"By 2030, it will become the No. 1 international car company in the Chinese market", at the 2024 World New Energy Vehicle Conference, Blume, Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen Group, clarified Volkswagen's goal in the Chinese market. Isn't Volkswagen now the number one international car company in the Chinese market?
A year ago, at the 2023 World New Energy Vehicle Conference, Volkswagen Group (China) Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Braid said that Volkswagen will ensure its position as the number one international car company in China and play a leading role in the era of intelligent and connected vehicles.
In Chinese semantics, "become" and "ensure" cannot be regarded as the same word, and if it is excluded as a reason for translation, the public's thinking in China may be different. 2024 is the 40th year of Volkswagen's entry into the Chinese market, and for the past 40 years, Volkswagen has been the No. 1 international car company in the Chinese market, and even before the rise of BYD, Volkswagen was the No. 1 car company in the Chinese market.
Whether it's being number one or ensuring number one, the public wants to be number one, but semantically speaking, "becoming" is significantly more offensive than "ensureting......
Who's putting pressure on the masses?
Before the transformation of new energy vehicles, it was almost impossible for Volkswagen to be the first international car company or even the first car company in China. But after the new energy transition, especially this year, the pressure on the public is amplifying.
"No more checks from China," Blume's words, combined with Volkswagen's efforts to close factories or lay off workers in its home and Chinese markets, show that the 87-year-old automaker is experiencing unprecedented hardship.
Who is putting pressure on the masses? As far as the Chinese market is concerned, the penetration rate of new energy vehicles has exceeded 50% for two consecutive months in the continuous development, and independent new energy vehicle companies represented by BYD have risen rapidly and even dominated the Chinese market. The so-called international car companies, including Volkswagen and Toyota, are suffering from the erosion of market share.
According to the data, in the first half of the year, Volkswagen delivered a total of 1.345 million vehicles in the Chinese market, a year-on-year decrease of 7.4%, and the proportion of the Chinese market fell from about 40% to 30.9%. However, if you look at the standard of "the No. 1 international car company in the Chinese market", Volkswagen's position in China has not changed.
So, what does the statement of "becoming the No. 1 international car company in the Chinese market" mean?
A change in the word, a change in offense?
"Assist to change the main attack, I won't add people to you, and I won't add guns to you, one word, one word change, you have to change the murderous spirit, and you have to give me a mental head", there is such a sentence in the TV series "Bright Sword". So does Volkswagen's idea of "the No. 1 international car company in the Chinese market" change from "ensure" to "become" has a similar significance?
Starting from the semantics of "ensure", Volkswagen's opponent in China is actually only Toyota, which has maintained the ranking of "you first and I second" in the Chinese market all year round, and Volkswagen ranks first. In the context of the continuous erosion of the market share of joint venture brands, international car companies such as Volkswagen and Toyota are actually competing with whose share is being eroded more slowly and whose fuel vehicle market is more stable. And for this goal, does Volkswagen still need to work hard?
The semantics of "becoming" are different, although Volkswagen's "goal" is still to hold down Toyota, but to become is obviously more aggressive, and what it wants to do is progress. As for where to progress? There is no doubt that the answer must be new energy vehicles. It is worth noting that in terms of the performance of both parties in the Chinese market, Volkswagen is significantly more enthusiastic about new energy vehicles.
Toyota's "replacement" of the mainstream position of fuel vehicles with intelligent electric hybrid dual engines can be seen as an attack on electrification, but this is not a new energy vehicle in the Chinese market. Volkswagen is different, since the ID.4 officially entered the Chinese market, the Volkswagen brand alone has launched 7 pure electric models (ID. series) in the Chinese market, which is unmatched by other international car companies, including Toyota.
In other words, Volkswagen has been very active before, but does this time it is clear that it is the number one international car company in the Chinese market, and it is more aggressive?
Launch, launch, or launch In addition to the car, what other tricks does Volkswagen have?
After the large-scale launch of ID. series products, Volkswagen in China's new energy vehicles are not as strong as their own brands, but in the new energy vehicle market, SAIC Volkswagen, FAW-Volkswagen is also a leader in the joint venture car companies, take SAIC Volkswagen as an example, with the hot sales of ID.3, it has won a long time "joint venture new energy sales crown".
And in the face of the goal of "becoming the first", Volkswagen's routine seems to be very old - launch, launch, or launch. At the 2024 World New Energy Vehicle Conference, the Volkswagen Group showcased five electric models of the Volkswagen and Audi brands, including the ID.3, ID.7 VIZZION, ID.UNYX, AUDI Q4 e-tron and Audi Q5 e-tron, and once again emphasized the countless claims that by 2030, the Volkswagen Group will offer more than 30 BEV models tailored to Chinese customers in China.
Could it be that the public has no other tricks? Yes, but you have to find it from the delivery. Volkswagen's 30 cars in addition to the energy situation, the way of cooperation is also very different from before, according to the currently known news, Volkswagen and Xpeng and two old partners SAIC, FAW Group have the news of cooperation in new cars, and Xiaopeng cooperation with pure electric SUV or will be launched in 2026, and with the two old partners to cooperate with plug-in hybrid models led by old partners......
Even, this kind of Volkswagen "assisted" cooperation models, including the Volkswagen Group's luxury brand Audi. At the 2024 World New Energy Vehicle Conference, Song Feiming, CEO of the Audi·SAIC cooperation project, also said, "In the next three years, we will launch three new pure electric models based on the Advanced Digitized Platform jointly developed by the two parties, covering the B-segment and C-segment car segments. ”
I almost forgot that Volkswagen has another trick: "We are committed to being more deeply integrated into the local automotive industry ecosystem in China," Blume said. To put it bluntly, it is to strengthen localization, and at present, Volkswagen has found many partners in China, especially in Anhui, and has established Volkswagen (China) Technology Co., Ltd. as the center of intelligent networking. In fact, this is also an old trick, probably from Santana from CDK to localization began to do so, although the trick is old, but it can't stand up to use......