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netcom interview at the 2024 chengdu auto show, saic volkswagen passat pro made its debut and opened for pre-order, and the new tiguan was priced from 79,900 yuan, which brought a small shock to the market. "you can buy a tiguan for less than 80,000 yuan" became one of the hot topics at the auto show.

there is no doubt that saic volkswagen is one of the joint venture automakers with the most positive attitude and the most flexible transformation in dealing with the increasingly involutionary market competition environment. however, we are still concerned about the considerations behind such pricing strategies, the impact of price wars on automakers' operations, and the development direction of joint venture automakers.

during the chengdu auto show, media including netcom conducted an interview with fu qiang, executive vice president of sales and marketing of saic volkswagen automotive co., ltd. and general manager of shanghai saic volkswagen automotive sales co., ltd. fu qiang responded to topics of concern to the media and shared wonderful views on market development.

in fu qiang's view, the price of the tuyue new rui starting from 79,900 yuan is aimed at entering a more segmented market. it is part of the overall product line layout of saic volkswagen suv, ensuring that saic volkswagen has a main product for every 10,000 yuan in the 80,000-320,000 yuan market. in the face of concerns about whether the low price will affect profits, fu qiang firmly stated that "a transitional period should have a transitional strategy" and "we must stay in the million-unit club in the next two years."

looking to the future, fu qiang said that from the second half of 2025 to 2026, the outside world will be able to see a different saic volkswagen. after filling the gaps in intelligent networking, saic volkswagen will be "very scary."

talking about product strategy: the best defense is offense

what is saic volkswagen's consideration behind the rather aggressive launch price of the tiguan new rui, which starts at 79,900 yuan?

first of all, fu qiang said that the positioning of the tiguan new rui is based on the adjustment of saic volkswagen's entire suv product spectrum. at present, saic volkswagen's suv product line is distributed according to the tiguan, tiguan new rui, tiguan, tiguan l, tiguan l pro, and touron, covering the market of 80,000 to 320,000 yuan.

"now,from 80,000 to 320,000, whether it is an suv or a sedan，every 10,000 yuan has our main products. "fu qiang said.

he also revealed that for the new tiguan, which is positioned above the tiguan new rui, saic volkswagen will make corresponding adjustments in the future based on the market response after the launch of tiguan l pro and tiguan new rui, combined with the sales share of each model.

fu qiang believes thatin the market change, the best defense is offensehowever, there are many tricks to attacking, and there must be strategic trade-offs. for example, which market do you want to enter, which market do you not want to enter, and where and with whom you want to fight, etc.

he further stated:our product strategy this year is to strengthen product strength and improve brand.the representatives are the tiguan l pro and passat pro models, because tiguan and passat are very competitive in the market. in july, passat sold more than 20,000 units, and it is absolutely the first in the market segment. "

with the hot sales of new energy vehicles, it seems that intelligence is increasingly equated with new energy. however, in fu qiang's view, whether a vehicle is intelligent or not has nothing to do with the vehicle's transmission system. fuel vehicles can also use intelligent assisted driving systems.

since 2023, saic volkswagen has been creating the "oil-electric intelligence" label for its core fuel vehicles. following the lingdu l and tiguan l pro, the intelligent performance of passat pro at this chengdu auto show also attracted much attention.

"both passat pro and tiguan l pro use the binocular inertial navigation system jointly developed with dji. its intelligent following, turning during following, changing lanes with levers, and intelligent bypassing of obstacles are among the best in the chinese market," said fu qiang.saic volkswagen is one of the few companies that is still developing intelligent fuel vehicles.we hope that in the future we can achieve a higher level of intelligence than pure electric products. now we can match the intelligence level of mainstream electric vehicles, but there is still a gap with the top ones. in the future, we will do some ota upgrades on products to further enhance the intelligent experience. "

talking about price war: must stay in the million club

the current auto market is in a state of severe internal competition and price wars are raging. some companies choose to stick to their profits, while others choose to make concessions to stabilize sales. fu qiang clearly expressed his disapproval of the "lying flat" approach.

