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Autobot strategy reset to help transform U.S. cars

Even without considering the geopolitical risks, American automakers that have chosen to stay in China for the long haul need to consider resetting their growth strategies.

Written by Wu Yu, The Autobot

In today's China, the challenge for American cars is not to "leave the field" or to stay, but rather how to remain invincible in the electrified and intelligent competition; not how to continue to shine the century-old brand, but rather to add a new persona to the brand and give it a new dynamic energy. The new kinetic energy.

In the era of escalating US-China games, US companies in China should heed the call to relocate their factories, or continue to invest in China's development. If you decide to leave, now you have to gradually start the relocation of the supply chain, product contraction; if you decide to insist, then the investment and allocation of resources to re-plan, the development of the strategy should be re-considered ......

Will U.S. companies leave? The answer is no. According to the "annual report" released by the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, more than 92% of U.S. companies in China have no plans to leave the country. Among the U.S. companies considering abandoning the Chinese market, those with global revenues of less than $50 million accounted for a relatively high proportion, while among large companies with global turnover of more than 500 million U.S. dollars, the proportion of those considering leaving China dropped to 5.1 percent.

At the 16th Beijing International Auto Show, which opened in late September, SAIC-GM brought nearly 40 new cars, including the stylish sports SUV Buick Enclave S and Enclave S?Avenir Avia, as well as the high-end large 7-seat all-around SUV Chevrolet Trailblazer, the 9AT intermediate SUV Chevrolet New Explorer, and the new American flagship sedan Cadillac CT6 and 2021 New American sport SUV Cadillac XT4 and other eye-catching models.

General Motors Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Mary K. Bora said at the GM Technology Outlook Day, "GM's original vision for the China market has never changed, and we stand by our commitment to our employees, consumers and partners. China is GM's largest market and global innovation center, and is key to realizing the company's vision of 'zero emissions, zero accidents and zero congestion'."

Ford has its finger on the pulse of the times with the Mustang?Mach-E, an all-electric midsize SUV that competes with the Tesla Model?Y. The standard-range version of the vehicle is equipped with a lithium-ion battery with a capacity of 75.7 kilowatt-hours (kWh), while the long-range version is equipped with a lithium-ion battery with a capacity of 98.8 kWh, which is capable of a range of up to 600 kilometers (WLTP). The latter has a range of up to 600 kilometers (WLTP standard). The latter has a range of up to 600 kilometers (WLTP standard), giving it an absolute mileage advantage over NEDC-compliant pure EVs on the market.

The company, which will succeed Jim Hackett as Ford president starting Oct. 1, will be the first in a series of new models to be introduced to the market. Jim Hackett, who will become president and CEO of Ford Motor Co. According to Farley, consumers in China are more demanding of digital experiences than those in the global market. But the Chinese market is also a huge opportunity for Ford, containing huge returns. Ford can only be more successful globally if it does well in China.

FCA Group unveiled the Jeep brand's first electrified model at its booth - the new Jeep Wrangler 4×e, equipped with a plug-in hybrid system comprising a 2.0T engine, dual electric motors, and offering three power modes - the HYBRID, ELECTRIC and E-SAVE. The new car will go on sale in China, Europe and the U.S. in early 2021. According to the plan, electrified versions of all Jeep models will be released by 2021; by 2022, 10 plug-in hybrids and four pure-electric versions will be introduced to the market.

China is a fundamentally powerful market that we will hold with great attention and importance, said Dini Choi, chief operating officer of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Asia Pacific. Today's FICO will not ignore such a market; in the future, after the merger of FICO and PSA is completed, as the world's fourth-largest automobile group, we are bound to make concerted efforts to seize the Chinese market.

Tesla in Jiangsu Yancheng test Model?Y spy photos have been circulating on the Internet, although it is impossible to identify the identity of the test car is domestic or imported, but Tesla's domestic project is being recruited at a high speed is a confirmed fact, the assembly workshop production line operators to 600 people, logistics forklift workers also have 200 Hire?Count... ...Tesla Superfactory's new projects, new models "need super people".

Even ignoring the geopolitical risks, American carmakers that have chosen to stay in China for the long haul need to consider resetting their growth strategies.

Today, China's auto market has entered a period of "retraction" that has threatened the survival of many companies. 2018, China's auto market slipped from a high of 28,878,900 units into a vortex of "negative growth", and both cars and SUVs have never returned to their peaks. SUV has not returned to the peak, many lack of immunity to the brand fell: zhongtai automobile owes employees salary and five insurance and gold, chongqing lifan holdings to apply for judicial bankruptcy, huatai automobile overdue liabilities were frozen equity, cheetah automobile shut down transfer base to try to self-help, imported suzuki and renault also successively withdrew from the chinese market ......

Today, technological trends that are sufficient to disrupt the industry have emerged, and the original accumulation of the automotive industry is facing zero, and the stable structure is about to be broken. In addition to electrification, interconnectivity is changing the logic of survival of the automotive industry from various nodes such as car manufacturing, car sales, car use, 5G, artificial intelligence, big data center and industrial Internet is also raging, the dependence of the industry chain, change the mature business model is reconstructed has been the general trend. The subversion brought about by technology is very much like a frog boiled in warm water, and it is difficult to change when you are surprised.

