Conversation with 18 automotive leaders on how to battle the "epidemic" in the auto market

Author: Dengli Guo

A sudden outbreak of the new coronavirus has completely messed up the originally peaceful and reunion Chinese New Year holiday, and while people are trying to fight the epidemic by all means, they are also teasingly lamenting the possibility of a reboot in 2020. With the further fermentation of the epidemic, people's attention has been extended from the epidemic itself to all aspects of the country's economy and people's livelihood.

The sudden onslaught of the epidemic has made China's economy, which was already at a critical juncture of adjustment and change, even more foggy. Although most companies have resumed work, employees at home to open the "cloud office" mode, but such a status quo so that many of the original economic slowdown and suffered setbacks in the enterprise worse, known as the manufacturing industry, "the crown jewel" of the automobile industry is the The automobile industry is the first to bear the brunt.

Before the epidemic, China's auto industry was already experiencing a long winter of decline that lasted two years. The epidemic completely disrupted the production, sales, service and other normal work of the original plan of the car companies. However, it is gratifying to see that after the outbreak of the epidemic, major automobile enterprises have actively extended a helping hand to the disaster area, and up to now more than 80 enterprises have made donations of more than 1 billion yuan. Continuing to focus on the epidemic area at the same time, the major car companies executives, the person in charge also the first time to study in the maximum in the case of safeguarding the safety of the personnel how to start the work to minimize the loss.

As an observer and thinker of China's auto market, Volkswagen has been paying attention to the progress of the anti-epidemic as well as the dynamics of the major car companies, in which we see a sense of national mission and the responsibility of the big country enterprises. Not only donations to the infected areas, but also their efforts to stabilize the automobile consumer market, maintain the vitality of the industry and stabilize the employment rate.

As things stand now, a sharp drop in sales figures for the first quarter and even the first half of 2020 is to be expected. During the epidemic, the automotive industry how to get through smoothly and how to grow their own "immunity" in order to quickly enter the normal business production and operation after the epidemic, but also by the industry and outside the attention.

Aiming at the above problems, Dr. Guo Dengli, the founder of Thousand Cities Digital Intelligence and Volkswagen, recently had a direct dialogue with a number of executives of automobile enterprises and industry experts to present the current status quo of the automobile industry by recording their viewpoints and specific countermeasures and to discuss countermeasures to clear the fog shrouding China's automobile industry on the road of its future development, and to help the industry clarify its direction and move forward better.

01?Yang Song, president of Changan Ford National Sales and Service Organization:

Macroeconomics will improve in time for car companies to recover quickly

The impact of the epidemic on the car market can be analyzed from short, medium and long time spans.

In the short term, the epidemic will lead to a certain degree of increased demand for cars from some young people who travel by bus/subway/internet car on a daily basis, although the budgets of these consumers are mostly concentrated at the 100,000 yuan level. At the same time, the customer arrival rate will drop sharply, and the demand for trade-in will be significantly suppressed. Due to the decline in parts supply capacity and production capacity, the supply capacity of existing cars will also be insufficient.

In the medium term, as the epidemic continues to ferment, the performance of a large number of small and medium-sized private enterprises will decline, which will lead to a large number of working people's incomes have dropped significantly, which will significantly inhibit the demand for car purchases. At the same time, through this epidemic, many people will rethink the personal and family economic resilience, and the demand for car purchases will be postponed or canceled.

In the long run, the rise and fall of China's auto market is strongly correlated with the country's macroeconomic resilience, and if the macroeconomy stabilizes again after the outbreak and improves in time, China's auto market will get back on its rightful track.

02?Geely Automobile Group Vice President Lin Jie:

Significant short-term impact? Exacerbate the car market Matthew effect

In the short term, the epidemic will undoubtedly have entered the stock competition mode of the Chinese auto market pressure increased dramatically, especially for the first quarter or even the first half of the supply chain of car companies, production and even the sales side of the impact will be significant. This will also make it more difficult for the weaker car companies to survive, but the stronger car companies will be in the future of China's auto market, which still has huge potential to become stronger and stronger.

For Geely, the first thing to do in the face of the outbreak is to ensure the safety and health of all the company's employees, which is the first priority.

