Text: Whoop Hu
1
In 1857, a year after the Second Opium War began, Engels, who was far away in London, published a military commentary article entitled "Persia and China" in the New York Daily Tribune.
In addition to being the most well-known revolutionary mentor, Engels was also a tireless military critic. As the title suggests, Persia and China aims to compare the ways and results of the rebellion of Poland and China (Qing) against the British colonizers during the Anglo-Polish War and the Second Opium War during the same period.
Of course, Engels at that time could not travel through time and space and foresee the Qing government's "northern hunt" two years later, but he highly affirmed the way in which the military and civilian regiments in southern China's southern provinces, especially Guangzhou, practiced to resist the Western invasion army in the early stage of the war.
To put it simply, in Engels' view:
The Persians, also a declining country that fell far behind the West, had previously built a "Western-style" regular army with the help of Western instructors, but when faced with the British army, the truly modern army of the West, it was almost immediately defeated;
In China, the military and civilians in the southern provinces avoided fighting the invading army head-on, and instead attacked their non-combat rear personnel in a "brutal and barbaric" way, such as kidnapping and poisoning, with the result that "the successive victories of the British army in the First Opium War did not happen again."
Engels also praised the more primitive but martial African Zulus, who succeeded in defeating the modern British army in 1879 in their primitive way. At the other extreme, the more Westernized artillery units of the Turkish and Persian armies were always more combative.
1879 Ithan Delwana, the Zulus crushed the British army with spears
To sum up, if there are not enough resources and strength to polish the regular forces that are completely Westernized when confronting the Western armies that are far more advanced than themselves, then there may still be a chance to retain the primitive wildness and the will to fight; The semi-Westernized regular army, which was sandwiched in the middle, did not really complete modernization and lost its primitive bravery, but was useless.
It's a lot like today's popular saying: either you don't do it, or you don't do it; Those who learn from me live, and those who resemble me die.
2
Today's joint venture car companies should be shocked: Isn't this special meow talking about me? Hey, no, why did I become a backward primitive person?
(The term "joint venture" in the context of this article generally refers to the vast majority of foreign brands, including mainstream luxury brands, in which joint ventures are the main form of existence, and do not necessarily have the attribute of "Sino-foreign joint ventures" in the literal sense.) ）
Don't get me wrong, Mazda Toyota's good news has been reported lately to make a fortune ("What should new forces learn from Mazda?"). "), the domestic crazy involution is so bad that the crying father shouts mother, whether the shouting on the surface is good or not does not mean how the life is, no one understands this matter better than Ben Hu.
However, it is still necessary to say but, the words are divided into two ends. Looking at the problem from the perspective of development, joint ventures cannot always wait for the domestic roll. At least at the present and even in the next few years, the new energy and intelligence dominated by independent brands will still be recognized as the forefront of competition in the market, and there is nothing to deny.
So to say the least, when we choose the criterion of "more popular with today's consumers", it is now the domestic brand, not the joint venture brand, that stands on the more advanced and modern side.
This so-called "more advanced" is not narrowly limited to and specifically refers to the technical level, but naturally extends to the entire product design, product form, and competition model.
As a result, we have seen that joint venture automobiles have begun to imitate their own brands more and more frequently, more and more obviously, and more and more hard to imitate their own brands, at least relying more on local R&D teams to make "localized" products, and at worst directly using the shell first.
Two things happened before and after the Beijing Auto Show, one is that Honda grandly launched a new localized brand "Ye" specially for China, which was unfortunately ridiculed as "cremation +" by netizens who lacked morality; The second is Mazda's unprecedented reverse casing Changan, and the new car EZ-6 is actually a dark blue SL03 in its bones.
Compared with these slightly abrupt, it is more moisturizing and silent. SAIC-GM launched two electric vehicles, Buick E5 and E4, which are dominated by Pan Asia last year, with slender split headlight front face + through-type taillights + hidden door handles, which is almost a reinterpretation of the typical appearance of the new power by the joint venture brand.
