Chapter 408 General Motors' slutty operation is shocking
"Morning Star, are you sure this news is true?"
Jiang Hui knew that General Motors had been in the 1980s. Not particularly easy.
Even if I have cooperated with me in the past few years and the situation has improved a little, it will only be improved a little.
Cadillac sedan, Buick G-series off-road vehicle, and Chevrolet X-series pickup truck, these three models have contributed less than 30,000 yuan in monthly sales to General Motors.
For GM, the world's number one, these 30,000 vehicles are definitely not enough.
So how to further increase your sales is something that GM is very concerned about.
"It's true!"
"I went to General Motors' dealer to investigate on the spot. The Buick G series and Chevrolet X series have appeared in Germany, France and England. "GM seems to attach great importance to the performance of the two new models in the European market this time."
"GM's performance in the European market has always been not very ideal."
"I have lost a lot of money in recent years, but they obviously have no intention of giving up the European market."
< br>Chen Chenxing gave his reply with certainty.
When BMW Group cooperated with General Motors before, it mainly targeted the North American market.
The markets in Europe, the Middle East and other places are planned to be developed by the company themselves.
Unexpectedly, General Motors actually played this trick.
"Did these cars that appear in Europe immediately switch to Europe after changing their logo at the port in the United States?"
In fact, Jiang Hui, for General Motors's slutty operation, was he? Not particularly angry.
After all, these cars are all produced by Land Rover, and they can still make considerable profits.
He was worried that GM's eating habits were too ugly. After seeing the best-selling Buick G-Series and Chevrolet X-Series, he directly produced these two cars by himself.
In the automotive industry, you copy me, but I copy you in countless cases.
As long as you make some adjustments in key areas, it will be difficult to sue others.
Of course, world auto giants like General Motors generally don’t look so ugly.
After all, when you are suing, your reputation is not good.
Even if they eventually won the lawsuit, everyone's heart was clear.
"Yes, these cars were shipped to the United States and then continued to be shipped to Europe for sale after changing their ports."
Chen Chenxing was a little unaware of how he should deal with this matter.
Is it to go to GM to protest?
Or as if nothing had happened?
Will General Motors' approach affect Land Rover's sales?
Everything has never been encountered before.
There is no ready-made reference plan to learn from.
"If GM just resells the models we produce to Europe, we will not know about this for the time being."
"But you have to arrange for people to stare at and look at GM Have you ever produced these two cars directly? "
"Once such a thing happens, you must not tolerate it."
Jiang Hui quickly measured the pros and cons of the matter, and felt that General Motors could wait and see first.
These two models sold well in North America and are the main contributors to the increase in production of BMW Automobile Group.
If General Motors can sell these two cars well in Europe, then the output of BMW Automobile Group can be further improved.
If the monthly production of Land Rover G-Series and Land Rover X-Series can exceed 20,000 vehicles by then, the meaning will be really different.
This increase in output is very beneficial to cultivating China's automobile industry supply chain.
With these two cars, BMW Light and Mercedes-Benz sedan, even if the BMW Auto Group has not yet launched new models, its monthly output can exceed 60,000 units.
The production scale of 700,000 to 800,000 vehicles a year.
In China, this is definitely the largest industrial enterprise.
With such a large production scale, it is enough for all supporting factories to develop along with it.
Even many parts can be selected to cooperate with several supporting factories.
Which one is more successful, I will focus on supporting which one in the future.
These supporting factories need to invest a lot of various equipment in the process of capacity expansion.
Nanshan Equipment can also take advantage of this opportunity to develop rapidly.
At that time, China's automobile industry will definitely undergo earth-shaking changes.
"The cost of GM producing these two cars by itself is likely to be higher than what we export."
"For them, this is not a very cost-effective thing."
"Besides, like the hot stamping molded parts inside, only Nanshan Technology can provide a large amount of them."
< br>"So I think GM should not do such a thing in the next one or two years."
GM is the most special partner of BMW Automobile Group, and Chen Chenxing naturally has a special one. Research.
For these American companies, making money is the most important thing.
It is the best thing to be able to entrust the car model to outside manufacturers to produce.
This can minimize all kinds of risks.
After all, the risk of developing a new model is very high.
Not mentioning various tests, the investment in tooling molds and other parts is a considerable expense.
