Flower Finance Original
Once upon a time, when it comes to domestic cars, in many people's concepts, "low quality" and "cheap" are often the deepest impressions of Chinese people on domestic cars.
Some people even joked that others sell cars, we sell "iron sheets".
However, at that time, As a leading domestic independent brand car company, Great Wall Motors has been striving to go to sea to raise the national pride of Chinese automobiles.
From 1998 to promote domestic cars to the international stage, by 2021 Great Wall Motors' cumulative overseas sales have exceeded 900,000 vehicles, vehicle exports throughout more than 170 countries, Great Wall Motors with solid sales data, showing the charm of Chinese cars in the global market.
In 2021, Great Wall Motor's globalization strategy accelerated, the Rayong plant in Thailand was officially put into operation, the acquisition of the Iracemapolis plant in Brazil, and the Establishment of the European headquarters, great Wall Motor's globalization system pattern has further developed by leaps and bounds.
However, in the process of accelerating the sea, the difficulties encountered by Great Wall Motors are also quite huge.
Overseas market development is less than expected
June 5, 2019, is a special day for Great Wall Motors.
On this day, Great Wall Motor's Tula plant in Russia was officially completed and put into operation, as one of the largest projects invested by China's equipment manufacturing industry in Russia, which once again demonstrated the new height of Chinese automobiles embracing the global market.
"Building a valuable brand is our responsibility as our own brand. Now, China's catering, home appliances, and mobile phones have all gone out, and it should be the turn of the car to go out. Wei Jianjun, chairman of Great Wall Motors, said.
It is reported that the investment amount of the Tula plant project of haval F7 is 500 million US dollars, the annual output of 150,000 vehicles is planned, and the total output value of the factory can exceed 18 billion yuan after being put into operation.
However, the expectations are beautiful, but the reality is very bone-chilling.
By the end of 2021, Great Wall Motor's total sales volume was 1.28 million units, compared with only 39,000 units from the Russian market, far less than the planned annual production of 150,000 units at the Tula plant.
In addition, according to the source of income, according to the source of income, Russia's revenue was only 2.007 billion yuan in the first half of 2021, and the gap between the total output value of the factory of 18 billion yuan is also quite huge.
Russia, as the largest overseas market of Great Wall Motors, will account for 27% of Great Wall Motor's total overseas sales in 2021, and the current sales risk is also increasing significantly.
For example, the Russian-Ukrainian conflict has led to unprecedented and severe sanctions in Russia, which will deal a heavy blow to the Russian economy and weaken the ability of Russians to spend cars. In addition, since the Russian-Ukrainian military conflict, the market rumors about the suspension of the Production of Great Wall Motor's Russian plant have gradually increased.
It's not just the Russian market that's frustrated.
On March 22, local sources in India showed that Kaushik Ganguly left office on March 22, 2022, more than three years after joining Great Wall Motor India.
As the first "highest-level" employee of the Great Wall India factory project and formulating the entire business plan of the Great Wall India, according to the Financial Associated Press, quoting local sources in India, the Indian factory project is in a "suspended state" after the departure of overseas executives.
It is reported that Great Wall Motors has previously planned to invest $1 billion in India. It is obvious that the suspension of Great Wall Motor's India plant project will adversely affect Great Wall's overseas strategy.
In 2021, Great Wall Motor sold 1.28 million new vehicles, of which 142,800 units were sold overseas, accounting for only 11.1% of overseas sales.
New energy sales data that is left behind
Back in the domestic market, the report card handed over by Great Wall Motors did not perform too well.
According to the statistical analysis of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, new energy vehicles will become the biggest bright spot in 2021, with annual sales of more than 3.5 million vehicles and a market share increased to 13.4%, further illustrating that the new energy vehicle market has shifted from policy-driven to market-driven.
In this environment, it is not difficult to see that many traditional car companies have turned the rudder to the new energy vehicle market in recent years. But in the process, the Great Wall seems to move slowly.
According to the production and sales data released by Great Wall Motor in December 2021, Great Wall Motor's cumulative sales of new energy vehicles in 2021 will be 137,000 units, accounting for only 10.7% of the total sales, significantly lower than the market share of new energy vehicles.
If the cumulative sales of Great Wall Motors cars (mainly new energy vehicles) in 2020 are estimated to be 58,200 units, the cumulative sales growth rate of New Energy Vehicles of Great Wall Motors in 2021 will be 135.4% year-on-year, compared with the 1.6 times increase in the new energy automobile industry in 2021, and the situation of Great Wall Motors falling behind is more obvious.
From the product line, the Euler brand is the basic disk of the Great Wall new energy vehicle.
According to the 2021 production and sales data, the Sales volume of the Euler brand was 135,000 units, an increase of 140% year-on-year, which was almost the sales of new energy vehicles of Great Wall Motors in the whole year. Among them, Euler Good Cat sold 50,900 vehicles in the whole year, and Euler Black Cat sold 63,500 vehicles in the whole year.
