There is Santana at home, and I am not afraid to walk all over the world.
Wen 丨 Hua Shang Tao Strategy Mother Ze Liang
Construction machinery giant Sany Heavy Industry has some interesting coincidences.
For example, the company is listed, and the stock code happens to be 600031; for example, the five founders of "Liang Yuan Mao Tang Xiang" happen to be in harmony with the birthplace of entrepreneurship "Lianyuan Maotang Township".
Twenty-four years after the establishment, Tang Xiuguo in "Liang Yuan Mao Tang Xiang" is already the president of Sany Group and a famous figure on the Forbes list. During a small talk, he suddenly proposed that he still had a careful wish - to go to Shanghai, visit the auto show, and then buy a new Santana.
In the face of a group of stunned masses, Tang Xiuguo gave a reason:
"When I was young, I couldn't buy this car, and besides, we didn't have any money at that time."
【1】
"Santana Freedom" is the nostalgia of the rich masses, and it is also the truth of history.
When the house price in Shanghai was still 2,000 yuan, Santana marked a price of nearly 200,000 yuan. Someone can shout "don't have a room in Pudong", but never say no to a Santana.
But in Beijing, exchanging a house for a car is a true story. In 1989, a big brother, because he envied his neighbors for renting out Santana, earned eight thousand a month, and simply exchanged his own courtyard for each other's cars.
The story is sympathetic, but in the 80s, when the era of real estate commercialization was far from coming, Santana's gold content was 24K.
From the landing of the first domestic Santana in 1983, Santana spanned thirty years and dominated an era.
In 1978, Rao Bin, deputy director of the First Aircraft Department, sent a report to the Central Committee.
Rao Bin is the old director of FAW, who caught up with the leap forward era of "riding the east wind, displaying the red flag, and building a high-end car for Chairman Mao." The home base of the Chinese car "North Hongqi, South Shanghai" is also very clear - Hongqi is exclusively for foreign guests and leaders, Shanghai imitates the Mercedes-Benz S220, with a beautiful appearance, but can only build 3,000 vehicles a year.
But even if the output is small, Shanghai has a basis for mass production. Coupled with the good industrial foundation and many scientific research personnel, the central idea of Rao Bin's report can be summed up in one sentence: introduce a car assembly line and transform the Shanghai car factory.
As an old automaker, Rao Bin's plan is very clear, if he wants to solve the problem of backwardness, the introduction of foreign-funded large car companies to build factories in China is the most cost-effective and fastest way.
In line with the principle of trying it out, the Foreign Affairs Bureau of the First Machine Department sent invitations to GM of the United States, Ford, Renault of France, Citroen, Nissan of Japan, Toyota, Mercedes-Benz of Germany, and Volkswagen.
The first to rush to eat crabs was GM of the United States, but the results of the negotiations disappointed the Chinese side, and the Americans did not want technology introduction and compensation trade, they preferred joint ventures.
Although Americans look five big and three thick, shouting about risk sharing, their minds are very delicate: behind the risk is a tempting market. Moreover, at that time, the American automobile industry was being hit by Japanese cars, and the old union even paid money to buy Japanese cars, and invited people to smash cars on the side of the road, a hammer and a dollar.
From cooperation to joint venture, there is only a one-word difference, but it exceeds the authority of the Chinese delegation. At that time, the circle of economic and trade circles, from Romania, Poland, and East Germany, to Cuba, the Soviet Union, and North Korea, all socialist brothers, doing business in partnership with capitalism, were not overstepping their powers, they were almost crossing the border.
Fortunately, Comrade Li Lanqing, who is in charge of negotiations, is a person who understands that he has dealt with cars for half a lifetime. A report was sent from the first machine department to the Planning Commission, and finally the chief designer hammered out the final word: not only cars can be engaged in joint ventures, but also heavy vehicles can be engaged in joint ventures.
