Written by / Liu Baohua
Editor/ Zhang Nan
Design / Shi Yuchao
When I was younger, I used to spend months of my salary to buy a Rolex watch. Until last year, someone gave me a smartwatch, I tried it on, and I didn't take it off again.
The function of the smart watch is too practical, such as connecting to WeChat, whenever there is a new message will vibrate the reminder, you can first see from the watch who sent it, what the content is, not in a hurry to reply can not look at the phone. The reminder method of watch vibration makes the mobile phone ringtone to a minimum, and the mobile phone will not miss the message in the pocket, so it is also said goodbye to the "mobile phone syndrome" of checking the mobile phone every once in a while.
The fact that functional utility can so easily kill the love of machinery and the vanity of luxury has touched me deeply. Cars are also undergoing similar changes to watches, moving from mechanical properties to electrification, electronicization, digitization, and intelligence. In this process, only changing the power form of electrification is far from the biggest challenge, electronic, digital, intelligent changes to the original attributes of the car more drastically, the traditional car era of familiar with the car manufacturers in the electronics and software more and more new cars to show busy is not an isolated case.
Digitalization is not good news for luxury goods, and it is almost synonymous with democratization. Billionaires use the same mobile phone in the morning rush hour in the north of The Canton in the north of the hundreds of subway cars. Of course, cars are very different from mobile phones and watches, how will car luxury goods look at their future?
At noon on February 22, 2022, after an interview with Dr. Jens Puttfarcken, President and CEO of Porsche China, I told him the story and my doubts.
Porsche China President and CEO Yan Boyu▼
"Rolex will definitely think about the same problem internally, and will look at how to transform from a traditional luxury brand to a brand that incorporates more digital functions. For Porsche, what we have to think about is how to incorporate all these new technologies into it as a luxury sports brand and find a new combination of the two. ”
"We have been stressing the need to find Porsche's own answers, we can't follow the practices of Weilai, Xiaopeng or Tesla, and we must find ways to let future car owners enjoy the Porsche driving experience and brand experience while also meeting their digital functions and demands, which is a task we have always needed to complete." Yan Boyu said.
This matter is only theoretically there are no small challenges, "luxury sports brand" may usher in a revolution in autonomous driving, the past strengths may no longer be needed in the future.
When elaborating on this issue, the first thing that exceeded the expectations of the automotive business review reporter was Yan Boyu's high recognition and optimistic judgment of automatic driving - "There is no doubt that the automation functions of cars in the future will be more and more, and automatic driving may become a part of our lives, which is an inevitable trend." "You know, whether autonomous driving can be achieved is a controversial issue in the eyes of many new generation car companies and many young practitioners.
Second, he believes that it will be China that will be the first to achieve this goal, "I personally think that the first country to use autonomous driving in a particular scenario is China, because China is very up-to-date in terms of regulatory environment, and the speed of adopting new solutions is very fast." From my perspective, autonomous driving is promising for the first time in China, such as for inner ring traffic in Shanghai or Beijing under certain driving conditions. Next, I think China will increase the use of L4 vehicles. ”
When it comes to the relationship between Porsche and autonomous driving, the German talent shows a hint of stubbornness.
In September 2019, Porsche Taycan China debuted▼
On the one hand, he stressed that Porsche does not build cars to please itself, but according to the requirements of customers. As autonomous driving of cars becomes more widespread, Porsche will follow this trend, as customers will demand not only the possibility of assisted driving, but also the function of autonomous driving.
On the other hand, it is the adherence to tradition, "Porsche cannot and will not take autonomous driving as a promotional point for vehicles, for example, this car will be the first porsche model to achieve automatic driving function, we will not do this." ”
"Because we always focus on the driver himself, with an emphasis on driving pleasure and the driving experience obtained, this is at the heart of the Porsche brand. We will provide these features, but it is up to the customer to make the choice, rather than using assisted driving systems or autonomous driving systems as our selling point. ”
That is to say, Porsche will adapt to the times to come up with autonomous driving technology, but will not take autonomous driving as a glorious label, driving pleasure will be retained and first, the choice is left to consumers.
A little knowledge of Porsche's history will show that this is their usual style, as one of the most influential sports car brands in the world (one of the most influential sports car brands?). Porsche was the first to launch an SUV model, the first to launch an electric model, and a four-door sedan model. They never dwell on tradition, always give you the latest, but also give you the most original, choose at will.
Compared to Rolex, which does not do back-reading, does not do ultra-thin, does not do tourbillon, does not do three questions, does not do perpetual calendar... Porsche seems to have only one principle: you can be happy.
Of course, the premise is that the budget is sufficient.
Digitalization, R&D in China
On March 18, Porsche Worldwide released its 2021 financial report. Unsurprisingly, it was like Phelps and Bolt at their peak, taking pleasure in breaking their own records.
Sales of 301,915 units increased by 11% year-on-year.
Revenue increased by 15% year-on-year to EUR 33.1 billion.
Profit was EUR 5.3 billion, up 27% year-on-year.
The return was 16%, up 1.4 percentage points year-over-year and also above the long-term strategic target of 15%.
