It is hard to imagine that in 2020, the United States will have the first hurdle of GM, Ford and Fiat Chrysler (FCA) at the same time.
According to the recent US Consumer Report (Consumer? According to the latest ranking of automobile brands in 2020 published by the report, the top ten brands are divided by German, Korean and Japanese brands. The best brand in the United States is Tesla, with 73 points 1 1, followed by Lincoln, 13, Chrysler, Ford and GM with 69 points, 66 points and 59 points respectively.
American brands with poor total scores are also terrible in single subjects.
In the list of the top ten models, Japanese models dominate the list with monopoly advantage. Among them, Toyota topped the list with four models, while the American Big Three was not selected as the "best model list". As a non-profit evaluation report publication magazine sponsored by American Consumers Union, Consumer Report is one of the most trusted neutral automobile evaluation agencies in North America. At the same time, because of its comprehensive and meticulous evaluation, many consumers choose cars with the magazine's selection results as a reference.
Although it is only a valuable selection report, it is undoubtedly not a wake-up call for the big three in the United States: why can Japanese brands blossom in the global market, including the American domestic market, while American brands are losing ground in the global market, and even their ability to defend the local market has been hit? What impact will unbalanced market competition bring to the development of American brands?
The automobile industry has developed for more than one hundred years. America is an established automobile power. Under the demand of scale and co-assimilation, this industry has even become a completely global industry. But now, the global strategic contraction of American brands represented by GM and Ford is more like acting against the wind. Even if this is what they have to do to survive at present, it has to be said that no investor is willing to put eggs in only one or two baskets, which seems safe in the short term, but in fact it is more risky in the long run.
Survival "contraction war"
Unlike Japanese brands, which play a stable role in China, Southeast Asia, Europe and other markets, and even China brands "attack" overseas, the actions of Ford and GM in the global automobile market, especially since the 20 18 global automobile market showed a downward trend, the contraction of American brands in the world has become more obvious.
From products to market share, from brand image to brand vitality, the global contraction of American departments, whether active or passive, has become an inevitable phenomenon that occurs all the time. Take Ford for example. In China, the largest single market in the world, Ford's "loss again" is a typical example. After reaching the peak of 1.22 million vehicles (excluding Lincoln brand and imported models) in 20 16, it declined all the way, and it was only 230,000 vehicles in 20 19.
At the same time, Ford's frequent personnel changes in China have influenced and promoted each other, pushing Ford China to the abyss. For the whole year of 20 19, Ford lost $7170,000 in China market and $0/50,000 in 20 18.
For a long time, Ford has invested heavily in travel changes around the world. However, because technologies such as autonomous driving are not mature enough to talk about profitability, it is difficult to achieve results with continuous investment, which also means losses. On the other hand, the traditional automobile business that supports Ford, the giant elephant, can't keep up with the market demand, which leads to a decline in sales, thus affecting financial performance. In 20 19, the net profit dropped by 98.7%, and Ford must not be allowed to continue to increase revenue and reduce expenditure and tighten its belt.
In order to survive, in the year before the global automobile market declined, Ford proposed a cost reduction plan of $654.38+0.4 billion, and then the target of this plan was raised to $25.5 billion. In addition, since the closure of the Australian plant on 20 16, Ford has closed three Russian factories and six European manufacturing plants, and nearly 6,000 jobs have been laid off.
By the end of 2020, Ford will lay off 654.38+0.2 million employees in Europe, accounting for about 20% of its total employees in Europe. According to Ford's statement of "restructuring the global workforce" put forward on 20 18, it can be seen that 70,000 salaried employees may be affected in the future. Budget cuts such as layoffs, closing or selling factories will become the norm for Ford.
General Motors, another American car company, has also made great efforts on the road of slimming in recent years. In addition to selling Hummer, Pontiac, Saab and Mercury, it also reduced its eight main brands to Buick, Chevrolet, Cadillac and GMC, and also withdrew from the local markets in major regions of the world.
Chevrolet brand 20 14 withdrew from the European market; 20 15 Opel withdrew from the Russian market and closed the Indonesian factory; 20 17 Opel, vauxhall, General Motors Financial Europe business sale; At the beginning of 2020, it was announced that the Chevrolet brand would withdraw from the Thai market, reduce its manufacturing, design and sales business in the Australian and New Zealand markets, and completely abandon the Horton brand before the end of 20021.
In addition to selling its business in various places, GM announced in 20 18 that it would lay off14,000 people and close seven factories around the world, including five in North America. In the long run, through this series of "slimming" measures, GM is expected to save the company as much as $6 billion a year.
In order to survive in this round of competition, GM only "stared" at the US and China markets. According to the sales data of GM in 20 19, among its total sales of 7.76 million vehicles, the sales of China and North America were 3.26 million and 3.36 million respectively.
Among American giants, FCA's route can be said to be "unique". When the world and China are facing the same difficulties, FCA chose to "embrace" PSA, and achieved comprehensive business integration through a 50-50 merger. Judging from the sales performance of the two major groups in various regions in 20 19, even if the global sales volume will be around 8 million vehicles in the future, the backwardness in the field of new energy and the downturn of Peugeot Citroen and Jeep brands in China market are still problems that the new entity needs to solve.
Undoubtedly, the American department has been unable to make up its mind to retreat to the world, because the North American market, especially the United States, has an absolute advantage. In 20 19, the North American market sold 20.87 million vehicles, and the American Big Three sold 87 1 10,000 vehicles, accounting for 4 1.7% of the market. In the American market, the Big Three also accounted for 43.9% of the market. It is worth noting that the share of Japanese brands, led by Toyota and Honda, in the United States in 20 19 was also 37. 1%. In the face of Japanese pursuit, American brands have a hard time in the United States.