Today, the oligarchs in the auto industry are already trying to redefine the rules of the game through cooperation and alliances. General Motors and Honda *** enjoy a new generation of electric vehicle platform and Ultium battery technology, the former invested in CRUISE developed by the "Super Cruise Driver Assistance System" will soon cover Buick and Chevrolet; Ford and Volkswagen's cooperation is more comprehensive, the former based on the MEB platform for the launch of electric vehicles, the latter based on the RANGER platform for the production of electric vehicles, and the latter based on the RANGER platform for the production of electric vehicles, the latter based on the RANGER platform for the production of electric vehicles. The latter will produce mid-size pickup trucks based on the RANGER platform, and the two companies will each invest in Argo?AI to develop self-driving car business ......

Simply put, there are three changes in today's Chinese market that cannot be ignored: the industry is already in low or even negative growth, the industry chain structure is no longer in a steady state, and the market has a potential for untapped technologies that can be utilized for a variety of purposes, such as driving a car, driving a motorcycle, or driving a car. There is untapped technological potential and it can be reshaped through cooperation. In such a situation, it is necessary to re-evaluate the previous strategy, which was based on "stable industry, stable competition, predictable outlook and predictable growth".

Alfred Chandler, in 1962, wrote about the need to rethink strategy. Chandler argued in 1962 that strategy is the basis for determining the basic long-term goals of a business, the course of action and the allocation of resources needed to achieve those goals. Writer Max McKeown's definition is more straightforward: strategy is about shaping the future.

In the short term, the primary goal of the U.S.-based company's reset strategy is to survive, to fight off internal and external shocks, and to try to survive and avoid obsolescence.

Survival, the most important thing is to listen to the needs of the user, "user-centered", "user demand-driven" no longer stay in the slogan, really from the company's operating mechanism, departmental functions to adjust the setting. If the company is still in accordance with the product life cycle and the division of functions, such as research and development, manufacturing, sales ...... located in the C position is still the "product", rather than the user.

Wen Fei, deputy general manager of Great Wall Motor's sales company, once mentioned that in the future, Haval will have a "model group" for each car, and the management of the entire product life cycle is only the regular work of this organization; its most critical function is to connect the user needs collected from the marketing side with the design, development and manufacturing process, so that the user's voice can reach the decision-making level directly, and the user's voice can be heard. The most important function is to connect the user's needs collected from the marketing side with the design, development and manufacturing process, so that the user's voice can reach the decision-making level directly, and also let the system really revolve around the user.

Mercedes-Benz also conducted a similar transformation experiment. When Mercedes-me was flashing in the neon lights of Sanlitun, and the aroma of coffee was heavy on the tip of the nose, the attempt to revolve product design, manufacturing and sales around CRM (customer relationship management) had already begun. But with Mercedes-me being handed over to dealerships, there's less talk of what was once an ambitious endeavor.

Energizing finances, on the other hand, is the instinct of car companies to anticipate crises -- not only to give the entire company a clear understanding of the state of the industry, but also to make sure that the company's transformational efforts are adequately backed up by finances. Objectively speaking, reduce costs, suspend non-core business is only a signal and means to maintain sufficient profitability, the ability to invest in the future, is the key to business can survive.

GM announced in February that it would reduce its sales, design and engineering operations in Australia and New Zealand, phase out its Holden brand and sell its Rayong plant in Thailand. ...... All of these seemingly brutal endeavors were made in order to strengthen its core business and improve the effectiveness of its investments. In the crisis of 12 years ago, Ford was able to turn around with a light touch, thanks to a "slimming program" that was one step ahead of schedule. The F150, Bronco and other new models released by Ford this year are also an attempt to find higher growth and higher profit business, and are trying to improve the adaptability of the basic business.

In the long run, the U.S.-based company's reset strategy should push the company out of its comfort zone and into deeper water, from the "stable and predictable" environment it has become accustomed to to a state of swinging arms and running. In this, perhaps the company's strategy will be revised several times, the company's development will have "turnaround" situation, but do not panic, think of the state of those technology companies is good.

The U.S. car must wake up to realize that the original structure of the automotive industry is ushering in more and more changes, innovative technology applications are becoming the "invisible hand" to shape the direction of the industry's development. 6-disc CD, Hi-Fi stereo by QQ music, Himalayas and other apps to replace; once replaced the mechanical touch-screen buttons, there is a high probability that the mechanical touch-screen will be replaced. The touch screen that once replaced the mechanical buttons is likely to be replaced by voice recognition and gesture control, and in the future, the control of the vehicle may just be a thought that flashes through the mind.......

In the 1990s, General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler developed fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly hybrid models, but only a few of the vehicles were put into mass production; it was Toyota's obsession with putting the Prius on the race track that made it the most popular vehicle in the world. Prius on the track - from the launch of the Prius in 1997 to the present, Toyota's cumulative sales of hybrid models have exceeded 15 million units, establishing today's leading edge from the hybrid, plug-in hybrid and hydrogen fuel cell fields.

While the development of the industry is difficult to predict, the Matthew effect of the strong getting stronger and the weak getting weaker will become increasingly clear. In the ever-changing social and business environment, only those who can keep up with the pace of rapid development are qualified to talk about survival; lagging behind the industry's average level will only result in elimination.

Instead of being anxious in observation, we should respond with action. General Motors, Ford, Fisker Group and industry newcomer Tesla are all facing similar choices. (Article / "Automobile Man" Wu Yu, part of the picture source network) Copyright Notice This article is an exclusive original manuscript of "Automobile Man", copyright "Automobile Man" all rights reserved.

This article comes from the author of Automotive Home Car Family, and does not represent the viewpoint position of Automotive Home.