Yang Ming: China is our most important market, and next year will be the EQ year of Mercedes-Benz.

165438+1October 19 On the eve of Guangzhou Auto Show, the new Mercedes-Maibakh S-Class sedan once again chose Guangzhou for its world premiere.

Mercedes-Maibakh's first SUV model-the new Maibakh GLS? SUV also officially landed in China market. The new car * * * offers three models at a price of 1.58 million-2.738 million yuan.

In this way, Mercedes-Benz once again pays tribute to China, a blessed place that has contributed 2/3S class car sales to Maibakh in the past six years.

More precisely, China market is not only a blessed place for Maibakh, but also a blessed place for the whole Mercedes-Benz brand. Starting from 20 15, China has been the largest single market in the world for five consecutive years, and 2020 will be no exception.

When the last auto show came in 2020, for Yang Ming, who was then the president and CEO of Beijing Mercedes-Benz Sales & Service Co., Ltd. for just one year, recalling this experience, he felt that it was "half seawater, half flame".

Yang Ming, President and CEO of Beijing Benz Sales & Service Co., Ltd.

After Mercedes-Benz won the championship against the trend in China on June 5438+ 10, it immediately faced the challenges in the special period of the epidemic, such as how to carry out business and how to solve supply chain problems. At that time, Yang Ming also hastily ended his overseas Spring Festival holiday and returned to China in time on the eve of the temporary cancellation of international routes.

Even though Mercedes-Benz gradually resumed its main production and operation activities in China in February, the epidemic still caused a big blow to its sales. The data shows that in the first quarter of 2020, the sales volume of Mercedes-Benz in China was about138,900 vehicles, down 20.3% year-on-year.

However, the China market recovered faster than expected. Mercedes-Benz has resumed its positive year-on-year sales growth since April, and its performance in the China market in the first half of the year has also become a bright spot in its global sales downturn.

In the first half of 2020, the cumulative sales volume of Mercedes-Benz in China reached 346,067 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 0.4%. China has become the only market where Mercedes-Benz sales have achieved positive growth. The vitality of China market once again makes Mercedes-Benz and Yang Ming full of confidence in the future.

"China is our most important market." After this sentence was repeatedly confirmed in the past, Yang Ming once again mentioned that the 702,000 vehicles set by Mercedes-Benz in China in 2065,438+2009 were waiting to be refreshed again without any accident.

This year also happens to be the 5th anniversary of Daimler's "Made in China, Exclusive to China" domestic passenger car/KLOC-0. So far, Beijing Benz has produced eight Mercedes-Benz passenger cars, and Mercedes-Benz has also launched a number of "exclusive China" products.

Yang Ming said that the consumption upgrade in China society is bringing more development opportunities for Mercedes-Benz, and Mercedes-Benz will "go further and realize the electrification of all products" to meet the diversified and personalized needs of different customers.

On 20 19, the launch of Mercedes-Benz EQC pure electric SUV opened the road of Mercedes-Benz pure electric in China.

Yang Ming introduced that EQA, EQB and pure electric flagship EQS of EQ brand will enter the market from next year. It is worth mentioning that EQS is the first model based on its new EVA pure electric platform, and its cruising range will exceed 700 kilometers. In addition, since 2025, a number of compact and medium-sized cars based on its second brand-new exclusive electric MMA platform will also be unveiled.

While laying out pure electric EQ products, Mercedes-Benz brand will continue to explore solutions for plug-in hybrid vehicles. In addition to the brand-new GLE listed at the Guangzhou Auto Show? 350? e？ In addition to 4MATIC, Mercedes-Benz will also bring more plug-in hybrid models with outstanding energy efficiency to users.

"Next year will be our emotional intelligence year, and we hope that Mercedes-Benz will have a place in the electrification field of luxury brand camp." Yang Ming said. This time, just like every time before, Mercedes-Benz will stick to its long-standing insistence, once again win its due position with the service experience of "Mercedes-Benz quality" and "luxury heart", and build a luxury brand that people yearn for.

The following is the interview record.

Newspaper: This is not the first time that Maibakh has chosen China as its initial market. What is the strategic significance of Maibakh market to China market? Our brand-new strategy also mentions strengthening sub-brands. What will be the specific strategic deployment?

Yang Ming: China is our most important market. Take Mercedes-Benz-Maibakh S-Class sedan as an example. At present, more than two-thirds of Mercedes-Maibakh S-Class cars are sold to the China market. Maibakh S-Class sedan, which was listed in Guangzhou six years ago, is the first model listed in China. Since then, it has formed a good tradition, and we hope it will continue.

10 year10.6, we released a brand-new strategy of Mercedes-Benz, which also mentioned the strategy of promoting the growth of sub-brands. Mercedes-Benz-Maibakh, Mercedes-Benz -AMG and G-Class cars have strong market recognition in China. We hope to continuously release the development potential of sub-brands, enrich the unique product lineup of each sub-brand, let more people feel the extraordinary experience brought by sub-brands in different market segments, and then build Mercedes-Benz into the most desirable automobile and service brand in China.

