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netcom interview back to the chengdu auto show which opened two weeks ago, in the center of the saic volkswagen booth, when i sat in the back seat of the passat pro which made its public debut, although i only experienced it for a minute, the electrically adjustable seat backs and the harman kardon audio system on the headrest still made me exclaim: is this still a passat?

the surprises don't stop there. on september 10, teacher's day, saic volkswagen gave this car an equally amazing price in beautiful lijiang, yunnan, 189,900 yuan to 223,900 yuan (limited time fixed price). compared with the new generation magotan in the north, the starting price of passat pro is 20,000 yuan lower than that of the 380tsi model.

while volkswagen anhui is still full of confidence and faw-volkswagen is almost flat, saic volkswagen has taken the lead in seeking innovation and change, and continues to promote volkswagen's transformation process in the chinese market.

(tao hailong, party secretary and general manager of saic volkswagen automotive co., ltd.)

at the launch conference of passat pro, the new general manager tao hailong raised the following question:facing difficulties, how can saic volkswagen break through? how can it win this battle?

the answer he gave included several key words: forward-looking strategy, deep-rooted brand, continuously innovative products, sound and efficient system, sincere and cooperative team, and immeasurable cohesion of corporate culture. with these cards in hand, we can move forward steadily in a regular army manner.

among the above hands, the others are known cards, only "continuously innovative products" is a hidden card full of variables. what this hidden card is and how to play it in combination with other cards will determine whether saic volkswagen can break through.

no matter how the competition changes, the final result is still the product. the ultimate manifestation of the "in china for china" strategy is the product strategy.

through the passat pro, i seemed to have a glimpse of the crucial hidden card and the strategic significance behind a company's 40 years of deep cultivation in the chinese auto market. how many dumplings did saic volkswagen make in order to have a taste of vinegar?

tao hailong said that saic volkswagen's strategy is very clear, which is to adapt to the chinese market. because the chinese market is changing very quickly and is very advanced, the three technical routes of gasoline vehicles, electric vehicles, and hybrid power must be followed, and the trend of intelligence must also be kept up.

through comprehensive layout in these areas, coupled with the original quality and genes of the volkswagen brand, tao hailong believes that saic volkswagen can achieve differentiated competition.

id. series upgrades with hybrid and electric power

last year, jia jianxu, who came to saic volkswagen from yanfeng, set a "nine-word policy" for the company, one of which was to "stabilize electric vehicles." he knew very well that if electric vehicles did not make a splash, the brand would become old. therefore, saic volkswagen has been implementing the strategy of advancing both oil and electricity, and continuously upgrading the id. series.

at the end of july this year, the id.3 smart edition and id.4 x smart edition were launched. the new cars have significant changes in the experience of smart cabin and smart driving. not only has the iflytek voice interaction system been introduced, but also a high-end full-journey intelligent driving assistance system and high-end parking butler are installed.

then in august, as soon as the two new cars entered the market, they showed strong momentum, helping the id. family achieve a monthly delivery of 13,711 units, firmly ranking first in joint venture pure electric sales. among them, id.3 contributed 10,015 units, becoming the main contributor to growth.

on june 27, volkswagen group, saic group, volkswagen (china) investment co., ltd., volkswagen (china) technology co., ltd. and saic volkswagen signed a number of technical cooperation agreements in shanghai, including the development of three plug-in hybrid models and two pure electric models in china.

obviously, volkswagen will continue to fully promote its electrification strategy and has formulated a clear roadmap. among them, strengthening strategic cooperation with saic group and promoting the electrification development of saic volkswagen's product portfolio are crucial for the entire volkswagen.

pro trilogy seizes new blue ocean

according to the current development trend of the domestic automobile market, the market share of fuel vehicles will inevitably continue to decline. tao hailong emphasized that saic volkswagen must be strategically prepared for the decline in fuel vehicles, but it must also firmly stabilize the fuel vehicle market, because the huge user base of fuel vehicles is a major advantage of saic volkswagen.

how can we stabilize the fuel vehicle market? this is a question that every traditional car company is thinking about. saic volkswagen's answer is: pro trilogy, which makes fuel vehicles intelligent and explores new blue ocean markets when other car companies are no longer investing in traditional energy.

the first part of the pro trilogy is the tiguan l pro, which was launched on may 30. the car has been fully upgraded in four aspects: intelligent driving, digital cockpit, smart car connection, and smart lighting, redefining the intelligent standards of gasoline vehicles. in particular, the iq. pilot intelligent assisted driving system, which is in deep cooperation with dji, brings users an experience of "oil and electricity are both intelligent".

