After a comprehensive victory in the game with Brilliance, BMW may point the spearhead at Great Wall Motors, and the beam may become the next storm eye.
A few days ago, bmw group officially announced: BMW Brilliance's new joint venture contract officially came into effect, and the validity period of the joint venture between the two parties was extended to 2040.
Under the new joint venture contract, from February 11, 2022, the BMW Group's shareholding in BMW Brilliance will be changed to 75%.
This is a landmark event in China's automotive industry.
The outside world has speculated about who will be the next "BMW Brilliance", but few people have noticed that this may be only the first step in BMW's China strategy.
Beam Auto, a joint venture between BMW and great wall, is the second joint venture car company in China. Similar to the Joint Venture between Mercedes-Benz and BYD, the beam was originally considered to be the crystallization of the cooperation between BMW and great wall in the field of new energy, and it is also a "voltage regulator" for sharing the risk of new energy transformation of the two car companies.
However, the huge gains brought by BMW Brilliance's share ratio increase are likely to change BMW's positioning and plans for the beam. On the other hand, in the past two years, Great Wall Motors' attitude towards the beam of light does not seem to convey a subtle signal:
Under the calm water of the light beam, there was already an undercurrent surging forward. Under the unknown game, BMW and the Great Wall want to compete for the dominance of the beam.
Regardless of who will be the winner, the future of the beam is nothing more than two outcomes.
Become the next "BMW Brilliance" or the next "Denza".
In a sense, the beam is the grass snake gray line that BMW has long buried.
Start by making up the timeline.
On July 10, 2018, in the presence of the Chinese and German prime ministers, BMW and Great Wall announced the establishment of Beam Auto with a shareholding ratio of 50:50;
On July 12, there was news in the German media that BMW would increase its stake in BMW Brilliance, and the shareholding ratio increased from 50% to 75%;
On October 11, on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the establishment of BMW Brilliance, the share ratio change agreement was officially signed.
Anyone who pays a little attention to BMW Brilliance knows that BMW wants to increase its stake in the company for not a day or two. But even if Brilliance is a soft persimmon, BMW can't pinch it before.
In order to achieve the goal, BMW used the beam as a powerful chip to force people.
Originally, the beam was considered to be an electric vehicle company jointly built by BMW and the Great Wall. The original text of the release of the establishment of the beam is as follows: "This is the bmw group's first pure electric vehicle joint venture project in the world, and it is also the bridgehead for the Great Wall new energy vehicle to move towards internationalization." ”
However, the "Environmental Impact Report of the Beam Production Base Project" (hereinafter referred to as the report) found by Insigma Shake shows that "this project will carry out the export manufacturing of passenger cars with an annual output of 160,000 fuel vehicles and the development of pure electric vehicle passenger cars." ”
In other words, after the beam factory is launched, the first to produce will be fuel vehicles.
In the face of BMW's plan, Brilliance can only compromise. Otherwise, BMW is likely to gradually introduce new car resources into the beam.
Switch to the Great Wall perspective.
In 2018, private consumption of electric vehicles is in the ascendant. Although the market potential is huge, rushing to invest is a huge risk for all car companies.
So the Great Wall and BMW hit it off, relying on the beam of light to share the risk. With the endorsement of the BMW brand and the empowerment of advanced management systems, great wall can also be prepared for comprehensive internationalization.
However, since 2018, except for the two public actions of laying the foundation of the factory and breaking ground, the beam has been invisible. At last year's Great Wall Motors Technology Festival, the Great Wall never mentioned the beam, which is a suspicious attitude.
There are two more details.
First, the "Report" shows that the total investment of the Beam Zhangjiagang factory is 5.1 billion yuan, which is consistent with the total investment amount announced when the company was established in 2018. That is to say, the current cooperation between BMW and the Great Wall is limited to the construction of factories, and the follow-up marketing system construction is still a matter of no shadow.
Second, at the factory groundbreaking ceremony the year before, Beam announced that the factory would be completed and put into operation in 2021, but the "Report" showed that it had been postponed to 2022.