Newspaper: You made your debut at the Chengdu Auto Show last year. At that time, you also visited Wuhou Temple. Yesterday's Maibakh night was about "ceremony". Is it difficult to learn Chinese? What has China culture or oriental philosophy inspired you this year?

Yang Ming: Chinese is interesting. At first, I spent six to eight weeks focusing on learning Chinese. But as we all know, learning Chinese is not an easy task. So far, speaking a few words of Chinese is easy for me, and it takes a lot of time to learn and understand.

Last year, I visited Wuhou Temple, and then I was lucky enough to visit the Forbidden City and the Great Wall. Although I have been in China for more than a year, I am just a newcomer in the face of profound China culture. With the deepening of my understanding of China, my two feelings have become more and more intense: First, taking the experience of visiting the Forbidden City as an example, I found that the architectural styles of the East and the West in the same historical period were very distinct, reflecting the great differences between the East and the West, which made me look forward to a deeper understanding of China culture; In addition, from Beijing to Chengdu and Shenzhen, including this trip to Guangzhou, I became more aware of China's vast territory and rich resources. All this makes me deeply feel the diversity of China.

What impressed me deeply was that etiquette had a profound influence on China culture. Before, I had communicated with my colleagues about the positioning of Maibakh brand, and my colleagues told me that I could try to establish an emotional relationship with customers by paying the highest respect to them in China.

For me, it is a good learning process to understand the culture and diversity of China, or to establish an emotional relationship with customers in China.

Paper: Mercedes-Benz recently put forward a brand-new strategy, in which the vision of "focusing on luxury" and "leading the development of electric drive and automotive software" was realized ahead of schedule. Combined with the China market, what changes can be seen in the next five to eight years?

Yang Ming: The brand-new strategy newly released by Mercedes-Benz covers six aspects, and each part is very clear; Among them, the first thing is to strengthen our luxury brand positioning. As we all know, Mercedes-Benz is a luxury car brand, and we will further strengthen this positioning in the future. The key question is-what is luxury? Today, I will show you some products, including brands such as Maibakh, which are the best testimony to the positioning of luxury brands.

For us, redefining luxury goods is to set our own benchmark in each market segment. The A-class cars and Maibakh models that you saw at today's press conference are the benchmark models of their respective market segments; Like the new AMG? GLB？ 35? 4MATIC is a dynamic and practical representative in the same level market; The new GLE was officially launched at Guangzhou Auto Show? 350? e？ 4MATIC plug-in hybrid vehicle also has excellent configuration performance. In the China market, we hope to set our luxury benchmark in the field of customer service, and hope to provide you with a "luxury service" experience that matches the positioning of luxury brands.

In terms of strengthening brand positioning, Mercedes-Benz, as a luxury car brand for more than a hundred years, should not make subversive changes, but should continue to release the charm and potential of each sub-brand and strengthen the uniqueness of these sub-brands. At present, we have a very comprehensive brand camp, including Mercedes-Maibakh, Mercedes -AMG, G-class cars and EQ electric technology brands. These brand assets are very attractive to Mercedes-Benz.

At the same time, the new brand strategy also emphasizes the leading position in the field of digitalization and electrification. We also have specific layout in these aspects, such as developing operating system: we can see the update and upgrade of MBUX intelligent human-computer interaction system on the new S-class car, and we will continue to bring more upgrades in the next three years; In the future research and development of automotive software, Mercedes-Benz has a strong R&D team in China, consisting of more than 65,438+0,000 colleagues, who also play a key role in our global R&D team. In addition, the China team will play a vital role in exploring the future digital luxury experience.

Thesis: 2020 is very unusual. Can you talk about your feelings in China this year?

Yang Ming: There are a lot of feelings this year. 2020 is really extraordinary, just like riding a roller coaster: in June 5438+ 10, we ushered in a good start in market performance, but then we faced challenges in a special period. At that time, we considered many problems, such as how to carry out business and how to solve supply chain problems ... In April, the overall domestic environment continued to improve, and the luxury car market also hit a new high for several months, and the market vitality exceeded expectations.

In the past period of time, our experience can be described as half seawater and half flame, and this experience has also made me feel a lot. First of all, I saw the efficiency and order of the whole society and the whole community. Of course, achieving such achievements requires the cooperation of the whole society, which is the basis for us to gradually resume our daily life and economic operation today. I will never forget what I experienced in China. I am very honored to participate in the process of overcoming difficulties. This year, thanks to the effective anti-epidemic achievements in China and the overall recovery of the market, we expect that the market performance will be relatively positive, thanks to the opportunities and vitality brought by the China market.

WSJ: How do you evaluate Mercedes' performance in China this year? What are the priorities for next year?

Yang Ming: I am a self-reflective person. I believe that we can always surpass ourselves. Facing the challenge, we need to make more efforts to ensure the solid performance of brand value and market share.

At the same time, despite many challenges, we have done a very good job in customer service. Last year, Mercedes-Benz launched a service convention; Subsequently, we implemented the exclusive post of "customer rights officer" to ensure that the network level of the company and dealers listened to the voice of customers and implemented the rights and interests of customers.

