SAIC Audi has difficulty landing, and Audi’s glory in China is no longer

The three parties reached a common understanding, and the "5.19 Agreement" came to an end

"This time China FAW, SAIC Group, and Germany's Audi reached a common understanding. What we are facing is not who is worried about whom. The question is who loses and who wins, but the time has come." On December 23, Su Hui, executive director of the Tangible Automobile Market Branch of the China Automobile Dealers Association, told CRRC.com about the dispute between the "North and South" Audi channels that has aroused heated discussion in the media. Problem perspective.

On December 23, SAIC, China FAW, and Audi China announced that China FAW, Germany's Audi, and SAIC reached a consensus that in the future, SAIC's Audi products will be produced by the existing FAW-Volkswagen Audi The investor network provides sales-related services and after-sales services. The four-year interest game between SAIC and Audi has finally come to a “successful” end.

If this "*** knowledge" had occurred four years ago when the SAIC Audi project first came out, there might be a lot less suspicion in the public. If you look back on the timeline, you will find that this "*** awareness" is worth pondering. Turning back the time to November 11, 2016, when the Internet giant Tmall's one-hour transaction volume exceeded 35.3 billion yuan during "Double Eleven", crushing all previous records, the traditional car giant SAIC Motor began to plan a new path - Audi and SAIC signed a cooperation agreement to bypass China FAW and will produce and sell related models.

It’s just that “one family is happy and the other is worried.” Once this project was announced, it triggered a collective “protest” by several Audi dealers. The matter has not reached the point of no return. On February 16, 2017, a "gentleman's agreement" "Sanya Statement" was released. The statement showed that as long as FAW-Volkswagen Audi successfully completes its 2020 strategic sales target of 1 million, it will no longer oppose Audi. Looking for new partners in China. Since Audi's annual sales of just over 500,000 vehicles in 2017 were difficult to achieve its 2020 strategic goals, FAW-Volkswagen Audi made concessions. In March, FAW-Volkswagen Audi reduced its sales to 900,000 vehicles, but added "In the future, Audi will ***" Use a sales network" additional condition. After several months of tug-of-war, the SAIC Audi project reached a final "gentleman's agreement" - the "5.19 Agreement". The important thing is that Audi can start new cooperation projects when Audi's sales reach 900,000 vehicles, and in the future Audi products can only Through the existing Audi sales network.

After four years of peace and quiet, the three parties have reached an agreement in 2020. Will Audi’s annual sales target be achieved? Data from the Passenger Car Association shows that from January to November, Audi sold only 605,000 vehicles, and it is almost impossible to sell 300,000 vehicles in December. What is thought-provoking is that under this circumstance, the "gentleman's agreement" once agreed was fulfilled in advance.

Faced with the successful achievement of this consensus, there were many suspicions in the media. Therefore, CRRC.com called the relevant person in charge of Audi China, who said that the current information on SAIC Audi’s matter was obtained by three parties yesterday. In the press release, there are currently no more details to share, and more progress will be communicated at any time in the future.

Share ratio adjustment, change is the general trend

The official reply may not be enough to explain the confusion, but the facts do not lie: Audi is falling into a dangerous situation step by step. Audi, which once surpassed BMW and Mercedes-Benz and firmly held the top spot in the luxury market, began to be in a dangerous situation in 2016. Public data shows that in 2015, Audi sold 570,900 vehicles, 107,200 more than second-placed BMW. In 2016, Audi sold 591,600 vehicles. Although it still ranked first, the gap with second-placed BMW narrowed. to 75,200 units. Since then, the gap has gradually narrowed until it was surpassed by BMW and Mercedes-Benz in 2019. The sales volume of 605,000 vehicles in the first 11 months of 2020 is slightly ahead of BMW and Mercedes-Benz. However, such results are achieved on the basis of "price for volume".

Now at the forefront of the development of new energy vehicles, Tesla and many luxury new energy models are disrupting the traditional fuel vehicle luxury market where BBA is located. In North America, Tesla has been crushing BBA for a year. In the Chinese market, in November this year, the Tesla Model 3, which has been produced in China for only 11 months, dethroned Audi, which has been in China for 33 years, as the best-selling model. With 21,604 units sold, it surpassed BBA and jumped to the top of the luxury car sales rankings.

“The automobile industry has entered a period of great change, and the market positions of automobile companies are being reshuffled,” said Chen Qingtai, chairman of the China Electric Vehicles Association of 100.

New energy vehicles are the general trend. Not long ago, the General Office of the State Council issued the "New Energy Vehicle Industry Development Plan" (2021-2035), which pointed out that by 2025, new energy vehicle sales will reach about 20% of new automobile sales. Many places have begun to implement requirements for the use of new energy vehicles. The luxury fuel vehicle market, with first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen as the main sales areas, may also be shrinking due to general environmental trends. Recently, the licensing restrictions in Shanghai and other regions have promoted new energy vehicles. Car sales increased. This year, the combined market value of new car-making forces such as Xpeng, NIO, and Ideal has exceeded the combined market value of Ford Motor and General Motors.

