Nine hot events in the first half of 2017

In July, the Chinese auto market officially ended its journey in the first half of 2017. Looking back at the large and small events that occurred in the domestic automobile market in the past half year, the most noticeable are the “half-year exams” that the major car companies have just submitted.

According to sales data released by major car manufacturers recently, in the first half of 2017, regardless of joint venture brands or self-owned brands, only a few companies performed well in the first half of the year and completed half or more of the annual sales target. Most of the second half still have a comparative advantage. Big pressure. Overall, China’s sales of generalized passenger vehicles were only 10.8 million vehicles in the first half of this year, a year-on-year decline of 0.2%. Since 2005, the sales volume of China's passenger vehicle market has declined for the first time in 13 years in the first half of this year.

However, the sales situation of car enterprises is related to the "money bag" of many people after all. Moreover, the automobile industry is still a pillar industry for the development of China's national economy, and it has a profound impact on the national economic environment. It is understandable that such a wide range of attention has been received. In addition, what other events in the automobile circle in the first half of 2017 have left everyone with a deep impression? Combined with the performance of the auto market in the first half of the year, Gasgoo has completed major events in the domestic auto market in the past six months. Overall, changes in personnel and M&A cooperation are the main theme of the domestic auto market in the first half of the year. In addition, there is a high degree of attention, such as the independence of Kai Chen, the holiday of the Shenlong Automobile Factory, and the drop of the Changan Automobile Company.

Qi Chen independence: return to the east wind "autonomy"

On February 7, 2017, Qichen officially released the news to the public. After approved by the board of directors of Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd., the State Administration for Industry and Commerce approved and Dongfeng Qichen Automobile Co., Ltd. was formally established. The Qi Chen brand, after being independent from Dongfeng Nissan passenger car, will be affiliated with its subsidiary Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd. and will become the seventh subsidiary of Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd., and will be level with Dongfeng Nissan. At this point, Qi Chen officially took off with a seven-year "joint-owned brand" hat, return to Dongfeng "autonomy" and become Dongfeng Motor's 7th subsidiary.

With the formal independence of Qichen, Qi Chen’s senior management team officially surfaced. According to the news released during the same period, Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd. Vice President, Party Standing Committee Zhou Xianpeng Ren Dongfeng Qi Chen General Manager, Xu Jianming, Gao Guolin, Ma Lei, Toyota Taizhi Ren Dongfeng Qi Chen, deputy general manager, led Qichen to complete the "Dongfeng Nissan Kai "Chen" to "Dongfeng Qichen" transformation.

As a product of the “marriage” between self-owned brands and joint venture brands, joint venture brands such as Qichen have created a wave of new brands in China. However, apart from Qi Chen and Bao Jun, a few of them eventually took a firm foothold in the market. Most of the days were not as satisfying as they wished. On the verge of shutting down production, even some brands only had "names" and no products. The situation was very embarrassing. Today, even Qi Zhong, one of the best of them, has declared independence, indicating that the path of joint venture autonomy may not be feasible at home.

FAW Dongfeng Cooperation: A Hand-to-hand Experience

The fact that FAW Dongfeng was "together" has actually been circulating in the automobile circle for many years. However, it has not been confirmed by both sides. In February this year, this event finally developed further.

In mid-February, FAW and Dongfeng signed a cooperation agreement. The two parties will jointly build a forward-looking and common technology innovation center to conduct research on forward-looking technologies such as onboard intelligent networking, fuel cell, and lightweight, so as to rapidly improve forward-looking technology research level in the Chinese automobile industry. . It is understood that during the signing of the agreement, FAW Dongfeng had basically finalized all matters two months ago and it is well-accepted.

As for the cooperation, whether there will be more interaction between the two parties in the future will not be clearly stated when signing the cooperation. However, at the end of April, the news that “FAW Group, Dongfeng Company and other companies jointly established the “China FAW Dongfeng New Energy Automobile Co., Ltd.” in Anyang City, Henan Province” made everyone think about it again. Although as before, this news has not been confirmed by both parties, but it did not deny that the authorities only responded to the curiosity of the melons with “unwitting”. Some industry experts said that the above-mentioned new energy joint venture company is likely to be a product of the landing of a forward-looking technology center announced in February. Liu Weidong, deputy general manager of Dongfeng Motor Corporation, also stated at a media communication meeting at the end of June that both FAW and Dongfeng plans to establish an innovation company and set up three subprojects, namely, intelligent network alliance, hydrogen fuel, and light weight. How, Gasgoo will continue to pay attention.

