From：Internet Info Agency 2018-09-05 20:45:24
IIA reports from Moscow, Russia: There is a countdown board, which says “174 days till SOP”, in the entrance of GWM office in Tula factory in Russia. And this also means that February 20th, the date of SOP of the new model is approaching.
As the first GWM oversea factory which integrates four industrial workshops, including stamping, auto body, painting and general assembly, and one technology center. Tulskaya factory is quite meaningful to the globalization strategy of GWM. And IIA was lucky to be among the first media groups visiting Tula factory. Although it is still constructing, we could find clues of its ambition of globalization and let’s have a total look at it.
1. Next generation of Haval, multiple global models will be launched
According to the plan of Tula factory in Russia, the future annual output will be around 150k units (In the first term, it will be 80k, and in the second term, it will reach 150k units.). Apart from meeting the local production demand, it will also cover some neighbors around Russia, and at the same time, it will enter the European market. Europe is very strict with the vehicle emission and the assessment standard and Haval has already worked on it.
IIA had a conversation with Shihui Wang, general manager of GWM international department. He said, “The first model produced by Tula factory will be the Haval F7. So is the Haval H9.” In his opinion, Haval’s products will be globalized since the launching of the next generation. And this also means that from the very beginning of development, the product will meet the EU market standard.
GWM’s chairman Wei Jianjun said, “Models of the next generation will aim at the globe. Over these years, GWM has put a lot of efforts in developing the future international market including R&D, market planning and product planning.
According to the plan, GWM future models will be adopted with the higher international standard since the beginning of R&D and not only will meet the demand of the Chinese market, but also could enter the global market. This is fairly useful to the brand value evaluation of GWM. After all, the product itself is the key.
At present, GWM has four brands: Haval, Great Wall, WEY and ORA. In terms of the export plan of the future models, Wang Shihui said that besides Haval, WEY and ORA will also be exported and WEY is expected to enter the North American market.
1. R&D centers in various countries, to lay the groundwork for entering European and American markets
In the overseas market, Haval regards Hyundai, Toyota and Nissan as its competitors. And the product performance will be the key in the competition with other companies. Put R&D first is the everlasting rule in the auto industry.
In the area of R&D, annual investment in R&D has already exceeded 0.6 billion dollars. And in the meantime, the distribution to the global market has begun. In Japan, the US, India, Austria and ROK, the local R&D centers were established. Including the R&D centers in Baoding and Shanghai, GWM has the R&D system of 7 centers locating in 6 countries around the world.
In addition, in this year of GWM will start using R&D center of Battery and Hydrogen, exploring further in new energy area. Based on the products of a global standard, the establishment of more overseas R&D centers contributes to an energy system of globalization. It will help GWM develop the products which will meet the market demand of other Asian countries, Europe and North America.
3. Haval oversea market needs to operate brand marketing
For GWM, the highlight of Tula factory is the complete layout of four industrial workshops featuring stamping, auto body, painting and GA, rather than the traditional CDK mode. And Shihui Wang also explained why GWM chose to raise the production cost overseas.
“In Russian market, we need to collect the demand of local customers accurately in order to offer them better service and experience. Russia is a normal market without only increase or decrease. Considering the long-term strategy of the brand and the company, Haval’s annual sales is expected to reach about 30-50k units.”
Referring to the development of the brand, Wang Shihui said, “Looking back at the Haval H6’s marketing strategy, the first step is to find out the accurate targeting customers. The second is to introduce them to the trustable product quality. Then is the service and spot construction. Before the launching of the new car, all the body parts should be well settled to ensure the service quality and productivity.
Russia Auto Show is the first time for Haval to show up in Russia. Besides introducing the products to customers, another important task is to attract franchise. We learned that more than 10 local dealers signed partnership agreements with Haval at the auto show to build sales networks. Haval has 18 secondary sales networks, and will reach 35 spots at the end of 2018 and 65 spots in 2020.
It’s worth mentioning that around the Tula factory, Haval not only established an auto parts matching base, but also supported local education and other regarding projects in order to meet the staffs’ demand and help the local government developing.
In the end: Chinese automobile market has been relatively saturated. And due to the policy, for those independent brands, exploring more markets is the right way. Sales pressure could be relieved by export and export will enhance the influence of independent brands in the world.
