Interview with Dongfeng Nissian

Last week, IIA held a telephone interview with Xin Yu, the general manager of Dongfeng Nissan Automobile Sales Co., Ltd. As an expert in sales and marketing of automobile joint ventures in the Chinese automobile market for more than 20 years, Xin Yu has a high degree of sensitivity to the market and a firm grasp of product technology and brand building. As a Chinese, Xin Yu was hired by the foreign party as a sales boss, which is very rare in Japanese joint ventures, indicating that he has received a high degree of trust from both sides of the joint venture. In this position of Dongfeng Nissan Automobile Sales Co., Ltd., he actually manages more than one million car sales.

IIA: How did Dongfeng Nissan's four production bases in China be affected by the COVID-19? How is the factory resuming production.

Xin: Among the four bases, two bases were affected to varying degrees, and the Xiangyang production base was the most affected. Fortunately, more than 19,000 workers have not been infected. And now the four factories have resumed work and production.

IIA: In terms of supply chain, did you communicate with suppliers during the resumption process?

Xin: After the outbreak, our logistics department and procurement department immediately conducted many rounds of emergency filing discussions with suppliers, including how to use the original parts inventory, how to optimize logistics, and minimize the number of missing parts to resume work. influences.

IIA: Based on the judgment of the automobile market trend, what adjustments have been made to the production plan?

Xin: We expect the overall sales of Chinese cars to decline by more than 50% in the first quarter of this year, and possibly 60%. In this case, the market demand side is curbed, which is also the source of Dongfeng Nissan's timely adjustment of production capacity. Therefore, on the basis of ensuring the supply chain, we made pragmatic adjustments to the production plan throughout the first half of the year, especially in February and March, to ensure that we can survive the crisis.

IIA: The epidemic situation in Japan is slightly better than that in China. During the epidemic, did you often communicate with Nissan headquarters about the supply chain and the entire company's operations?Xin Yu: Dongfeng Nissan has regular communication with the headquarters every month or even every week. In fact, the epidemic has just begun to spread, and the impact is still limited to the Chinese region. Therefore, we only responded to the supply chain and suppliers in this region in the early stage.

However, at the end of February and early March, the epidemic gradually spread across the globe. In this case, Dongfeng Nissan urgently communicated with the headquarters, including the procurement of some international core components. At present, the epidemic situation in Japan has gradually stabilized, and more parts of Dongfeng Nissan are from Japan. Therefore, the impact of this epidemic on Dongfeng Nissan's supply chain is not particularly large.

IIA: What changes have been made to the sales targets set this year?

Xin Yu: There is too much uncertainty in the overall market. After the epidemic is over, we think the country will introduce many policies to stimulate the auto industry. However, regardless of the macro market, Dongfeng Nissan must do its own thing, so we are very flexible and proactive in assessing the impact of the epidemic on the supply chain and the market.

If the epidemic spreads to overseas markets, it will not only affect China, but also supply chains around the world. Therefore, we must maintain a cautious and optimistic attitude and take a step at a time, but we must respond quickly. On March 23, the opening of Dongfeng Nissan's national distributors reached more than 93%. We expect that in May and June, there will be a small peak period when the pre-consumption is suppressed and released.

IIA: SYLPHY was sold 460,000 vehicles last year. It is currently the king of the sedan on the market. It also plays a very good role in leading the growth of other models. Is there any action for this flagship product in the future?

Xin: SYLPHY is the leading product of Dongfeng Nissan. It has very good performance in terms of sales volume, consumer reputation, media evaluation and other aspects. At the same time, it will make appropriate adjustments to the product according to market conditions and consumer needs. Bring more surprises to consumers. The reason why the fourteenth-generation SYLPHY has such excellent performance, I think the car is more in line with the needs of young consumers. The entire interior design, workmanship, and deployment of technology configuration meet the needs of young consumers. The product power is very balanced, and it is more in line with the car needs of young families.

IIA: Dongfeng Nissan has done a lot of live broadcasts and activities online. After the epidemic is over, does Dongfeng Nissan have any other relevant network communication plans?

