At present, the intelligence of fuel vehicles is still a blue ocean market - an interview with Fu Qiang, Executive Director of Volkswagen Brand Marketing Business of SAIC Volkswagen Co., Ltd

■China Automotive News reporter Zhao Jianguo, China Energy News (2024-05-06 Edition 06)

　　"Our strategy is to go hand in hand with oil and electricity. At present, the intelligence of fuel vehicles is still a blue ocean market, as long as it can continue to improve in intelligence, the prospects are still optimistic in the future. On April 25, at the 2024 Beijing Auto Show, Fu Qiang, executive director of Volkswagen brand marketing business of SAIC Volkswagen Co., Ltd., put forward his thoughts in a high-end interview with China Automotive News.

　　■Create a new blue ocean of intelligent exploration

　　"Our core strategy is to advance both oil and electricity, that is, to have good products in both fuel vehicles and electric vehicles, and constantly innovate." Fu Qiang said that the one brought by the Beijing Auto Show this time is the Tiguan L Pro, a replacement product of the Tiguan L, which is known as the "god car".

　　Fu Qiang said that we want to be a subversive of fuel vehicle intelligence, hoping to launch the most intelligent fuel vehicle, and the degree of intelligence should be comparable to the intelligence of the new power electric vehicle, the intelligence of the Tiguan L Pro is the best in the entire Volkswagen series, which meets the current market demand. We have taken a difficult but correct path, and we have advanced both oil and electricity in research and development.

　　Although SAIC Volkswagen has invested more in new energy, it has not given up investment in fuel vehicles. This year is the 40th anniversary of the establishment of SAIC Volkswagen, which can be said to have grown up with China's automobile industry, and has the responsibility to solve the pain points of product use for 55% of fuel vehicle users in the market.

　　Fu Qiang said, for example, how intelligent is an aircraft with an aviation kerosene engine? Is there any self-driving? The 10,000-ton giant ship at sea uses a diesel engine, does it have automatic driving? It can be seen that intelligence has almost no inevitable relationship with the power system, and what really plays a decisive role is its electronic and electrical architecture.

　　"After five years of hard work, we have worked with many suppliers to develop this new product, which will be officially launched in mid-May after its debut at the Beijing Auto Show." Fu Qiang introduced that in the past, too much emphasis was placed on the intelligence of electric vehicles, and the intelligence of fuel vehicles has formed a blank spot, and SAIC Volkswagen's practice in this area is very important. "We felt like it was a blue ocean market, so we wanted to explore it." Fu Qiang said.

　　■ Solve the core pain points of users

　　"We also brought the entire ID. family with us, including the ID.3, ID.4 X, ID.6 X. And now the market is particularly volume, and many brands are rolling prices. Fu Qiang said that the price of SAIC Volkswagen rolls is more valuable, and consumers who buy any product of SAIC Volkswagen's ID. family, whether it is ID.3, ID.4 X or ID.6 X, will get the ID.Care value preservation package.

　　According to reports, SAIC Volkswagen's ID. family products promise a 6% discount on the residual value of the product for 3 years. In Fu Qiang's view, there are generally many problems with the residual value of electric vehicles on the market, which are basically less than 5% off, and Tesla's 3-year value preservation and renewal plan is 45% off, which is 15 percentage points less than SAIC Volkswagen. The new value preservation package launched by SAIC Volkswagen this time is a real value preservation package with zero anxiety and no routines. According to market research, Tesla's announced warranty is 15,000 kilometers per year, but 30% of private car users have more than 15,000 kilometers a year. Therefore, Volkswagen launched this time for 3 years and 90,000 kilometers, which can cover 95% of private car users. Consumers still have a question, the car will inevitably bump and bump, will the manufacturer refuse to repurchase according to the original promised residual value for various reasons? Fu Qiang explained that if the cumulative insurance amount of private car users in three years is less than or equal to 30% of the purchase price, SAIC Volkswagen will still recover it according to its commitment, and from the past data, only 1% of the insurance amount exceeds 30%.

　　Chinese consumers are very particular about cost-effectiveness when buying cars, "which is completely correct, but the standard of Chinese consumers is different from that of European and American consumers when it comes to cost-effectiveness." In Fu Qiang's view, Chinese consumers have many first-time buyers, and many people pay more attention to the price of new cars when buying cars, and they don't care whether they can sell used cars in the future and what price they sell. However, European and American consumers or dealers, the first question is what is the future residual value of the car, because they calculate the cost of owning the car, for example, what is the cost of owning the car during the ID.3 for 3 years, and also calculate the cost of use throughout the life cycle. For example, the average ID.3 value of 130,000 yuan is converted according to 3 years and 6, that is to say, the cost of car ownership for 3 years is 130,000 yuan multiplied by 40% to 52,000 yuan. If there is a new car next to it for 110,000 yuan, it looks cheap, but if it is calculated by 50%, the cost of owning a car is 55,000 yuan, and the cost performance is clear at a glance.

　　Fu Qiang said that the price reduction of new cars means that the price of used cars will also be reduced, and it also means that it is a harm and irresponsibility to all previous users. With the promise of 6% off in 3 years, it also saves consumers the trouble of bargaining when buying a car. At the same time, with the development of intelligent driving and power battery technology, when the industry is more mature after 3 years, why not change to a more favorite product? This is actually the core pain point of the residual value rate of new energy vehicles.

　　■Innovation, iterative intelligence

　　"We are also constantly innovating and iterating intelligently." Fu Qiang said that we are actively laying out the future product line, not only launching new products, but also launching a new platform, coupled with intelligent electronic and electrical architecture, as well as safety quality control, and a series of products will be created on this platform in the future, which represents high intelligence and high quality control. In addition, new energy vehicles are also being actively deployed, including pure electric and plug-in hybrid. From 2025 to 2026, there will be continuous new product launches.

　　"Our strategy is called 'in China for China', and the advantage of our joint venture is that it is like a two-parent family, which can pass on the excellent genes of both parties." Fu Qiang said that for example, Volkswagen of Germany is a global leader in design, process, quality, quality control management and manufacturing process, and its shortcomings are intelligence. Therefore, SAIC Volkswagen's oil and electricity are not only to supplement the product system, but also to further engage in research and development in intelligence, so as to lead the entire industry. "I believe that the SAIC Volkswagen brand will go on for at least another 40 years in the future." He stressed that from the perspective of SAIC Volkswagen, there will be more products on new energy in the future than Volkswagen Anhui. We will continue to innovate and introduce better products to Chinese consumers. "We'll speak for themselves." Fu Qiang is full of confidence in the future.

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