While accelerating the transformation of electrification, intelligence and digitalization, many new interpretations and understandings have emerged around the word "luxury". Mercedes-Benz, as the "benchmark" of luxury, has been paying attention to how to face this wave and interpret the luxury of the new era.
On April 18, a tree of life bloomed in the center of the stage at China Shipyard on the Huangpu River, and three brand-new EQ family models went on the market, accelerating towards "Vision 2039". Vision AVTR concept car also explains Mercedes-Benz's desire for future travel.
Just as the whole conference was discussing a question, how to make cars, people and nature more harmonious and unified in the future, what Mercedes-Benz hopes in the era of electrification is not only electricity itself, but the yearning for a better life. Returning to luxury itself, understanding the pursuit of users in the new era and starting from their needs are also becoming an indispensable part of luxury goods.
Mr. Zhang Yan, Senior Executive Vice President of Beijing Mercedes-Benz Sales & Service Co., Ltd. and Chairman of Mercedes-Benz Xingyuan Fund Management Committee, also deconstructed Mercedes-Benz's understanding of luxury in the new era and its efforts to realize this experience around the upgrade of dealer service and digital architecture.
202 1 Mercedes-Benz booth at Shanghai Auto Show The following is an interview record:
Automobile production: just after the first quarter of this year, we compared 20 19 and found that the luxury car market grew by 50%, which was a bit unexpected. Mercedes-Benz performed particularly well in the first quarter, exceeding 200,000 vehicles. I would also like to ask you to summarize the sales performance in the next quarter and where the main growth comes from.
Zhangyan: As you know, our sales in the first quarter exceeded 220,000 units, which is also a new high for us. 1 month, nearly 654.38 million new cars were delivered to customers.
Why have you achieved such results? On the one hand, because of the economic recovery, the epidemic situation has been well controlled, and at the same time, there are consumption upgrading, environmental changes, and of course, Mercedes-Benz's continuous efforts in the China market.
It is very important that this achievement comes from years of rooted in the China market and sincere cooperation with local partners, whether shareholders or distributors, to promote the improvement of products and services.
We continue to invest in "new luxury goods" that meet the needs of customers in China. At the same time, we are also promoting the "heart-oriented luxury" service, so that luxury permeates every contact with customers.
In order to adapt to the development of the whole industry, we put forward a brand-new brand strategy in June 5438+ 10, 2020, and vigorously developed sub-brand business including Mercedes -EQ. At the "Mercedes -EQ Night" on the eve of the Shanghai Auto Show, we also brought China consumers the AVTR concept car, the brand-new EQS pure electric vehicle, the brand-new EQB pure electric SUV and the brand-new EQA pure electric SUV.
As the year of Mercedes -EQ, we will continue to expand brand awareness and understanding of customers, promote new energy and meet the needs of social development.
Of course, Mercedes-Benz will also have many online and offline customer contacts and platforms, including the dealer system and the platform for offline communication with customers. Through the construction of these platforms, we can better understand customers, and also let customers enjoy the luxury service experience of Mercedes-Benz brand while enjoying the "new luxury" products through these platforms. This is the right thing we have done in the past and will continue to do so in the future to ensure the healthy and sustainable development of Mercedes-Benz brand.
Automobile Production: You just mentioned the service experience of "luxury at heart", including many contacts, which need to be completed through dealer partners. From last year to now, what support have you provided for the upgrade and service improvement of dealers? Is there any positive feedback from the customer's point of view or the dealer's investor's point of view?
Zhangyan: The launch of the "2020 Network Upgrade Plan" is to make the offline physical network better meet the customer's experience needs under the new situation. 2020 is the starting point and the first year of "2020 Network Upgrade Plan". In 20 16, we started to design the upgrade scheme, just to start promoting it in 2020, and to adapt to the changes of the industry by improving and upgrading the space, multimedia, personnel and processes of the retail network. You can see that in many cities, dealer storefronts are presented to customers in a brand-new form, which can well reflect the concept of modern luxury goods, whether it is generous, neat and iconic in appearance or standardization of internal service facilities. More importantly, we have promoted the changes in the service process and the corresponding personnel organization structure, ensuring that customers can have a group of people with real attitude and ability in a good environment and good facilities, understand customers' needs and provide services according to reasonable processes, bringing customers a better experience. This is the original intention of designing the network upgrade plan in 2020.
By the end of this year, more than one-third of the distribution stores in China will upgrade their hardware, and more than half of the dealers will upgrade their processes and personnel structure, all of which come from their offline physical networks. In addition to providing them with good environment and process guidance, we have also increased the training and training capacity of the dealer system. On the one hand, together with our authorized dealer partner * * *, we have launched a service convention and "hospitality" to help dealers fully understand what they can't do, what they should do and what luxury service standards are. At the same time, we offer upgrading training courses. Last year, more than 1000 training courses were conducted under the epidemic situation, more than half of which were conducted online to help dealers improve their capabilities.
Last year, there were more than 6.5438+0.4 million person-times, especially during the epidemic period. Online training provided more learning opportunities for dealers, so that front-line employees could have a deeper understanding of products and services.