All indications are that the Great Wall and BMW are divided about the future of the beam, and they are already secretly engaged in a game.
From the BMW standpoint, the beam is best to become the second "BMW Brilliance".
Because of its holding of a joint venture car company, BMW has benefited greatly.
According to BMW's official information, the bmw brilliance share ratio change has a one-time positive impact of 7-8 billion euros on the financial performance of its automotive division and increases free cash flow by about 5 billion euros.
At the same time, BMW's sales in China have increased year after year, reaching 850,000 vehicles last year. Under the expectation of continued sales growth in the future, BMW will receive most of the profit.
If it holds the beam again, BMW will not only continue to launch more domestic new models, paving the way for MINI domestic production, but also hopes to become the first luxury brand to exceed 1 million units in China.
However, Great Wall Motors and Wei Jianjun are clearly not soft persimmons.
Not to mention that in the past two years, Great Wall Motor's brands and new models have made great progress, and even the international sector has made breakthroughs.
This time, another time.
If the beam was first established, thanks to the brand appeal of MINI, it can also be considered that the Great Wall has a request for BMW, but now in the field of new energy, the Great Wall has gained a foothold in the small electric vehicle market with the help of Euler, and it is obvious that it is no longer necessary to position similar MINI.
The Great Wall is most likely not the second Brilliance, and the beam of light will most likely become the second "Denza".
A few days ago, a document suspected of coming from within the BMW Group showed that the first two electric MINI models will be produced by the beam, and other localized MINI models will be produced by BMW's Shenyang plant.
According to the beam factory's "product plan and product technical parameters", the factory will put into production two fuel export passenger cars in advance, with dimensions of 4765mm*1931mm*1655mm, 4462mm*1857mm*1638mm, and the engine code is 4C20 series.
The 4C20 is a turbocharged engine independently developed by Great Wall, and the size of the two models is exactly the same as that of the VV7 and VV5.
Therefore, after the beam is put into production this year, it will produce VV7 and VV5 for export in advance.
On the one hand, Great Wall Motors can use its production capacity. On the other hand, although in the domestic market, Weipai mainly promotes the "coffee" series of new cars, the VV series has been discontinued. But in fact, the VV series is far from the end of its life, and exports to some emerging markets are still promising.
It can also be believed that with the acquiescence of BMW, in the future, Wei Pai will introduce beam factories in advance. The 2 electric MINIs planned by BMW have not yet been included in the production plan. As a production capacity reserve, BMW has expanded its Shenyang Dadong and Tiexi plants in 2019 and 2020 to prepare for the domestic production of X5, i-series new cars and electric MINI.
At the same time that BMW is betting on Shenyang, it may announce the game of beam, and Great Wall Motors has a high probability of having the upper hand.
In this way, make a responsible prediction, because it is impossible to hold, BMW or gradually fade out of the beam.
Like Denza, which is already 90% owned by BYD, when the time is ripe in the future, the Great Wall may increase its stake in the beam, so that it has absolute control over the beam.
Like Mercedes-Benz, BMW's role will be to provide brand endorsement, including sales channels and marketing promotions, to increase the premium rate of beam products.
point of view:
Although the beam puzzle has not yet come to an end, there are various indications that the game between the Great Wall and BMW has come to an end.
In the past few years, although the two companies have begun to hold the purpose of laying a bridgehead for new energy vehicles, due to the development strategy and needs of their respective companies, the normal progress of the beam has not only been interrupted, but also the positioning has changed dramatically.
Since BMW and great wall have found their own main positions, for both companies, the beam will most likely be just a supplementary plate for some time to come.
Although Great Wall Motors is expected to get the absolute right to speak, with the lessons of Denza, the beam is bound to not repeat the same mistakes, but effectively exert its potential energy.
I have to sigh that from BMW Brilliance to the beam, the game is staged all the time, fully interpreting the "shopping mall like a battlefield".
Regarding the future of the beam, we will also continue to pay attention to it, because behind this brand are BMW and Great Wall, two extremely influential giant car companies.