Author 丨Mu Zeliang Source | Creator
Image source: Network, Figureworm Creative
1
In 2013, Tang Xiuguo, then president of Sany Group, said to the people around him: I have the opportunity to go to the Shanghai Auto Show to see the new Santana.
People around were amazed as to why this famous person on the Forbes China Rich List was so interested in an entry-level sedan with less than 100,000 yuan.
Tang Xiuguo replied: "When I was young, I couldn't buy this car with money, so I could only buy it now." ”
Indeed, when the house price in Shanghai was still around 2,000 yuan, Santana was deterred by countless people with a price of nearly 200,000 yuan. Since the first domestic Santana landed in 1983, this car spanning thirty years of history has almost dominated China in that era.
Fast back to 1978, after the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee, the development of China's automotive industry was put on the agenda. Gu Ming, then deputy director of the State Planning Commission, asked Deng Xiaoping for instructions on whether the car could be operated in a joint venture with foreign investors, and Deng Xiaoping immediately agreed.
But that year, China's trade deficit was as high as $2 billion, and it was impossible to come up with spare money to engage in independent research and development and build large-scale production lines. The Shanghai brand cars running on Chinese soil were chiseled out by the workers of shanghai tow truck company with one hammer and one hammer.
Yes, when ford, GM, Toyota, Nissan, Mercedes-Benz, and Volkswagen in the United States are fighting each other by industrial means, China is still in the era of cold weapons. When the experts of Japanese Toyota came to China to visit the Shanghai Automobile Factory, they did not forget to sneer: "This is the production method of our grandparents."
In order to solve the problem of backwardness, the introduction of foreign-funded large car companies to build factories in China is the most cost-effective method.
Therefore, Zhou Zijian, then minister of China's machinery industry, together with Jiang Tao, Qiu Ke and others, formed a Chinese negotiating team and embarked on a journey to visit various countries to seek cooperation.
When negotiating with the giants of various countries, the negotiating team has three basic requirements: to build the first modern automobile industrial base with complete facilities; to establish a research and development center to prepare for the development of independent brands; and to promote the development of domestic auto parts factories and promote the localization of foreign automobiles.
Limited by the current situation of the domestic market, the negotiation effect is not ideal.
At that time, china's car ownership per thousand people was 8 cars, of which only 1-2 cars, while in the same period, Japan was 220 per thousand people, and the United States and Germany were higher, at 500 per thousand people. In the face of the fledgling Chinese auto market, the enthusiasm of foreign car companies is generally not high.
GM of the United States proposed: the requirements for the sinification of parts should be reduced, and GM should provide half; French Renault and Citroen believe that mid-level cars are not suitable for the Chinese market and should start with small cars; Nissan is even more blunt: selling cars can be, but not technology.
The three basic requirements are the bottom line, and the Chinese negotiating team, which has repeatedly encountered a wall, went to Germany, intending to try its luck at the famous Mercedes-Benz.
However, after landing, Zhou Zijian and his party saw that the Streets in Germany were not Running Benz but Volkswagen, and immediately changed their minds: "The car that the people like to hear is the car suitable for China, and it is Volkswagen!" ”
The delegation rushed straight to Wolfburg (Volkswagen headquarters) in Germany, and said to the doorman: "I am the minister of China's machinery industry, and I want to see your leaders." ”
The German public has long long desired the Chinese market, and by the moment the leaders of the two sides shook hands, the matter was half over. They not only agreed to all the chinese demands, but also promised to provide the most advanced mid-level sedan at the time, the Audi 100.
Comrade Jiang, who was then 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 country immediately began to hold a conference, and finally Rao Bin, who was the president of China Automobile Corporation at the time, suggested: "The model that China really needs is not a big Ben, it should be a fuel-saving, safe and cost-effective car." Santana stepped onto the stage of Chinese history.
However, after the two sides hit it off, the real difficulties have only just begun.
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It seems that this is a two-way rush, but in fact, the negotiations on specific cooperation matters lasted for 6 years to come to fruition.
This is the first joint venture in China, and so is Volkswagen. The difference is that China is "0" and Volkswagen is "100".
Until then, whether it was the United States, Brazil, Mexico or South Africa, the public had 100% ownership everywhere it went. Under the order of Wolf Castle, 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.
Jiang Tao, then the head of the Chinese project and later known as the "Father of Santana", recalled: "During that period, we encountered several major obstacles, such as the economic adjustment period of China in 1979 and the financial difficulties of German Volkswagen in 1980, which almost led to the death of the project, and the financial director of Volkswagen at that time also strongly opposed Volkswagen's construction of a factory in Shanghai. ”
The huge pressure overwhelmed Jiang Tao and others, and the enemy even fell into gastritis and heart disease. But the most difficult thing is not these, China and Germany up to six years of maneuvering, the essence of the problem, is the two sides of the technology, market and other capabilities of the huge gap.
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.
In fact, Volkswagen has 18 approval procedures for parts, and trial samples must be selected and sent three times for testing, and Chinese parts that do not meet German standards are returned again and again.
"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. Later, Martin Post, head of Volkswagen China in Germany, recalled.
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?" ”
In their view, Shanghai is so small, and the Shanghai public is even more insignificant.
But Post believes that mass production started small, but China's strategic scale is huge, which will be a great cause. Hahn, then chairman of Volkswagen of Germany, had the same judgment: China's traffic density at that time was extremely low, and the market would provide great business opportunities in the long run.
In this way, the negotiation is promoted in the persistence, run-in, and improvement of the people.
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, the Chinese side 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, the Chairman of German Volkswagen Hahn promised Hongyuan: towards the annual output of millions of vehicles!
However, under the joy and encouragement, Jiang Tao, Qiu Ke and others still couldn't laugh. Because the word "domestic" in front of Santana's name is really like a fish in the throat.
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At that time, the localization rate of Santana manufactured by Shanghai Depot was extremely low.
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 US dollars of foreign exchange, and the joint venture car factory that was originally designed to generate income has become a black hole for eating foreign exchange!
This also means that there is still a considerable distance from the achievement of the first three major conditions of the Chinese side, "driving the development of domestic auto parts factories and promoting the localization of foreign cars".
The anxious enemy warned the head of Volkswagen: "The success of Shanghai Volkswagen needs to be maintained on the rapid growth of the proportion of parts produced in China, and with more Parts made in China, we can expand production with the precious foreign exchange saved." ”
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, Comrade Zhu went 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 for three years, I will resign from 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 be a complete memory, but this car is also engraved into history along with the story of the rise of China's modern automobile industry.
Resources
[1] Post (author), Xiang Wei (translation) "1000 Days in Shanghai"
[2] Phoenix Network "Jiang Tao: The Feelings of Santana's Father", "7 Years of Santana Localization Road"
[3] Hahn (author), Zhu Liuhua (translation) "My 40 years at Volkswagen"
[4] CBN Podcast "1984, Santana Enters China"
[5] SAIC VOLKSWAGEN"WALKING WITH THE TIMES | How did Santana become a symbol of the times? 》