Yang Ming: China is our most important market, and next year will be the year of Mercedes-Benz's EQ

The Paper's reporter Liu Peiqi

On November 19, on the eve of the Guangzhou Auto Show, the new Mercedes-Maybach S-Class once again chose Guangzhou for its world premiere.

The first Maybach SUV model, the new Maybach GLS SUV, was also officially launched in the Chinese market. The new car is available in three models, priced at 1.588 million to 2.738 million yuan.

With this, Mercedes-Benz once again paid the highest tribute to China, a blessed land that has contributed 2/3 of the world's sales to the Maybach S-Class in the past six years.

More precisely, the Chinese market is not only a maybach, but also a blessing for the entire Mercedes-Benz brand. Since 2015, China has been its largest single market in the world for five consecutive years, and 2020 will be no exception.

When the last auto show of 2020 came, for Yang Ming, who had just been president and CEO of Beijing Mercedes-Benz Sales Service Co., Ltd. for just one year, looking back on this experience, he sighed that it was "half sea water and half flame." ”

Yang Ming, President and CEO of Beijing Mercedes-Benz Sales Service Co., Ltd

After Mercedes-Benz won the championship in China against the trend in January this year, it immediately faced the same challenges as everyone else in the special period of the epidemic, "such as how to conduct business, how to solve supply chain problems, etc. At that time, Yang Ming also hurriedly ended the overseas Spring Festival holiday, and rushed back to China in time on the eve of the temporary cancellation of international routes.

Even though Mercedes-Benz gradually resumed its main production and operations in China in February, the epidemic still caused a big blow to its sales. According to the data, in the first quarter of 2020, Mercedes-Benz sold about 138,900 vehicles in China, down 20.3% year-on-year.

However, the Chinese market is picking up faster than expected. Mercedes-Benz has resumed positive year-on-year sales growth since April, and Mercedes-Benz's performance in the first half of the year in the Chinese market has also become a bright spot in the downturn of its global sales.

In the first half of 2020, Mercedes-Benz's cumulative sales in the Chinese market reached 346067 vehicles, an increase of 0.4% year-on-year, and China became the only market where Mercedes-Benz achieved positive sales growth, and the vitality of the Chinese market once again gave Mercedes-Benz and Yang Ming full confidence in looking forward to the future.

"China is our most important market." This sentence was once again heard by Yang Ming after repeated confirmation in the past, and the new high of 702,000 vehicles set by Mercedes-Benz in the Chinese market in 2019 is waiting to be refreshed again without accident.

This year also coincides with the 15th anniversary of Daimler's launch of the "Made in China, Exclusive to China" domestic passenger model. So far, Beijing Benz has produced 8 Mercedes-Benz passenger models, and Mercedes-Benz has successively launched a number of "exclusive China" products.

Yang Ming said that the consumption upgrade of Chinese society is bringing more development opportunities to Mercedes-Benz, and Mercedes-Benz will "go further and realize the electrification of all products" to meet the diversified and personalized needs of different customers.

In 2019, the launch of the Mercedes-Benz EQC pure electric SUV unveiled the road of Pure Electric for Mercedes-Benz in China.

Yang Ming introduced that starting next year, EQA, EQB and pure electric flagship models EQS under the EQ brand will enter the market. It is worth mentioning that the EQS is the first model based on its new EVA pure electric platform, and the mileage will exceed 700 kilometers. In addition, starting in 2025, a number of compact and medium-sized vehicles based on its second exclusive electrified MMA platform will also be unveiled.

While laying out pure electric EQ products, the Mercedes-Benz brand will continue to explore solutions for plug-in hybrid models. In addition to the new GLE 350 e 4MATIC, which was launched at the Guangzhou Motor Show, Mercedes-Benz will bring users more plug-in hybrid models with outstanding energy efficiency.

"Next year will be our EQ year, and we hope that Mercedes-Benz will have a place in the field of electrification in the luxury brand camp." Yang Ming said. This time, just like every time in the past, Mercedes-Benz will adhere to its consistent persistence, and once again use "Mercedes-Benz quality" and "heart luxury" service experience to win the position it deserves for itself, and create a luxury brand that people yearn for.