Xin: Previously, Dongfeng Nissan had been talking about internal broadcasts and other forms internally. This outbreak also made us calmer and think about the future marketing direction. In fact, whether or not there is an epidemic, the frequency and popularity of consumers' online activities are increasing. Now many consumers have already done enough homework before going to the store, which means that we will form brands, regions and distribution The multi-level linkage of business and other companies will help dealers to obtain the number and resources of potential customers to a greater extent. Dongfeng Nissan is more willing to transform the future marketing model into an e-commerce O2O model, communicate with consumers through more precise channels, and understand consumers' intentions to purchase cars.

However, as a bulk consumer product, currently online and offline linkages should be adopted. Online becomes a channel for obtaining leads, while offline provides more personalized services to consumers according to their needs. Therefore, online short-term will not replace physical offline sales, but as a supplement to offline sales.

IIA: What are the advantages and characteristics of Nissan in electrification?

Xin: For the future, Nissan is still very advanced in electrification. As of last year, the world's highest-selling electric car is the Nissan Leaf. This car is not only the first electric car to enter the market, but the most important thing is that it is very safe. Taking into account the driving comfort is very reliable in terms of electric control. Consumers can trust.

 Dongfeng Nissan will start a new technology this year and will meet consumers early next year. This technology is Nissan e-power. Different from ordinary hybrid models, this system uses full electric drive, but there is no need for charging, but it can bring consumers a pure electric driving experience.

 In terms of intelligent driving, X-Trail and TEANA are equipped with this technology in Nissan's products. We named it "Super Intelligent Driving" and reached L2 level autonomous driving. Different from other brands ’L2 driving technology, Nissan ’s“ Super Intelligent Driving ”centerline is very stable, and at the same time, it can achieve L2 level automatic driving at full speed, which is characterized by stable follow-up and starting blocks, so the experience is still very good. Facing the future, Nissan's intelligent driving will also continue to evolve towards L2 + and L3 levels. Of course, this needs to comply with Chinese road laws and regulations.

 In terms of intelligent interconnection, at present, all new products of Dongfeng Nissan have been equipped with mobile interconnection systems, which is ahead of other joint venture brands. Nissan's headquarters in Yokohama has a department called the Advanced Technology R & D Headquarters. This department will create some very interesting projects, such as the Nissan Brain Control Car displayed at CES. It can identify the electrical signals of the brain and predict the driving intention in advance. There is also invisible visualization technology, which uses millimeter wave radar and cameras to perceive external scenes, and projects real and virtual scenes on the windshield or virtual VR glasses to maximize passenger experience and improve driving. safety.

IIA: Chinese consumers are relatively young. In the future, young consumers will become the main car buyers. They are pursuing technology and pursuing new things. At the same time, many people are willing to pay for beautiful appearance. So what does Dongfeng Nissan need to do in terms of brand enhancement?

Xin: Brand rejuvenation is a part of the consumer group that automobile manufacturers must capture. From 2015-2016, Dongfeng Nissan has been committed to brand rejuvenation. I think that there should be a broader understanding of the concept of youth, I think young not only means young, but also young mentality.

From the perspective of brand rejuvenation strategy, first of all, we should come up with products and technologies that can convince young consumers, such as intelligent interconnection, intelligent driving, and intelligent power. These are the technologies that young consumers love.

Therefore, Nissan wants to be friends with young people and win them with their favorite content and products.

In the process of brand promotion, it is not enough to have an attitude, but also to have practical technology, so starting from 2018, Nissan has added intelligent content and products on the basis of youthfulness. It is more willing to pay.

IIA: Dongfeng Nissan's annual sales in 2019 reached 1.17 million units, an increase of 0.3% year-on-year. In the overall sluggish domestic market, such a result is already very difficult. Can you share any secrets?

Xin: Despite the decline of the auto market in 2019, Dongfeng Nissan sales team and dealers have made great efforts. Our secret to maintaining growth is to take the customer as the center and truly integrate online and offline services, and more is to provide consumers with quality services throughout the life cycle. Dongfeng Nissan set up a special department last year: Customer Development Department, focusing on establishing good communication with car owners. So, once you know your customers, you can respond quickly.