If it fails, all the money will be wasted.
It costs tens of thousands of dollars to make a large mold, but once you can't use it, it's a pile of scrap iron and its value disappears.
Why did Magna International develop its vehicle OEM business in later generations actually bear part of the risks for the OEM.
Of course, they are not stupid either, they will definitely take into account all kinds of costs.
Finally, I found a solution that everyone can accept.
It seems that this approach is contradictory, but it is easy to understand with an example.
Many of the official cars in later generations, even if they were older, were expensive repair and maintenance costs every year, but they would not be easily scrapped.
Because the annual maintenance cost budget can be applied for relatively easy, but the budget for purchasing a new car is likely to be rejected.
So even if the cost of repairing a car in several years is combined, you can buy a new car, and the relevant units will choose to continue repairing it.
Official manufacturers are looking for OEMs, which sometimes means the same.
I would rather pay more OEM fees for each car than invest too much money at one time.
...
GM has made such a special operation, so their company is naturally very concerned about the reactions of all parties.
Other world auto giants actually know what the Buick G series and Chevrolet X series are.
Now GM has introduced them to the European market for sale, and everyone wants to know the market reaction there.
But inside General Motors, there are more things to care about.
"Austin, isn't anyone looking for you in China?"
After a report inside General Motors ended, Murphy casually asked Austin, the tall man who had the deepest connection with BMW Automobile Group, who had the most ties to him. Tube.
At that time, the company discussed internally how to improve the revenue of European branches and reverse the loss situation as soon as possible.
The head of the European branch proposed the proposal to introduce two best-selling new cars into the past, and there were some differences within General Motors.
As for example, Austin and Edward are worried that such an approach will disrupt their cooperation with BMW Automobile Group.
After all, BMW Automobile Group has set up a branch in Europe and has started selling Land Rover G-Series and Land Rover X-Series models. They all know that they have started selling Land Rover G-Series and Land Rover X-Series models.
Now General Motors has sold the exactly-looking Buick G Series and Chevrolet X Series in Europe, and there will definitely be a competitive relationship between them.
The most important thing is that the previous cooperation between the two parties is limited to the North American market.
GM is doing this now, it is equivalent to playing a collaborative goal.
BM Motor Group can stand up and question General Motors' approach.
"I haven't received any contact yet."
"It's also possible that there hasn't been able to grasp this information so quickly."
Austin answered in a complicated mood.
In his opinion, the problem of European branches cannot be solved simply by selling two new cars.
Of course, if these two cars are sold well in Europe, it will definitely be beneficial to alleviating business pressure.
"It may also be because we have increased our orders this month, and BMW Automobile Group is happy to see it."
"After all, relying on their own influence, even if they have good products, they want to be in the European market. It is not that easy to open up the situation."
"So far, the sales of all their models in Europe are estimated to be less than 2,000 units a month, right?"
Murphy I thought of the statements that the head of the European branch reported to him.
These two cars can sell 20,000 yuan a month in the American market, so they can sell at least 10,000 yuan a month in Europe.
General Motors brought these two cars to Europe for sales, which invisibly helped BMW Auto Group increase its production and sales.
It's a win-win situation!
But this win-win solution is not the choice of BMW Automobile Group.
"I have arranged for more people to focus on the response of vehicles on both sides in the European market, especially the German and French markets, which are the first markets that BMW Automobile Group started to operate."
"Then let The European branch tried its best to focus on competitive products from local European automakers such as Volkswagen and PSA to downplay the situation of Land Rover. "
Edward interjected a mouthful next to him.
He was a little worried that European media and consumers would compare GM and BMW Motors Group models by then.
Then it will more or less affect General Motors' reputation. "I'm afraid that we want to downplay it, and our competitors will deliberately make a fuss about this." Austin feels that European car companies will definitely not sit still and wait for death.
Especially the Land Rover G-series off-road vehicles, which are now also a subdivided model that many European car companies focus on research.
But European car companies have no off-road vehicles that can be seen yet, that is, Mercedes relies on the classic G-series off-road vehicles to have a certain influence in the market.
But this does not prevent everyone from seeing the prospect of off-road vehicles.
Now there is a crossing river dragon suddenly coming, everyone must resist.
Otherwise, the market will be occupied by others, what should I do if my new car in the future?