In addition to training, we rely on the four digital platforms of website, WeChat, application and car machine to further realize the close connection between online touch point and offline retail network, digitally empower core business and user experience, and help the dealer system to better understand customer needs and reach customers through the construction of digital platforms, and establish the connection between customers, brands and dealers.
You just mentioned that many aspects of automobile production need digital tools. If you want to sum up, where is the most fundamental value change of Mercedes-Benz and dealers?
Zhangyan: First of all, there must be data as a support, which is what everyone calls big data. Big data can help us to have a more comprehensive understanding of the objects we serve and the world we live in under the premise of ensuring customer information security. The other is the algorithm. Whether the algorithm is based on customer demand or product is different consideration and result. On the other hand, establish contact with customers through digital tools and platforms. This can be either a hardware aspect or a physical concept to realize data interconnection; It can also be the concept of service, that is, based on big data, taking the algorithm as a reference, under the premise of ensuring the security of customer information, we can really understand customers, understand customers and serve customers well through platforms and contacts.
I think digital transformation is the basic tool and service concept for us to take customers as the center and enhance the customer service experience.
Automobile production: I can feel that great changes have taken place in Mercedes-Benz and the whole industry, including the "Mercedes -EQ Night" on the eve of Shanghai Auto Show. Originally, I felt that I was participating in the activities of Mercedes-Benz. What was even more shocking was the grandeur of the scene, with the historical background and momentum of Mercedes-Benz. What I felt more yesterday was that humanistic and warm things would be more prominent and obvious. I also want to ask you, is there any new interpretation and change in the definition of luxury goods in EQ era or future electrification era?
Zhangyan: Speaking of luxury goods, I think the human understanding of luxury goods has been evolving. Speaking of the Z era, how to make luxury goods more meaningful in the new era? I think it is more important to understand what kind of luxury goods they are pursuing from the customer's point of view.
For example, the increase of female customers and the promotion of social status, the increase of new generation customers, the national population in the Z era accounted for 15%, but nearly 10% of Mercedes-Benz customers were owners in the Z era, that is, 18-25 years old. What is their understanding of luxury goods? In the digital age and the electric age, more people's understanding of luxury goods is to meet individual needs and pay attention to everyone's experience and development.
At the same time, from the perspective of building a car, luxury should be luxury under safe conditions. On EQS pure electric vehicles, we can see more humanistic care, more safety facilities, more electric luxury and technological luxury. In addition to the exquisite interior design and materials as always, 1m 4 1' s MBUX hyperlink screen was applied to EQS for the first time, which perfectly integrated the "perceptual and pure" design concept with pioneer luxury. It integrates all complex functions, complex panels and complex screen buttons into a simplified high-tech feeling, and can be operated through a "zero-level interface".
And in the process of practical application, you will understand the guests better. For example, the whole car is equipped with 350 sensors, which can feel at any time what the user wants to see and listen to during the operation, what the passengers sitting in the passenger seat want to see and listen to, and analyze their preferences according to their needs, through artificial intelligence. Push.
In this respect, Mercedes-Benz really understands and defines what luxury is. For example, the arched design and the increased rear space make the interior space bigger and the visual display more concise. Therefore, I personally think that Mercedes-Benz has pioneered large-scale pure electric luxury cars, both aesthetically and digitally and safely.
With the advent of the digital age, customers' understanding and demand for luxury goods will change. For automobile brands, it is important to understand luxury and have the desire to provide luxury products and services to customers, so as to better understand and define what luxury is.
Auto sankei: At yesterday's press conference, first EQA, then EQB. Both cars will be produced in Beijing Benz. Is there a timetable? Will they be listed this year?
Zhangyan: The new EQA pure electric SUV is another domestic pure electric vehicle after the launch of 2065 438+09 EQC pure electric SUV. According to the plan, we should put it on the market in the second half of this year to meet our customers. In the future, Beijing Benz Factory will have more products to meet the needs of customers in China.
Automobile sankei: Yesterday's "Mercedes -EQ Night" has a small detail. The names of giant pandas are Xingyi and Xingqiu, which are homonyms of emotional intelligence. Mercedes-Benz started its public welfare practice in 2007. Will there be new attempts in the next ten years?
Zhangyan: Speaking of public welfare, since 2007, our journey of public welfare has been 14 years, and the "Star Wish Fund" has also entered 1 1 year. Public welfare is a very important platform and display form for enterprises to practice social responsibility. As a responsible enterprise, Mercedes-Benz has not only done its own job in the automobile industry, but also carried out public welfare practice in many fields based on the platform of "Xingyuan Fund" for a long time. Mercedes-Benz is doing public welfare in China, and its resonance with social development is very important. What we have done in the past and what we will do in the future conform to the new trend of social development.
With the implementation of the Tenth Five-Year Plan, China is moving towards a new development concept of innovation-driven, coordinated, green, open and * * *. For Mercedes-Benz brand, our charity trip in China began with the protection and management project of China's world heritage sites. In the future, we will continue to explore "the way of nature and the way of Mercedes-Benz" with other charity partners such as UNESCO. This year, big