However, the Euler brand that supports the Great Wall new energy vehicles is not only limited to the female niche group, but also faces the dilemma of suspension of production due to loss-making operations. Not long ago, the black cat models and white cat models under the Euler brand of Great Wall Motors have stopped receiving orders.
Why stop taking orders?
Dong Yudong, CEO of Euler brand, said, "First, the price of raw materials has risen; second, new energy subsidies will continue to decline in 2022; third, it will be affected by chip shortages." As a result, for every vehicle delivered, the loss exceeds 10,000 yuan. ”
In other words, while the Euler brand seems to have a good sales record, it seems to be a business that makes a lot of money. This shows that Great Wall Motors was previously exchanging price for volume.
Forced by business pressure, Euler was even exposed to stealing car chips, suspected of defrauding consumers. For example, Euler Good Cat does not carry the advertised Qualcomm 8155 chip, but uses the old Intel 4-core A3940 chip released 5 years ago.
Nowadays, in the face of Euler's cessation of orders, I don't know who else can the Great Wall new energy vehicle rely on?
Corporate culture is not recognized by employees?
For the fall behind of new energy vehicles, it may have a great relationship with the pattern of Great Wall Motor managers.
In the early years, Wei Jianjun has always been skeptical about the development of new energy vehicles, and in 2016, he also publicly stated at the shareholders' meeting: "Electric vehicles are not energy-saving and environmentally friendly, now is not a good time to get on electric vehicles, Great Wall Motors only do followers of the new energy industry."
Until 2018, Great Wall Motors launched the real electric vehicle brand "Euler", and mainly targets the young women's market, which is late enough to be the time point of "Wei Xiaoli" was established about 3 years ago.
On March 18, Great Wall Motors also announced that Wang Fengying resigned as an executive director, vice chairman, and member of the Strategy and Sustainable Development Committee due to work needs, and deputy general manager Zhao Guoqing will take over Wang Fengying's corresponding position on the board of directors, effective from now on.
This means that the "Wei Wang" partner of Wei Jianjun + Wang Fengying has officially ended.
It is understood that Wang Fengying has always been the "second in command" of Great Wall Motors. In 1991, 21-year-old Wang Fengying joined the sales department of Great Wall Motors, when Great Wall Motors had just been contracted by Wei Jianjun for one year. Due to her excellent work ability, Wang Fengying was promoted to assistant manager within two months of joining the company, and was promoted to general manager two years later.
Therefore, in the face of Wang Fengying, it seems that he has achieved success and retired, as if he still has a sigh.
In recent years, Great Wall Motors has also undergone significant changes in the talent echelon. From 2017 to 2018, the Great Wall recruited talents and successively attracted Shan Hongyan, Liu Zhifeng, Ning Shuyong, Liu Yan, Wenfei and other industry big names to join, which was rumored to be a good story for a time.
In July 2020, with the introduction of the rotating president system of Great Wall Motors, the market even reported that Wang Fengying was still nominally the president of Great Wall Motors, but in fact it had been suspended.
However, in less than two years, in addition to Wenfei, the executives of Great Wall Motor's previous recruitment have left one after another, including those who have gone to industry associations, those who have partnered to start a business, and those who have gone home to take care of the elderly.
Some market sources said, "They simply can't adapt to the Great Wall, and it is sooner or later to go." For example, the Great Wall has too many rules and regulations in its corporate culture, and some people have difficulty in exerting their ambitions. ”
I know that there are also netizens who broke the news that the Bureaucracy of the Great Wall is prevalent, and what the leaders say is what they are, and they are not allowed to explain, just because they are scolded because of the top sentence; there are bullying honest people, and they want to get promoted through hard work.
And there can be no organization between the employees of the company, such as the classmates' association, the hometown association, and even the basketball team organized by individuals. It is forbidden for three or more employees of the company to have dinners and gatherings together, and the group dismissal in serious cases is prohibited.
So, Wang Fengying withdrew, what will be the situation of the Great Wall Motors left behind?
According to the data, Zhao Guoqing, as The successor of Wang Fengying, joined Great Wall Motor in 2000 and served as the vice president of the Technology Research Institute, the director of the Supporting Management Headquarters, and the deputy director of the Technology Center.
It can be seen from his resume that Zhao Guoqing is a technical person and does not come from a sales background like Wang Fengying.
Entering 2022, Great Wall Motor announced that it would produce and sell in February 2022, showing that the company's automobile sales in the first two months reached 182,600 units, down 19.95% year-on-year. Among them, Great Wall Motor's sales in January and February were 111,800 units and 70,800 units, respectively, down 19.59% and 20.5% year-on-year, respectively.
At present, how Great Wall Motors will go after the end of Wang Fengying's era remains to be seen.