"Let's see the situation first!" No one can accurately predict market changes, and Murphy can only keep paying attention and see the subsequent developments.
…
"President, General Motors introduced the Buick G Series and Chevrolet X Series to the European market for sale."
"This is bound to be It will affect our LC70 and Hylax sales in Europe. ”
Saito Shin-ei reported the latest information to Toyoda Akiichiro with concern.
There are many reasons why Toyota has emerged in recent years and has become General Motors' most powerful competitor.
Full-saving and durable models are one aspect, and innovation in the segmented market cannot be ignored.
The off-road vehicle like the LC70 is very advanced in this era even if it is viewed worldwide.
The key is that most automobile giants did not pay much attention to the off-road vehicle market during this period, except for a few car companies such as AMC.
Toyota Motor has firmly gained a foothold by relying on its hard work in the segmented market.
In the next few decades, these sub-models made considerable contributions to Toyota.
No mistakes, one poem, one post, one content, one in 6, one book, one bar, one read!
The pickup truck of Hilarx is also a very classic.
Otherwise, when Jiang Hui designed the Land Rover X series, he would not have learned from other people's products.
"We have no way to stop GM from doing this."
"Our LC70 has changed some of the material grades of parts, and the collision performance has been improved."
"Even GM is considered I want to continue to repeat the same trick, and it won’t have such a big effect.”
Toyoda Akiichiro is much calmer now.
The LC70 was unlucky at the time when General Motors took it out as a negative example, but the impact of this matter is slowly fading.
Consumers are relatively forgetful.
As long as the media guides it slightly, the wind direction will change.
"That's true, but the appearance designs of the two cars are very classic."
"It will also bring a certain impact to our products."
"The design center should consider speeding up the launch time of the next generation of repayment models as soon as possible."
Toyoda Akiichiro still agrees with Saito Shin-ei.
It is generally easy to judge whether a car looks good or not.
Like the later Porsche Paramela, no one would think it was ugly even if he hadn't changed his looks for more than ten years.
That is the absolutely classic appearance design. "It's almost done, just adjust the appearance of the model and it will be available in the next year."
The development momentum of Toyota Motor is still very strong now.
Even if General Motors blocked it, its overall sales are still increasing.
Toyota during this period can be said to be in full bloom in the global automobile market, and few car companies can withstand it.
The one that faces a similar situation to Toyota Motor is Nissan, which is also a Japanese car company.
After General Motors, a classic large off-road vehicle such as Nissan Patrol, its sales in the American market also plummeted.
Fortunately, Nissan's Bluebird and other sedans have sales with high enough cost performance, and the sales are still very good, which has not affected the overall development.
This time General Motors has made new moves in the European market, and Nissan immediately began to analyze the impact of this matter. "President, we communicate with Kobe Steel. The new generation of 590MPA high-strength steel plates they developed can be mass-produced on a large scale at the beginning of next year."
"When the time comes," The key body parts on our high-end models such as Patrol will be changed to 590MPA ultra-high strength steel plates. "
Renji Oda is Nissan's design director, and he will report to President Taro Nishikawa every month. The design progress of the new generation of automobile body architecture.
Consumers usually cannot see the white car body.
But through collision tests or accidents, you can intuitively feel its quality or bad.
In the past, no one paid special attention to this issue, so the body strength of the car is generally not particularly high.
Now that this fig leaf has been lifted up by General Motors, and all car companies have increased their investment in this regard.
In fact, it is not that difficult to improve the body strength, but it is just whether you are willing to pay the price.
The easiest way is to increase the thickness of the steel plate without changing anything else, and the strength will naturally be increased simultaneously.
Of course, the side effects of this practice are also quite serious.
General design plans will be optimized based on this.
Using more high-strength steel plates is naturally one of the solutions.
The BMW Automobile Group's solution to use hot stamping molded parts is essentially improving the strength of automotive steel plates.
However, the strength of the steel plate is relatively strong, and the strength of the steel plate is increased from 270MPA and 340MPA to 1500MPA.
Nanshan Iron and Steel Plant even further develops higher-strength hot stamped steel plates based on this basis.
"In addition to the improvement of material strength, we must also adjust the body structure design in a targeted manner in combination with the collision test."
