Park Xuchun was the executive director of brand marketing of Shanghai Volkswagen and experienced the most glorious period of SAIC Volkswagen. A person familiar with the matter said: "Park Xuchun can also be regarded as Wu Bing's assistant in SAIC passenger cars to some extent."
Obviously, Park Jun-wook's participation is a step for Wu Bing to reorganize SAIC passenger cars.
In the past March, Wu Bing, general manager of SAIC passenger cars and CEO of Fan Fei Automobile, was extremely busy.
He appeared in Guilin at the beginning of the month and personally announced the prices of two heavy new cars, Roewe RX9 (17.58-2.438 million yuan) and 2023 Roewe IMAX 8 (18.58-2.558 million yuan).
Among them, RX9 lowered the price of six medium and large SUVs to less than 200,000 yuan for the first time.
On the evening of March 27th, Wu Bing gave a 45-minute speech in Hangzhou, introducing the extreme comfort of the exclusive Fan Fei F7.
The price of this car is 20.99-30.190,000, which is 70,000 lower than the pre-sale price, which makes the media sigh: "Is there any profit margin?" After all, this is a C-class sedan with the same size and configuration as Weilai ET7 and Mercedes-Benz EQE.
Only two days later, he appeared in Shanghai again and revealed the price of MG 7 with great heartache (11.98-169800 yuan).
For this fully equipped B-class fuel vehicle, the price of the A-class vehicle was sold, and Wu Bing said that it was "buy the configuration and send the vehicle".
Within a month, the listing performance of three new brands of SAIC passenger cars showed their extreme desire for sales and market share.
In fact, Wu Bing became the general manager of SAIC Passenger Car Branch in September last year, which doomed his heavy burden.
First of all, the market performance of Fan Fei R7 is less than expected, and the brand has not fully gained a foothold; On the other hand, the MG brand is strong overseas, but the domestic market is not satisfactory; Roewe brand has gradually declined in the past few years. Last year, its sales were only half of its peak ...?
In short, the challenges left to Wu Bing are very serious.
Originally, in 2023, the new products of the three major brands were listed on the market, ready to make a turnaround, and the result just caught up with the price war. It has become a helpless move to cut prices and make profits.
Recently, some insiders pointed out that the first stage of the price war, represented by the "big sale" of Citroen C6 inventory clearance, has passed, and the second stage of the price war, which started with the price reduction of 80,000 yuan by Fan Fei F7, has arrived.
Whether active or passive, all car companies have joined the price war. For Wu Bing, do or die has only one last shot.
No. 1 [Last stop in Fan Fei]
Fan Fei F7, a medium and large pure electric vehicle with a length of 5m and a wheelbase of 3m, should be aimed at Weilai ET7, Krypton 00 1 and Mercedes-Benz EQE.
Therefore, its pre-sale price is set at 280,000-350,000 yuan, and no one feels wrong. In Wu Bingxin, flying F7 is definitely worth the price.
However, this year's auto market is really "too big". In the face of the coming wave of price cuts, Fan Fei, which has not fully gained a foothold, has not many choices.
But even so, the starting price diving to 209,900 is too unexpected. If you choose the mode of separation of vehicles and electricity, the price can even come to 149500 yuan, which is only the price of a high-end LaVida.
From the cheers and exclamations at the scene, we can feel how sincere this is. This sincerity even made many media teachers worry about Fan Fei. "Can you make money?"
Wu Bing gave a positive answer, which showed Fan Fei's ability of cost control based on SAIC system.
However, he also said: "Let the public know the brand of Fan Fei through this car, and prove that SAIC can also play a world in high-end new energy vehicles."
Fan Fei F7' s desire for market share is "blind", even if it doesn't lose money, it must be a way of small profits but quick turnover.
Looking back on the whole process of SAIC's new energy transformation, it is not surprising that Fan Fei made such pricing.
Facing the high-speed growth of high-end new energy market, SAIC launched the smart car with its left hand, operating in full accordance with the mode of new forces, and split Roewe R with its right hand to establish the Fan Fei brand, making the overall operation more traditional.
Many people question that Fan Fei and his confidants are fighting with each other and their resources are scattered. In fact, SAIC just "doesn't put eggs in the same basket".
However, SAIC's road to high-end new energy has also been cast a shadow as the sales of the two pioneers of transformation, Chi Ji L7 and Fan Fei R7, failed to meet expectations.
Earlier, there was even news that "if the sales volume continues to fall short of expectations, Fan Fei may be reintegrated back into SAIC and merged into the Roewe brand."
It can be seen that Fan Fei and even SAIC are in great need of a car to really knock on the door of high-end new energy and prove that they have enough technical strength and resource reserves to gain a foothold in the new energy wave.
With the mission of "the last battle", the profit of Fan Fei F7 is far less important than its market share and brand awareness. After all, SAIC is still standing behind, and proving its existence value is the first priority.
No.2 [MG7, the price is so low that it hurts]
If Fan Fei F7 is the "diving price", then MG MG7 is the real "cabbage price".
