Author | Zhao Yun
"One of the mistakes that absolute rationalists often make is that they have one solution to all problems, and when the situation has already changed, they are still like the obsessive sword-seeker." This is what Xu Zhiyuan felt when he wandered the streets of Detroit in 2005. Later, the insights he gained from the Motor City were written into the recommended preface to the Chinese edition of "Blue Blood Ten Jie", and the mind of the Chinese automobile was said in a heartless word.
If the Blue Blood Ten Jie is another wealth left to human management after the Ford T-model, then in China, Ford also seems to have a local "blue blood talent", she is Mao Jingbo.
In 2018, Mao Jingbo joined Ford's luxury brand Lincoln as the head of Lincoln China. Five years have passed, and this car woman who cherishes her professional feathers has brought Lincoln into the head position of the second-tier luxury car brand camp, and has also dissipated the doubts about whether Lincoln had a chance in China 5 years ago.
Mao Jingbo, President of Lincoln China
On March 12, after experiencing a series of challenges of brand positioning, channel construction, service improvement, and localization, the professional woman and team are about to usher in a new task - to do a good job in Lincoln's new car in China - the new Lincoln Z.
The optimistic side believes that Lincoln, which has undergone 5 years of adjustment and annual sales of nearly 100,000 vehicles, only needs to "grasp the medicine according to the prescription" and transfer the successful experience of adventurers and navigators to Z; the cautious side believes that SUVs and cars are two positions for a luxury brand, and even the way of playing is not the same. Lincoln China needs a new way to read about the brutality of competition in China's luxury car market.
If I had to choose, I would agree with the latter. I would even like to think of "Z" as Lincoln's second "breakout" in China.
The new Lincoln Z pre-price
In the past 5 years, Lincoln has taught the Chinese luxury car market a lesson, and they have proved with their achievements that the management ideas and management methods of the industrial age are not outdated. As Ren Zhengfei said, the Internet has not changed the nature of things, and the current car must first be a car, and tofu must also be tofu.
In 2021, Lincoln's sales in China reached 91,621 vehicles, an increase of 48% year-on-year. Among them, the sales of adventurers exceeded 50,000 vehicles, an increase of 57% year-on-year; the voyager sold 19,428 vehicles, an increase of 142% year-on-year; and the aviator sold 13,388 vehicles. These figures break the prejudices of all rationalists. It is no exaggeration to say that Lincoln at least proved that China's luxury car market is not a rock that cannot pry out the cracks.
Summarizing the experience of the past 5 years, what did Lincoln do right in China? It may be many, but the core is one word and three things – resource allocation, products, channels, services. If you boldly sort out the past 5 years, Lincoln has achieved four points: analysis and management based on data and facts, to find out product positioning, channel construction and service problems; the establishment of a management system based on planning, budget, process and profit center; after the realization of domestic production, redefine the functions of different departments such as finance, sales, products; and truly achieve customer-oriented and strive for simple product development strategies.
Putting aside the theory, let's use parameters to see why Lincoln's SUV products can be recognized by the market?
Adventurers are Lincoln's largest sales product in 2021, more than half of Lincoln's sales in China. Compared with the compact luxury SUV competitors, the adventurer has these advantages: 1, 2.0T, 245 horsepower, 180kW/390N·m power configuration, more than other competitors of the same level of BBA, but the starting price is nearly 50,000 yuan lower than other competitors; 2, the length, width and height of the body exceed other competitors of the same level, including the American car enthusiast Cadillac XT4; 3, 5 years or 140,000 kilometers warranty, is the longest warranty of the same level of products, greatly reducing maintenance costs; 4, the terminal price remains stable.
This data seen and the management model that is not seen gives adventurers a place in The Chinese luxury compact SUV market in 2021. According to the data, adventurers ranked fourth in sales in the compact luxury SUV market in 2021, after the BMW X1, Audi Q3 and Mercedes-Benz GLB.
Like adventurers, navigators, aviators, and competitors all have these advantages. Lincoln's first victory in China, the victory in relying on the effective allocation of resources, and the strong luxury brand in the SUV segment played a beautiful product configuration difference, price difference, poor service. Compared with SUVs, the new Lincoln Z faces the B-class luxury sedan market with more product advantages and characteristics of strong luxury brands.
In terms of product parameters, the new Lincoln Z has a certain competitiveness compared with the same level of B-class luxury cars, 2.0T, 246 horsepower, 181kW/376N·m power parameters are still the best data of the same level, the length, width and height are also the largest size of the same level, especially the starting price and configuration of the entry model are better than other competitors... These are the advantages of the new Lincoln Z, but with these alone, it is not enough to be competitive in the B-class luxury car market.
The core competitiveness of an excellent B-class luxury sedan is character, the control of the 3 series, the affordability of A4L, the appearance of C-class, the stability of ES, the cost performance of CT5... All are doomed to this cup of the B-class luxury market is not a good point. This raises a new question for the Lincoln China team led by Mao Jingbo: How to jump out of the second encirclement of strong luxury brands? To put it mildly, this market is now under pressure. Lincoln is not only facing the old luxury car companies, but also the new car-making forces, how to re-allocate new resources for the price, service and experience of Z-car in the B-class car market? It takes a lot of brains.
As a latecomer, the new Lincoln Z must not only find its own character in intelligence and comfort, but also tell a more otherworldly story than the BBA. In particular, it is worth mentioning that we must not let the outside world see too many shadows of aviators, navigators, and adventurers on Z, because the customer base of the new Lincoln Z is completely different from the customer base of the Lincoln SUV.
SUVs and sedans are two markets, and Lincoln China must be ready for the spirit of secondary entrepreneurship. With the listing approaching, the new Lincoln Z, under the support of existing channels, brands and service systems, is not a problem to break through a thousand vehicles, but the business rules of "winning the B-class car market" are destined to have a lot of expectations for Lincoln in this car.
The B-class luxury car is the epitome of China's luxury car market, and the camps are clearly layered. Mercedes-Benz C-Class, BMW 3 Series, Audi A4L, Lexus ES are the head camp with annual sales of 100,000 vehicles, followed by the Cadillac CT5, which enters the 50,000-car club by cost-effectiveness. In the large market environment, we can foresee that lincoln's task in the future to give this car is to rush into the 50,000 camp of luxury B-class cars, becoming another product that provides scale and efficiency for Lincoln after the adventurer.
George Bernard Shaw famously said, "He who understands things adapts himself to the world, and he who does not understand things wants to adapt the world to himself." Mao Jingbo once described Lincoln as walking on the road to entrepreneurship. Perhaps, like enterprises and people, they are constantly adjusting and adapting in this process of active rather than passive. If in the past 5 years, Lincoln has laid a foundation for itself in China, then the listing of the new Lincoln Z marks the beginning of the Lincoln China team's second entrepreneurship, facing a new challenge of turning passive into active.
Success or failure, and we listen to how Lincoln interpreted "Z" on March 12.