"Try to avoid the entire cockpit when there is a head-on collision. They all have a collapse. "
Taro Nishikawa doesn't want to be fucked by any car company anymore, as the position under his butt will not be stable.
And to avoid this happening, the best way is naturally to improve your own car body strength level.
"We are already working hard in this regard, and the situation will definitely improve significantly by then."
Renji Oda dared not say too much, he could only say that there was Improved.
Fortunately, as long as their progress speed does not lag behind their competitors, the situation will not be very unfavorable.
Anyway, except for BMW Auto Group, the progress of other automobile giants is not essentially different from that of Nissan.
…
Verdi is Volkswagen's sales director.
He has a hobby. He doesn't like listening to reports in the office, but likes to go deep into the front line of dealers and pretend to be an ordinary consumer to experience the products of various companies.
Of course, he would also go to his company's dealers to see the real feedback of each car on the consumer side.
Today, as usual, he handled some things in the company and drove to a dealer.
This dealer mainly sells various products from General Motors, including products from Cadillac, Buick, Chevrolet, Opel and other brands.
It even sells products from other American car brands, and is considered a dealer focusing on American cars.
As soon as he entered the parking lot, he felt something was wrong.
Parking space is a bit hard to find.
This is in the suburbs.
Soon, after finding a location in the corner, Verdi came to the exhibition hall.
Although there cannot be said to be crowded, the number of customers is obviously much higher than that of Verdi before.
After paying a little attention to the conversation between consumers and sales, Verdi realized that the Buick G-series off-road vehicles seemed to be very popular.
There are not many similar models on the market.
The appearance is more beautiful than the Buick G series, and it is even more impossible to find any one.
In the past, off-road vehicles gave people the impression that only off-road enthusiasts would buy them, mainly driving on wilderness ridges.
But the Buick G-Series design is very different from traditional off-road vehicles.
If it weren't for the square box-like shape, just looking at the front of the car, it wouldn't be felt that this is an off-road vehicle.
To a certain extent, it has integrated the advantages of sedans and off-road vehicles and has become a brand new product.
Verdi was originally going to wander around several dealers today, but in the end he spent the whole day squatting in this store.
During this period, I also pretended to be very interested in the Buick G250 and chatted with the salesperson for a while.
He made a rough count. Today, the store officially sold 4 Buick G-series off-road vehicles, and five or six customers seemed to be interested.
For a store, this is definitely a very impressive result.
Volkswagen's best golf model sells cannot achieve this level of daily performance in most dealers.
Although today's results may be related to the store's activities.
It is also possible that Buick G-series off-road vehicles have just logged into the German market. Some consumers have impulsive consumption after seeing the amazing appearance.
But no matter what the reason is, in conclusion, the Buick G series is considered popular.
According to Verdi's guess, the monthly sales of this car in the German market will definitely exceed 3,000 units, or even 5,000 units per month.
If this momentum can be maintained, it may be possible to exceed 10,000 vehicles in some months.
This data is definitely very eye-catching.
"Smit, I think Volkswagen also needs an off-road vehicle, an off-road vehicle with a style similar to the Buick G series."
The next day, after returning to the company, Verdi went immediately I asked Smit, the boss of Volkswagen, to report his thoughts.
So far, Volkswagen has not yet produced an off-road vehicle, which is definitely not possible.
"I have also seen some reports on the Buick G off-road vehicle situation."
"From the appearance of the model, their design is indeed very excellent."
< br>
"But off-road vehicles are niche models after all. At the beginning, some loyal users bought them, and the subsequent sales may not be able to be maintained."
Smit gave his own opinions cautiously.
A new model is developed, but it involves a lot of manpower and material investment.
For any car company, most new models are actually developed based on a certain platform, rather than brand new development. "We have always considered this way before, but after the Buick G series appeared, this view may not be correct."
"I suggest you go to the dealer to experience this change in person."
Verdi expressed his opinions very directly.
As the person in charge of the sales field, I felt very painful to see the best-selling models on the market, but I didn’t have similar products to sell.
Watching customers lost, I couldn't do anything.
He couldn't stand such a thing.
"I'll ask people in the R&D field to discuss with you to see how to deal with this situation."
Smit is still confident in Verdi's ability and vision.
Since the other party's attitude is so firm, it is definitely necessary to study it seriously.
(This chapter ends)