So in November 1978, the First Machinery Industry Department organized an automobile inspection delegation, the lineup is professional, the level can be called the top. The leader of the regiment is Zhou Zijian, director of the First Machine Department, and the members of the regiment include Jiang Tao, director of the First Bureau of Shanghai Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Qiu Ke, manager of the Shanghai Tractor Automobile Industry Company, and the secretary general is the director of the Foreign Affairs Bureau of the First Machine Department, a middle-aged man wearing black-rimmed glasses.
Before the delegation set off, it actually carried three ambitious tasks: to build the first modern automobile industrial base with complete facilities; to establish a research and development center in preparation for the development of independent brands; and to promote the development of domestic auto parts factories and promote the localization of foreign automobiles.
But once I went out, I found that foreigners are very enthusiastic about making money, and they are not interested in the three major tasks.
For example, the United States GM proposed: should reduce the requirements for the localization of parts, by GM to provide half; the French Renault and Citroen believe that the mid-level sedan is not suitable for the Chinese market, should start with small cars; at that time, the strong Nissan was even more blunt: selling cars can be, but not to technology.
The three basic requirements are the bottom line, and the Chinese negotiating team that has repeatedly encountered the wall can only change its route to Germany, planning to try its luck at the famous Mercedes-Benz.
But as soon as it landed, the delegation changed its mind – they found that it was not Mercedes running all over the streets in Germany, but Volkswagen with the W logo. So he immediately got on the train and rushed to Wolfsburg, and dropped a frightening sentence at the doorman:
"I am the minister of China's machinery industry, and I want to talk to your leaders."
This quote led to Schmidt, a Volkswagen director who was at the company, who, after accompanying him on a tour of the factory, heard a second frightening sentence:
"I hope that Volkswagen and Shanghai Automobile Factory will jointly operate a car factory."
At this time, the German Volkswagen, also facing the dilemma of being beaten by Japanese cars and unable to find the north, has long been eager for the Chinese market, and at the moment when the leaders of the two sides shook hands, the matter was already half over. They not only agreed to all the chinese demands, but also promised to provide the best mid-level sedan model at the time, the Audi 100.
The middle-aged man who was then the secretary general of the delegation clasped Jiang Tao's hand and said: "We must not let go of this opportunity, and after returning to China, we should pay close attention to reporting to the leaders of the central ministries and commissions and the municipal party committee and municipal government, and ask them for their support." ”
The general assembly began immediately after that, and finally Rao Bin, who was the president of China Automobile Corporation at the time, set the tone: "The model that China really needs should be a fuel-saving, safe and cost-effective car." ”
History has thus pushed Santana onto the stage of China's history, but no one thought that this would be a difficult beginning.
【2】
It seems that this kind of cooperation of "taking care of the doctor and curing the sick well" is a good deal. But in fact, negotiations on specific cooperation matters lasted for 6 years before they came to fruition.
Until then, whether it was the United States, Brazil, Mexico or South Africa, Volkswagen was 100% wholly owned everywhere it went. As long as Wolf Castle gives an order, Volkswagen's factories and suppliers around the world will flock to it.
However, the situation in China is different, and the board of directors formed by the two sides must go through full mediation to make any decision, and in the absence of precedent and supporting laws, negotiations are difficult.
Crossing the boundaries of the system brings a blank. While Shanghai is negotiating, Beijing is stepping up efforts to revise the Joint Venture Law. The Germans gave away 16 patents in vain, but the Chinese side did not understand the role of patents. In addition, the Planning Commission, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, the Ministry of First Machine, and the Shanghai Municipal Government all have their own plans, and as long as a stamp is missing, the entire negotiation will return to the original point.
According to the recollection of Jiang Tao, the head of the Chinese project: During the entire negotiation period, from 1979 when China's economy entered the adjustment period to 1980, when the German public experienced financial difficulties, several major obstacles appeared successively, and the project almost died.
The huge pressure overwhelmed Jiang Tao and others, and Qiu Ke even fell into gastritis and heart disease. At the difficult time, the financial director of Volkswagen also stood up and strongly opposed Volkswagen's construction of a factory in Shanghai.