Beiqi, Dongfeng high-level adjustments: no adjustment has been adjusted "surprised" people

If you want to summarize the key words of the Chinese automobile market in the first half of 2017, “personnel adjustment” will bear the brunt. Why do you say that? According to a previous report from Gasgoo Automobile, in the first half of 2017, nearly a hundred senior executives in the domestic automobile circle had adjusted, exceeding the number of the previous year. Among them, Beiqi and Dongfeng have the most intensive adjustments and the largest scale.

First of all, BAIC said that at the end of February and early March of this year, the high-level leaders of BAIC Group suffered major reshuffles in the first round of the year, including the top five of Beiqi, Beijing Hyundai, Beijing Benz and Beijing Penglong. replace. In early May, Beijing Automobile announced again that the company’s executive director Li Feng will no longer serve as an executive director, a member of the remuneration committee, or a member of the strategy committee of the company due to job requirements; the board of directors proposed to appoint Chen Hongliang as an executive director, a member of the remuneration committee, and a member of the strategy committee. The term of office begins on the date of approval of the company's general meeting of shareholders and ends at the end of the term of the third session of the board of directors. In the eyes of people in the industry, this personnel adjustment is a continuation of the personnel adjustment of BAIC Group in March.

In terms of Dongfeng, personnel changes also ran through the first half of 2017. In February, due to Kai Chen’s “independence”, Dongfeng Nissan made a major personnel adjustment within the company. A number of Dongfeng Nissan executives were transferred to Dongfeng Kaichen Automobile Company to escort Kai Chen’s “independence”. Afterwards, at the end of March and early April, Dongfeng Corporation made a major internal adjustment, including Yang Qing served as the deputy general manager of Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd., and FAW "Veteran" An Tiecheng was transferred to serve as deputy general manager of Dongfeng Automobile and achieved FAW, Dongfeng executives “change defense” and large-scale personnel adjustments to the technical center.

By June, Dongfeng Motor once again carried out a high-level "big shake-up" in the company. This time the personnel adjustment involved multiple high-level joint ventures and independent boards, including Liu Weidong and An Tiecheng, which directly led to the Dongfeng Motor's 16-year period." The Liu Weidong era officially ended. From then on, it entered the “Anhui Railway into an era” and “Aeolus is easy to master”. The changes are evident.

Shenlong Motor's "Credit Crisis": It Is Not the First Time

Regarding the fact that Shenlong Motors had given employees a holiday because of poor efficiency, I had learned a little about the author when I was in Wuhan in the early years, but it was the first time I saw a large-scale holiday in March this year.

In early March, people familiar with the matter disclosed that due to the dismal sales, Shenlong Motors has selected more than 1,000 people to go to Dongfeng Honda to work at the end of February. The support period is one year. During the period, the wages and welfare protection are all borne by Dongfeng Honda. One year later, the batch of laborers can complete the conversion in Dongfeng Honda, or choose to return to Shenlong Motor Company. The station where the dragon is missing is drawn from various departments, and people including the technical center also need to go to the factory to work. Even so, the problem of the “idleness” of personnel inside Shenlong could not be solved. So in early March, Shenlong Motors announced that it had to leave three plants in Wuhan. The Chengdu plant that was completed and put into operation last year was followed by it to cope with the dismal business operation. situation.

The reasons for doing so all point to one thing - poor sales. According to relevant statistics, in the first month of 2017, according to statistics, the sales volume of Shenlong Motors was only 29,200 units, which was 53.7% lower than the 63,100 units sold in the same period of last year. The “opener” changed to “open door”. As of the end of February, Shenlong Motors sold only about 45,000 vehicles, which is far from enough to support the sales target of 700,000 vehicles.

So this year, Shenlong Motors began to make a series of adjustments in its operations, including personnel changes, and reversing the multiple problems accumulated in the two major aspects of product and marketing systems. However, the current results are not obvious. The latest statistics show that in the first half of this year, sales of Shenlong Motors amounted to only 147,800 units, a year-on-year decrease of 48.73%. The heavy sales decline was comparable to that of Korean cars. It is even more difficult to say that sales were completed at the beginning of the year. aims.

Acquisition of Zhongtai by Jinma Co., Ltd.: A Model of Backdoor Listing

Like Geely's overseas mergers and acquisitions, the acquisition of Zotye Automobile by Kinmen shares can be described as twists and turns. Relevant information shows that as early as March 2016, Golden Horse had issued a draft for the acquisition of Zhongtai Automobile for a price of RMB 11.6 billion. However, due to the market's suspicion of the valuation of RMB 11.6 billion of Zotye Automobile, together with Golden Horse's shares, Xiaoxie The draft of "like" was also questioned by the capital market as a money-losing technique for listing on the backdoor, which was not finally reached. On October 10th of the same year, Golden Horse reopened the Zhongtai Auto Acquisition and planned to repurchase Zhongtai Auto for a consideration of RMB 11.6 billion. It will buy 100% of Zhongtai Auto by issuing all shares, and the issue price will rise to the current level. However, it was not until March this year that this matter has further developed.