This year, we officially launched the Mercedes-Benz "hospitality" to create a "luxury of heart" service experience for customers. This year, 50,000 front-line and internal employees have received service training. If we are lucky enough to have made some achievements this year, it is all because of the unity of our excellent team and the whole Mercedes-Benz family.

When it comes to next year, the implementation of the brand-new strategy of Mercedes-Benz in China market is very important.

First of all, strengthen the luxury brand position of Mercedes-Benz, which has been reflected in our daily work and communication marketing.

Second, create attractive product selection and excellent service experience for customers. The so-called luxury is to provide customers with "new luxury" product experience and "heart luxury" service experience that matches luxury products; It is not difficult to describe it, but it needs to be implemented slowly and steadily. There is still a long way to go, but we believe it will come soon.

Third, the electrification strategy is also our focus, and next year will be our EQ year. Last year, we launched EQC pure electric SUV in the market, and its market performance continues to climb this year. Next year, we will launch a series of pure electric products, including EQA, EQB and EQS. In the future, we will launch a series of electric vehicles through the EVA platform. In the next two years, we hope that Mercedes-Benz will occupy a place in the electrification field of luxury brand camp.

Paper: Just mentioned that 202 1 is the EQ year of Mercedes-Benz. What do you think are the characteristics of customers who buy EQ products?

Yang Ming: Customers of new energy automobile products are often very enterprising, independent, environmentally conscious, love interconnection and OTA technology, like simple design and enjoy driving pleasure.

We believe that with the further popularization of new energy products, the composition of future customer groups will also change, and the purchase of electric vehicles will also change from an enterprising decision to an acceptable choice for ordinary users. What is certain is that new energy vehicles may appear in every market segment in the future; For us, every market segment will have our products, including pure electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles. For example, we also launched a brand-new GLE this time? 350? e？ 4MATIC plug-in hybrid vehicle, its pure electric cruising range exceeds 100 km.

So far, when it comes to new energy products in luxury market segments, it must be technology that makes brands stand out-technology determines battery performance and cruising range. At the same time, the intelligent interconnection and OTA function of the car will give the brand more outstanding advantages. We believe that with the passage of time, with the continuous progress and popularization of technology, high cruising range and OTA function will become more and more common, which will narrow the separation between products. At that time, when people choose a new energy product, the consideration factors will return to the experience of the product itself, including the satisfaction and comfort of the space and the exquisite craftsmanship of the vehicle itself. In these respects, we undoubtedly have great advantages. For example, sometimes I chat with EQC customers, and they are very appreciative of the quality of Mercedes-Benz new energy products. This is also our future direction, creating "Mercedes-Benz quality" new energy products.

WSJ: We are worried that other luxury brands have also made efforts in electrification in recent years. It can be said that it is vulgar and new. What do you think of the current situation of luxury car market? This year is an extraordinary year. We are concerned that Mercedes-Benz achieved nearly 570,000 new car sales in the first three quarters. On the basis of such a high sales base, how can Mercedes-Benz further tap its sales potential? Yang Ming: Everyone is very familiar with the competition pattern in the field of traditional fuel vehicles. In the luxury car market segment, about 70% of the sales are contributed by the three German brands, so the environment is naturally fierce. We hope to do our job well and maintain our market competitiveness.

In the long run, in the luxury car market in the next five to 10 years, I think the growth of traditional fuel vehicles will slow down; If you want to get more eye-catching sales performance, more is to release potential in the field of new energy. Take Mercedes-Benz for example. Last year, we launched the first pure electric product EQC pure electric SUV, and two or three products will be launched every year in the future. I believe that under the new energy competition pattern in the luxury car market in the future, with the introduction of more products, traditional brands will have greater achievements in the new energy field.

Newspaper: When it comes to the trend of young customers in China market, the target customers of Mercedes-Benz are around 35 years old. How to better meet the needs of this young consumer market? How to adjust products to get more attention?

Yang Ming: At present, about 20% of the sales performance comes from a new generation of compact models, including A-class cars and GLA? SUV、GLB？ Main models such as SUVs. Through these models, we also attract more young people to join the Mercedes-Benz family. At the same time, we also have a very reliable lineup of mid-level cars, including C-class cars, E-class cars, GLC? Suvs, etc. , each model shows positive growth. In addition, we also have some star products, such as G-class off-road vehicles and GLS? Suvs, s-class cars, etc.

In other words, we have a very good growth foundation and don't need to rely too much on any market segment. We have a stable performance in every market segment. Based on brand positioning and market demand, the most important thing for young consumers is to build luxury car brands and products they yearn for. The consumption upgrade of China society has also brought more development opportunities for luxury brands and us. In this process, we need to constantly strengthen product deployment and deeply understand the wishes of customers in China. At present, we have launched eight domestic passenger cars "Made in China, exclusive to China" to better understand the customers in China and the China market.

Of course, as we insist on emphasizing, it is equally important to create the luxury customer experience that customers yearn for, that is, our "heart luxury" customer service and customer experience.

Our future plan is also very clear and simple, that is, to build a desirable luxury car brand, which requires us to make simultaneous efforts in products, brands and services.

This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.