But the most difficult thing is not these, Sino-German up to six years of maneuvering, the essential problem, is the two sides of the technology, market and other capabilities of the huge gap, until the production, the gap still exists.
An intuitive example is that at that time, China's car steering wheel production had only 6 indicators, while Santana's steering wheel had 106 test indicators. If you use the manual assembly method of manufacturing Shanghai brand cars before, you can only produce two Santanas per day, while Volkswagen's most common factory in Germany can produce at least 1,000 units per day.
Volkswagen has 18 approval procedures for parts, and trial samples must also be selected and sent three times for testing, and Chinese parts that do not meet German standards need to be returned again and again.
Years later, Martin Post, head of Volkswagen China, still can't forget his confusion.
"For a moment I stopped breathing: staring intently at these outdated factories, my mind blank. Could it be that these dusty shacks could be a car factory? In such a place, Volkswagen wants to build a car together with Chinese? It wasn't until I saw the company sign that I was sure I hadn't gone in the wrong place. ”
When Post returned to his headquarters in Germany for a meeting, one of his headquarters colleagues even laughed at him: "Hey, what are your Chinese Mickey Mouse doing?" ”
This cannot be blamed on colleagues who are mean, Shanghai is very large, but in the face of the strict system of the automobile industry, its industrial base is so small, as for Shanghai Volkswagen, it is even more insignificant.
But Post also has his own belief: although the mass production start is small, but the Chinese market is unmatched by all of Europe, it will be a great cause. Hahn, then chairman of Volkswagen of Germany, had the same judgment: China's traffic density is extremely low, and the market will provide huge business opportunities in the long run.
In April 1983, the first Santana parts were shipped from Germany and an assembly line was erected in the corner of the workshop where the Shanghai brand sedan was manufactured, and the first car, which was originally scheduled to be assembled in two days, took a week.
But this Santana not only changed the history of China's inability to produce international-level modern cars, but also unveiled the prelude to China's modern cars entering mass production. In the same year, the central government issued the "Instructions on Strengthening and Utilizing The Work of Foreign Investment", which clearly pointed out: Provide a part of the domestic market and introduce the mainland gap technology in the form of joint ventures.
On October 10, 1984, china and Volkswagen officially signed a joint venture contract, the end of the 6-year long-distance run, the era of Sino-foreign joint venture factory construction officially opened, the domestic Santana began to enter the era of mass production, on that day of the cocktail party, the chairman of German Volkswagen Hahn made a grand wish: towards the annual output of millions of vehicles!
However, under the joy and encouragement, from Rao Bin, Jiang Tao to Qiu Ke, there was still a trace of bitterness of inadequacy to the outside world.
【3】
How much weight the word "domestic" in the first domestic Santana is really an ineffable thing.
A Santana needs about 5,200 parts, all imported from Germany, and they are transported from Wolfburg in wooden boxes to Hamburg and then shipped in containers to Shanghai, the cost of parts soars, and the Chinese side can only carry out the final assembly work.
Cars are built, but China's parts industry can't keep up. Some people have calculated that assembling a Santana requires $10,000 in foreign exchange, and the joint venture car factory that was originally designed to generate income has now become a black hole for eating foreign exchange.
This also means that there is still a considerable distance from the achievement of China's initial three major tasks, "driving the development of domestic auto parts factories and promoting the localization of foreign cars".
An anxious Qiu Ke warned the head of Volkswagen: "The success of Shanghai Volkswagen needs to maintain the rapid growth of the proportion of parts produced in China, and with more Chinese-made parts, we can use the precious foreign exchange saved to expand production." ”
However, Volkswagen said that it was really powerless in the short term, but was willing to send a German team to help. But even so, by 1986, Santana's localization rate was only 6%.
When the stalemate is reached, the appearance of a person reverses this helpless situation.
