There are many wonderful moments in China's automotive business, from the peak of glory to the bottom, several times on the verge of despair, and successfully and absolutely survive.
Dressed in professional formal clothes, Xu Liuping's every appearance is eye-catching, not only an entrepreneurial achievement, but also a personal charm. Xu Liuping, chairman of FAW Group, knows that China's auto industry still has a long way to go, and in the middle, China FAW has to carry the banner of China's national automobile industry.
Xu Liuping, chairman of China FAW, set a goal for the new Faw flag and the new decade in front of more than 2,000 on-site audiences: "Strive for 200,000 vehicles in 2020; go all out in 2022 to surpass 400,000 vehicles; in 2025, strive to break through 600,000 vehicles; in 2030, follow the trend, refine steel, impact 1 million vehicles...
Xu Liuping, male, born in October 1964, Yangzhong, Jiangsu, joined the Communist Party of China in January 1987, joined the work in June 1988, graduated from Beijing Institute of Technology majoring in management science and engineering, doctoral degree, doctorate degree in management, researcher-level senior engineer.
(Xu Liuping, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Secretary of the Party Committee of China FAW Group Co., Ltd.)
Xu Liuping: Born in October 1964 in Jiangsu. Doctor of Economics and Management, Researcher-level Senior Engineer;
From June 1988 to January 1997, he served as an engineer and deputy director of China North Industries Corporation.
From January 1997 to October 2000, he served as the director of the General Office of China North Industries Corporation and the General Office of the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense.
From October 2000 to January 2004, he successively served as the deputy director and director of the development planning department of China Ordnance Equipment Group Corporation; among them, he went to Chang'an in 2001 to train and served as deputy general manager;
From January 2004 to January 2006, he served as the director of the automotive department of China North Industries Group Corporation;
Since November 2005, he has served as a member of the party group and deputy general manager of China North Industries Equipment Group Corporation;
Executive Director and Senior Vice President of China Southern Industrial Automobile Co., Ltd. since December 2005;
Since January 2006, he has been the president and party secretary of Changan Automobile (Group) Co., Ltd.;
In December 2007, he was appointed as the chairman of Changan Group Corporation;
President and Party Secretary of Changan Automobile Group Co., Ltd. in 2009;
In 2010, he was appointed as the chairman of China Changan Automobile Group;
In 2011, he was appointed as the deputy secretary of the party group of China North Industries And Equipment Group Corporation;
In 2013, he served as the general manager and director of China North Industries Equipment Group, the chairman of China Changan Automobile Group Co., Ltd., and the chairman of Chongqing Changan Automobile Co., Ltd.;
On August 2, 2017, Xu Liuping went to the chairman of China FAW Group;
Courage and mission
In December 1862 (the first year of the Qing Dynasty), Li Hongzhang ordered the British Magri and the Chinese official Liu Zuoyu to establish the "Shanghai Ocean Artillery Bureau", which was the predecessor of Chang'an Automobile. With the change of the times, it was finally decided to take root in Chongqing, and in 1958, it produced China's first jeep, the "Yangtze River Brand 46 Jeep", and by 1963, it had produced 1390 vehicles, filling the gap in China's automobile industry. In 1984, the first batch of small cars in China was produced and entered the automotive field.
As cars move from the official niche market to the mass market, joint venture imports and other channels, so that Chinese began to contact cars, in recent years, China's independent cars have also begun to move from OEM to the front of the curtain, and ranked among the best.
With respect for the automobile and China's automotive industry, Xu Liuping embarked on the road of the automobile in 1988. Xu Liuping studied science and engineering and management at Changzhou University and Beijing Institute of Technology, and obtained a doctorate. Walking into China North Industries Corporation, during this period, directly or indirectly contacted and participated in the automobile business of China North Industries Corporation.
January 2006 has a turning point for Xu Liuping, Xu Liuping began to concurrently serve as the president and party secretary of Changan Automobile, and in January 2009, he also served as the chairman of Chongqing Changan Automobile, and the president, party secretary and chairman of China Changan Automobile. In the following twelve years, Xu Liuping dedicated his ideals, passion and wisdom to the cause of China Changan Automobile's own brand, and time proved that Xu Liuping was a doer and an entrepreneur recognized by society.
There are always rumors that state-owned automobile companies are difficult to do when they are in office, and Xu Liuping broke the spell and opened up that as long as he makes a difference in independent innovation, he can make a difference and strive to contribute to China's automobile industry, rather than becoming an official of the iron gate.
Change, overtaking in curves
Before 2006, Changan Automobile's sales volume and brand image had a big gap with the other three members. It is not difficult to see from the positioning that Changan Automobile was mainly based on the layout of mini cars at that time. Positioned in the low-end market, the sedan model has been in the belly.
