"The most important thing is to break through. "In 2024, will Ford's channel dealers and investors be able to grow? When discussing this issue, Liu Jisheng, president of JMC Ford Technology and manager of Ford Zongheng, passed by us and turned around to give this sentence.
To be exact, it is how to "break the circle".
In fact, 2023 is a year of successful transformation for JMC Ford Technology. The successful transformation has brought 43% sales growth to Ford Zongheng at home and abroad. In less than half a year, Ford has opened 76 Ford dealers in 62 major cities and regions across the country. At present, Ford's off-road life experience centers in Kunming, Alxa and Jinan have also been put into use.
In particular, the order volume of the Ford Ranger Ranger not only brought a surprise, but also made a great breakthrough in "Ford Zongheng Buying", for Ford Zongheng, "First, it strengthened our confidence. Second, it also strengthens the confidence of dealer personnel. Because they find that these users seem to be more high-end than those of luxury brands. ”
What Ford Zongheng is doing is not only to smoothly introduce Ford's top products and achieve domestic production, but also to bring Ford's world-class user experience to China, building a one-stop top-level outdoor off-road experience that is unique in the Chinese market. Whether this thing can "break through" successfully also determines the future of Ford.
It comes naturally
The amount doesn't seem like much. But don't forget, we're just getting started. Our 2,400 events this year started in March, and the time to actually take everyone out is yet to come. I think it's really good to be moving forward the way we want to be now, and it's great to see the atmosphere change from the inside out. ”
At a recent communication meeting in Beijing, Liu Jisheng revealed that the daily turnover of "Ford Zonghenggou" was more than 200,000 yuan. The background of this data is the official launch of the new outdoor off-road product purchasing platform "Ford Zonghenggou", which provides 3,000+ selected outdoor lifestyle products and 200+ official and Zongheng selected modified parts for selection.
In addition, Ford has customized targeted modification solutions based on ten scenarios (indulging in the sand sea, wading and wild fishing, Jedi climbing, outdoor camping, styling modification, 10,000 miles of journey, extreme rescue, jungle adventure, cycling photography, and snow galloping), so that users can customize according to their own needs and enjoy different off-road lifestyles.
The "2,400 car owner events" that began last year are 200 dealers, one event per month each, and 2,400 events a year. However, the status quo has exceeded expectations, because there are strong requests from dealers, Ford Spirit, Ford F-150 Raptor, Ford Ranger, Ford Lingyu, and Ford Lingrui each want an event every month, why? The circle is not the same.
After all, "playing off-road" is not just about driving a car, it requires a lot of support. For example, going out to play requires a sense of ritual, and you need to dress more "wild" and so on. Therefore, on the one hand, the differentiation of the scene comes from the product side, but the bigger difference is in the crowd and circle.
As a result, dealers will take the initiative to divert car owners. "We're seeing dealers doing this at the moment. In fact, almost all the scenarios of our hardcore off-road cars can be tackled, but you still want to play with people who have the same preferences or choices, and that's probably the most likely thing that will happen. ”
In order to achieve the joy of "playing together", Ford Zongheng has also built the "China YYPG" off-road life experience center: Kunming Ford Zongheng off-road park, Hook Road co-branded with Ford Zongheng, and Shandong Jinan off-road experience center integrating three types of terrain and landforms.
At the same time, the "Vertical and Horizontal Worry-free" service brand has also been quickly put in place, focusing on the service needs of the whole life cycle of off-road vehicles and different off-road scenarios, and has launched ten off-road service measures including "before, during, and after off-road", so that users can enjoy all-round support and protection in the whole cycle of off-road experience.
The more important change is that users of the Ford Ranger Ranger noticed that the user "play" mentality is very heavy. "We also see from the modified accessories that when users buy a car, they will want to dress it up, and they will think about where they are going to play next, do you have a plan? We all agree that there is a high market potential for these behaviors, but it needs to be a ramp-up process. I didn't expect it to come so soon, and it came naturally. ”
Only when the water comes into practice can it ripen. Ford believes that the most important thing is to make consumers feel that they will not regret buying a car, and then, from this foundation, build a long-term relationship with users.
Of course, in the face of the upcoming arrival of the spring flowers, "we want to make the pricing more reasonable [for Ford Liema], and when the customer communicates with the dealer, we will find a way to remove the bargaining link, because it is also a cost." I removed the cost of this communication and fed it back to the pricing, hoping that this pricing is interesting and worthwhile for everyone, so that you can make a decision quickly, and then take the car out to play. We're seeing this effect now with the Ford Ranger Ranger. ”
Many dealers also reported that they are particularly happy that they almost do not negotiate with users, but only need to talk about when the car will arrive, what color they want, and hurry up to ask the factory. Then, "The main thing is to talk about whether to go to ** play, when to play, whether I have the ability to take you to play, or plan this play through other dealers." ”
The logic of "long-termism".
