This newspaper (chinatimesnet.CN) reporters Niu Xiaoou and Yu Jianping report from Beijing.
On January 29, Volkswagen Group China (hereinafter referred to as "Volkswagen") officially announced that from April 1, 2024, Wu Borui, a member of the management board of the Volkswagen brand responsible for the "New Mobility" business, will take over from Han Hongming to be responsible for the group's research and development in China, and promote the localization of the group's product portfolio in China. At the same time, he is also the CEO of Volkswagen Group (China) Technology ***VCTC). Han Hongming will take up a new role within the group.
Just a few days ago, Volkswagen Group China's Chairman and CEO Brad announced that in view of the huge differences in the Chinese market, the Volkswagen Group will continue to invest in new energy vehicles in China, and all major fuel models will be transformed to new energy vehicles. It is not difficult to see from Volkswagen's recent actions in China that intelligence and new energy have become its main development direction in the future.
Leverage the combustion engine business to finance the transformation
Volkswagen has been the "king" of sales in the Chinese auto market until 2022, when it was overtaken by BYD, a new energy vehicle company. Under this trend, Volkswagen is bound to increase the speed and intensity of electrification development to ensure that the inherent pattern is not rewritten.
That's why Volkswagen has formulated its "2030 Goals" strategy, which includes three major segments.
As Volkswagen's market fundamentals, Volkswagen will continue to strengthen its dominant position in the fuel vehicle market and extend it to the field of new energy vehicles, and use the profits of the fuel vehicle business to provide financial support for the development of the intelligent networked vehicle business.
In terms of intelligence, fuel vehicle products will achieve high-end technology upgrades such as high-end driver assistance functions, intelligent cockpits, new in-vehicle navigation systems, and AI intelligent assistants in the next few years. At the same time, the lineup of fuel vehicles will continue to be enriched, and hybrid vehicles will be launched based on the architecture of fuel vehicles, and the product lineup will gradually transform to new energy.
Electrification is a key development event, and Volkswagen will accelerate the offensive of pure electric products and further develop the market segment in China. By 2030, the Volkswagen Group will offer at least 30 all-electric models in the Chinese market, covering all market segments.
In terms of localization, Volkswagen has strengthened its R&D "in China, for China" approach, and is more agile in responding to the needs of Chinese consumers by making better use of local innovation.
"Our Vision 2030 is to become one of the top three automakers in the Chinese market. It is worth noting that his predecessor, Stephen Voun, set a goal in 2021: "Volkswagen will continue to maintain its No. 1 market position, accounting for 18% of the market share in China." ”
From the strategic planning and goals, it can be seen that Volkswagen is more humble and pragmatic.
Wang Kun, an analyst in the automotive industry, told the China Times: "Volkswagen's competitive strategy in the Chinese market needs to be adjusted urgently, but Volkswagen is not radical in transformation and chooses to play steadily." ”
In Wang Kun's view, in the era of fuel vehicles, Volkswagen can achieve sales targets with almost no marketing by virtue of its brand influence and product quality. However, with the rise of the new energy vehicle market, consumer choices have become more diverse, and brand loyalty has decreased. Therefore, the transformation of electrification is necessary, but the influence and market power of fuel vehicles, as the basic market, cannot be ignored. Fuel vehicles are still an important part of Volkswagen's profitability, supplying its electrification and intelligent transformation. Therefore, Volkswagen chooses to transition to development, through a more active marketing strategy and a more attractive product strategy, to ensure that fuel vehicles and new energy vehicles are 'grasped with both hands'. ”
The China Times reporter learned from the Volkswagen Group that in 2023, Volkswagen will deliver a total of 323 cars in China60,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 16%。Among them, the Audi brand 7290,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 135%；The Volkswagen brand was 2.4 million units, a year-on-year increase of 01%。After analyzing the detailed data, it is found that Volkswagen still has an absolute advantage in fuel vehicles, accounting for more than 90% of the total. Especially in the context of the overall shrinkage of the fuel vehicle market, its share of fuel vehicles in China increased by 0 compared with 20228%。
Further increase localized R&D
Another reason why Volkswagen has not yet let go of fuel vehicles is that its electrification development highlights have not yet appeared, and it is currently unable to provide strong support for the group's development.
Although Volkswagen has long since 'turned the elephant', its layout in the field of electrification is not ideal. The ID series electric models, which have been launched for a long time, still have a lot of room for improvement in terms of market share and technological innovation. Volkswagen, as a leading car company, represents many traditional car companies in the transition to electrification. How to find a correct transformation path to achieve butterfly change, play a role model for the transformation of other enterprises, and become the focus of attention in the industry. Tian Li, an analyst in the automotive industry, said.
According to public data, Volkswagen's pure electric vehicle sales in China in 2023 will be 19180,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 232%。Despite the increase, at the macro level, China's new energy vehicle sales in 2023 will be 94950,000 units, Volkswagen's new energy vehicles accounted for only 2%.
The China Times reporter inquired about the data of the passenger association and took stock of the sales performance of all new energy vehicles in 2023 of Volkswagen's two major joint ventures in China, SAIC-Volkswagen and FAW-Volkswagen.
Specifically, Volkswagen's annual sales of the Audi Q5 e-tron in China SAIC Volkswagen (including the SAIC Audi brand) and Passat PHEV sales were 1070,000 units, ID3. The annual sales volume was 8270,000 units, ID4x 2 annual sales190,000 units, IDThe 6X sold 5,350 units for the year and the Tiguan L PHEV sold 4,643 units for the year.
FAW-Volkswagen (including the FAW-Audi brand) sold 6,334 units of the Audi A6L PHEV and 2,334 units of the Audi Q4 e-tron370,000 units, Audi e-tron annual sales of 1,775 units, ID6 crozz sold 1 for the whole year10,000 units, Volkswagen IDThe 7 Vizzion sold 822 units of the ID. for the full year4 Crozz sold 3 for the year740,000 units.
SAIC Volkswagen ID3 with FAW-Volkswagen ID4 Crozz is Volkswagen's flagship new energy product in China, but its average monthly sales are less than 1,000 units. Some of the other models even sell less than 100 units a month.
Therefore, the key to Volkswagen's new energy strategy in China is to think about how to win more market share, and "local R&D" has become Volkswagen's main solution idea.
Tian Li pointed out that the appointment of Wu Borui, who was in charge of R&D, production and logistics at the five locations of the joint venture, to carry the banner of Volkswagen's R&D sector is a key step for Volkswagen to fully develop electrification in China.
"Brilliant is a first-class expert in R&D and software, with extensive expertise in key future technologies and an extensive network of contacts within the company and in the Chinese market. One of the priorities is to further strengthen cooperation with joint ventures such as FAW-Volkswagen, SAIC-Volkswagen and Volkswagen Anhui, and continue to promote our local R&D in China."
While consolidating the foundation of research and development, Volkswagen has also launched a product offensive. Starting this year, the Volkswagen Group will launch more electric models in the Chinese market in order to open up new market segments.
According to the plan, this year, Volkswagen Anhui's first model will be launched to the market; In 2026, two models of the Volkswagen brand and Xpeng Motors will be launched; From 2026 onwards, the Group will build more Volkswagen-branded BEVs for the entry-level market based on the new local electric platform developed by Volkswagen (China) Technology ***VCTC). In addition, Audi FAW New Energy Vehicles*** plans to start production of pure electric models based on the PPE platform in Changchun by the end of 2024, with the first model being the Q6LE-TRON.
Editor-in-charge: Li Yanan Editor-in-chief: Yu Jianping.