3
Let's talk about luxury brands first, Mercedes-Benz and BMW ushered in the E-Class and 5 Series almost at the same time last year, but the two ideas are very different. The new E-Class maintains the classic proportions of longitudinal luxury cars that have been used for many years, and only adjusts the details such as the lamp cluster; The new 5 Series, on the other hand, has changed its course and boldly moved closer to the trend of geometry and minimalism.
If we broaden the caliber and compare it from a relative perspective, the new 5 Series can be regarded as more "independent branding" than the new E-class.
As a result, the two who were originally evenly matched before were replaced almost at the same time, and only half a year after the generation, the surprising gap has already widened. The new E-class has achieved a relatively smooth and normal transition to generational change, while the new 5 Series has successfully fallen from the "10,000 passing line" to 5,000 monthly sales.
In fact, if you pull out a sales list of new energy vehicles of joint venture brands, the top few Volkswagen ID.3/4, BMW i3/iX3, Toyota bZ3, etc., all have obvious deviations from the fashion trend led by independent brands - of course, if you want, it can also be understood as (in a sense) "backward".
The best-selling micro blue 6 in the joint venture new energy, although it is the work of the pan-Asian local team, but because it is too early, it almost does not have the popular characteristics of new forces and new independence, and the overall painting style from design to function is still very "traditional joint venture".
Today, the same Buick logo, the same is broken compared to the listing price, the typical monthly sales of Buick E5 are only about 1/10 of the micro blue 6. Although the price positioning of the two is different and the competitive environment is different, any explanation is meaningless in the face of such an exaggerated gap.
The more it moves closer to the direction of independent new forces such as large-screen interiors, minimalist design, and sharp lines, the more it abandons the brand's original classic design, functions and concepts.
4
In reality, knowing that many independent brand practices are easier to attract current consumers, and can still firmly maintain some of the original essence of the brand, it is not the core product of the brand that must be very cautious, such as the Mercedes-Benz E-class, or Mazda, which has long been accustomed to a niche status and is not afraid to wear shoes barefoot (and don't look at the EZ-6).
Otherwise, "unchanged" means that you can only sit back and watch your share be eroded.
But on the other hand, they also tend to follow the independent new forces, and the division of the "middle" and the long skills to control the "middle", is it the way out? The lesson has been laid above, domestic consumers turn to their own brand models, but it does not mean that they will like an "independent joint venture brand car".
"Old joint venture, how to give yourself a decent face? As mentioned in the article, it is almost impossible for joint venture brands to catch up with or even surpass in the field that independent brands are good at in the short term. The long-term shrinkage of the basic market is a reality that joint venture brands must face.
What Chinese consumers value most today: intelligent driving, whether it is subjective action or objective conditions, foreign brands are in an absolute disadvantageous position; Intelligent cockpit, how can the joint venture know better than independent brands, and can connect with local Internet services more quickly and flexibly; Space and luxury configuration, as well as a complete lineup of joint venture brands, have become a constraint at this time.
There is no opportunity for the joint venture brand to launch high-precision urban assisted driving ahead of the independent brand, have a digital cockpit with a higher level of intelligence than the independent brand, and pile up a more luxurious and comprehensive "second living room" than the independent brand.
If you are destined to learn only half of it, it may be better not to learn. It's like the middle class returning to poverty, never saying that eating and drinking normally and spending money on money are not tossed, but they are all anxious and internally exhausted.
Of course, we still look at the problem from the perspective of development, and "not tossing" does not mean lying down. Just like the backward countries of the 19th century, even if they can occasionally win unexpected victories against the advanced powers with primitive military bravery, it is impossible to achieve a long-term solution, and they will eventually move towards revolutionary transformation.
Ultimately, of course, it's about facing the new world. However, in this process, Yiyi is also led by the nose by new opponents, hoping that the incomplete imitation of the practices of independent new forces, thinking that they can compete head-on on the track opened up by others, and in the process, they lose their original brand value and personality traits, and the result will only die faster.