The following is a transcript of the interview.

The Paper: This is not the first time that Maybach has chosen China as the starting market, what is the strategic significance of the Maybach market for the Chinese market? Our new strategy also mentions the strengthening of sub-brands, what kind of strategic deployment will be carried out?

Yang Ming: China is our most important market. Taking the Mercedes-Maybach S-Class as an example, more than 2/3 of the Mercedes-Maybach S-Class is currently sold to the Chinese market. The Maybach S-Class, which was launched in Guangzhou six years ago, was the first model to debut in China, and since then it has formed a good tradition, and we hope to continue to let it continue.

On 6 October, we unveiled our new Mercedes-Benz strategy, which also mentions a strategy to drive growth for our sub-brands. Mercedes-Maybach, Mercedes-AMG and G-Class cars all have very strong market recognition in China, and we hope to continue to release the development potential of sub-brands, enrich the unique product lineup of each sub-brand, let more people feel the extraordinary experience brought by sub-brands in different market segments, and then build Mercedes-Benz into China's most desirable automobile and service brand."

The Paper: Your first appearance last year was at the Chengdu Auto Show, when you also visited the Wuhou Ancestral Temple, and yesterday's Maybach night was again about "etiquette". Is it difficult to learn Chinese? How has Chinese culture or Eastern philosophy inspired you over the past year?

Yang Ming: Chinese very interesting. In the beginning, I spent 6 to 8 weeks studying intensively Chinese. But as you know, learning Chinese is not an easy task, and so far, it will take a lot of time to learn and understand the essence of Chinese that is easy to say and truly grasp the essence of Chinese.

Last year, I visited Wuhou Temple, and after that, I also had the opportunity to visit the Forbidden City and visit the Great Wall. Although I have been in China for more than a year, I am just a newcomer to the vast and profound Chinese culture. As my understanding of China gradually deepened, my two feelings became stronger: First, taking the experience of visiting the Forbidden City as an example, I found that the architectural styles of the East and the West in the same historical period were very distinct, which reflected the huge differences between the eastern and western cultures, which made me look forward to the in-depth understanding of Chinese culture; in addition, from Beijing to Chengdu, Shenzhen, including this time to Guangzhou, I was more aware of China's vast land and treasures. All this made me deeply feel the diversity of China.

What impressed me was that etiquette had a profound impact on Chinese culture. Previously, I had communicated with my colleagues about the positioning of the Maybach brand, and they told me that I could try to build emotional resonance with Chinese customers by paying the highest respect for the "courtesy".

Whether it's understanding Chinese culture and diversity, or having emotional resonance with Chinese customers, it's a great learning process for me.

The Paper: Mercedes-Benz recently proposed a new strategy, in which the vision of "focusing on luxury" and "leading the development of electric drive and automotive software" is ahead of its time. Combined with the Chinese market, what changes may be seen in the next 5 to 8 years?

Yang Ming: The newly released new Mercedes-Benz strategy covers six major aspects, each of which is very clear; among them, the first is to strengthen our luxury brand positioning. As we all know, Mercedes-Benz is a luxury car brand, and we will further strengthen this positioning and think and act in the future. The most critical question is – what is luxury? We are presenting today some of the products, including Maybach and other brands, which are the best testimonials to the positioning of luxury brands.

For us, redefining luxury is all about setting our own benchmark in every segment. The A-class cars to the Maybach models that you saw at the press conference today are benchmark models in their respective market segments; for example, the new AMG GLB 35 4MATIC is a dynamic and practical representative of the same level of market; the new GLE 350 e 4MATIC plug-in hybrid model officially launched at the Guangzhou Auto Show also has excellent configuration performance. In the Chinese market, we hope to set our luxury benchmark in the field of customer service, hoping to provide everyone with a "heart luxury service" experience that matches the positioning of luxury brands.

