Changchun and Shanghai, two cities in the south, north and north of China, became the main battlefield for the Chinese auto racing championship due to the gestation of two major automobile groups, FAW and SAIC. Since April of this year, FAW has surpassed SAIC Motor for 2 consecutive months, and the two main stadiums have also rekindled fire and smoke.
For a time, FAW, SAIC male and female is difficult.
In 2006, SAIC Motor Group's annual sales of 1.34 million units incited FAW Group to maintain its “industry hegemony†status for many years and successfully won the championship. However, the ever-changing market does not allow SAIC to sit back and relax. Although from January to May this year, SAIC still maintained its leading position in the industry with 640,000 units. However, from the monthly sales results in April and May, FAW is looking at FAW. It has surpassed SAIC and it has recovered the momentum of “losing the groundâ€.
In order to sit on the championship, both FAW and SAIC are riveting themselves. It seems that a fierce battle over the status of the "boss" is inevitable.
FAW borrows heavy truck Dongfeng
As soon as the market data of May was released, FAW Group was deeply impressed by the fact that although it only surpassed SAIC with a slight advantage of more than 5,000 vehicles, it at least stabilized the leading trend since April.
In March this year, SAIC Motor Group also led FAW with an advantage of about 8,000, but by April, FAW Group sold more than 1,000 vehicles more than SAIC, and by May, this figure has continued to rise. At this time, FAW Group's monthly sales totaled 115,600 units, and SAIC Motor’s total sales for the single month amounted to 110,200 units.
Xu Changming, senior economist and director of the Information Resources Development Department of the National Information Center, believes that FAW has surpassed SAIC Motor’s biggest motive force from the commercial vehicle segment. "The commercial vehicle market in China has grown rapidly this year. FAW, which has a deeper foundation in the commercial vehicle sector, will undoubtedly be able to borrow from this shareholder, and SAIC Motor is still lacking in this sector."
Xu Changming’s views are supported by the data. In May, FAW Group's sales increased by 21% year-on-year, of which the sedan segment increased by 17.7%, while the medium- and heavy-duty truck segment increased by 70.2%.
From January to May of this year, commercial vehicles showed a strong growth momentum, with production and sales reaching 1.1027 million units and 1,073,500 units respectively, representing a year-on-year increase of 24.30% and 24.36%, both of which exceeded passenger cars. The heavy-duty truck market experienced an unexpected eruption this year after experiencing a downturn in 2005 and recovering growth in 2006. The average growth rate was not less than 50%, and some companies even performed growth at a rate close to 100%. myth.
Compared with SAIC, FAW has a deep foundation in truck brands such as Liberation, and it is undoubtedly more advantageous in the commercial vehicle segment. In the ranking of sales of commercial vehicle companies in May, FAW's market performance of 22,000 vehicles ranked third behind Beiqi Futian and Dongfeng Motor. Therefore, when FAW borrows a "continuous high fever" commercial vehicle, especially the heavy truck market, it will not be able to support the SAIC.
In addition, the significant increase in FAW-Volkswagen sales has also played a positive role in the overall performance of FAW. In May, FAW-Volkswagen, which has achieved outstanding results in marketing changes, returned to the top of the passenger car sales list with 40,000 sales.
However, compared with commercial vehicles, the sales of passenger cars are not very obvious for the overall performance of FAW. Because FAW-Volkswagen rushed to the top of the list, but FAW Toyota accidentally fell out of the top 10 due to entering the product adjustment period, Tianjin FAW Xiali also slightly weak. Compared with SAIC-GM's SAIC-GM-Wuling, Shanghai Volkswagen, and Shanghai General Motors, the "Tiger" will also be at the same time, FAW is also slightly weaker.
The "king" dispute
“Actually, as far as I can see, FAW and SAIC are evenly matched. Each has its own advantages and each has its own shortcomings. It may be this lead at this time. It is also the leader at that time, but it’s really a matter of winning a victory. It’s not something you can see now. Come out." Xu Changming said.
