior executive deputy general manager of Toyota Motor (China) Investment, said at the "China Automobile Industry Development Forum" at the 5th CIIE, "mainstream car companies have made great contributions to taxation, talent training, and system capabilities, and if you ignore this fact, it is difficult to judge what the future trend of China will be." Moreover, the equity ratio of the joint venture is 50:50, and expecting the failure of the joint venture is definitely not a prospect that China should see. ”
Therefore, from this point of view, the decline of joint venture car companies is actually not conducive to the healthy development of the automotive industry.
What's more, the dust has not yet settled on the transformation of intelligent electricization, and joint venture car companies have also begun to accelerate the pace of transformation. If the joint venture car company completes the transformation, it is bound to release a huge explosive force. Among them, Kia is a typical representative.
Empower development in China with global resources
Based on strong confidence in the prospects of the Chinese market, Kia and Yueda formed a new joint venture to start a new era of joint ventures, and decided to increase its investment by US$900 million in early 2022 to further expand its investment in the Chinese market.
In addition, Kia attaches great importance to technology R&D investment in China, and has successively established Yantai Technology R&D Center, Guizhou Big Data Center, and Shanghai China Forward-looking Digital R&D Center, building an "iron triangle" R&D matrix between Shanghai and Yantai.
Among them, the Shanghai China Forward-looking Digital R&D Center is Hyundai Motor & Kia's first forward-looking digital intelligent R&D center overseas, focusing on the R&D of innovative technologies and services in the four major areas of mobility, electrification, connected technology and autonomous driving, so as to have a more comprehensive and in-depth understanding of Chinese users and launch cutting-edge technologies and products to meet their needs.
It is worth mentioning that while actively transforming to the domestic market, the company is also striving to create a new market growth point - vehicle and CKD export business.
At present, Yueda Kia's vehicle and CKD export business has achieved remarkable results.
On December 4, Jiangsu Yueda Group released the latest sales data showing that the export sales of Yueda Kia vehicles reached 11,220 units in November, a year-on-year increase of 1856%, which is the first time that vehicle exports exceeded 10,000 in August, and the monthly export sales exceeded 10,000 again, and hit a record high.
It is worth noting that this year, Yueda Kia has successfully "gone to sea" dozens of times, and its models set sail from Yancheng Dafeng Port Terminal and exported to more than 30 countries and regions such as the Middle East, Africa, North America, Central and South America, and Asia-Pacific.
At the same time, Yueda Kia also plans to increase the export of K5, EV5 and other models on the basis of the current lineup of three export models: Tus, Yipao and Huanchi. By 2026, the annual export scale of the Yancheng plant will be expanded to more than 200,000 units, and the export countries will increase from more than 50 countries in the Middle East, Asia-Pacific, and Central and South America to more than 80 countries, making it a veritable global export base.
In the author's view, the rapid growth of Yueda Kia's export business will not only help the joint venture in China accelerate its integration into Kia's global strategic layout, but also help improve the capacity utilization rate of the factory, revitalize the parts chain in China, and help the sustainable economic development of Yancheng and even the Yangtze River Delta.
What's more, it can also accumulate strength for Yueda Kia's next transformation.
In fact, not only Yueda Kia, but also many joint venture car companies, including Dongfeng Citroen Automobile, Dongfeng Nissan, Dongfeng Honda, and Guangqi Honda, are aiming at the "cake" of export business, but as far as the current situation is concerned, Yueda Kia is undoubtedly the most successful. According to the data, from January to November this year, Yueda Kia exported a total of 75,837 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 923%, ranking in the forefront of joint venture brands.
Accelerate the transition to electrification
China's auto market continues to innovate and develop, and it can be described as ever-changing with each passing day. Ensuring success in the Chinese market is a core element of Kia's global strategy. In March this year, Kia Global CEO Song Husheng reaffirmed Kia's determination to take root in the Chinese market and released a new new energy strategy.
According to Kia's mid- to long-term electrification plan, a total of six EV models will be launched by 2027By 2030, the company aims to sell 180,000 EVs a year, accounting for 40% of sales.
Among them, EV6 will be the first to enter the Chinese market as an importer in August this yearIn November this year, the second EV5 tailored to Chinese users was also officially launchedThe EV9, the flagship electric SUV that has already been unveiled, will be launched in 2024.