In terms of strengthening brand positioning, As a luxury car brand with more than a hundred years, What Mercedes-Benz needs to do is not to subvert the change, but to continue to release the charm and potential of each sub-brand and strengthen the uniqueness of these sub-brands. At present, we have a very comprehensive brand camp, Mercedes-Maybach, Mercedes-AMG, G-Class, EQ electric technology brands, these brand assets are very attractive to Mercedes-Benz.

At the same time, the new brand strategy also emphasizes the leading position in the field of digitalization and electrification, and we also have specific layouts in these aspects, such as the development of operating systems: the update and upgrading of the MBUX intelligent human-computer interaction system can be seen in the new S-Class sedan, and we will continue to bring more upgrades in the next three years; in the future automotive software research and development, Mercedes-Benz has a strong local R&D team composed of more than 1,000 colleagues in China, and they also play a key role in our global R&D team. Not only that, but the Chinese team will play a vital role in exploring the future of digital luxury experiences.

The Paper: 2020 is quite extraordinary, can you talk about the feelings of this year in China?

Yang Ming: This year has a lot of emotions, 2020 is indeed very extraordinary, like a roller coaster: in January, we ushered in the opening of the market performance, but then faced the challenge of a special period. At that time, we considered a lot of issues, such as how the business was conducted, how to solve the supply chain problem, etc... In April, the overall domestic environment continued to improve, and the luxury car market also hit a new high for several consecutive months, and the market vitality exceeded expectations.

In the past period of time, our experience can be described as half sea water and half flame, and this experience has also given me a lot of insights. First of all, I saw the efficiency and orderliness of the whole society, the whole community, and of course the synergy of the whole society is needed to achieve such an outcome, which is the basis for our gradual resumption of daily life and economic operation today. I will never forget all this in China, and I am very honored to be able to participate in the process of overcoming the difficulties together. This year, thanks to the effective anti-epidemic results in China and the overall recovery of the market, we expect a relatively positive market performance, thanks to the opportunities and vitality brought by the Chinese market.

The Paper: How many points did you rate Mercedes-Benz's performance in China this year? What will be the focus for next year?

Yang Ming: I am a person who often reflects on myself, and I also believe that we can always surpass ourselves. In the face of challenges, we especially need to make more efforts to ensure solid performance in terms of brand value, market share and other dimensions.

At the same time, despite the many challenges, we have done a great job in customer service. Last year, Mercedes-Benz launched the Service Pact; subsequently, we implemented an exclusive position of "Customer Rights Officer" to ensure that the voice of customers is heard and the rights and interests of customers are implemented at the level of the company and dealer network.

This year, we officially launched the Mercedes-Benz "Hospitality" to create a "heart luxury" service experience for our customers. This year, we have 50,000 front-line and in-house employees undergoing service training. If we are fortunate enough to achieve certain results this year, it is all thanks to our excellent team and the unity of the entire Mercedes-Benz family.

Speaking of next year, the implementation of Mercedes-Benz's new strategy in the Chinese market is crucial.

First of all, to strengthen the status of Mercedes-Benz luxury brand, this has been reflected in our daily work and communication marketing.

Second, to create a very attractive product selection and quality service experience for customers. The so-called luxury is to provide customers with a "heart luxury" service experience that matches the luxury products while providing customers with a "heart luxury" service experience that matches the luxury products; it is not difficult to describe, but it is difficult to implement steadily and steadily, but we believe that the line is coming.

Third, the electrification strategy is also our focus, and next year will be our EQ year. Last year we launched the EQC pure electric SUV on the market, and its market performance has continued to climb this year. Next year, we will launch a series of pure electric products, including EQA, EQB and EQS. In the future, through the EVA platform, we will launch a series of electric models. In the next two years, we hope that Mercedes-Benz will have a place in the field of electrification in the luxury brand camp.

The Paper: Just mentioned that 2021 is the year of Mercedes-Benz's EQ, what characteristics do you think customers who buy EQ products have?

Yang Ming: Customers of new energy vehicle products are often very enterprising, independent, environmentally conscious, love interconnection and OTA technology, like simple design and enjoy driving fun.

