The withdrawal of Mercedes-Benz is a good thing for the high-end of BAIC.

A few days ago, news broke out that Mercedes-Benz Technology Group (hereinafter referred to as Mercedes-Benz Technology) has officially withdrawn from the shares of Beijing Beiqi Deben Automobile Technology Center Co., Ltd., which will become a wholly-owned company with 100% holding under BAIC. As soon as the news came out, it immediately aroused widespread concern.

According to public information, Beijing Beiqi Deben Automobile Technology Center Co., Ltd. is a joint venture between Beijing Automobile Corporation and Mercedes-Benz Technology Group (MBtech? Group) was established in 2065438+March 2005. BAIC and Mercedes-Benz hold 5 1% and 49% shares respectively. The main business of BAIC Deben includes automotive R&D projects, research and application of new automotive technologies, and engineering consulting and training. It is the most important and core R&D technology center of BAIC.

It is worth mentioning that BAIC Deben is an automotive technology engineering company, providing technical support for BAIC's own brand. It can also be said that BAIC Deben is a platform for BAIC to obtain Daimler technology to promote high-end products.

Based on this background, the withdrawal of Mercedes-Benz technology triggered speculation in the industry.

Some analysts said that Mercedes-Benz hopes that divestment is one of the reasons for withdrawing from Beiqi Deben. Under the influence of the epidemic, the world's major automakers have suffered losses, and Mercedes-Benz has not been spared. The latest financial report shows that Daimler's revenue decreased by 30% in the second quarter of this year, and its profit before interest, tax and loss reached 65.438+68 billion euros.

There is also public opinion that the cause of this incident is due to the equity negotiations between BAIC and Daimler on Beijing Benz. "At present, the negotiations between BAIC and Daimler on the share ratio of the joint venture company are in an anxious state, and the withdrawal of foreign capital from BAIC Deben can also be understood as shocking the mountain and putting pressure on each other." Some insiders said.

Whatever the reason, it is believed that Mercedes-Benz is the party that voluntarily withdraws from Beiqi Deben. Of course, there are also different views.

Xu Heyi, then chairman of BAIC Group, said at the beginning of the establishment of BAIC Deben: "The purpose of establishing such a joint venture company is to promote the comprehensive upgrade of BAIC's independent brand system on the existing basis. Enhance the product strength of BAIC's own brand, enhance the product premium ability and enhance the brand image. " BAIC Deben is an important expectation given by BAIC, which helps BAIC digest and absorb the whole vehicle platform technology acquired from Saab and the W2 12 platform technology transferred from Mercedes-Benz (formerly Mercedes-Benz E-Class platform).

Judging from the market performance of high-end models of BAIC in recent years, the effect is not significant. As many people know, BAIC has introduced SIBCO D90 and? BJ90 is based on Mercedes-Benz (E-Class, GL-Class) technology, and BJ80 is almost a replica of Mercedes-Benz G-Class classic design. However, without exception, these models failed to get the expected market feedback, but became a joke in the industry. This may be an important reason why BAIC and Mercedes-Benz Technology finally parted ways.

Insiders said, "A joint venture like BAIC Deben is German-led, and China has localization technology. In fact, China has no real power. It is mainly Daimler's technology and has nothing to do with China. " It is not clear whether German is dominant or China's localization is unfavorable. Anyway? It is an indisputable fact that copying Mercedes-Benz's high-end Beiqi models can't afford the "high-end" price of 300- 1 10,000.

What is certain is that after Mercedes-Benz technology withdraws from BAIC Deben, BAIC will lose the technical support of Mercedes-Benz, thus breaking the long-standing "takenism" thought in the high-end field. If it doesn't happen, this change will force Beiqi Deben's R&D team to be down-to-earth and have a qualitative change in technology.

In recent years, the success of local high-end brands in China, such as Hongqi and Kelin, has never been achieved by "take-away". Only by giving products that match the pricing can we win the favor of consumers.

From this perspective, the withdrawal of Mercedes-Benz is not necessarily a bad thing for the high-end development of BAIC. On the contrary, the withdrawal of Mercedes-Benz gave BAIC a rare opportunity to be independent and high-end.

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