It is true that neither FAW nor SAIC is ranked higher than the others. They are very tight in biting each other. The difference is not great. In the long run, both parties are making stronger foundations and ambushes for themselves. If the heroes of the moment’s victory are also arbitrarily determined, but in terms of the layout and trends of the two sides this year, FAW will still be in the short term. The contest has a slight upper hand.
First of all, from the perspective of the most popular commercial vehicle segment in the current market, the base of FAW is more stable and solid than SAIC, and its market foundation is much better.
Although after seeing the huge business opportunities in the field of commercial vehicles, SAIC teamed up with Iveco to acquire Chongqing Hongyan. Its vision is to achieve a 10% heavy truck market share in 3 to 5 years and build Chongqing into an undisputed heavy truck production base in the west.
This move is obviously of great significance to SAIC's strengthening of commercial vehicle segments and making up for the industrial chain. Moreover, the combination of SAIC's capital and management, Iveco's technology and Hongyan's production line complements each other. However, due to the limited construction period, it is difficult for SAIC Commercial Vehicles to have an immediate effect. . What's more, joint ventures in the field of heavy trucks rarely have very successful cases, in which the high price of joint venture brands and the inability of joint venture partners to work together are the biggest obstacles. Therefore, the prospect of SAIC-Iveco Red Rock and whether the three-way relationship can be coordinated is still unknown.
In the second half of the year, with the release of J6, which has liberated the essence of independent research and development, FAW is bound to have a bigger role in the heavy truck field. Compared with SAIC Motor, it will continue to maintain an absolute leading edge in the commercial vehicle sector. Industry experts believe that the development of the heavy truck demand structure to the high end and the rapid growth of exports are the main reasons for the rapid development of the heavy truck market. "The liberation of J6 has a high degree of match with the market, I believe we can grab a small share." Xu Changming is also full of confidence.
Secondly, from the perspective of the passenger vehicle segment, there is not much difference in strength between the two sides. SAIC has SAIC-GM-Wuling, Shanghai Volkswagen and Shanghai GM and other "tigers", FAW also has FAW-Volkswagen, FAW Toyota, FAW Mazda and Tianjin FAW Xiali, etc." Meng will."
Although from the current market performance point of view, SAIC passenger cars have a slight advantage, but in the second half of the year, FAW Toyota Corolla will enter the "up period", FAW - Volkswagen Sagitar sharply increased after the price adjustment, this trend will continue , And Magotan will also be officially listed, and is likely to directly impact the Shanghai Volkswagen Passat. In a comprehensive judgment, FAW's sales in the passenger vehicle market are increasing. This is an inevitable trend.
Of course, Shanghai Volkswagen also launched a blockbuster - Skoda Octavia, although this car is very cost-effective, but Skoda's brand recognition in China is still relatively low, the real force also requires a warm-up period, this is not short-term The inside is effective. In the long run, however, if the Skoda brand can operate successfully, it will be helpful to supplement Shanghai Volkswagen's vacancy in the family car market, and it can effectively boost the market sales.
Third, although both FAW and SAIC are investing heavily in building their own brands, their current independent brands are all in an implosion stage and it is difficult to distinguish between the winners and losers in the short term.
The idea of ​​FAW is to develop and innovate on the basis of the original red flag brand, and constantly strive for a technology platform to fully expand the product line in the process of joint venture with multinational companies; SAIC’s thinking is to use its technology to create its own through overseas acquisitions. Brand.
Compared with the two, the advantage of FAW's own brand is the longer time to explore, product planning is also more systematic, there is a red flag brand, the sales network is also relatively sound and perfect, while FAW also mastered the development of chassis, engine and other core components Technology will also be launched in the future in terms of autonomy.
SAIC Motor has obtained advanced technology from mature foreign brands directly through mergers and acquisitions. Its starting point is relatively high, and the previous series of marketing campaigns can also be described as generous. However, this type of so-called “third road†model for independent development has not been successful. Experience can be used for reference. There are still some risks in brand promotion and technology digestion. The entire marketing network needs to be improved.
In the long run, self-owned brands will be the key to the "decisive battle" between the two sides. Of course, no matter who has gained the upper hand in independent exploration and has achieved success, it will have extraordinary significance to the development of the entire Chinese automobile industry.
View related topics: SAIC commercial vehicle expansion
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