"If you blindly rely on joint ventures, it is impossible to become a century-old store." At the end of 2020, Zhang Xiyong, general manager of Beijing Automotive Group Co., Ltd., said this in an exclusive interview with the Global Times. For a company that has two "joint venture aces" of Beijing Benz and Beijing Hyundai, such an attitude of thinking of danger in times of peace is enough to move people.
However, although it is inseparable from "self-reliance and self-improvement", from the perspective of actual operating performance, BAIC Group has not escaped its strong dependence on joint venture brands. According to the financial report of BAIC Automobile Co., Ltd. in the first half of 2021, its half-year operating income was 90.375 billion yuan, an increase of 16.08% year-on-year; of which Beijing Benz revenue was 88.059 billion yuan, up 17.5% year-on-year, and revenue accounted for 97.4%; revenue related to Beijing brands was only 2.316 billion yuan, down 21.0% year-on-year.
In fact, compared with the independent brands of state-owned car companies such as Changan Automobile and SAIC Roewe, the presence of BAIC Motor and Beijing Off-Road is significantly lower; and even with 64 years of historical accumulation and a large amount of capital and resources, it is still stuck at the level of "second-rate car companies", and the product quality and service attitude are often criticized by car owners. Here I can't help but ask: the fuel sector is a mess, does BAIC Group really want to "break the can and break the can"?
High open low, quality has been repeatedly criticized
In 1958, Beijing Automobile Manufacturing Factory produced the first self-developed "Jinggangshan" brand car in the mainland, taking a solid step in China's automobile industry; after 6 years, China's first generation of light off-road vehicle BJ212 was officially launched from the BAIC Group, leaving a deep memory in the minds of many post-60s and post-70s, and also establishing a solid "emotional label".
Of course, "feelings cannot be eaten as a meal." In order to quickly accumulate technological advantages, as early as 2009, BAIC Group spent 200 million US dollars to acquire the core technical assets of Saab Automobile, which is entering the "bankruptcy and restructuring", including the technical ownership of three vehicle platforms, two series of turbocharged engines and gearboxes. In the eyes of industry insiders, the BAIC Group at that time can be described as "like a treasure", and the subsequent birth of the Beijing Automobile brand and the high-end series of Senova were pinned high hopes on it.
But in fact, even after 10 years of development, BAIC Motor still failed to grasp the essence of "building a good car", and a recall notice issued in August last year slapped it with a "slap". According to the "State Administration for Market Regulation defective product management center", Beijing Automotive Co., Ltd. plans to recall some of the Senova X25 and Senova X35 models produced in 2015-2017, respectively, due to the hidden dangers of "steering power failure" and "airbags cannot be ejected as required", with a number of 58,497 vehicles and 102179 vehicles, respectively.
Even in 2016, during the "peak sales" period of BAIC Senova, its annual sales were only 224,500 vehicles, and the recall after five years accounted for more than 70% of the sales volume of that year.
Nowadays, the BAIC Senova series has long been eliminated, and the Beijing X7 and Beijing X3, which are integrated into the young and scientific and technological sense, have become the top pillar models of Beijing's automotive fuel sector. However, combined with the complaint list of the "vehicle quality network", the main faults of the Beijing X7 exist in the "body accessories and electrical appliances", including the fault of the audio-visual system, the water ingress of the lamp, the fault of the battery and the fault of the trunk; while the main fault of the Beijing X3 lies in the hardware level, including the abnormal sound of the engine/motor, the failure light is on, the abnormal sound of the transmission, and the oil leakage. As the owner of the car said: a succession of " small problems" that are repaired and broken, making me feel exhausted.
It is not difficult to find that although BAIC Motor inherits the technical assets of Saab Automobile, it has not deeply absorbed its quality advantages, and only stays on the surface of the "industry endorsement", which will eventually be punctured by consumers. If we cannot deepen the control of quality, whether it is the previous "technical heritage" or the current "intelligent outlet", it will only become a dream of Beijing Motor.
The abdomen and back are opposed, and service becomes a hidden disease
"For the field of traditional fuel vehicles, BAIC has not done a very good job in this sector in the past." In an interview last year, Zhang Xiyong acknowledged the shortcomings of the fuel sector, including market size, brand power, cost control and capacity utilization. At the same time, Zhang Xiyong turned his words around, saying that "the strategic focus of BAIC in the next stage should be placed in the field of new energy", which is quite a bit of a "broken jar and broken".
