In the past few years, most joint venture brands have performed well in the field of new energy, with relatively low sales volume and penetration rate. However, there is such a joint venture brand, and its market performance even exceeds that of many new forces such as Weilai, Nezha, and Zeekr, and has become a first-class existence in the new energy market. It is SAIC Volkswagen.
According to the data, SAIC Volkswagen will sell more than 130,000 new energy vehicles in 2023, of which the ID. family sales will reach 109,700 units, and the sales volume will exceed 10,000 for 6 consecutive months. Among them, the ID.3 won the "2023 Joint Venture Pure Electric Vehicle Sales Champion" in one fell swoop, becoming a phenomenal hit in the pure electric vehicle market.
Many industry insiders believe that SAIC Volkswagen's completion of the elephant turn depends on a firm transformation plan. In fact, the deep meaning of the transformation is to adhere to the Glocal model and deepen the Chinese market.
Fuel, pure electric, plug-in three wires go hand in hand, so that the product better understands users
For Glocal (Global+local), we can simply understand it as In China for China, or more directly as creating more personalized and differentiated products and services guided by localized needs.
The Glocal concept represents SAIC Volkswagen's transformation ideas and helps SAIC Volkswagen stabilize the market. However, for users, it is the foundation to win the future by giving more prominence to the concept of Glocal in products and constantly meeting their own and market needs.
In this regard, SAIC Volkswagen has given a "three-line parallel" solution.
In the field of traditional fuel vehicles, SAIC Volkswagen's products have been continuously updated and upgraded, and the diversification and rejuvenation have also made the appearance and image of fuel vehicles deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. In order to meet the individual needs of different consumers, the "double front face" Passat and Lavida take into account the aesthetics of young people on the basis of meeting the low-key needs of inherent consumers, and are well received by consumers. Lingdu L, known as "spicy steamed buns", has also won the hearts of consumers with its bold and avant-garde shape.
SAIC Volkswagen's return to fuel vehicle users under the Glocal concept is also stronger power, lower CO2 emissions and more economical fuel consumption, and the new 1.5T EVO II net efficiency engine is the carrier of this concept. Taking Lavida as an example, after using the new engine, the maximum power is increased by 7.3%, the fuel consumption is reduced by 8.6%, and the fuel consumption under the WLTC combined mode is as low as 5.4L/100km, which is already the same level as mainstream PHEV models. The iterative upgrading of the product strength of fuel vehicles has also helped the company to increase the market share of fuel vehicles, and Lavida and Passat have returned to the first place in the market segment.
With the launch of the Tiguan L Pro equipped with DJI's on-board system, SAIC Volkswagen's fuel vehicles will become more "smart" and increase their market competitiveness. The Tiguan L Pro will also bring a new high-end intelligent driving experience to the majority of fuel vehicle users.
In the field of electrification, SAIC Volkswagen has proven its appeal, whether it is the monthly sales of the ID. family has repeatedly exceeded 10,000, or the ID.3 has been selling well, it shows that "buy an electric car, buy a Volkswagen" is still the choice of mainstream users.
In the field of plug-in hybrids, SAIC Volkswagen is rapidly promoting the strategic transformation of PHEVs. Based on the German Volkswagen's 1.5T EVO II net efficiency engine, SAIC Volkswagen will develop a new PHEV long-range 1.5T engine to meet the special working conditions of hybrid models, and create PFEV products that are more in line with the use scenarios of Chinese users. To put it simply, in the future, SAIC Volkswagen's new PHEV models will not be modified on the basis of the existing ones, but will be complete and completely new. At the same time, the company will be responsible for 75% of the R&D to truly achieve Glocal.
SAIC Volkswagen's "three-line parallel" route based on Chinese consumers not only shows its reliable strength, but also brings consumers a rich power matching product matrix, covering multiple scenarios and personalized needs with trams, fuel vehicles and PHEVs, providing users with reliable travel solutions in short, medium and long distances, truly in China for China.
Behind Glocal is We Care, which makes the user experience even better
In 2023, SAIC Volkswagen will officially change the name of its long-standing after-sales service brand "techcare" to "WeCare". It is not difficult to find from the various trends of SAIC Volkswagen that its top priority is to care for users, focusing on the differentiated needs of Chinese users to make the user experience more outstanding, which is not a utopian dream.
In order to develop products that understand Chinese better, SAIC Volkswagen has conducted a lot of research on the needs of Chinese consumers, and combined with China's actual road conditions, vehicle conditions, Chinese people's driving habits, and Chinese people's driving life scenes, the products have been transformed including exterior and interior styling and materials, chassis tuning, engine tuning, etc., and have successfully launched Santana, Passat, Lavida, Tiguan, Touron and other national "god cars", becoming the first choice for Chinese consumers. Behind the continuous emergence of national god cars is the concrete embodiment of SAIC Volkswagen Care users.
In the 2023 China Fuel Vehicle Industry Customer Satisfaction Evaluation (CACSI), SAIC Volkswagen won a total of eight satisfaction champions, among which the Santana, Lavida, Lingdu L, Passat, Tuyue, Tiguan L, and Weiran models performed well, standing out from many evaluated models and ranking first in user satisfaction in their respective segments. It is worth mentioning that the Volkswagen brand also won the first place in the joint venture brand sales service and after-sales service satisfaction. In the new energy front, SAIC Volkswagen ID.3 and ID.4 X won the two satisfaction championships of pure electric compact sedan and pure electric compact SUV respectively, bringing users reliable and high-quality products.
In addition, SAIC Volkswagen is also committed to reaching out to users and upgrading the user experience. Whether it is the "ID. Carnival" co-created with car owners, or creative and sustainable activities such as "ID. Low-Carbon Walk" and "ID. RUN Together", they provide users with better marketing services and pure electric travel experience.
In the eyes of the outside world, Glocal is the concept of the transformation of joint venture car companies, but the concept is only an ideology, and the concept can only play its own value when it is turned into actual products and services and devotes itself to the action of satisfying users. SAIC Volkswagen is an out-and-out practitioner of the Glocal concept, and it is always on the front line to meet the needs of users. With the subsequent entry of new models and services based on the Glocal concept, Volkswagen will surely be more outstanding.