"as you can see, what does the rapid decline in sales bring? it brings great challenges to the stability of the (sales) network. from 1,000 networks to 800, 600, 400, and 300 networks, when you release good products, will there be brothers who fight with you to help you sell these products? sorry, no. so,i don't think it's a good idea for some joint ventures to choose to lie flat. once they choose to lie flat, they will never be able to stand up again.and you will find that the price you pay for coming back is much higher than the price you would have paid if you had not lied down and continued to stand, because everyone has forgotten the brand." fu qiang said.

however, will lower product prices affect product profits and thus saic volkswagen's profitability? can such an offensive approach last long?

fu qiang firmly stated: "this is a strategic choice. why is our strategy so radical recently? because we clearly know that saic volkswagen is in the most critical period of transformation.we need sales to support the entire network during this critical periodwe need sales to support the brand positioning of the volkswagen brand, so we don’t focus on the gains and losses of one or two years. we value the future.”

“so saic volkswagen’s choice is very firm.the transition period requires a transition strategy and a transition approachof course, during the transition period, some interests are temporarily sacrificed, but what is won is the future battlefield. this is exactly the same as fighting a war. this is a strategic position that you must take, at all costs.it will not be until the second half of 2025 or 2026 that we will usher in a completely different saic volkswagen, including saic audi, and everyone will definitely see it."fu qiang said.

many industry experts and even auto company executives predict that in the future, there may be less than 10 auto brands that will survive in the chinese market.if this prediction is true, then we must sit at the table and eat the food, not become the food on the table.this is the consensus of the mass marketing team, including the members of the executive committee." fu qiang said.

with fierce market competition and intensified elimination rounds, the future automobile market structure may undergo earth-shaking changes. in fu qiang's view, "including saic group and volkswagen group, what role will saic volkswagen play in the chinese market in the future? will it still be a company that stands at the forefront? the answer is always 'yes'. therefore, the members of the chinese and foreign executive committees have a consensus.we have to stay in the million club for these two years.”

talking about transformation: after making up for its shortcomings, saic volkswagen will be very scary

although saic volkswagen is the automaker that is pushing hard to make fuel vehicles smart, it is undeniable that the overall technological advantage of joint venture brands is being weakened in terms of smart electrification. do joint venture brands still have a chance to regain their dominance in the chinese market? what does saic volkswagen plan to do?

in this regard, fu qiang also shared his views. fu qiang believes that some joint venture brands are indeed lagging behind in new energy, intelligence and networking. however, saic volkswagen has seen the current situation and taken positive actions. through product strategy adjustments, saic volkswagen's total sales from january to july increased slightly compared with the same period last year. this achievement is unique among joint venture automakers.

however, saic volkswagen's market share in the new energy vehicle market is far behind that in the fuel vehicle market. fu qiang said that saic volkswagen will accelerate the pace of change. especially in plug-in hybrid models, saic volkswagen announced the future product layout of the volkswagen brand in the plug-in hybrid market on june 27 this year: erev products (extended-range vehicles) in the b-class car market; and a new generation of phev products (plug-in hybrid vehicles) in the a-class car market.

"we had not previously anticipated that the plug-in hybrid market would develop so rapidly. the market is like a crystal ball, and it is indeed quite difficult to predict. byd is the undisputed king of the entire phev, with a market share of 33%. this is exactly good news, because in the long run, it is impossible for a brand to have a market share of more than 30%. you can see that many domestic brands have launched plug-in hybrid products this year. i think that in the next two years, more and more brands, including joint ventures, will quickly join this camp." fu qiang analyzed.

"elephants can actually turn around very quickly. in my opinion, saic volkswagen has almost completed its turnaround. how we will exert our strength in the future depends on the advantages of joint ventures," he said.

fu qiang described the joint venture brand as a "two-parent family". if you combine the advantages of both parents, you will stand out. "saic volkswagen combines the advantages of volkswagen of germany and saic group, which is our advantage. saic volkswagen will accelerate its pace in the field of intelligence and networking in the future. in terms of intelligence, the gap between saic volkswagen and its competitors is narrowing visibly, especially the new saic audi products that are about to be launched. we choose to cooperate with well-known chinese intelligent enterprises to catch up in intelligence; at the same time, we will also retain the traditional advantages of the german system, such as durability and design dna.after making up for its shortcomings, saic volkswagen will be very scary.” fu qiang said confidently.

final thoughts

whether it is promoting "oil-electric intelligence" or sacrificing short-term profits to increase sales, it can be seen that saic volkswagen will never stay in its comfort zone if it can attack. behind this, there is also the confidence brought by the joint support of saic group and volkswagen group.

faced with shortcomings in intelligence and new energy, saic volkswagen is quickly filling the gaps with the support of both shareholders. it is believed that after the release of subsequent blockbuster new cars, saic volkswagen will bring more shocks to the market after completing its "turnaround."

(photo/text by wei wei)