At the beginning of March, the China Securities Regulatory Commission’s official website revealed that the acquisition of Zhongtai Automobile by Jinma Co., Ltd. was conditionally approved. At about the same time, Golden Horse has also responded to the review opinions of the M&A Committee, and additionally disclosed the impact of the new energy vehicle subsidy policy adjustment on the follow-on profitability of the underlying assets, saying that the subsidy for new energy vehicles will impact the Zotye Auto Not great.

About a month later, on April 7th, the announcement of the announcement of the Jinma Shares announced that the company’s issuance of shares to purchase assets and supporting financing has been officially approved by the China Securities Regulatory Commission. On the evening of June 6th, Jinma’s shares were re-issued, saying that from June 7, 2017, the abbreviation of Jinma’s shares was officially changed to Zhongtai Auto. On June 7, Jinma Group held the “Reorganization Ceremony” at the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, officially renamed “Zhongtai Auto”. So far, Zhongtai Automobile has finally successfully listed and entered the embrace of the capital market formally.

However, this abnormal merger lasting more than a year does not seem to be optimistic. From the perspective of some professionals, the acquisition of Zotye by Jinma’s shares is more like a self-enhanced family game. In addition, Zotye’s own problem of unclear positioning and reliance on imitation to build a car is still an anachronism. Difficult, long way to go.

JAC Volkswagen Joint Venture: Prime Minister “Make Match” Belcher

As the third joint venture company of the public in China and the first domestic new energy joint venture company, JAC Volkswagen does not comply with the existing "Automobile Industry Policy" in which "the same foreign automobile company (similar) can establish up to two domestic production. The terms of joint ventures of similar vehicle products, coupled with or affecting the future development of the “Southern North Volkswagen” in China and the domestic new energy automobile industry structure, have been signed since September 7 last year when Volkswagen and JAC signed a memorandum of understanding in Wolfsburg, Germany. It has always attracted the attention of the industry. Even in the first half of the year, there was an oversized Oolong around the project. In the end, with the efforts of many parties for six months, the project has ushered in a series of breakthroughs since the end of May.

On the evening of May 22 this year, Jianghuai Automobile announced that the company received the "National Development and Reform Commission's Joint Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group Co., Ltd. and Volkswagen (China) Investment Co., Ltd. to jointly produce pure electric passenger cars. "Approved project approval", the implication is that the joint venture of Jianghuai Volkswagen to produce pure electric vehicles has been officially approved at the national level. A few days later, during the visit to Germany, Premier Li Keqiang of the State Council and the German Chancellor Angela Merkel witnessed the signing ceremony of the JAC Volkswagen joint venture. The formal marriage of Jianghuai Volkswagen, which was coordinated by Premier Li Keqiang, officially settled.

After that, the project is even more rapid. In less than one month after the signing of the contract between the two parties on June 1, the JAC VW new energy vehicle project officially started on June 29, 2017. It is understood that the first “marriage” product is a purely electric SUV, which is expected to be ready for next year. Listed in January. In addition to its own brand of new energy vehicles, there are informed sources, the future of Volkswagen's other brands are also expected to settle in JAC. What is the specific situation, we will wait and see!

Geely buys Proton: Humans can't stop Geely from getting bigger and stronger

As the largest overseas investment project since Geely acquired Volvo Cars in 2010, Geely’s acquisition of Proton Road has been a series of twists and turns – not only has a number of strong competitors such as PSA and Renault, but also faced internal opposition in Malaysia. . Fortunately, Geely finally won this "buying battle" and became the exclusive foreign strategic partner of Proton.

On May 24, 2017, Geely announced that it had signed a binding key terms agreement with Malaysian DRB-HICOM Group to acquire 49.9% of the shares of PROTON Holding, a subsidiary of DRB, and the luxury sports car brand, Lutes Lotus Group) has a 51% stake.