Annual sales, revenue, profit have achieved double-digit growth, and profit growth > revenue growth> sales growth, that is, Porsche is increasingly profitable while sales are growing rapidly.
Obermou (left), Chairman of the Porsche Global Board of Executive Directors, and Maxig, Vice Chairman of the Porsche Global Executive Board and responsible for finance and information technology
The report card is highly similar to luxury goods in other fields, with yachts and private jets selling crazy, supposedly because the wealthy felt the urgency of enjoying life after experiencing the pandemic.
Once suspenseful, the first pure electric car Model Taycan sold 41,296 units in the whole year, which is likely to be a figure that exceeds expectations for pure electric sports cars with an average price of about 1 million yuan. An electric vehicle contributes more than 40 billion yuan in revenue a year.
A reporter asked "2 years ago Porsche said that Taycan is not going to be profitable in a few years, when is it expected to be profitable", And Oliver Blume, Chairman of Porsche's Global Executive Board, replied that "Taycan is now profitable." ”
Data on the Chinese market: annual sales of 95,671 units, an increase of 8% year-on-year, for seven consecutive years Porsche's largest single market in the world, accounting for more than 31% of global sales. The electric Taycan delivered 7,315 vehicles.
In terms of Taycan sales, Porsche has already achieved initial victories in the electrification battle, and the next goal is to electrify models (pure electric & plug-in) by 50% by 2025 and more than 80% by 2030.
For Porsche, electrification is no longer enough to be a short board or obstacle, and the next challenge is digitalization.
Local production after imported car sales reach a certain level is the general law of the automotive industry, so in recent years, with the rapid development of Porsche sales, when domestic production has become a concern of the media every year. From the trend point of view, in 2022, Porsche China sales exceeded 100,000 vehicles without suspense, and there is no suspense that Porsche will not be domestically produced.
Taycan plant in Zuffenhausen, Stuttgart, Germany
However, now that there is something more important than manufacturing in China, Porsche's R&D branch in China will officially open in 2022. Yan Boyu revealed on February 22 that the first colleague of the R&D branch has come to China, and in April or May, the first batch of colleagues will officially arrive at the post. The agency will focus on cutting-edge technologies such as smart connectivity, autonomous driving, and digital experience.
"We found that there are a lot of automotive R&D businesses that can't be developed in Germany, or that they can't be fully understood in Germany, and more importantly, they can't be tested, because Germany doesn't have a corresponding ecosystem and technical foundation. Therefore, after some in-depth research and in-depth discussions with our German colleagues, we agreed to have a branch of the German R&D center in Shanghai. Yan Boyu explained the reason for this, hoping to be able to deepen the Chinese market more deeply, timely understand the tendencies and requirements of Consumers in the Chinese Market for digital needs and products, and be close to these customers.
Lutz Meschke, Vice Chairman of Porsche's Global Executive Board and Head of Finance and Information Technology, stressed in an interview at the earnings launch that "we want to be able to get closer to Chinese consumers and better understand their needs, especially in terms of digitalization and intelligent connectivity." We realized that we must cooperate with local Chinese technology companies to better provide Chinese consumers with convenient digital solutions and allow them to have more in-car entertainment experiences. ”
"Porsche has a lot of traditional solutions that don't apply to the particular market of China, so we've been exploring in this direction. The satisfaction of Chinese customers with our digital products and services is an important criterion for evaluating the success of our business. If customers are satisfied with new digital products and services, this will also be reflected in our sales data. Of course, it is obviously a little late to rely on sales data, so we must listen to the voices of Chinese customers in advance. Maxg said.
If it is not a courtesy gesture, Maxig would mean that the satisfaction of Chinese customers with digitalization has become the standard of Porsche's digital work.
As early as September 2020, Porsche established Porsche (Shanghai) Digital Technology Co., Ltd. in China to focus on local research and development in this technology field.
It is foreseeable that in 2022, when the annual sales exceed 100,000 units, the contribution of the Chinese market to Porsche will increase again, and not only in terms of sales.
Yan Boyu, who has been in charge of the Chinese market for four years, will be transferred to the head of sales for Audi brand Europe on June 1, and in the February interview, he gave a parting speech in advance, thanking him for mentioning his three major gains in China.
"First, I admire the great spirit I see from the Porsche China team and the Chinese people, who are always focused on the future and always act strongly, rather than waiting for the rabbit. Everyone knows what Porsche needs in the future, and to cope with the future development with very efficient work, I want to bring this spirit, an efficient way back to Germany, to bring confidence in the future, a positive attitude back to Germany. ”
"Second, you have to be very flexible, you have to be able to adapt to those sudden shifts, adapt to local conditions, and go with the flow. No month of my life in China is the same, every month there will be new challenges, new changes, so our team and team spirit is also very important, Porsche China team spirit can make us deal with such challenges and changes well. ”
"Personally, the most important thing is that I've learned to change perspectives, which is actually very important for everyone. Take a step back, look at the same content and make decisions from different perspectives, so that you can understand the other party's position from different angles, so that everyone can make a comprehensive decision, which is also what I learned. ”
In an irrational period of globalization under pressure, decoupling, epidemics, wars, and chaos, business may be the best glue and bond.
This article was originally produced by Automotive Business Review
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