Secondly, under the current uncertain market environment, the basic factors that determine the market: brand, system, product, etc. have not changed. Therefore, we must unswervingly implement the "steady development" strategy, to maintain a steady supply and production chain and marketing system, and improve the enterprise to deal with international trade disputes, changes in international exchange rates, natural disasters and other risk response and control mechanism, to improve the resilience of the development of enterprises.

Once again, for this epidemic test, Geely is the most important to ensure the stability of the dealer system, from the loose sales targets, discount support, cancel the relevant assessment of the dealers to provide the necessary support to maintain the channel power to maintain a stable market share. At the same time, accelerate the online sales and service work to promote the opening of the online car purchase mode, through the combination of online and offline new mode, to provide users with the convenience of car purchase and service, to cope with the impact of the epidemic.

In addition, the current epidemic, we also see the majority of consumers on the demand for healthier and safer cars, to this end, Geely has invested 370 million yuan in research and development of "all-round health car" for ordinary consumers.

03?Chen Hao, deputy general manager of Dongfeng Nissan Passenger Vehicle Company:

Optimistic about the car market?

Although in the short term, the epidemic will obviously lead to a decrease in people's desire to consume, and the marketing activities of car companies will be hindered, but in the long term the rigid demand for China's car market still exists, and under the implementation of the country's strong measures to prevent and control the epidemic, the epidemic will be alleviated very soon, so we are optimistic about the resumption of normal business operations by the car companies.

Since the outbreak of the epidemic, Dongfeng Nissan has set up an emergency response team to deal with the "new type of pneumonia", and at the same time helped dealers to relieve pressure through a series of measures to ensure the health of their employees and strengthened customer care services.

04?Tan Benhong, executive vice president of Changan Automobile:

Epidemic prevention and control is more important than Mount Tai

The whole industry chain of the automobile industry has been affected by the epidemic to a certain extent. We believe that the current priority is to do a good job of epidemic prevention and control, only the epidemic has been effectively controlled, the enterprise can be earlier and faster to resume operations.

Since the outbreak of the epidemic, Chang'an Automobile has been actively practicing its social responsibility as a corporate citizen. In addition to donating money and goods, the company has taken practical actions to join the front line of the fight against the epidemic and provided free psychological information support for front-line medical staff in Wuhan.

05?Qin Lihong, president of Azera Motors:

After the epidemic? Private car demand will continue to rise

In the short and medium term, the epidemic will bring greater pressure on the macro-economy, and the automotive industry is already in the midst of winter, there is no doubt that the challenges will intensify. In the long run, the epidemic will make people rethink their travel choices, and demand for private cars will continue to rise.

In response to the outbreak, Azure has done its best to ensure the health and safety of its employees by following the government's requirements for epidemic prevention.

Secondly, the epidemic will gradually change people's consumption patterns and? , online consumption will become one of the main modes of the future automobile market. Therefore, on the basis of the advantage of already having a very close-knit user community, Azalea has made some innovative adjustments, such as live broadcasts on social platforms, short videos to introduce the vehicle's selling points, and the establishment of WeChat groups to maintain exchanges and communication with friends, etc., to continue to strengthen the user experience and effectively expand the consumer base.

06?BAIC New Energy General Manager Ma Faolie:

Epidemic or change the automotive marketing channel model

While the sudden epidemic in the context of the 2019 car market winter, so that every car company is facing a double severe test, but the current most most priority is to cooperate with the party and the government to bring the epidemic under control, and dissolve the crisis as soon as possible, so that the entire country The loss of the whole country and society will be minimized.

At the same time, although the marketing plan of car companies in February is believed to be greatly affected, however, the epidemic will also profoundly change people's thinking and cognition, behavioral habits and consumption patterns, further accelerating the transformation of traditional automobile companies from the marketing model of offline retail channels to the new network economic model. This will be a gas pedal for the continuous development and maturation of online platforms and channels, online experience and customer acquisition, online transactions and services for the automotive industry.

After the outbreak of the epidemic, BAIC New Energy set up an epidemic prevention and control leading group at the first time to carry out the deployment of epidemic prevention and control work. At the same time, we are doing our best to ensure production and supply, the company's procurement department on the first day of the new year that is scheduling "emergency team" members to deploy procurement resources to protect the work, to complete the supplier resources to ensure the supply of ranking. In terms of marketing, we are accelerating the online transformation of marketing, studying and introducing targeted sales policies, and meeting the needs of car purchasing in special periods by means of full non-contact and door-to-door delivery.