145800, you can buy 2.0T+9AT, 26 1 horsepower, and the wheelbase is close to 2.8m ..
If it weren't for the decline of fuel vehicles and the fierce price war, it would not be possible to have such an affordable price.
Under the background that domestic and foreign brands have reduced or even stopped the research and development of fuel vehicles, MG7 may be one of the most gorgeous performances before the end of the old era.
For MG, MG7, as the flagship model of Black Label, carries high hopes for brand promotion and further market expansion.
In Sean's view, it should match the higher price. "If it was listed last year, the price was1-20,000, and the monthly sales volume was easily over 10,000."
Wu Bing said: "I am very sad that the price is so low."
Between the lines, it reveals regret and helplessness. But even so, MG7, like Fan Fei F7, has a price profit margin.
This also shows the excellent ability of SAIC system to reduce costs. At the same time, Wu Bing also thinks that the price war is not good for everyone.
"If everyone doesn't make money, they will definitely reduce their investment in science and technology for the future. If the investment is gone, where does the strength come from? "
In the interview after the listing of MG7, Sean, the head of MG brand, expressed his concern.
He believes that in order to be responsible for the development of the industry, enterprises should still maintain normal operating profits, at least the gross profit is positive, otherwise everyone will have nothing to eat if the table is turned over.
NO.3 [Roewe new team, new atmosphere]
Compared with MG and Fan Fei, Roewe's two new cars released in March this year received a little less attention.
Roewe, as the first generation internet car, has a bright moment.
However, in the wave of new energy and intelligence, Roewe failed to keep the smart brand label, its positioning gradually blurred, and its sales gradually showed fatigue. Last year, its sales volume was less than half of its peak.
Through the launch of these two cars, we can still feel some new changes in Roewe, which has been silent for a long time.
First of all, the price is enough. Roewe RX9 directly pulls the six-seat family car within 200,000 yuan, and the official guide price of the four models is 653,800 yuan+075,800 yuan-243,800 yuan;
In 2023, Roewe iMAX8 launched a total of five models, and the official guide price was 185800 -255800 yuan.
Low prices may make Roewe or SAIC brand passenger cars more difficult. However, Roewe can only choose the former in terms of current sales volume and future brand upward choice.
In addition, Wu Bing quickly set up a new management team after taking over the SAIC passenger car.
Core members include Zhou Wei, General Manager of Roewe Brand Division, Qi Liang, Director of Sales Operation Management, and Min Hanna, Director of User Development.
Zhou Wei served as senior director of retail management of Volvo Car Greater China; Qi Liang served as the South District Director of Lincoln China; Min Hanna is an old man of SAIC-GM, and once served as vice president of communication in Chery Jaguar Land Rover. Both of them have been luxury brands.
It is worth mentioning that during the same period when the new management team of Roewe appeared, Park Xuchun, an "old man" of SAIC, joined SAIC passenger car as a foreign employee and became the chief marketing officer, participating in the marketing of Roewe and MG brands.
Park Chunxu has been working in SAIC Volkswagen since 1998, from Shanghai Volkswagen official to brand marketing executive director. After experiencing the most glorious time of SAIC Volkswagen, an insider revealed: "Park Chun-Xu Can is also Wu Bing's assistant in SAIC passenger cars to some extent."
Back to the topic, the important task of Roewe's new management team is to reposition the Roewe brand whose image is gradually blurred. Zhou Wei said: "In the second quarter of this year, Roewe will release a brand-new brand label and positioning."
Many SAIC passenger car people said: "The new management team is too big. It is normal for the senior director to have a meeting until the early morning, and he will continue to work the next day. Many people who used to lie flat began to roll. "
This wind of involution also swept the dealers. It is rumored that after Wu Bing took office, Roewe conducted an in-depth visit and investigation to dealers, which blocked many loopholes in the process.
In addition, Roewe will also launch a new network platform to share users with dealers and help them improve the conversion rate. In terms of channels, we will also try to reform the sales model of new energy vehicles by means of shop-in-shop.
These changes haven't shown any effect in sales, but it's always good to have a new atmosphere, so we might as well give Roewe more time.
Fourth place [written at the end]
At the beginning of the Year of the Rabbit, Wu Bing said at the SAIC Passenger Car Cadre Conference: "This year's goal and task is to break through one million sales, and domestic sales will strive to reach 500,000 vehicles to ensure a' double harvest' of traditional and new tracks."
For Fan Fei F7, Fan Fei Auto also put forward a small goal of exceeding the sales volume of Weilai ET5 at the internal dealer meeting.
It seems that this is not easy to achieve, and Wu Bing has paid a sincere price.
But even this would not be enough In the case of limited terminal profit space, it will test the cost control ability of enterprise organizations more.
In addition to relying on SAIC's high-quality resources, Wu Bing also asked at the internal meeting: "We should focus on building an organization with efficiency first and creating value, and fully tap the potential of the team through continuous lean optimization."
In short, from the inside out, Wu Bing, who has a heavier burden, has done almost everything he can.
The rest needs a little luck.