In 2023, Ford will release a total of 7 models (Ford Ranger Ranger, Ford F-150 Raptor Snow Ice Bright Special Edition, Ford New Lingyu, Ford New Lingyu Obsidian Orange Edition, Ford Lingrui 2023 Model, Ford Lingrui Galaxy Edition, and Ford All-New Toureo), and Ford Lie Ma will also make its Chinese debut at the end of 2023.
Judging from a series of operations, the speed of JMC Ford's technological transformation is quite fast. But one of the things I'm more concerned about is that for Ford, how long will the investment period of Ford's Zongheng Space be? What proportion of the planned profit composition will be the modification part?
Liu Jisheng's next remarks showed a clear and profound logic, "We estimate that it will take two to three years, and we need a long-term (concept), which is the most important point for us to choose investors." Because the investment is large, it is necessary to have a long-term thinking. But in reality (profitability) will not take that long. ”
The core point is, "I ask dealers to have a long-term mindset first, and are willing to go through the first three years with us, as if we want to have a long-term mindset." ”
Why? It is necessary to make long-term preparations for "fighting a tough battle". Of course, you don't know which comes first, happiness or trouble, "Did anyone expect us to sell more than 2,500 Ranger units in January?" Basically not. For example, the dealership that opened just two days ago actually invested in two weeks and handed over 50 cars. ”
Now, a bold move by Ford is that for dealers, since they can 'break the circle' on the Ford Ranger Ranger and Ford Horse, they should not give themselves so many restrictions.
The logic of "long-term thinking" is also that users return to indulge in the space once or twice a year, and the profitability of dealers is completely different from that of indulgence five or ten times a year, "which determines our entire profit structure after that." Therefore, I ask dealers to do one thing, all activities that go out to play, must make users feel that they are worth the money. The only metric I really give is that the return rate of those who have attended the event is greater than 90%. ”
The Shawshank Redemption says, "Hope is a good thing and maybe the best of things."Similarly, for Ford Zongheng and Liu Jisheng, long-termism is also "a good thing". Of course, this requires the abandonment of quick success.
For another example, "we choose these boutiques, modified parts, we choose slowly, carefully, we encourage everyone to come together, we create a platform, as long as your quality is good, but also through the factory certification, we can work together." As for how willing consumers are, they will come to you when they want to play, which determines the length of time (investment period). ”
So, in the process of "breaking the circle", the biggest challenge or obstacle for Ford is currently **?
Of course, it is the establishment of culture and consensus. Liu Jisheng said to me, "To be honest, everything we do today is actually not new, maybe what everyone thinks is quite new today is that we seem to 'string it together', as if someone has implemented it, but in fact, this implementation needs more consensus." ”
Whether investors are willing to gamble, whether they are willing to do it, and whether they are willing to do it under controllable risks, this is the biggest challenge facing Ford. "It is also because of such challenges that we re-select investors from the very beginning of channel construction. ”
Ford Zongheng and Liu Jisheng understand very well, "Ford Zongheng's window period is actually very short, and it is particularly obvious that if you do not advance in the Chinese market, you will retreat." We re-selected the dealer, and we needed the dealer to do it with us. So, this consensus is important. ”
It is worth mentioning that under the result that the cumulative orders of the Ford Ranger Ranger exceeded 8,000 units, and the market share of pickup trucks of more than 150,000 yuan exceeded 60%, and some users who were ready to buy BBA also came to buy the Ford Ranger Ranger, which also completely exceeded the original expectations, "The current results are more extreme than we imagined." ”
Therefore, the consensus of dealers is very strong, "because they also see it, consumers like it, employees are happy, so employees are now willing to spend more time doing more things, and the interaction with customers has become very good, and then people pay more attention." ”
Another point is very advantageous, the segment where Ford Liema is located, the products on sale are relatively limited, and there are not many choices for users. The earliest definition of a fierce horse competitor was indeed the Wrangler, but now it makes no sense to compare it to the Wrangler.
Therefore, Ford Zongheng is looking forward to the "breaking circle" of the Lie Horse and the Ford Ranger Ranger. "Those users who didn't buy it may have bought it because of our presence. That's probably what we'd rather do. "And Ford Lie does have the ability to provide consumers with a reason to buy.
By the end of this year, Ford Zongheng will expand to 180 indulgence dealerships, and it seems that there is no difficulty. Because, the selection conditions are becoming more and more stringent. In addition, Ford Zongheng brings the world's top outdoor off-road products and the most "wild" real-world experience to China, and is committed to becoming a "leader of the top outdoor off-road lifestyle", bringing users a high-end one-stop new experience of outdoor off-road life.
In a word, Ford Zongheng, of course, wants to let itself and more outdoor off-road enthusiasts "cross the world" together.