In December 2007, Xu Liuping took over Yin Jiaxu's class and became the chairman of Changan Automobile. At that time, the joint venture relationship between Changan Automobile and foreign car companies had been established. For Xu Liuping, who was 45 years old at the time, how to make Changan's own brand a stone pressed on his shoulder was undoubtedly a difficult task.
In 2003, Changan Automobile's strategy was "micro-car-oriented, car-oriented", after Xu Liuping came, in the face of doubts, we must resolutely develop cars, in the early stage of development to face doubts, and then look back, Xu Liuping at that time had a strategic vision.
Xu Liuping, like most of the past Changan Auto leaders, has a strong technical color and the tenacity of Chinese automakers.
In 2006, Changan Automobile deepened the reform of the entire management system, the main purpose of which is to attach importance to the "automobile sector and adopt professional operation." In just a few years, Changan Automobile has undergone changes, and both sales and word-of-mouth have achieved growth.
We have noticed that Xu Liuping compared Changan's design department to a "ghost gate" in public, and during his tenure, he unified Changan Automobile's future product design concept, and then each product of Changan Automobile was highly beautiful and unique.
In 2006, Changan Automobile established a design center in Turin, followed by a global collaborative R&D system with different emphases in China, the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy and Japan, and permanent design centers in Italy and Japan.
In April 2016, Changan Automobile successfully conducted a 2,000km ultra-long-distance unmanned driving test from Chongqing to Beijing, which proved that Changan Automobile's technical reserves have been able to achieve the three-level level of unmanned driving, which makes Changan Automobile the first automobile enterprise in China to realize long-distance unmanned driving.
In 2009, Xu Liuping took charge of the overall situation, according to the prescription of the disease, relying on the background of Changan Automobile's state-owned enterprises, boldly and methodically carried out a series of reforms of Changan Automobile. In the early days of his term of office, Xu Liuping formulated the strategic plan of "five countries and nine places" and signed strategic cooperation agreements with local governments.
The most wonderful part of this is to simplify the internal capital structure and reduce the company's operating costs; accelerate the speed of car launch, improve the layout of hatchback and sedan models, develop SUV models, increase the research and development and promotion of small displacement models, pay attention to emission policies; strengthen the publicity of corporate image, and create a new brand concept with sedan models as the main carrier.
Under the deployment of Xu Liuping's strategizing, Changan Automobile once again sailed away, and after 6 years, with nearly one million sales, it became the king of its own brand. In 2013, Changan Automobile sold a total of 2.12 million vehicles, an increase of 20.76% year-on-year, and sales revenue of 162.6 billion yuan, an increase of 42.6% year-on-year. Although the growth of performance is largely attributed to Changan Ford, Changan Ford's sales increased by 60.27% year-on-year throughout the year, but Changan Automobile's own brand performance is also very good, in 2013 Changan Autonomous Automobile sold a total of 971,300 vehicles, an increase of 10.45% year-on-year, of which Xu Liuping insisted on the independent brand car business, the growth rate is very obvious.
In 2014, the cumulative production and sales of Changan Chinese brand cars exceeded 10 million, becoming the first Chinese brand to enter the "10 million club" and becoming an independent sales champion, winning this title for three consecutive years.
Xu Liuping firmly believes that our persistence and dedication are rewarded, dare to invest in research and development, take 5% of the annual turnover as R & D investment, the cumulative investment of 49 billion yuan during the 12th Five-Year Plan period, the establishment of R&D centers in five countries and seven places, with 5635 technical patents, won 110 scientific and technological innovation achievement awards, ranked first in the R&D capabilities of China's automotive industry for 3 consecutive years.
In terms of brand building, we open our horizons, absorb advanced concepts, and use fashion ideas, such as the party secretary and R&D president of the company have been responsible for brand work, so that brand work and product development are seamlessly integrated.
Changan Automobile is a successful model of independent innovation of state-owned enterprises, and Xu Liuping, then chairman of Changan Automobile, has also contributed to the transformation of his identity to an entrepreneur. Changan Automobile, which has an engineer culture atmosphere, has become a multinational enterprise that embraces global talents, and Changan's main models today, such as CS75 and Yidong, were born in the Xu Liuping period.
The decisive battle of idealism
On August 2, 2017, Xu Liuping went to the chairman of China FAW Group, which is a new challenge and opportunity for Xu Liuping, who has been engaged in China's automotive industry for half his life.
When Xu Liuping took over Faw, the Hongqi brand as the "eldest son of the Republic" had been silent for a long time.
Born in 1958, Hongqi is the first nationally defined car, which carries the mission of industrial rejuvenation of new China and has the mark of growing together with the republic.