Under this situation, the reason why Audi is looking for new partners in China is not only to break out of the dangerous sales situation, but also represents Audi's improvement in the uneven distribution of benefits due to the increase in shareholding ratio in China. . When Audi cooperated with FAW, the share ratio was allocated as FAW: Volkswagen: Audi = 60:30:10; facing the fierce offensive from BMW and Mercedes-Benz, Audi was unwilling to be limited to 10% of the share ratio and sought to increase the shareholding ratio of FAW-Volkswagen Audi. To no avail, SAIC Audi came into being. In 2018, Audi purchased 1% of SAIC Volkswagen's shares. Industry insiders analyzed that without changing FAW-Volkswagen's shareholding ratio, the implementation of the new shareholding ratio structure can achieve the redistribution of interests and is beneficial to The overall listing of FAW will also help Audi and Volkswagen improve their business.

From the overall development point of view, the coordinated development of the three parties is inevitable for the transformation of the automobile industry. Su Hui told CRRC: "2022 is the year when China's automobile industry liberalizes its shareholding ratio. From this point of view, as a transition in 2021, Audi will purchase shares of SAIC Volkswagen and establish SAIC Audi, which will lead the way in terms of automobile reform. Experiments with a forward-looking nature are inevitable for the reform and adjustment of the automobile industry. However, the epidemic in 2020 will accelerate the adjustment. There may be disputes about the sales and services of SAIC Audi products by the existing FAW-Volkswagen Audi investor network. However, as the automobile industry changes, , this kind of problem is not doubtful in the future.”

From the perspective of the three parties, behind the “*** consciousness” is a situation where each of the three parties takes a step back and barely wins. "This result is a step forward for each of the three parties to take a step back and reluctantly achieve a win-win situation. FAW can appease existing dealers, SAIC can have complete network channels to sell products, and Audi can reap the benefits." Automotive Analysis Shi Renwanfu told CRRC.com.

Weighing of interests, everyone gets what they need

In fact, the weighing of interests of all parties can be seen from the two press statements issued by SAIC and FAW-Volkswagen Audi.

In the statement issued by FAW-Volkswagen Audi, it has always been emphasized that in the future, SAIC Audi products will be sold and related services and after-sales services will be provided by the existing FAW-Volkswagen Audi investor network. The purpose of this visit has not changed since the "gentleman's agreement" four years ago. This may be due to the oversupply of FAW Audi's sales network. The previous "Sanya Statement" showed that the sales volume of Audi dealers in 2016 was 530, which has reached 91% of the 580 strategic network layout in 2020. However, due to the slowdown in Audi sales growth, it was unable to complete the 1 million strategy in 2020, and the sales network There is a serious surplus and dealers are facing losses. Automotive analyst Zhang Xiaoliang told CRRC: "For Audi, SAIC Audi no longer needs to invest in its sales network and service network, which are currently surplus."

In a press release from SAIC Motor , although the general content is no different from the FAW-Volkswagen Audi statement, its focus is on future development and operations. "SAIC Audi will build an innovative business model in the future and start recruiting national partners within the existing Audi investor network" was particularly prominent in the press release. When asked about innovative business models, the relevant person in charge of SAIC Volkswagen told CRRC.com: "SAIC Audi will select high-quality investors from the existing Audi investor network to cooperate, and will choose central business districts to lay out its sales system; and comply with the current new retail trends. , to build an "ecosystem experience of physical e-commerce" that integrates offline and offline around the dynamic consumption environment of consumers buying, using and maintaining cars, and authorizing the existing Audi network to develop an after-sales model. ”

Regarding the selection criteria for high-quality dealer investors, the above-mentioned person in charge said: "The specific investment criteria have not been made public yet, and we will communicate with everyone at the appropriate time."

Innovating business models is not a temporary move. Shortly after Audi purchased 1% of SAIC Volkswagen's shares in 2018, the SAIC Audi Division was established and stated that it would not use the traditional 4S store sales method. Ren Wanfu, an automotive analyst, told CRRC.com: "SAIC Audi selects the best from the best, and it is a high probability that it will build a separate store in the future.

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Providing sales-related services and after-sales services from the existing FAW-Volkswagen Audi investor network may be a concession for SAIC Audi, but it also has advantages in balance. "There are many existing car brands and competition It is fierce for SAIC and Audi to set up a separate marketing network for SAIC. The investment risk is too great. When there are no multiple models to support sales, future income is uncertain, and using the existing network will save a lot of resources," Zhang Xiang, an automotive analyst, said to CRRC. Net solves this question that has caused doubts in the public, "SAIC Audi has its own pricing and decision-making power, and can control its profits and sales patterns. "

Under the "*** consciousness", it is still unknown whether SAIC Audi and FAW-Volkswagen Audi will compete like SAIC Volkswagen and FAW-Volkswagen in the future. Automotive analyst Zhang Xiang said to CRRC Net said frankly: "In the future, when SAIC Audi becomes fully fledged, it may form a competitive relationship with FAW-Volkswagen Audi. ”

It is reported that SAIC Audi abides by the “gentleman’s agreement” of “sales in China no earlier than January 2022”, and the first model will be delivered in early 2022. There are also many spy photos of SAIC Audi’s first model A7L According to relevant media reports, SAIC Audi A7L is positioned as an A+ class SUV model. SAIC Group and Volkswagen have invested 4.13 billion yuan in transforming the Shanghai factory to produce Audi models. This shows that SAIC Group has high hopes for the SAIC Audi project.

This article comes from the author of Autohome Chejiahao and does not represent the views and positions of Autohome