07?Liu Changdong, general manager of Dongfeng Xiaokang Automobile Co., Ltd:

Epidemic makes the pressure on sales performance rise sharply

This widespread epidemic has brought a stronger impact on the car company, with a lack of staff arrivals and a shortage of masks, which will have a certain impact on production after the resumption of work. At the same time the supply side of the various suppliers of the start time is not consistent, will also cause a shortage of supply parts, can not be stabilized to ensure that the supply, and labor costs and other operating expenditures will inevitably result in a tight capital chain. From the point of view of the sales side, the epidemic will certainly lead to a significant decline in customer attendance, sales performance pressure will be followed by a sharp increase.

From the central release of the epidemic prevention and control requirements, the company's procurement center actively liaise with suppliers to understand the epidemic prevention and control work of individual suppliers, and provide appropriate help and support. On the sales side, in order to work with the marketing service providers in the same boat ****, **** overcome the difficulties, and actively respond to the impact of the new coronavirus pneumonia epidemic, reduce the pressure of the marketing service providers, the company decided to study: reduce the marketing service providers in February, the wind SUV sales target volume, the retail target volume; adjustment of the February interest rate conditions; during the epidemic period, the "Marketing Guidelines" and the relevant supplemental notices to do a good job actively on-line During the epidemic period, the company actively did online promotion and placement according to the "Marketing Guidelines" and related supplementary notices to cope with the situation. The company also worked with various marketing service providers to **** through the difficult times.

08?WEMA CEO Shen Hui:

Looking to the government to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to survive the epidemic smoothly. help small and medium-sized enterprises to smooth out the epidemic

In the short term, the epidemic may affect consumers' willingness to go out and willingness to buy, for the automobile such a dependence on store sales industry, the impact will be more obvious, the first half of this year's sales performance will be under great pressure. And in the medium and long term, the automotive industry will resume production in an orderly manner and gradually embark on the established track.

From the consumer side, after the epidemic, consumer demand for private car travel will be further enhanced. At the same time, consumer demand for used? will be more prudent, will also further stimulate new? consumption.

In the face of these short-term difficulties, it is hoped that the government, while rallying all sectors of the community to prevent and control the epidemic, will introduce more policies on taxes, rents, credit policies, and more assistance to stabilize enterprises and help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and innovative enterprises to ride out the epidemic smoothly.

Wai? s network office platform was set up before the Spring Festival vacation, and now Wei? s employees have begun an organized online office to promote normal business. Meanwhile, in order to meet Wei? organizations around the official resumption of work on February 10th, the company has prepared sufficient masks and other supplies for employees to protect the health of every Wei? People's health.

Meanwhile, in order to optimize the customer experience of the flagship of the epidemic and to facilitate consumers to experience the products, Wei? Automobile outlets nationwide provide online booking and on? test drive service, and online on the official website? The VR panoramic view? function to help users understand without leaving home? The VR panoramic view function helps users understand the function, design and configuration of the model without going out of their home.

09?Li Ruifeng, senior vice president and general manager of the sales company of Great Wall Motor Company Ltd:

Organic in danger? Holding on to confidence? Up against the wind

What needs to be emphasized is that the epidemic is current, now is not the time to talk about economic losses, losses in the automotive industry, at present, to win the epidemic prevention and control of the blocking war is the most important, the Chinese should be in the same boat in all winds and rains, ****k the difficult times.

While this epidemic on the Chinese economy in the short term certainly have a certain negative impact, but in the long term the impact will not be too great. In terms of the development of the automobile industry, the outbreak of the epidemic on the Chinese car market has stepped into the stock market undoubtedly means a more difficult challenge.

China's auto market in 2020 will be a tough battle for the industry and car companies, but there may also be greater opportunities when it comes to danger, and it's more effective for us to hold on to our confidence and go up against the wind than to panic and worry.

10?Beijing Hyundai Deputy General Manager Fan Jingtao:

Three major support? Help dealers*** through the difficult times

In the face of this epidemic, Beijing Hyundai and dealers*** through the difficult times, Beijing Hyundai around the sales management, marketing, after-sales service put forward the "three major support", from all dimensions of the dealers to alleviate the pressure of the "good recipe! "

At the same time, in order to reflect the care and responsibility to the users and consumers, Hyundai put forward the "five care" measures from the dimensions of safety of the personnel of the special store, creating a safe environment for car purchasing and optimizing the after-sales service.