It is undeniable that the new energy field is indeed a major trend in the future development of the industry, but the leadership's contempt for the fuel sector may be like "dominoes", which will subtly affect the consumer's car experience.
According to a Beijing X7 owner from Beijing, on October 7 last year, his car needed to replace the bumper and a piece of paint due to a small accident; and it was this simple maintenance project that the local 4S store still did not complete after "16 days of maintenance". During the period, the owner of the car contacted many times, and the 4S shop never had a final reply. "This is the worst experience I have had in 20 years of driving", "I can only say that I regret choosing Beijing Automobile". The feelings expressed by the owner at the end of the complaint contain sadness, but more are helpless.
However, compared with the unpleasantness of its car use process, there are also car owners who encounter car purchase experiences such as "replacement subsidies are not cashed"; "selling inventory cars", "low allocation is high distribution", etc. Suspected of "sales fraud". Although most of the responsibility for the above sales behaviors is attributed to the dealers, the manufacturer's neglect of management, the delay in solving the problem, and the operating status of Beijing auto dealers deserve the attention of BAIC Group executives.
Whether it is from the perspective of product quality, sales and service, BAIC Motor has failed to bring satisfactory performance, and in a long vicious circle, it is difficult to see the hope of the fuel sector. According to the data, the annual sales volume of BAIC Motor in 2021 was 37,591 units, a year-on-year decrease of 33.9%; if it is not taken seriously, perhaps this year's decline will continue.
The chassis is unstable and the off-road embarrassment is of great use
With the best-selling of Haval big dog, tank 300 and other models, the off-road SUV market has received more and more attention, and gradually from "niche models" into ordinary people's homes. But I am afraid that many people have forgotten that in the hardcore off-road SUV market, the Beijing off-road brand that started and developed first undoubtedly has more say. Getting up early in the morning but catching up with the late set, why is Beijing off-road not welcomed?
Compared with ordinary urban SUVs, off-road SUVs have stronger road adaptability, whether it is steep mountain roads or muddy countryside. Because of this, off-road SUVs generally put forward higher requirements for their "three major pieces", intelligent configuration can be absent, but walking in the suburban wilderness, reliable mechanical hardware is very important.
"Now the 4S store knows that there is a problem, but does not know what the reason is." At the beginning of this year, a car owner of the 2019 Beijing BJ40 launched a complaint on the "Car Quality Network", which listed the "five deadly sins" of the Beijing BJ40. Among them, in addition to the problem that "exhaust manifold screw breakage" is not unique, he also encountered failures involving engine/motor abnormal sound, chassis abnormal sound and transmission setback. In terms of this performance, don't say that it is to go "off-road", even if you run a high speed, it is inevitable to worry about the car on the road; and the 4S shop knows that there is a problem but it is delayed in repairing the car, which adds another cloud to this worry.
If you open the complaint list of Beijing BJ40, you will find that in the past three months, the fault complaints about its engine, transmission, and body accessories and electrical appliances have been more obviously concentrated; and this short board at the hardware level will also greatly affect the development space of Beijing BJ40. No wonder netizens commented on it: "I have narrowed the road."
Indeed, whether it is the BJ212, which has not been replaced in 57 years and is called "walking fossil", or the BJ90, which adopts the hardware configuration of Mercedes-Benz GLS and is called "mineral water loading Maotai", all show the strong resource base of Beijing off-road. However, in terms of actual performance, the product quality and technical strength of Beijing off-road do not dare to be flattering, relying on a BJ40 main sales model, how long can it go?
"In the next 3-5 years, BAIC Group will invest 7 billion yuan to promote the development of the entire Beijing off-road brand with research and development." At the media communication meeting at the beginning of this year, Zhang Xiyong clearly proposed to accelerate the development of the off-road vehicle market. However, in terms of the market foundation and product performance of Beijing off-road alone, can this "7 billion yuan" play its due role and how much development potential is worth tapping? Had to put a big question mark on it.
Conclusion: "No fuel vehicle has been bad today, no new energy vehicle has not been good tomorrow." Nowadays, the new energy sector of BAIC Group is developing in an orderly manner, but the performance of the fuel market is always dragging the group's hind legs, and the gap with domestic brands is also getting wider and wider. "Food is tasteless, it is a pity to abandon it", in the face of the sluggish appearance environment and the lack of attention of internal leaders, it is indeed difficult to be blindly optimistic about the future development of the fuel sector of BAIC Group.