After Chairman Xu Liuping took office, he quickly promoted the implementation of the personnel structure adjustment plan, optimized the personnel structure by using two methods of internal competition and external citation, imported advanced human resources, and enhanced the young vitality of the organization.
Rearrange the brand framework, form three major brands of Hongqi, Penteng and Liberation; establish the Pentium Business Headquarters and the Liberation Business Headquarters to strengthen the independent brand planning. In particular, the "Hongqi brand" should be mentioned here, and Chairman Xu Liuping opened a strategy to revive the Hongqi brand. First of all, Xu Liuping directly operated the Hongqi brand from FAW headquarters.
In the past, the positioning of Hongqi was unattainable, and Xu Liuping guided the brand image of Hongqi to the direction of marketization and rejuvenation, bringing a broader mass base to the brand. The establishment of Hongqi's vision: to build a world-famous high-end brand; brand mission: to benefit mankind "a better life, wonderful travel"; brand responsibility: "revitalize the national automobile industry"; brand concept: Chinese style new noble refinement.
At the release of the new Hongqi brand in 2018, it was clear that the two Chinese characters of "Hongqi" are the main target, the flag mark and the three standard combinations of the wheel mark.
In 2017, Jin Dong, the spokesperson of Hongqi brand image, also appeared at the press conference and was given a specially customized Hongqi commemorative car logo.
The Hongqi brand is becoming a national tide, holding hands with the Forbidden City, creating a national heavy weapon, to sponsoring "Liang Zhu", cross-border cooperation Li Ning, setting off a national tide storm, to launching the "Douyin Daren", creating a thousand people Red Flag Internet celebrity; from "holding hands" in the aviation industry, creating a strong alliance of "land and air", to the strongest IP to build a national brand in Frankfurt, and appearing in the World Internet Conference, sponsoring the Beijing Summit of the China-Africa Forum, participating in the TIAA Conference, the Internet of Things Expo, AVEC 2018 Conference, Baidu Conference and so on.
The "Flag Pet Pink Festival" designates July 17 every year as the festival for all Hongqi owners, conveying the meaning of "with hongqi, together" through a very iconic date.
At the product level, today, the Hongqi brand has formed a car product lineup composed of H5, H7 and H9, and formed an SUV family lineup composed of HS5, HS7, E-HS3 and E-HS9. Hongqi will build four series of products of L, S, H and Q, expand the product matrix in the four major areas of supreme flagship, coupe, mainstream and commerce, and comprehensively lay out the future "new four modernization" industry fields.
In 2019, the Hongqi brand achieved total sales of 100166 vehicles, compared with 33,000 units in 2018, achieving a year-on-year increase of 203%. The original time to achieve the goal of "breaking through 100,000 vehicles" was 2020, and the task was exceeded one year ahead of schedule, and 200,000 vehicles were achieved. Previously, the sales target for 2021 released by Hongqi was 400,000 vehicles, of which the data released by Hongqi showed that from January to September this year, Hongqi H9 sales were 21,536 vehicles, an increase of 583.9% year-on-year.
At the beginning of 2020, Hongqi H9 ushered in its global debut in the Great Hall, and now, Hongqi H9 has occupied a place in the medium and large luxury segment. After Hongqi began its rejuvenation strategy in 2018, its main products increased from one or two in the past to 5-6. Adopting a dual-displacement, multi-model layout, many models remain on the market for one year to launch the annual remodeled model, maintaining the speed of product updates.
In terms of research and development, Hongqi has built a research and development system of "two ministries and four hospitals" and a research and development layout of "three countries and five places".
In addition, Xu Liuping has also made a breakthrough in channels. According to public data in 2020, Hongqi's experience centers have spread to more than 30 provincial and municipal cities across the country, the number of experience centers and service outlets at all levels has exceeded 150, and more than 280 Hongqi experience centers will open stores by the end of 2020.
At the 2021 Sino-German Automobile Conference, Xu Liuping, secretary of the party committee and chairman of China FAW Group Co., Ltd., said that by 2025, new energy models will account for 40% of FAW Hongqi's sales and reach 80% by 2030; at the same time, the penetration rate of models above the intelligent network L2 level will reach 70% in 2025 and 90% in 2030.
If the revival of Hongqi is successful, this is not only the pride of Xu Liuping, but also the pride of China's automobile industry.
Xu Liuping said: "The growth of the Hongqi brand in recent years, its own efforts are only one aspect, the most important thing is that consumers' love, publicity and sense of identity and pride of the Hongqi brand are unprecedentedly high, Chinese consumers, The Chinese people's love and recognition of the Hongqi brand is the most basic force for the Hongqi brand to strive." ”