(fu qiang, executive vice president of sales and marketing at saic volkswagen and general manager of shanghai saic volkswagen automotive sales co., ltd.)

according to fu qiang, executive vice president of sales and marketing of saic volkswagen, tiguan l pro has achieved sales of over 3,000 units per month so far. he believes that the positioning of "the smartest gasoline car" has been accepted by consumers.

the second part is the passat pro which has just been launched on the market. not only is its price more aggressive than that of the tiguan l pro, but it also improves the riding comfort and the sense of luxury in the car under the premise of the same intelligent upgrade, especially the second row of seats, such as the electrically adjustable backrest and headrest speakers mentioned above.

the final chapter will be the flagship product, touron. according to fu qiang, touron pro's product strategy will go a step further and continue to add to passat pro's intelligence and comfort.

fu qiang said that the connotation of pro is to add to the products that already have very good mechanical performance, to upgrade the flagship products and popular products, to make up for the shortcomings in intelligence and internet, and thus push the entire brand upward.

admittedly, if we compare the smart cabin and smart driving capabilities with the current first-tier new forces, saic volkswagen is still somewhat lacking, but the gap is narrowing visibly. this time, saic volkswagen has launched an in-depth cooperation with baidu wenxin yiyan big model. next, the big language model service will be rapidly extended horizontally to all product series.

in july this year, saic volkswagen's market share in the domestic fuel vehicle market was 7%, which increased to 8% in august. tao hailong said that it will continue to move towards the 8% target in september. for traditional large manufacturers, only by stabilizing the fuel vehicle position first can they better transform and must not lose the watermelon to pick up the sesame seeds.

innovative marketing strategies make competitive advantages palpable

good products are one thing. in order to achieve the goal of promoting gasoline vehicles, saic volkswagen has also launched a series of preferential policies, including providing free lifetime powertrain warranty for the first owners of all fuel vehicles.

this benefit has a high value in the market and was previously sold for rmb 10,000 in the official mall. fu qiang said that saic volkswagen chose to include this benefit in its products to provide additional protection for customers and also hoped to achieve higher sales targets throughout the year.

in addition, the purpose of doing so is to fully demonstrate the advantages of the company. fu qiang further explained: "first of all, our product quality system is very good, the manufacturing process is first-class, and the materials are very solid, including laser welding, double-sided galvanizing and other technologies, which will eventually be reflected as competitive advantages."

fu qiang also gave another related example. volkswagen brand products are very popular with insurance companies because they are made of solid materials and have a much lower accident rate than competing products.

it is precisely because of the confidence in product quality control that saic volkswagen has the confidence to make such a real promise. according to fu qiang, after promoting value preservation and renewal in the first half of the year, saic volkswagen will also make some new attempts in the second half of the year to transform system strength into market competitiveness that users can perceive.

whether it is the pro trilogy or promoting market competitiveness through various marketing innovations, fu qiang said frankly: "there is a big ambition behind all our initiatives. we hope to have good enough products in the entire price range from 80,000 to 320,000, and we will strengthen the coverage of products in every price range of 10,000 yuan."

conclusion

tao hailong is an old "volkswagen man". after graduating from university, he worked at saic volkswagen for 18 years, including 6 years as the head of the quality assurance department, 6 years as the manager of the quality assurance laboratory, and 4 years as the general manager of saic transmission company. it can be said that tao hailong, the new head coach of saic volkswagen, who came from automobile quality management, has a background in parts and components, just like the former general manager jia jianxu, and both have a deep understanding of the underlying logic of automobile products.

fu qiang, who succeeded yu jingmin as the executive vice president of sales and marketing of saic volkswagen and the general manager of shanghai saic volkswagen automotive sales co., ltd., also joined saic volkswagen after graduation. he has been deeply involved in the saic volkswagen marketing system. he has participated in the establishment of the id. pure electric product marketing system and promoted the transformation of the volkswagen brand marketing system.

this also means that after the "jia yu combination", the new combination of tao hailong and fu qiang still reflects saic volkswagen's strong organizational genes, that is, the extreme emphasis on quality and marketing innovation.

if the "jia yu combination" laid the foundation for saic volkswagen's counterattack, then tao hailong and fu qiang's task is to lead saic volkswagen to achieve a successful transformation.

how to do it? saic volkswagen’s answer is: don’t rush for quick success and don’t lose your composure.

(photo/text by wei wei)