It strives to effectively reduce the inventory and capital pressure of dealers, and stands in the same trench with dealers to deal with the challenges of the epidemic. At the same time, Hyundai will continue its promotional policy support in February to help dealers resume sales in an orderly manner after the holiday. In addition, in response to the sudden drop in the number of car buyers in stores due to the spread of the epidemic, Hyundai will focus on remote training for online sales to further strengthen the online sales capacity of dealers and to meet the needs of consumers in the period of the epidemic.

11?Yang Guanghua, vice general manager of Changan Ou Shang Automobile, general manager of the sales company:

The impact of the epidemic is only temporary, and the automobile industry already has a strong resilience

While the scope and depth of this epidemic is large, the impact is temporary in the long run. This comes from the fact that China's auto industry has accumulated a deep resilience and strength after years of development. We can see that many companies are maintaining the strategic strength of the enterprise at the same time, timely adjustment of business strategy, and actively deployed action.

In the face of this epidemic, Chang'an Auchan, while actively fulfilling its social responsibility and putting what it can into the infected areas, has also adopted a series of measures to effectively reduce the pressure on its dealers and enhance its online customer acquisition capability.

12?GAC Mitsubishi:

Automotive industry will continue to move forward in the twists and turns

It is undeniable that the epidemic has affected the nation's economy in many ways, and the automotive industry has been particularly obvious, with the production and supply of industry chain being relatively blocked, and it is slightly difficult to carry out the activities of the 4S stores and marketing gatherings, and most of the enterprises need to stop work and cut production to face the predicament, which is a harsh test for the upstream and downstream enterprises' supply chain. Supply chain is a harsh test. And in terms of the current situation, this year's total sales are difficult to equal last year.

But through the epidemic, we also found that people's enthusiasm for public **** transportation and online car and so on declined at the same time, the demand for private car purchases has increased, especially the first group of buyers, just need to buy a car or will be in advance. Therefore, although the dilemma is current, we believe that China's auto industry will get continuous progress and development in the twists and turns.

Suffering from the impact of the epidemic, GAC Mitsubishi y comprehended that OEMs and sales and service stores are destiny **** the same body of reasoning, and to provide relevant guidelines for the sales store to resume work, gave "Hubei Province sales and service stores in February to relax the assessment standards, priority to deal with the epidemic," and other policies, and quickly expand and optimize the company's online sales channels! In addition, the company rapidly expanded and optimized its online sales channels, guiding customers to the GAC Mitsubishi online car-buying platform, effectively responding to consumers' inability to get to the store or travel concerns, and working with dealers to **** through this difficult time.

13?Huanqiu Group Chairman and CEO Wu Yingqiu:

Market hiatus? Let the enterprise focus on internal improvement

If these years, many car companies are busy grabbing market share, sales, the current market hiatus, on the contrary, will motivate and help enterprises to temporarily put down the number of statements, focusing on internal improvement, which is not easy to do in the past.

14?China Association of Automobile Dealers expert, Sino-German Nohao Automotive Education and Research Institute President Sun Yong:

Automobile sales are expected to decline 10% in 2020

Given that the epidemic will have a greater impact on consumers' purchasing power and purchasing time, it is predicted that China's automobile market in 2020 will show a trend of low in the first half and high in the second, and the annual automobile sales will be lower than in 2019 Sliding 10% to about 23.2 million units, directly bottoming out a year ahead of schedule.

At that time, it is recommended that policies to stimulate the car market be introduced from the consumer side: 1) reduction or exemption of the purchase tax within one year, and 2) the implementation of "zero-interest rate" loans for the purchase of cars within one year.

I believe that next year's car market will usher in a recovery.

15?China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) Deputy Secretary General Liu Yan:

The epidemic may speed up the industry's reshuffle

It is clear to see that the epidemic has a large short- and medium-term impact on the auto industry. However, relying on their ability to withstand market fluctuations, mainstream automakers can minimize the impact through positive self-adjustment and seizing possible opportunities on the consumer side after the epidemic.

