Reporter Xia Zhibin zhang Jiazhen reported from Shanghai
Following the three-way change of shareholders to two parties in 2021, South Korea Kia Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Kia") and Jiangsu Yueda Group (hereinafter referred to as "Yueda") have made new progress in cooperation.
On February 7, 2022, Kia signed an investment expansion agreement with Yancheng People's Government and Yueda. The content of the agreement shows that Kia and Yueda intend to form a new joint venture company to open a new era of joint venture. The new joint venture plans to increase its capital by US$900 million to rapidly increase vehicle sales and capacity utilization by expanding investment, introducing new models, developing new energy vehicles, and setting up export bases.
According to the plan, Kia and Yueda will release the name of the new company in April this year. For the capital increase ratio and shareholding ratio of the two parties in the new joint venture, Kia and Yueda did not disclose specific details.
The reporter of China Business Daily learned that the new joint venture between Kia and Yueda will build a new organizational structure, establish an innovative organizational culture, and actively introduce local outstanding talents and professionals, as well as accelerate the localization work.
Regarding the future development in China, a relevant person from Kia said: "Kia will accelerate the landing of the 'Global Kia' image in the Chinese market, and form a more efficient decision-making process through organizational structure adjustment, solidly promote the development of various businesses, and start again in the Chinese market." In the future, Kia will continue to deepen its efforts in the Chinese market and explore the most suitable management system for the Chinese market. ”
In the view of auto analyst Zhang Xiang, "Yueda and Kia cooperate in operation, coupled with the liberalization of the national joint venture equity ratio policy, if Kia and Yueda establish a joint venture company, the division of labor between the two sides will be more clear in the future, and the efficiency of work will be improved, which is a good thing for both sides." ”
"Three-legged stand" becomes "double stage"
According to public information, Dongfeng Yueda Kia was established in 2002, by Kia, Dongfeng Group, Jiangsu Yueda Investment Co., Ltd. (600805. SH, hereinafter referred to as "Yueda Investment") was established with 50%, 25% and 25% shares respectively, and the joint venture will be open until September 2022.
In November 2021, Dongfeng Group officially listed on the Shanghai United Assets and Equity Exchange to sell its 25% stake in Dongfeng Yueda Kia. In December of the same year, Dongfeng Group completed the transfer of shares of Dongfeng Yueda Kia, and its 25% stake was taken over by Jiangsu Yueda Automobile Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Yueda Automobile Group"). At present, Yueda, the controlling shareholder of Yueda Investment, holds 50% of the equity of Yueda Automobile Group.
At the same time, the reporter noted that in order to cope with the global changes in digitalization and electrification, Kia launched a comprehensive transformation in 2021, released a new LOGO, and removed the word "car" from the company name, in order to break through the positioning of traditional car manufacturers and transform into a mobile travel service provider.
In addition, Kia's medium- and long-term strategy of "Plan S" revised in early 2021 shows that it is committed to transforming into the two core directions of the future of "electric vehicles and environmentally friendly mobility", and plans to launch 11 electric vehicles by 2026, 7 of which are from the E-GMP special electric vehicle platform; by 2030, it will achieve annual sales of 1.6 million units of pure electric, hybrid, plug-in hybrid and other environmentally friendly models, and 880,000 units of pure electric vehicles, accounting for 55% of total sales.
In November 2021, Kia also released its corporate vision for a "Sustainable Mobility Solution Provider" and a "Carbon Neutrality Strategy 2045", with "Sustainable Mobility", "Sustainable Planet" and "Sustainable Energy" as the main goals for reducing carbon emissions, striving to achieve carbon neutrality in the entire corporate value chain by 2045.
In Zhang Xiang's view, Kia, as an international car company, has a deep technical accumulation, so its research and development strength is strong. In addition, Kia's financial strength is also relatively strong, which is the advantage of Kia's ability to carry out a series of changes.
The reporter noted that Kia has an extensive R&D and design network around the world, with more than 10 factories in 6 countries and an annual production capacity of 3.7 million vehicles. In 2021, Kia sold 2.778 million units worldwide, up 6.5% year-on-year. In May 2021, Kia sold more than 50 million units in the global market.
Increase the investment in resources in the Chinese market
"2022 coincides with the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and South Korea and the 20th anniversary of Kia's brand entry into China, and it is also a key year for Kia to deepen its strategy of brand renewal and 2045 carbon neutrality." Kia said, "Taking this signing as an opportunity, Kia will take root in Yancheng, based on the Turn-around strategy and 'All New Kia, All New Start!' 'Business policy, accelerate the implementation of the global strategy, integrate global resources, better feed the Chinese market, and provide Chinese consumers with more products and services worth looking forward to." ”
The reporter noted that in Kia's layout in China, Yancheng plays an important role. It is reported that at present, Yancheng is Kia's only production base in China. "From now on, Yancheng will continue to serve as a base for its future career in China." Kia said that in the next decade, Kia has set a target of more than 4 million vehicles in China.
The reporter noted that the automobile industry is the leading industry that Yancheng focuses on cultivating. At present, Yancheng is promoting the four leading industries led by automobiles, creating a whole industrial chain integrating research and development, complete vehicles, parts and components, and automobile service industry, and is committed to becoming an important modern automobile city on the east coast of China.
Along with the establishment of the new joint venture, Kia also announced a series of changes in China. Kia said: "After the restructuring of the enterprise, on the one hand, it will refer to the successful experience of global Kia and introduce more global system resources; on the other hand, it will more closely combine China's actual situation and re-set sail with the attitude of a new force startup, pay more attention to the needs of Chinese consumers, and better realize the combination of globalization and localization." ”
At the product level, Kia will focus on promoting the introduction of global strategic models and new energy vehicles. It is reported that the new models listed by Kia this year will be equipped with a large number of safety configurations and new technology configurations to further enhance product performance and market competitiveness, and together with models on sale such as Jawa and Zhipao Ace, kia's global strategic model lineup will be improved.
At the same time, 2022 is the first year that Kia began to electrify, in addition to the introduction of HEV hybrid models, the HOT PURE ELECTRIC MODEL EV6 in overseas markets will soon be introduced into China. "Starting next year to 2027, starting from the new pure electric vehicle EV6, Kia will launch a new electric model in the Chinese market every year, and gradually build a new EV matrix of six electric vehicles." Kia said.
In terms of marketing, Kia will actively carry out innovative marketing activities to show Chinese consumers "New Kia" and sustainable future business vision. This includes strengthening regional marketing with dealers as the center, while continuing to carry out "door-to-door test drives" and "door-to-door services" throughout the year, and the new SI (Terminal Image System) will also be applied to all 4S stores and city showrooms.
Not only that, the reporter also learned from Kia that the new joint venture between Kia and Yueda will also achieve win-win cooperation with Chinese dealer partners by formulating reasonable operating indicators, continuously optimizing business policies, and rewarding excellent dealers.
In 2022, the gradual recovery of China's auto market competition will undoubtedly become more intense, Kia set off again, whether the new joint venture company to be established by Yueda and Kia can successfully break the situation, we wait and see!
(Editor: Quartzing Proofreader: Peng Yufeng)