In the American market, another reason why American departments can't despise Japanese is that Toyota and Honda don't have deep roots in American departments. However, as Toyota, which opened the American market after World War II in the 1950s, its 70-year history of selling cars in the United States is enough to conquer three generations of Americans, which is also the beginning of its globalization as a world-class manufacturer. As Toyota entered the American market, Japanese brands such as Honda and Nissan also entered the United States one after another.
Coupled with the two oil crises that occurred in the 1970s, the price of gasoline in the United States soared and doubled, and the Japanese small fuel-efficient car, which is famous for its exquisite energy saving, quickly became a "hot cake" in the American market. 1979 The share of Japanese cars in the American market was 17%, and 1980 rose rapidly to 24%. 1980 Japan's annual automobile output reached 1 1 10,000 vehicles, replacing the United States as the world's largest automobile producer. 1980, the annual output of Toyota corolla was as high as 856,000 vehicles. At present, Toyota Corolla (Toyota Corolla 10 generation Chinese name changed from "Corolla" to "Corolla") has sold more than 36 million vehicles worldwide.
It is not easy to snatch food from the hegemonic territory of the world. Volkswagen, the global sales champion, has been thinking tirelessly about how to enhance its influence and increase its share in the United States. There is a saying in the industry that "the winner of China wins the world", but if you want to become a truly world-class automobile manufacturer, you must cross the railing of the United States.
However, compared with Volkswagen, Toyota and other brands expanding their offensive on a global scale, Ford, GM and FCA have all encountered their own problems to varying degrees at this moment. Originally, they wanted to seize the opportunity of market development, but in the rapid and unrealistic layout, their original advantages were hindered, and they were really sad on the road to survival.
A difficult road to transformation
The automobile industry is changing all the time. Driven by the new era, "proud" Americans have to stand at the top of technology and industry, so autonomous driving and energy-saving technology have become the magic weapon for Americans to lead the next era. But the fact is not as simple as imagined, just like a seesaw. When the new trend is pushed too hard, it will inevitably affect the basic survival and development, and eventually fall into a difficult road of transformation.
Ford put forward the "mobile blueprint" plan as early as 20 12, imagining the intelligent transportation network after 2025, in which autonomous driving is the core part. Prior to this, Ford had ten years of experience in autonomous driving research and development, which was also the beginning of Ford's bottomless pit.
Ford's grand vision of future transportation
20 15 "Ford smart mobile plan" was launched. Ford went to Argo in 20 17? AI investment 1 100 million dollars, a year later Ford went to Argo? AI promises to realize an additional investment of $3 billion by 2023. Even if the net profit of 20 19 does not reach 10 billion dollars, Ford said that it will not give up autonomous driving technology. To this end, Ford CEO Han Kate said: "Ford must change." In the future, Ford will achieve a balance between new trends and steady development in this protracted transformation.
One of Ford's "balance skills" is its extensive alliance with Volkswagen in the fields of commercial vehicles, electric vehicles and self-driving cars. For example, while Volkswagen uses Ford's North American factory for production to expand its North American market, Volkswagen will help the Ford brand explore the European market. In addition, Ford will also produce electric vehicles on the Volkswagen MEB platform. It is estimated that by the end of 2020, Ford will launch 14 new electrified products in the European market.
The other end of the balance technique is based on market changes.
In the global market, Ford has been criticized that the products under the principle of "one Ford" cannot meet the specific differentiated needs of other markets. Taking China, the largest and most critical market, as an example, analysts believe that the reason why Ford's products are unpopular is related to the fact that the products can't keep up with the market demand.
In order to solve this problem, in April last year, Ford officially launched the Ford China 2.0 strategy, which promoted the recovery of Ford's business in China from five aspects: speeding up product development and launch, developing intelligent technology, deepening strategic partnership, persisting in innovation and cultivating local talents. In September, Ford and Changan * * * signed the "Changan Ford Acceleration Plan" to speed up the product investment in China market and improve the current product structure.
The same problem as Ford is that GM's three-cylinder engine has also been "swallowed" badly. In order to meet the increasingly stringent domestic fuel consumption standards and emission standards, SAIC-GM introduced a new generation of Ecotec from 2065438+September 2007. 1.0T, 1.3T three-cylinder engine, but the immaturity of the three-cylinder engine market makes many consumers stay away from it. Coupled with the downturn in the auto market, GM's sales in China have declined for three consecutive years. In 20 19, the sales of SAIC-GM decreased by 18.7%, Buick decreased by 18.4% and Chevrolet decreased by 24.8%.
In order to boost market sales and maintain the position of the first echelon in the auto market, GM was told to compromise with the market and regain its four-cylinder engine. The news was also confirmed by its insiders. "The new 1.5L four-cylinder naturally aspirated engine will be sold together with the existing 1.0T and 1.3T three-cylinder engines to meet the diverse needs of consumers."
In addition, GM will continue to optimize its product portfolio in China, focusing on the fast-growing SUV and luxury car market. In addition, in the face of global new energy trends, GM plans to invest 8 billion US dollars, and by 2023, it will launch 20 new pure electric vehicles around the world.
Although "global development" is only five simple words, it is complex, difficult and full of obstacles. Even if we win the opportunity to achieve rapid growth in the early stage, it will be even more difficult to maintain it smoothly in the later stage.
In the process of globalization that big car companies dream of, the opposite of American system may be based on better consideration for future development or better measures to avoid risks. However, from the perspective of the automobile market, products are always the main embodiment of the strength of automobile enterprises, and providing comprehensive and smarter products for consumer demand is the best way out.
Text/Gan Fangli
This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.