On June 23, the two parties formally signed an acquisition agreement in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Geely bought 49.9% of Proton with RM 363 million (approximately 739 million yuan), including 173 million in cash, and an estimated value of 290 million. Bo Yue platform and technology import; 50 million pounds (about 430 million yuan) acquisition of 51% stake in Lotus. At this point, the alliance between Geely and Proton has officially settled. According to the agreement, Geely will use Proton's influence to enter the Southeast Asian market and explore the global right rudder market. At the same time, Geely will provide Proton with funds and technical support, and reshape its brand image in the global market, further increase Proton's sales in Malaysia, the United Kingdom, India and Australia, and actively promote Proton and Lotus. revival.

In the case of Geely, along with the smooth completion of the acquisition, it not only became the first Chinese auto brand to “change market with technology” overseas, but also a step closer to the goal of Geely building a world-class automotive brand. As everyone knows, Li Shufu has the ultimate dream of developing Geely into the “mass of China.” Today, Li Shufu’s dream is getting closer.

Changan Automobile official descends: the first shot of the car market officer in 2017

If the Chang'an Auto in 2016 is springing up, then the Chang'an Auto that entered the year 2017 can be described almost as “dragging”. According to relevant statistics, in the first four months of this year, Changan Automobile sold a total of 161,862 new cars, a year-on-year decrease of 27.61%, and both its own brands and joint venture brands declined. This is a bit of a shame for Changan, who has already become the boss of its own brand sales. As a result, on May 27, Changan Automobile announced a high-profile announcement of “government downgrade” to boost sales.

On the morning of the 27th, Changan Automobile released a news report saying that in order to welcome 15 million users, it will start the 2017 auto maker's first launch. Where to buy Changan Automobile's models CS15, CS35, CS75, Xinyidong, Xinyidong XT, Yuexiang V3, Yuexiang V7, New Benben, Rui Sheng can enjoy straight down 4,000 to 18,000 yuan discount. Among them, Chang'an Ruiqi official highest straight down 18,000 yuan, CS75 official straight down 14,000 yuan, CS35, Xinyi moving series (new Yi move, Xinyi moving XT) official straight down 11,000 yuan, Yue Xiang V7 official straight down 8,000 yuan, Chang'an The new Benben, Yue Xiang V3 and CS15 official straight down 4000 yuan.

Immediately after the news was released, it triggered a series of “butterfly effects” in the automotive industry, including mainstream Chinese brand models such as Geely and Chery. The end markets have started to loosen prices or have more favorable concessions. In addition, the products of some joint-venture brand companies have also begun to make preferential adjustments to terminal prices due to the impact of the overall price pressure on Chinese brands. By July, the price war had been overwhelming and it had become increasingly fierce. However, according to some industry insiders, although official price cuts can help car companies achieve sales growth, it is by no means a long-term solution, especially because it is difficult to guarantee profits. It is also not conducive to fostering user loyalty and maintaining the company’s brand image. The effect will depend on the specific sales performance of car companies in the next few months.

"Korean car" controversy: This pot is not really "a German"

Entering 2017, the Korean brand's situation in the Chinese market has turned sharply, and sales have fallen steadily. According to the latest statistics, from January to June this year, Beijing Hyundai’s sales volume was only 301,277 vehicles, a sharp drop of 42.4% year-on-year, and only completed the annual target of 24.1% of the 1.25 million vehicles. Another Korean car brand, Dongfeng Yueda Kia, also had a hard time. In the first five months of this year, Dongfeng Yueda Kia had sold a total of 110,700 vehicles, a year-on-year drop of 54%. After that, it sold only 1.7 million units in June. Vehicles, which fell sharply by 62% year-on-year, are worse than the worst.

Analyze the reasons, some people say that this matter should rely on "a German" incident, so that many consumers directly abandon the Korean car, but some people think that the Korean car itself has a short brand, product competitiveness issues, and the two years It is normal for the independent brands to have a lot of enthusiasm. It is normal to be squeezed. Different people have different opinions.

However, judging from the current situation, there are indeed problems with the quality of Korean cars. A few days ago, it was revealed that more than 40,000 of the Shengda products produced in 2012-2013 had been recalled since July 31 this year due to security risks. This is not the first large-scale recall of Beijing Hyundai this year. In January of this year, Beijing Hyundai also filed a recall plan with the AQSIQ and decided to recall some Tucson vehicles, totaling 96,000 units, starting from February 13.

In addition, consumers' complaints about Beijing's modern quality are also inexhaustible. According to the contents of a website, only in June this year, the quality complaints against Beijing Hyundai exceeded 50. The reasons included stuck steering wheel, gearbox setbacks, and leakage of engine connecting pipes. From this it can be seen that even if the "Ya-te" incident does affect the sales of Korean cars in China, product problems may be the main reason for the decline in sales. Therefore, it is not as good as political factors to attribute the downturn to the market. In order to regain consumers.