As a Japanese brand that once dominated China's auto market, In recent years, Mazda's life has been somewhat unsatisfactory. Whether it is the brand, product, or sales volume, compared with the same Japanese Honda, Toyota and Nissan, it is a world of difference. According to official data, the annual sales volume of Mazda brands in China in 2021 was 184,000 units, down 14.3% year-on-year. This is the fourth year that Mazda's sales in China have declined.
You know, Mazda was once popular in China, and its excellent handling experience has made it favored and recognized by countless consumers, and finally successfully lit up the Title of "Dongying BMW". Since entering China, Mazda's brightest moment is undoubtedly in 2017, when the sales performance of 309407 not only created a brand sales record, but also made Mazda successfully stand on the peak. Unfortunately, since then, Mazda has begun to decline, and sales have fallen sharply, which is behind both the intensification of competition in the domestic auto market and the problem of brand internal consumption. It is precisely for this reason that there will be an incident of "Merger of North and South Mazda".
In August last year, China FAW successfully delisted the capital increase project of Changan Mazda Automobile Co., Ltd., a Chinese joint venture under Mazda and Changan Automobile, from the Beijing Equity Exchange. Changan Mazda was changed to a joint venture jointly funded by three parties, with Mazda holding 47.5% of the shares, Changan Automobile accounting for 47.5% of the shares, and China FAW holding 5% of the shares. From the perspective of the stock ratio, China FAW has almost no right to speak, so after the formal merger of FAW Mazda and Changan Mazda, Changan Mazda will continue Mazda's related business.
So, is it that the new Chang'an Mazda after the merger will bring about rapid changes? Will the new Chang'an Mazda after the merger be able to recreate Mazda's glory?
Let's look at the action of the model first. Recently, the 2022 new MAZDA CX-5 has opened a full pre-sale. The pre-price is from 179,800 yuan. As a mid-term redesign of the CX-5, the 2022 CX-5 has been redesigned in the front face shape, front and rear light sets, rims, and vehicle system. New cars appear, and everything seems to be beautiful. And we also believe that the 2022 CX-5 may be able to contribute some sales to the new Changan Mazda.
However, unlike the melon-eating masses, insiders may pay more attention not to the car, but to the helmsman. According to some sources, Fu Yuanhong officially stepped down as executive vice president of Changan Mazda Automobile Co., Ltd., and Wang Hui took over from Fu Yuanhong as executive vice president of Changan Mazda Co., Ltd.
In 2021, Fu Yuanhong promoted the integration and restructuring of Changan Mazda and FAW Mazda, and proposed a future-oriented "441 channel strategy". However, official data shows that Changan Mazda sold 131,000 vehicles in 2021, down 4.8% year-on-year. Compared with the decline of Changan Mazda, The sales volume of Changan Automobile's Chinese brand vehicles in 2021 reached 1.75 million units, an increase of 16.7% year-on-year. Among them, the sales volume of self-owned brand passenger cars was 1.2042 million units, an increase of 23.08% year-on-year. In contrast, it is clear that Fu Yuanhong's report card at Chang'an Mazda is not very qualified.
Counting, Fu Yuanhong has been at the helm of Chang'an Mazda for 5 years. It must be admitted that during the 5 years of Fu Yuanhong's tenure, the growth rate of Changan Mazda is obvious to all, and the second generation of MAZDA CX-5, MAZDA CX-8, the next-generation MAZDA3 Axela, MAZDA CX-30, MAZDA CX-30 EV and other 5 models have great "Mazda" attributes, allowing Mazda to accelerate the layout from small to medium-sized, from fuel vehicles to new energy vehicles.
However, the merit is not enough, Fu Yuanhong failed to continue Mazda's glory in 2017, but instead brought the brand into a "dead end". As a result, the resignation became inevitable. As the saying goes: the predecessors planted trees, and the posterity cooled down. In this situation, Wang Hui took over and was afraid that he could only put out the fire, but could not cool down. It is understood that this year's sales target of the new Changan Mazda is set at 200,000 vehicles, an increase of more than 8.7% year-on-year. It can be seen that for the successor Wang Hui, the road ahead is heavy and long.
Judging from this year's sales data, sales in January reached 19,888 units, an increase of 67.7% year-on-year. According to data released earlier by Mazda China, the retail sales of the Mazda-3 Axela in January 2022 were 11,413 units, while the sales of the Mazda CX-5 and Mazda CX-30 were 3,372 units and 1,862 units, respectively. Looking at the data, it seems that Changan Mazda can see the hope of completing its sales targets. Don't forget, January is the traditional peak season, and it is obviously a bit unreliable to use January's sales performance as a reference for average sales. More importantly, Mazda 3 Onksella sales accounted for as much as 57%, once the car has a problem, then Changan Mazda sales are afraid that there will be a sharp decline.
In terms of electrification, Changan Mazda currently has only one oil-to-electric model, the CX-30 EV, which was launched in late September last year, and the current planned annual production capacity of the car is only 5,000 units, which has contributed very little to sales.
Watching Mazda release many models overseas, especially in the North American market, several large and hard models, it is very painful to watch, but Mazda has no intention of introducing the domestic market. Sales were mediocre, and the product was overly dependent on one or two cars. In the face of such a situation, can Wang Hui lead the new Changan Mazda back to the mainstream track and reproduce the glory of the past?
You may wish to take a look at Wang Hui's resume first. According to public information, Wang Hui joined Changan Automobile in 2003 and has successively served as the deputy director of the Process Planning Institute of the Process Technology Department of the General Research Institute, the director of the Strategic Planning Department of the Strategic Planning Department, the director of the new business coordination project team of the Strategic Planning Department, the director of the company's office, the executive vice president and party secretary of Changan Mazda Engine Co., Ltd., and the person in charge of the Changan Mazda new energy cooperation project.
From the perspective of resume, Wang Hui has rich experience in process development, strategic planning and execution, and joint venture cooperation project management. What is more interesting is that Wang Hui's "new partner" Wu Xuxi is also extremely comprehensive. According to public information, Wu Xuxi has successively served as deputy general manager and executive deputy general manager of Changan Auchan, and has been deeply involved in activities such as the listing of Auchan X7, the car going to the countryside, and the launch of Changan Auchan automobile rocket. In this context, perhaps the appointment of a new official can really make Mazda re-ignite.
However, it should also be understood that Mazda's senior management has stated that "no new models will be launched in 2022", and external factors such as the lack of core in the industry, the rebound of the epidemic, and the price increase of raw materials are also mines that can be detonated at any time, even if Mazda has determined that in the next few years, it will introduce models equipped with "Chuangchi Blue Sky Multi-path Scalable Architecture" in turn, and launch a total of more than ten hybrid, plug-in hybrid and pure electric models in Domestic and overseas regions, but at least in 2022, it is more difficult for Mazda to counterattack.
Written later
The train runs fast, all thanks to the headband. For Changan Automobile, it may know this truth well. Therefore, on the first day of construction after the Spring Festival in 2022, Changan Automobile held a cadre meeting to officially start the tenure system employment of senior executives, party groups and management senior personnel at the general manager level and below, and dismissed and rehired all the general manager-level personnel of all second-level units of the company. As a result, Fu Yuanhong stepped down and Wang Hui took over seems to have become the most direct feedback on this personnel change.
In any case, compared with before, the new Changan Mazda not only has more models, but also has more channels and outlets. Therefore, Wang Hui had no reason to let Chang'an Mazda slide down again. As for the results, we'll see!