We believe that with the further popularization of new energy products, the composition of the customer base will also change in the future, and the purchase of electric vehicles will also change from an aggressive decision to an acceptable choice for ordinary users. What is certain is that new energy models may appear in every market segment in the future; for us, every market segment will have our products, including pure electric vehicle models and plug-in hybrid models. For example, this time we are also launching a new GLE 350 e 4MATIC plug-in hybrid model, which has a pure electric range of more than 100 km.

So far, when it comes to new energy products in the luxury segment, it must be technology that makes the brand stand out - technology determines battery performance and mileage. At the same time, the intelligent interconnection of the car and the OTA function will give the brand more prominent advantages. We believe that over time, as technology continues to advance and become more widespread, high mileage, OTA features, etc. will become more common, which will reduce the degree of separation between products. At that time, when people choose a new energy product, the consideration will return to the experience of the product itself, including the satisfaction and comfort of the space, the exquisite craftsmanship of the vehicle itself, etc. And in these respects, we undoubtedly have a huge advantage. For example, sometimes I chat with EQC customers, who are very appreciative of the quality of Mercedes-Benz new energy products. This is also our future direction, to create "Mercedes-Benz quality" new energy products.

The Paper: We are concerned that in recent years, other luxury brands are now also making efforts in electrification, it can be said that it is common and often new, you chase me, how to look at the current state of the luxury car market? This year is an extraordinary year, we pay attention to Mercedes-Benz in the first three quarters to achieve sales of nearly 570,000 new cars, on the basis of such a high sales base, how to tap the next step of Mercedes-Benz to tap further sales potential? Yang Ming: Everyone is very familiar with the competitive landscape in the field of traditional fuel vehicles. In the luxury car segment, about 70% of sales are contributed by the three major German brands, and such an environment is naturally extremely intense. We want to do our part and keep us competitive in the market.

If you look at the long term, in the luxury car market in the next 5 to 10 years, I think the growth of traditional fuel vehicles will slow down; if you want to get a better sales performance, it is more in the field of new energy to release potential. Taking Mercedes-Benz as an example, we launched the first pure electric product EQC pure electric SUV last year, and there will be two or three products launched every year in the future. It is believed that under the new energy competition pattern in the luxury car market in the future, as more products are launched, traditional brands will have greater achievements in the field of new energy.

The Paper: When it comes to the trend of rejuvenation of customer groups in the Chinese market, the age of Mercedes-Benz's target customer group is about 35 years old, how to better meet the needs of this young consumer market? How do I tweak my products to get more of their attention?

Yang Ming: At present, about 20% of the sales performance comes from the new generation of compact models, including A-class cars, GLA SUVs, GLB SUVs and other major models. With these models, we have also attracted more young people to join the Mercedes-Benz family. At the same time, we also have a very reliable lineup of mid-level models, including C-class cars, E-class cars, GLC SUVs, etc., each of which shows positive growth. In addition, we also have some star products, such as G-class off-road vehicles, GLS SUVs, S-class sedans, etc.

That is to say, we have a very good growth base, do not need to rely too much on any one market segment, we are relatively solid in each segment and have a good performance. Based on brand positioning and market demand, for young consumers, the most important thing is to create luxury car brands and products that they yearn for. The consumption upgrade of Chinese society has also brought more development opportunities to luxury brands and us. In this process, we need to continue to strengthen the deployment of products and gain insight into the aspirations of Chinese customers. At present, we have launched 8 domestic passenger models "Made in China, Exclusive to China" to better understand chinese customers and the Chinese market.

Of course, as we insist on emphasizing – just as important as creating desirable luxury automotive products, it is to create a luxury customer experience that customers yearn for, that is, our "heart luxury" customer service and customer experience.

Our future plan is also very clear and simple, that is, to create a desirable luxury car brand, which requires us to synchronize our efforts in many aspects such as products, brands and services.

Editor-in-Charge: Chen Hua

Proofreader: Yan Zhang