Author: Song Jiating
In China, because of the unique personality of leading technology, car brands that fans love and hate are probably inseparable from these two: one is Tesla after the rise of electric vehicles, and the other is Mazda in the engine era.
This brand, which insists on "small and beautiful" in the Chinese market, finally brought the new MAZDA CX-5 with great emotional significance after a long silence.
It had been a decade since the MAZDA CX-5 debuted. "Classics that never fade" are also the official sayings, but after another meeting ten years later, the original Changan Mazda and FAW Mazda have merged into one.
As the first masterpiece after the "merger of the two horses", can it engrave a new legend? Standing at the beginning of the first year of the new Changan Mazda brand, can it restart Mazda's road to rejuvenation in the Chinese market?
At least for now, it seems that fans don't pay much.
In the eyes of many fans who call themselves "horse fans", "since the release of Chuangchi Blue Sky, there is no real significance except for the next generation of Horse 3 and CX-30", and the powertrain that was once regarded as a classic has also lost its appeal. In other words, the Mazda brand has also fallen into a downturn in the hearts of Chinese car fans.
Behind the merger of the two horses: there is no improvement
Mazda was once known as the "Toei BMW" for its excellent handling, and as a result, it has a lot of iron fans in China. But as a niche car brand, Mazda's positioning of itself is more reflected in "small and beautiful", and the same is true in the Chinese market. However, it also had its own ambitions.
After Changan Ford Mazda separated in 2012, Mazda ushered in rapid development in the Chinese market and achieved high growth for three consecutive years since 2015.
Among them, Mazda China achieved an annual sales target of 235,000 units in 2015, the second highest in history after nearly 240,000 units in 2010, and sold more than 280,000 units in China in 2016, exceeding the sales target for this year with a 21.4% increase. In 2017, Mazda's sales in China exceeded 300,000 units for the first time.
But good luck seemed to come to an abrupt end. Due to the decline of China's auto market, Mazda has ushered in a three-year decline since 2018. Among them, Mazda's sales in China in 2020 fell back to the level of 210,000 vehicles. Changan Mazda sold about 136,700 units this year, while FAW Mazda sold only 78,000 units.
According to Mazda's earlier plan, by 2016, Changan Mazda and FAW Mazda will share mazda's market goal of 400,000 vehicles equally – the reality is obviously very contrary to Mazda China's plan, which has also contributed to Mazda's "great unification" in the Chinese market.
In April 2021, Mazda China issued a personnel appointment and dismissal notice showing that Nobuhiko Watanabe, chairman of Mazda (China) Enterprise Management Co., Ltd., who has been in charge of the Chinese market for ten years, was transferred, and Kawamura took over the banner of Mazda's business in China. This paper order was accompanied by the "merger of the two horses" four months later.
On August 24, 2021, Chongqing Changan Automobile Co., Ltd., Mazda Automobile Co., Ltd. and China FAW Co., Ltd. issued a joint statement on the capital increase project of Changan Mazda Automobile Co., Ltd.: The new Changan Mazda was changed to a joint venture jointly funded by the three parties, and the shareholding ratios of Changan Automobile, Mazda and China FAW were 47.5%, 47.5% and 5% respectively.
A few days later, after the last push of FAW Mazda's official social account was issued, FAW Mazda ended its 16-year history. All of Mazda's new car production, sales and after-sales business in the Chinese market are under the responsibility of Changan Mazda. This large-scale merger and reorganization is regarded as the official opening of the new year of mazda brand development in the Chinese market.
However, as of now, Mazda's performance in the Chinese market has not seen any improvement.
In 2021, Changan Mazda sold only 184,000 units, continuing to decline in double digits. According to media reports, Mazda China only announced sales of three models, of which the Cumulative Sales of the Onxella was 90,700 units, and the sales of the CX-5 and CX-30 were 26,100 units and 17,300 units, respectively.
Together with FAW Mazda's CX-4 and Artez, Mazda only has 5 current dangda models in the Chinese market. For the whole of 2021, Mazda has only one new model of the CX-30 EV.
