FAW-Audi restructures its product line and will enter a period of intensive product launches starting next year
2024-08-19
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"In the future, electric vehicles will not dominate the market. Pure electric, plug-in hybrid and gasoline vehicles will form a three-way split in the market. Gasoline vehicles are still a very convenient, economical, reliable and safe way of travel. In ten or fifteen years, gasoline vehicles will still account for at least 30% of the market share. At the same time, the concentration in the gasoline vehicle field will be even higher. FAW-Volkswagen Audi will strengthen the sales performance of electric vehicles, while the fuel vehicle business will still be the most important part of sales." Li Fenggang, executive vice president of FAW-Volkswagen Audi Sales Co., Ltd., told reporters recently.
Audi is accelerating the expansion of new product series and expanding the market by launching the next generation of products based on new platforms. At present, Audi has launched a future-oriented brand transformation globally and formulated the "Audi Agenda", which will launch more than 20 models in the next two years, including electric models, plug-in hybrid vehicles and a new generation of efficient internal combustion engine vehicles. In the global strategy of the Audi brand, the Chinese market is the core action area for the implementation of the "Audi Agenda".
The next generation of Audi brand products will be mainly based on the PPC platform for high-end luxury fuel vehicles and the PPE luxury pure electric platform, the latter of which is jointly developed by Audi and Porsche. At present, the first product built on the PPC platform, the Audi A5, has been unveiled overseas. The car will be produced in a domestically produced extended version by FAW Audi next year and named A5L after domestic production. Li Fenggang told reporters that starting from 2025, FAW Audi will enter a period of concentrated launch of a new generation of products, and will successively launch new Audi A5L, Q5L, Q6L e-tron, A6L e-tron and other products based on the two new platforms. At the same time, it will also import Audi A5 Avant, S5, S5 Avant and other models.
As the first product of the PPC platform, the Audi A5L adopts a new electronic and electrical architecture, meeting the needs of young consumers in terms of design and technological changes. The car is nearly 5 meters long and has a wheelbase of nearly 3 meters, reaching the standard of a C-class car. It will focus on sports positioning and compete with the standard wheelbase version of the BMW 5 Series.
It is worth noting that according to Audi's new global naming rules, even numbers will represent electric models, and odd numbers will represent fuel models. However, in the Chinese market, the ninth-generation A6 sedan to be introduced by FAW-Audi in the future will continue to be named Audi A6L for the domestic version, and will form a hybrid of oil and electricity with the Audi A6 e-tron that has already been unveiled globally. Li Fenggang said that A6L has a very special position in the Chinese market and is the most important brand asset. In addition, the number "6" represents many beautiful meanings of peace and success in traditional Chinese culture, so the name of the fuel vehicle A6L will be retained.
Behind the launch of the new generation of products by FAW-Audi, there is fierce competition in the luxury car sector. In the first half of this year, the demand for the entire luxury car market showed a downward trend, and the price war in the automotive industry also affected the luxury car sector. In the past few months, the terminal prices of many products of ABB (Audi, Mercedes-Benz and BMW) have dropped significantly. Even the models with high volume have large discounts at the terminal, which has caused many stores operating luxury brands to suffer losses. In particular, the terminal prices of luxury brand electric vehicles have plummeted, with discounts of more than 100,000 yuan.
In July, facing losses in dealer stores, luxury brands began to withdraw from price wars, which was reflected in the lowering of sales targets by OEMs, thereby reducing dealer inventory. For example, several BMW dealers in East China said in an interview with reporters that BMW China and BMW Brilliance cancelled sales target assessments for dealers in the East region from the third quarter, and as a result, the terminal prices of some products were raised.
"Price war is a way for enterprises to win in the competition. The industry threshold of gasoline vehicles is higher, there are fewer new entrants, and the original competitors are relatively more stable. Since motors, electronic controls, and batteries are universal, electric vehicles have lowered the industry threshold, and there are more new entrants. In the absence of substantial changes in technical conditions and thresholds, the future competition in the electric vehicle industry will still be very fierce, and price wars will be the norm." Li Fenggang told reporters that price wars are composed of many factors. In the short term, from the perspective of the relationship between quantity and price, as a main engine sales company, it can quickly and flexibly adjust the interaction mechanism and task setting with dealers through business operations. At the same time, we attach importance to and adhere to long-termism, and hope to provide customers with stable and quality services. We do not want to compete only in price, but more in system strength, product strength, and service strength. The experience of making cars under the "expert thinking" is the core advantage of FAW Audi. In the face of competition, we must first consolidate our advantages and then make up for our weaknesses.
"The environment we face in competition is complex, and we need to balance the needs of different stakeholders, such as shareholders, upstream and downstream partners, and customers. FAW Audi emphasizes long-termism, and this year it will first insist on consolidating the operational logic of luxury brands. According to the standards of luxury brands, we have designed good standards for the terminal front-line and internal business processes; through regional changes and increased strength, we will supervise the implementation of the last mile of the standards." Li Fenggang told reporters that in the case of extreme internal circulation, it is very difficult for upstream and downstream stakeholders to continue to increase gross profit. Under such circumstances, the work of reducing costs and fees on the entire dealer side is very important. For example, a large number of IT tools have been developed for dealers to improve work efficiency, thereby reducing the pressure of labor costs, and reducing the operating expenses of some large stores by appropriately reducing sales and after-sales service businesses. In addition, the dealer network is controlled at a relatively benign number, and more attention is paid to the sales and efficiency of a single store.
(This article comes from China Business Network)