In 1987, a comrade surnamed Zhu rushed to Shanghai to take office, and Santana's localization work ushered in the dawn. Comrade Zhu, who led the central task to investigate the problem, "sarcastically" SAIC as soon as they met: "You have been famous for a long time, your life is good, anyway, as long as you import loose parts and assemble them, you can sell them for money, and the money is easy to earn."
In the laughter of the crowd, Comrade Zhu announced a decision: since 1988, each Santana has received an additional 28,000 yuan of localization funds, all of which will be used to feed back domestic parts manufacturers, and at the same time establish the Shanghai Santana Localization Community Alliance.
Immediately afterward, Comrade Zhu issued a military order: "If I do not realize localization in three years, I will resign to the central authorities." "
With Comrade Zhu's words, "Resolutely do not engage in melons and vegetables to load the car", the entire alliance rushed up and pounced on the barrier that stuck China's automobile industry.
Within a year, Santana's localization rate had risen from 6 percent in 1986 to 13 percent in 1987, and soared to 31 percent in 1988, when the localization fund was established.
At the same time, the number of Chinese parts manufacturers has increased significantly, in addition to Germany, France, Italy and other manufacturers have also begun to try to cooperate with Chinese companies, and the entire Shanghai automobile industry has become active.
With the improvement of the localization rate of parts, Santana's production has increased year by year, with 100,000 units in 1993 and 200,000 units in 1996. In the same period, Santana's localization rate of parts reached 90%. In 1998, the 1 millionth Santana drove out of the Shanghai Depot.
By the time the original Santana was discontinued, its cumulative sales had reached 2 million vehicles, with a market share of more than 60% in the Chinese market at its peak, and it had been a pillar of SAIC for 30 years.
Santana's localization process has also helped china's auto industry open the door to mass production. At the end of 1995, the proportion of domestic production in the automotive industry was close to 89%.
At the same time, the Santana model also led to the outbreak of the era of automotive joint ventures. In November 1990, FAW-Volkswagen was established; in August 2002, FAW and Toyota jointly established a joint venture; in September of the same year, Dongfeng and Nissan established a joint venture to establish Dongfeng Motor, in October, China and South Korea established Beijing Hyundai; in 2003, Sino-German joint venture established BMW Brilliance.
China's automobile industry has rapidly changed from weak to strong, gradually surpassing the United States and becoming the world's largest automobile production and sales country.
Flowers blossom and fall at the end sometimes. In 2004, Shanghai Volkswagen suffered a crisis, giving up the Chinese market that had been the top spot for nearly 20 consecutive years, and Santana began to turn from prosperity to decline.
In October 2012, Shanghai Volkswagen announced that the old Santana had ceased production and published an advertisement for "Goodbye, Santana", while the new Santana, which had been transformed, was also driving from Wolfsburg to Beijing.
In the past decade, Santana has fought with a number of domestic brand cars, and many of the parts suppliers of domestic cars have grown up in the process of Santana's localization.
In 2021, Santana's cumulative sales of more than 100,000 vehicles in the whole year have long been changed from pillars to drag oil bottles. With the implementation of the double points policy, the production of a Santana will cost thousands of yuan more, which is really not worth the loss for an entry-level sedan with a low profit margin.
At the end of 2021, in saic-volkswagen's technical transformation project book, Santana's production capacity plan was zeroed out, and the suspension of production was put on the agenda.
In the near future, Santana may become a complete memory, but the story of this car, the story of its rise with China's modern automobile industry, its story with Rao Bin, Jiang Tao, Qiu Ke, these old Chinese autobots, and the story of countless Chinese families, will be written into history.
Goodbye Santana! Goodbye, Chinese car bitterness!
【References】
[1] "1000 Days in Shanghai" Post (author) Xiang Wei (translation)
[2] "Jiang Tao: The Feelings of Santana's Father"" and "7 Years of Santana Localization Road" Phoenix Network
[3] "My 40 Years at Volkswagen" Hahn (author) Zhu Liuhua (translation)
[4] "1984, Santana Enters China" CbN Podcast
[5] "Walking with the Times| How has Santana become a symbol of the times? SAIC Volkswagen
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