This change is both gratifying and worrying. Fortunately, the contribution of Changan independent brand in the group has been further consolidated; What is worrying is that the further decline of joint venture business will make Zhu Huarong short of food and grass, and its future deployment will be even more stretched.
According to the performance forecast of Changan Automobile, 2.346 million vehicles were sold in 2022, and the net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies was about 7.3-8.7 billion yuan. In contrast, FAW Group sold 3.2 million vehicles in 2022, but its profit was as high as 49 billion yuan, six times that of Changan. The profit of FAW-Volkswagen, the biggest hero behind it, was already high before distribution. 41.500 million yuan. It can be said that the development of FAW is at the bottom of the joint venture brand, but what Changan has is only a "drag bottle".
▋ The biggest drag bottle-Changan Mazda
Relatively speaking, the situation of the new Changan Mazda after the merger of North and South has not improved, but has gone from bad to worse.
In the first two months of 2022, the cumulative sales volume of Changan Mazda was 29,847 vehicles, but by the same period of this year, there were only 7,887 vehicles left, down 73.6% year-on-year. This may be something that Zhu Huarong never thought about before making the merger decision. It has a complete Mazda brand in China, but it has been completely dragged into the quagmire. The most terrible thing is that it is still getting deeper and deeper. So, what is the reason behind this?
It can't be Deng, can it?
On September 30th, 2022, Deng Zhitao succeeded Wang Hui and became the executive vice president of Changan Mazda, the top leader of China.
As can be seen from the above picture, after Deng Zhitao took over, it continued to decline until it fell to the bottom at the beginning of this year, so it was questioned. But actually, it is unreasonable to put this "pot" on Deng's head. Objectively speaking, before Wang Hui Goldman Sachs Group, the sales volume of the new Mazda was not so good. In the second and third quarters of 2022, except for a slight increase of 3.24% in June, it has been falling all the time, with a sharp drop of about 60% in April and September. A similar situation happened during Wang Hui's predecessor Fu.
So if you say no, can't everyone just do it Obviously, this is unlikely.
Before taking charge of Chang 'an, Deng served as the deputy general manager of Changan Auchan Automobile and the general manager of the sales company. During his tenure, Auchan soared 36.9% against the trend to 202 1 in 2020, and sold 228,000 new cars, achieving a high growth rate of 49%, becoming the fastest growing young car brand in China. So its ability is beyond doubt.
So, what is Mazda's problem?
The trend of the times, can you change your life?
According to the data released by the China Passenger Car Market Information Association, in 2022, the business of Japanese joint venture brands in China was almost wiped out, and the sales volume of Guangben decreased by 6.2% year-on-year; Dongben decreased17.8% year-on-year; Yifeng fell by 5.6%; Nissan has also dropped by 20.9% ... So from this perspective, it is actually very difficult for any company, but Mazda, as a second-tier Japanese brand, will be hit earlier and more seriously in the process of the rise of its own brand.
From this perspective, the fundamental problem of Changan Mazda is not to change coaches. Although Deng's performance is poor now, it's just that another person can't solve the problem.
Of course, this does not mean that Deng can only give in easily. The author believes that for Mazda and all other Japanese brands, the strategy in China has reached the moment when fundamental adjustment is needed.
As we all know, in the 1970s and 1980s, Japanese cars became popular all over the world with their excellent energy consumption and economy. Today, our own brand is also staging a similar story. As a Japanese car, it seems that we should understand the truth more. Changan Mazda wants to rise against the market in China, instead of putting itself on the shelf, it should eventually fight with its own brand.
Recently, Dongfeng Motor made a hot search on the news that Hubei Province strongly subsidized sales promotion. Among them, the price of Citroen C6 directly changed from 2,654.38+0 million to 654.38+0.2 million. A B+ class car with a wheelbase of 2900mm directly hit the bottom of the price, in exchange for an instant explosion! Before 200,000 Citroen C6, everyone felt that everything was not good; Now the C6 advantage of 1.2 million is full. This case has actually inspired many joint venture brands. It's not impossible, but too expensive!
There is usually a strange hidden rule in the industry. Joint-venture brands have always anchored joint-venture brands in "pinching", just like "foreign brands" and independent brands, "prices are falling", "share is falling" and "not the same person" ... but you must know that all car buyers are from China. If everyone buys domestic brands, who will buy your joint venture? Independent brands have become the existence that joint venture brands have to face directly.
Therefore, the author believes that if Deng still has enough time to trade in Chang 'an, what he should do most is to comprehensively implement the strategic reform aimed at "reducing prices" internally. Starting today, don't think of yourself as a "foreign brand". From supply chain to gross profit margin, from production conditions to labor costs, we can reduce costs and increase efficiency in all directions. Mazda still has some brand advantages and some technical advantages, and reducing its figure is the only way out.
According to Mazda's financial report, its gross profit margin in the global market in 2022 was 265,438+0.93%. According to experience, the gross profit margin of joint venture brands in China market is relatively higher. Therefore, compared with our own brand, its terminal price is definitely not dominant. Take Geely as an example. In 2022, the gross profit margin will be about 14.6%, and BYD will be about 15.9%. ...
In addition to gross profit margin, Mazda's supply chain cost is not as good as its own brand. According to the disclosure in the middle of last year, Mazda has about 200 supply chain partners in China, covering about 800 kinds of auto parts. However, due to the epidemic situation, in order to ensure production, the strategy of moving part of the "supply chain" out of China was started last year, which will undoubtedly further increase its production cost. Therefore, it is difficult for Mazda to compete with its own brands in the domestic market with high cost and high gross profit.
The next category may be the beginning of a challenge to Deng. If he really wants to create a myth and not "struggle" with Mazda, he needs not only the sales ability as before, but also to optimize the management of the whole supply chain, adjust the distribution strategy, reposition the brand and completely build a "China Mazda".
Of course, these reform measures will take at least three years, so Deng must be given enough trust and patience. But now, you can't do it without paying. After all, Changan Mazda has reached a situation that can't be worse.
This article is original for Che Ping. Author: Observer Xiao Liu, Editor: Tian Miao, concerned about Che Ping. Com, "Good car breaks down, gang gets caught".
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