China is the leading position of Mercedes-Benz "brand restoration"

In 2010, the Mercedes-Benz sedan sold more than 140,000 units, a record increase of 115% year-on-year, and continues to be the fastest growing luxury car brand in the Chinese automobile market. On the 125th anniversary of Mercedes-Benz’s just past, Hualixin, chairman and chief executive officer of Daimler Northeast Asia Investment Co., Ltd., reiterated “Mercedes’ sales in China reached 300,000 units in 2015, making China a Mercedes-Benz global leader. A big sales market" goal.

This means that in the next five years, Mercedes-Benz will make full efforts in all aspects of product, brand, and marketing network construction. Recently, Hualixin accepted an exclusive interview with this reporter on Mercedes-Benz's future development planning in China.

"21st Century": Do you think that from the current results, Mercedes-Benz "brand reset" goal is reached?

Hua Lixin: At present, we have completed the goal of the first stage of brand reset. Now, the proportion of sales of Mercedes-Benz young models in the overall sales has been close to 40%, breaking the S-class thriving. The rapid growth in sales volume and the increasingly younger brand means that Mercedes-Benz’s first phase of “brand restoration” has already ended.

With the end of the first phase, leveraging on the 125th anniversary celebration and the new global slogan “Only the best”, Mercedes-Benz is about to start a new round of brand offensive in China and enter the second phase of “brand restoration”. The Chinese market has become the forefront of Mercedes-Benz's global "brand restoration". This round of global brand offensives is also a new round of “brand reset” in the Chinese market.

"21st Century": Last year, Mercedes-Benz's sales growth in China reached 115%, and BMW's sales gap is only more than 10,000 vehicles. Do you think that Mercedes-Benz sales in China this year may not exceed BMW?

Hua Lixin: For Mercedes-Benz, quality is a top priority. Mercedes-Benz's ability to achieve such rapid growth is the embodiment of our pursuit of “the best” in every field. While increasing sales, we are constantly increasing our investment in dealer networks and after-sales services. Our goal is to achieve sustainable growth, so that customers can fully feel Mercedes-Benz's leadership style and brand connotation.

"21st Century": Mercedes-Benz competitors in the Chinese market has introduced a more localized corporate development strategy, Mercedes-Benz is how to view this strategic shift in competitors?

Hualixin: At present, the ratio of Mercedes-Benz's imported and domestic models in China is 7:3. By 2015, this ratio will be 3:7. Not only that, we established the Pioneer Design Center in Beijing as early as 2008, and we are also the only foreign company that has cooperation in the field of new energy electric vehicles in China. In addition, we will also establish an engine plant and two R&D projects in China. Center, this is what competitors are not able to do. I believe that in 2015, Mercedes will give everyone a surprise.

"21st Century": In the next few years, Daimler is ready to invest 3 billion euros to develop the Chinese market. What is the specific plan?

Hua Lixin: First of all, we will invest 200 million euros to build a new engine plant at Beijing Benz. We are now designing and organizing the construction phase. We expect to start production in 2013. At the same time, we will continue to expand the production capacity of Beijing Benz and plan to achieve a sales target of 300,000 vehicles in China in 2015. Among them, 200,000 will be from Beijing Benz. In addition, we will establish a R&D center in Beijing Benz and Daimler in Fujian.

At the product level, by the end of 2015, Beijing Benz plans to introduce four more models, plus the existing C and E-class models, will form a product lineup of six models. Among them, GLK is planned to be introduced to the market by the end of 2011 or early 2012, and the remaining three models will all adopt a brand-new vehicle platform.

In order to tie in with the gradual expansion of production and sales, we will further expand the dealer network. At present, Mercedes-Benz has established 166 sales and service centers and exhibition halls that use globally uniform standards in nearly 80 cities in mainland China. Starting in 2011, we plan to expand our dealer network at an average speed of over 25 per year.

“21st Century”: The establishment of R&D centers in Beibei and Daimler in Fujian respectively means that Beiqi’s acquisition of Fujian Daimler’s Chinese equity plan has completely stopped.

Hua Lixin: The first thing we need to make clear is that our newly established R&D center in Daimler, Fujian province and Beiqi Holding’s acquisition of China Daimler’s shares in China are two separate things. Second, we have a good relationship with both BAIC Group and Fuqi Group. At present, various plans are being steadily carried out.

"21st Century": Affected by policy factors, some people predict that the development of China's auto market this year and next may not be optimistic. Do you think this year's luxury car market in China will show what kind of development trend?

Hua Lixin: Based on available data, we believe that the demand for the luxury car market in China will continue to grow. The reasons are as follows: In China, the luxury car market currently accounts for 5% of the total car market share, and this figure is 15%-16% in Germany, the United States is 20%, so from this perspective, the Chinese luxury car The market still has great potential; as the net income of Chinese households continues to grow, they will have more and more disposable income to buy luxury cars; for the moment, about two-thirds of luxury car buyers come from the east In the coastal areas, with the further development of the economy, the demand for luxury cars by residents in the inland areas of China's central and western regions will gradually increase as income increases.

Twenty years ago, luxury cars often meant only large cars, such as the Mercedes-Benz S-Class. Today's luxury car market is continuously subdivided. For example, our C-Class, E-Class, and more younger models like B-Class, A-Class, smart, etc. have all entered the Chinese market. The diversified product lineup will bring more choices to Chinese customers and will further promote the growth of the luxury car market.

"21st Century": In addition to market segmentation, what features will the Chinese luxury car market present in the future? What role does Mercedes play in it?

Hua Lixin: First, green environmental protection will be one of the trends in the future development of the luxury car market. Soon, smart electric vehicles will be mass-produced worldwide, and the electric vehicles we and BYD actively research and develop will also be on stage.

Second, more and more research reports in China are about traffic accidents, which means that in the segment of luxury cars, the development and application of active and passive safety technologies will also become a trend.

"21st Century": In the development of new energy vehicles, Daimler plan?

Hualixin: Daimler has initiated a number of technical studies to achieve zero-emission transportation in the future, including hybrid power, fuel cells, power batteries, and diesel vehicle technology. By further reducing energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions, we will create a truly green luxury car.

Mercedes-Benz has specifically proposed the Blue Efficiency environmental strategy to achieve the long-term goal of zero-emission transportation by optimizing the internal combustion engine, developing hybrid technology, zero-emission battery power technology and fuel cell technology.

Daimler currently invests 2 billion euros in environmental protection every year. Regardless of whether the future market is dominated by pure electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles, or fuel cell vehicles, we will unwaveringly conduct R&D in various fields and advance on the road to sustainable development.

"21st Century": The joint venture between Mercedes-Benz and BYD will have its own brand. Will the brand be used only in the Chinese market or will it be used in other emerging market countries?

Hua Lixin: Our cooperation with BYD is a big project. Both parties are actively cooperating in research and development of electric vehicles and using new brands to sell in China. Considering that there are no mass-produced electric vehicles in the Chinese market, it is very difficult and very important to take the first step.

The two parties signed a contract on May 27 last year and the project progressed smoothly. After the industrial and commercial registration and approval stage, the company will officially begin operations. We hope to lay the foundation for the first step first, and then we can steadily advance other tasks.