From 2025 to 2027, Kia will also launch an entry-level electric SUV, a high-end electric sedan, and a mid-size electric SUV, so as to bring more diversified and excellent electrified products to Chinese consumers.
The product will always be the basis of the market, and it is also the core factor that determines whether Kia can achieve a reversal as it restarts. Take the Kia EV5 as an example, this model is a special strategic model launched by Kia to celebrate its 80th anniversary next year, which is of great significance.
In addition, as Kia's first global model to be produced in China and launched for the first time, the development of the Kia EV5 also fully demonstrates the "power of China" - the R&D team composed of about 400 elite Chinese engineers led the development.
As far as the latest generation of the sub-EV5 is concerned, the system is the result of the cooperation between Kia and Tencent, focusing on strengthening the localized software application content in China to ensure the intelligent interactive experience of the new car.
For example, the in-car system supports CarLife and Apple CarPlay, where CarPlay supports wireless connection and wired connectionAnother example is that the car machine is more playable after being equipped with Tencent applications, and more than 30 small programs are built into Tencent small scenes, covering audio, life, car services, games, and five categories, which can meet the diverse needs of users.
With more distinctive technical features and a clearer product matrix, Kia entered the domestic new energy market, in order to demonstrate Kia's determination to electrify transformation.
Based on the principle of rapid progress and not rash progress, we will build a more localized electrification product matrix and technology system. It can be said that Kia's goal of electrification transformation is already half the battle.
Continue to enhance the brand image
In 2023, the domestic auto market will be very volatile, with volume technology, volume configuration, and volume computing power ......But if you continue to roll up like this, I'm afraid that before you can get rid of your peers, you will die of exhaustion.
If an enterprise wants to operate benignly for a long time, it still has to fight a value war and let users perceive the value of their own products. "When everyone is crazy about the volume **, we think that the volume service and volume value are more competitive." Li Bin, CEO of NIO, has repeatedly emphasized the value of service.
Similarly, improving brand image and user perception is also the premise and foundation for Kia to insist on taking root in China.
First and foremost, of course, is the network of channels that connect products to users. In this regard, on the one hand, Kia has joined hands with large dealer groups such as Sime Darby, Jinlong, Tongli, and Xinhanma to expand dealer outlets in first- and second-tier key cities, so as to build an online and offline integrated sales channel integrating brand APP + dealer store city store + OMO, and boost Kia's sales growth in China.
On the other hand, Kia is also continuing to promote SI 2 in 4S stores nationwide0 upgrades, and will build a brand and service system that matches the electrification era.
Regarding the most concerned issue of energy replenishment for electric vehicles, Kia also has bright spots in the layout and construction of charging networks.
In addition to giving away personal charging piles, Kia has also partnered with Shell to build ultra-fast charging piles in key cities across the country, and has further expanded Kia's basic charging network layout by cooperating with third-party charging companies such as Nenglian Zhidian.
At the same time, Yueda Kia, which adheres to the concept of "in China, for China", also actively fulfills its corporate social responsibility.
Today, it has built a public welfare system including Kia Home, Hope Primary School, school-enterprise cooperation and other projects, with a cumulative capital investment of more than 1100 million yuan, won the "Golden Bull Award for Responsibility" issued by the 100 Responsible People Forum for 5 consecutive years, and ranked first among joint venture car enterprises in the corporate social responsibility development index for 4 consecutive years.
From channel renewal, to improving the layout of the charging network, to actively fulfilling corporate social responsibility, Kia has gradually completed the important task of transforming its brand image.
Water Drop View:
The automotive industry is a marathon with no end in sight. It's not about whose voice is louder, it's not about a short-lived lead. Only a strong system strength and a clear industrial layout can go through the long competition cycle. Of course, the pain and confusion in this are inevitable.
So, don't be in a hurry to give the joint venture a "death sentence"!As mentioned above, joint ventures still account for half of China's auto market and have created a lot of tangible value. For example, in the 21 years since its establishment, Yueda Kia has sold more than 6.2 million vehicles, with a revenue of more than 620 billion yuan, and paid about 52 billion taxes to help regional economic development100 million yuan, which has made outstanding contributions to the development of China's economy and automobile industry in Yancheng and even in Yancheng.
Again: we might as well give Yueda Kia a little more patience and see what kind of surprises it can bring in the end.