"For the pursuit of electrification, whether it is Honda or Dongfeng Honda, this road will not be given up, and it will continue firmly. In an exclusive media interview at the Beijing Auto Show on April 25, Pan Jianxin, executive deputy general manager of Dongfeng Honda, emphasized its attitude towards electrification.
At the Beijing Auto Show, Dongfeng Honda Lieguang e:NS2, Lingxi L and Ye S7 pure electric sedans, as well as CR-V and Yingshipai's plug-in hybrid models were unveiled. Among them, the e:NS2 is the second pure electric product of the e:NS brand. "Lingxi" is a new energy vehicle brand independently launched by Dongfeng Honda, and its first model, Lingxi L, is positioned in the A-class market and is scheduled to be launched in September. The "Ye" brand is the world's first new generation of pure electric vehicle brand launched by Honda for the Chinese market, and the Ye S7, as the first model of the Ye brand, will be equipped with a new intelligent and efficient pure electric "W" architecture, which is expected to be launched in 2024.
With the upcoming pre-sale of the e:NS2 and the debut of the Lingxi L and Ye S7, Dongfeng Honda's electrification transformation will also enter a new stage. At present, Dongfeng Honda has launched three pure electric brands, e:NS, Lingxi, and Ye, with strong electric intelligent hybrid technology products and more than 10 electrification products, and has carried out product layout in fuel vehicles, gasoline-electric hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and pure electric vehicles.
"In fact, in the car companies, Dongfeng Honda should be said to be a car company with a relatively high power content, in addition to fuel, hybrid vehicles are basically covered, plug-in hybrid is also among the main sales models. At the same time, we will unswervingly continue to meet the needs of customers for pure electric vehicles in this market. Pan Jianxin said.
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"Stabilize fuel, increase hybrid, pull pure electric"
Pan Jianxin believes that one of the biggest difficulties in the transformation process of Dongfeng Honda is how to hold the current market. "In fact, not only for joint ventures, but also for all car companies, except for companies with a large market share or customer base, it is a very big problem. Pan Jianxin said.
In this case, Pan Jianxin summarized this year's Dongfeng Honda's development ideas into three words - stability, change, and speed. "Stability" means that Dongfeng Honda should stabilize the base of sales; "Change" means adjusting marketing ideas, changing marketing models and rhythms, and "fast" means being able to quickly adjust when seeing problems. "In 2023, we have been transferred like this, and if the competition is more fierce this year, we will be required to adjust the structure again, including the restructuring and allocation of resources faster. Pan Jianxin said.
Specific to the product level, Dongfeng Honda's plan is to "stabilize fuel, increase hybrid, and pull pure electric" in three steps. Pan Jianxin said: "Dongben will insist on both fuel and electric hands. For 2024 and 2025, the electrification strategy is also imperative, and in the long run, we must make efforts in multiple fields to meet the market. ”
As a company with a large fuel volume, it is not realistic to completely abandon fuel vehicles at this stage, and the transformation of electrification also requires the sale of fuel products to continue "blood transfusion". At present, the product transformation ideas of several leading joint ventures in China are also roughly the same. According to the plan, Dongfeng Honda expects to no longer launch new gasoline vehicles by 2027 and launch more than 10 pure electric models by 2030. In addition, all models of Dongfeng Honda will be equipped with the latest intelligent technologies such as Honda SENSING and Honda CONNECT.
In the face of the impact of the new energy transformation in the market on the overall profitability of oil vehicle products and even the company, Pan Jianxin said frankly: "For all enterprises, this is a very difficult transition period, which will inevitably bring profit losses. It pointed out that Dongfeng Honda will adhere to the brand concept, adhere to long-termism, adhere to the customer needs close to the market, and take into account the layout and layout necessary for the long-term transformation of the whole company, even if the profit will be lost, it must be done for a long time.
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"Marketing is on par with the new forces"
Regarding the intensification of market competition since entering 2024, Pan Jianxin said that when he did a discussion on the entire market trend in 2024 last year, he expected that the competition of new energy would intensify this year, and it was also expected that the competition would go to both ends of less than 100,000 yuan and more than 300,000 yuan. But Pan Jianxin still said bluntly: "This year's competition time and density are more than we imagined." ”
The "time" and "density" here should refer to the "price war". When many car companies launched terminal discounts, Dongfeng Honda also entered the war in a timely manner, and successively launched activities such as the "Home Car Buying Festival" and the double replacement subsidy. Through a series of measures, Dongfeng Honda still handed over a good first-quarter report card. From January to March this year, Dongfeng Honda's cumulative sales were 136,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 25.6%, showing a steady growth momentum.
"Joining forces is actually a new trend. Dongfeng Honda General Manager Watanabe Shoshi said. In China's fiercely competitive new energy market, giants such as Volkswagen and Toyota have chosen to partner with local Chinese companies to launch products that are more in line with the needs of the Chinese market. And Dongfeng Honda is exactly like this, according to Watanabe Zhang, some of the smart devices of Ye GT are in cooperation with Huawei. Gou Tiansheng, deputy general manager of Dongfeng Honda, also mentioned that Dongfeng Honda is currently discussing how to make large models in the future, and will work with local brands in China to gain a deeper insight into the preferences of users.
At the same time, Dongfeng Honda's marketing model and thinking mode will also be in line with the new forces. "We recognize that Dongfeng Honda's communication with users must be new and changeable, and we hope to expand users' awareness of the product through a multi-platform approach, and we are also accelerating the construction of private domain contact points. ”
Since the beginning of this year, Dongfeng Honda has opened up the direct connection between omni-channel contacts and users online, and comprehensively upgraded the new media operation model of special stores, so as to continuously expand the volume of communication with hierarchical management and operation and refined investment management. According to Dongfeng Honda's data, from January to March this year, Dongfeng Honda released a total of 26,091 short videos, with a total of 216 million views, carried out 44,526 live broadcasts, and collected 208,868 clues through new media. In the interview, Gou Tiansheng also revealed that after seeing the marketing methods of new forces such as Xiaomi, he will also personally go down and participate in the marketing line of Dongfeng Honda.
In addition, Pan Jianxin also commented on the previous predictions of many car company executives that there may only be a few car companies left in China in the future. Compared with the above radical predictions, Pan Jianxin's view is much more peaceful. "In fact, the automobile market is very large, which can accommodate many players and car companies, but it will also face the problem of market segmentation. It believes that competition will exist in all industries, and for car companies, what to do is to let customers accept your products and accept the concept of the brand, which can truly bring brand and product value to customers, including safety, convenience and so on.