If the epidemic lasts longer, it will accelerate the industry's survival of the fittest and the restructuring of the industrial landscape, and the expected industry reshuffle may come sooner.

In such a critical moment, companies should put the health of their employees at the forefront of their work, with enough cohesion to fight the battle for the market after the resumption of work. At the same time, judging the situation, according to the local conditions, long-term firm upgrading and transformation strategy, short-term adjustment of business objectives and policies, further strengthen cost control, optimize marketing efficiency. At the same time, effectively reduce the pressure on dealers and put the care of users into practice.

16?Auto Commune&Daily Auto? Editor-in-chief Wei Jinqiao:

Car companies must be prepared? to cope with possible risks

The past 2019 was not a "friendly" year for the automotive global industry due to the slowdown in the global economy, as well as a number of uncertainties weighing on automakers and suppliers, such as the U.S.-China trade, the economic conflict between South Korea and Japan, and the U.K.'s exit from the European Union. The outlook for 2020 is perhaps even more pessimistic due to the impact of the new coronavirus and the continued presence of the unfavorable factors mentioned above. While there is still a lack of concrete estimates of the eventual economic damage, the overall cost to the automotive industry will be far greater than that of the 2003 SARS outbreak.

If the epidemic is under control in February, the risk of transmission ends in March except in Hubei, so that the weighted impact on the auto industry in about 3%, then the car market fell in the first quarter of 20% to 25% or so, and the whole year is expected to decline -6% to -7%; if the epidemic is delayed until the end of March or even the second quarter to control, the weighted impact will be more than 5%, so that the car market in the first quarter will be down to 30% ~ 40%, and is expected to decline -6% to -7%. 40%, is expected to fall about -9% ~ -10% for the year.

So, in the face of such a grim situation, first of all, I hope that the car companies introduced to the epidemic in the serious areas of dealers and infected areas supply chain to significantly reduce the burden of inventory, including financial policy, business policy and guarantee business and other supportive policies.

Secondly, according to the progress of the epidemic, car companies need to rationalize the first half of the scheduling plan, especially for the 2020 annual sales situation, to be combined with the progress of the epidemic to start. In addition, car companies need to be prepared for possible changes in the market.

17?Automotive headline editor-in-chief Wu Weiqiang:

Car companies passively stop rushing? Thinking about improving user experience

I am positively optimistic about the impact of this outbreak compared to the current difficult situation. The epidemic will help car companies stop their hasty pursuit of performance, think about and adjust their current business strategies and goals, and spend their money on practical ways to improve the user experience so that 4S stores can become a safe harbor where users are most willing to go, and so that the user's assets can become the company's biggest assets.

18?Daily Auto CEO Xu Feng:

Difficult times? Cash flow is most important

The duration of the current epidemic is critical, if it is not over by March, then the overall car market will be at a standstill in the first half of the year. Taking into account the psychological factors, the first half of this year, the car market sales fell by more than 30% year-on-year is the probability of events.

In the face of the enormous operational pressure brought about by the epidemic, the top priority of car companies is to ensure sufficient cash flow. Because, sufficient food and fodder to survive the winter, for which measures such as production cuts can be taken.

Kan car point of view

For this epidemic swept across the country on the car market and car companies operating in the huge impact and pressure, from the executives of the car companies and industry experts in the prediction, has got the **** knowledge. However, we can feel more from their narratives and views, their sense of concern for the country, the nation and a broad pattern.

We believe that in the calm judgment of the senior automobile people, the Chinese auto market will only turn the test brought by the epidemic into an opportunity to consolidate internal strength and make adequate preparations for the future development of the leap.

At the same time, we can see that various car companies have coincidentally put the reduction of dealer pressure to ensure the vitality of the channel at the top of the current work. Because, the history of countless experience tells us that even if the sky is falling, only together with the hands to improve the chances of survival. The cold is coming, the only way to get warm is to embrace the group.

Writing in the end:

Perhaps it's hard for us to witness the sweat and tears shed by some people in the course of the company's growth, and we seldom have the chance to experience the torment they went through when coping with difficulties and challenges. It's just that these Chinese automakers have never stopped at obstacles and bumps in the road, because the fearless and proud blood of this nation flows in their bodies.

This article was written by the author of AutoNavi, and does not represent the viewpoint of AutoNavi.