On the occasion of the launch of the new CX-5, Changan Mazda also launched personnel changes again. Officials announced that Toru Nakajima, president of Changan Mazda Automobile Co., Ltd., who led the "merger of the two Malaysias," officially stepped down and was succeeded by Kei Sumioka. The latter has served as Director of the Second Business Department of China, Director, Executive Vice President and CFO of Mazda (China) Enterprise Management Co., Ltd., Director of the China Commerce Promotion Department, and Head of the China Business Headquarters.
But can the new appointment drive a whole new change for Mazda?
Missing new energy, new luxury?
Judging from the current public information, Mazda may have two directions of force.
The first is to force new energy.
According to Mazda's plan, 3 hybrids, 5 plug-in hybrids and 3 pure electric vehicles will be launched in 2022; 13 electric vehicles, including pure electric, plug-in hybrid and hybrid models, will be launched around 2025; and all vehicles will be electrified in 2030.
But careful readers find that there doesn't seem to be a Timeline for the Chinese Market. As evidenced by this, on March 9, the CX-60, the first plug-in hybrid model under the Mazda brand, was officially released, and it was officially announced that it would only be sold in Japan and Europe.
In this regard, it is believed that mazda's development focus is not on the Chinese market. However, in the author's opinion, there is no lack of Mazda's lack of confidence in its own electric vehicles, after all, there are many competitors in the Chinese market, Mazda CX-60 is converted to a price of 364,000 yuan - 398,000 yuan, it is difficult to be competitive in China's new energy vehicle market.
In fact, Mazda, which adheres to the "ladder" development strategy, has already missed out on China's new energy vehicle market. In an interview with the media at the 2017 Guangzhou Auto Show, Then Chairman of Mazda (China) Enterprise Management Co., Ltd., Watanabe Nobuhiko revealed that Mazda and Toyota are jointly developing EV technology, and Mazda will apply the technology accumulated by Mazda, plus Toyota's technology, to the next generation of electric vehicles and launch it at the right time.
"Even if it reaches 300,000 vehicles, we only account for 1% of China's entire production and sales capacity of 29 million vehicles." If we suddenly increase our market share to 5% of the Chinese market, the sales volume in China will be equivalent to Mazda's sales in the world, which is not realistic. After we exceed 30 sales, we will steadily expand our market share. At the time, Watanabe said.
Mazda's step-by-step strategic deployment is true, but the opportunity must not be lost, after Toyota and Honda began to do their best to launch hybrid, pure electric vehicles, they got the share of the Growth of the Chinese market, Mazda lost the 1% of China's market share occupied at its peak.
The second is to take a new luxury route.
Mazda has not only been in a slump in the Chinese market, but has also seen weakness in global sales over the past few years. In an interview with European media in 2019, it was revealed that Mazda will readjust its brand positioning and plan to become a mature luxury car manufacturer in the future.
At that time, Jeremy Thomson, Head of Mazda UK, said: "Mazda's goal is to become a true luxury brand car company, so it does not intend to imitate the German high-end brand, but will replace the traditional mainstream luxury car brand. ”
This is interpreted as Mazda may be benchmarked against Lexus, because the latter is currently the only Japanese brand that can compete with the three luxury brands in Germany.
But in any case, Mazda's planning has been questioned as having little to do with the Chinese market.
In addition to the CX-60 mentioned above, among the five new SUV models that Mazda plans to launch between 2022 and 2023, the CX-50, CX-70, CX-80, and CX-90 includes high-end models with inline 6-cylinder engines and hybrid systems. However, these new models are preferentially launched in North America, Europe and Japan, and have nothing to do with the Chinese market.
This may be related to Mazda's global performance in 2021. According to the data, Mazda's global sales in 2021 increased by 3.6% year-on-year, of which as Mazda's largest single market in the world, the cumulative sales volume in the United States increased by 19.2% year-on-year to 330,000 units, the European market increased by 5.3% year-on-year to 190,000 units, and the Chinese market fell by 14.3% year-on-year, the only single market with negative growth, and the annual sales accounted for only 14.28% of Mazda's global sales.
So, will this be a prelude to Mazda's "gradual" abandonment of the Chinese market?