People are old, they love to talk about the past, 2019 hehai pig old Peng is also going to step into the 30 mark, physiological age has finally caught up with the foundation laid in appearance over the years, is about to become a thorough, veritable uncle, so when Zhu Yinjie asked me to hand over a New Year topic, the young people in the editorial department think more about the future, and I search around in my mind, thinking about what happened last year, it is worth sharing with you again.
Or, let's start with an interview that impressed me: at the 2018 Guangzhou Auto Show, I was responsible for interviewing Lu Da, marketing director of Changma Sales Company, and asked how cx-8 grabbed cakes with highlanders such as Highlander Ruijie, who have accumulated word of mouth for many years and the product strength is not weak, the other party's response can be said to surprise me: from the beginning, I never thought of grabbing the market with them, and cx-8 is an upgrade option for internal customers of the brand.
In the context of the manufacturer's interview, everyone knows that basically talk about the scene, I was originally ready to accept a round of more than 5 minutes of "I am more promising than the competitors to sell" words brainwashing, after all, it costs a huge amount of resources and costs to introduce a domestic 7-seat SUV that can be regarded as the flagship of the brand, and always have to show some confidence in the attitude. Now it's good, ask you what advantages it has over competitors, you don't say a word, but also open your mouth to limit the future market size to so small so dead, fortunately, the interview is directly recorded video program, otherwise I don't even know how to write the manuscript...
Confused, confused...
However, this confusion made me have a strong interest in the CX-8 car, and I always wanted to experience it as soon as possible. Luckily, the new car review was one of the first media to get a test drive, and I got the chance to spend a night with it. It can be said that it was really not until I drove it that a large piece of doubt in my heart was swept away - if Mazda's internal customers have generated the demand to buy an upgraded 7-seat SUV, looking at the market, there is really no other product that can satisfy them except the CX-8.
This car can be said to show Mazda's self-knowledge and self-confidence to the greatest extent. Self-knowledge is reflected in their deep understanding that no one in the market will choose Mazda because of the space and practical superiority over competitors, so even if the cx-8 has the identity of 7 suVs, the performance in these aspects is not lost, not much demanding; as for self-confidence, It is That Mazda dared to adhere to the so-called "centaur integration" partial control adjustment on such a large car, and also achieved, almost all of the test drive peers have given a second-to-none evaluation in this regard. It can be said that the impossible is possible, and the control is exactly one of the core of the Mazda brand at this stage, and it is also the most important product point for their customers.
Many companies like to flaunt themselves as small and beautiful, but there are few who are really small and beautiful in mentality, and with the CX-8 car alone, we can conclude that Mazda is one of them. This group of technical controllers from Hiroshima, even with the current resources and scale, can not please everyone, so simply do not go with the flow and fight with other brands for every indicator, only select a small part of the target audience, to optimize their most important needs and do their best to meet it. As long as this part of the target customers can always choose self-driving products without thinking, even if my comprehensive product strength is difficult to compare with the opponent.
Also embodying this corporate value is their dedication to rotor engines. The story of the "Rotor Forty-Seven Soldiers" at that time is believed to be more or less heard by everyone, and now, even if it has to be "paused for updating" for various reasons, Mazda still has a place for rotor engines in the future layout.
Speaking of rotor engines, the biggest feature is that it is very distinctive, in addition to being completely different from the structure and working mode of the reciprocating piston internal combustion engine, more importantly, the personality is also very extreme, and the advantages and disadvantages are extremely obvious. The advantages are super power density, ultra-small volume and ultra-light weight, while the disadvantages are high fuel consumption, poor emissions, difficult maintenance, imperfect use experience and inferior life to reciprocating engines.
In the past, with the advantages of the rotor engine, we have the privilege of seeing the RX series, which is almost every generation of jdm high-performance sports car family (as for the 787b Le Mans victory, in fact, the story was deified by fans, winning the race that year was more of a coincidence and luck, and the so-called "forced to fia to change the rules" is even more misinformation, not expanded here, interested can understand it yourself or leave a message in the comment area), but with the society's requirements for vehicle energy consumption and emissions day by day, Mazda also had to pause the series and the replacement of rotor power after the launch of the RX-8.
And here we have to repeat the above question: If this is the case, and energy and emissions indicators will be further tightened in the foreseeable future, why does Mazda still think that the rotor engine has a promise?
In fact, from their planning, it can be seen that the previously launched rx-vision concept car, which can be seen as a preview of the return of rotor power, is equipped with a new power system called skyactiv-r, the core is a redesigned rotor engine, but the biggest highlight is that there will be a hybrid system.
We say that the rotor engine has high fuel consumption, poor emissions, and imperfect experience, but in fact, the reason is largely that there is no gas distribution mechanism in the structure, so that the gas distribution variable mechanism that is the most important combustion control means in the current reciprocating piston engine cannot be introduced, so the full speed range cannot be optimized at the same time, and it is very difficult to cope with the changeable road conditions. However, the addition of the hybrid system, in addition to reducing energy consumption and improving fuel consumption performance, is more important to "take care of" those road conditions that are not suitable for the work of the rotor engine, so that it only works under the conditions of the highest efficiency and the best emissions, so that these problems can be solved quite comprehensively.
What's more, as just mentioned, the advantages of the rotor engine's high power density, low self-weight and small volume, in the form of hybrid, have a stronger advantage than the piston internal combustion engine: because the additional weight and volume such as batteries and motors can now be reduced by the reduction of the internal combustion engine here and even eliminate the impact on the vehicle data. In this way, the rotor engine is even more suitable for use in hybrid assemblies than the piston engine.
Compared with other large manufacturers, in the process of switching from fuel to EV, Mazda may also lag behind in the three-electric system and even platform optimization due to resource and cost problems, not to mention that it is better than its opponents in infrastructure support such as charging piles/stations. But as long as you clench your teeth and hold on to the rotor engine at the moment, for a long time to come, at least you can ensure that you survive, or even live well.
Write at the end:
If you want to talk about The future of Mazda from the perspective of stock analysis, then I think in the short term, or in terms of the year of 2019, their lives should not be very good, and there will even be a certain sense of urgency, after all, in the market adjustment period, the competitive advantage and risk tolerance of small and medium-sized enterprises are absolutely inferior to those of large enterprises. However, unlike other small and medium-sized car companies, Mazda has advantages in terms of development direction, self-awareness and even core technology, so it has survived this short-term dilemma, and believes that the future is still bright in the far future.
In the final analysis, small and beautiful enterprises and brands, the vitality is the most tenacious.