Volkswagen and Audi, making the 「re-joint venture」mentioned in public again and again, are bound to lose faith in their partners, in the competent authorities and in Chinese consumers……Since then, Audi is already in a wrong path, blindly forward, farther and farther. And will eventually lose the market, and its original intention to increase its shares through "re-joint venture" will end up with nothing.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of Audi brand entering into China. It should be said that due to the forward-looking strategic vision of Volkswagen and Audi, and the positive feedback of the Chinese market, Audi has finally achieved the position of "Top-Three" in the global premium car market.
Next, a series of big events related to the Audi brand will take place in China:
This week, factory of FAW-Volkswagen Audi Q series will put into operation in Changchun;
Early next month, the new generation of Audi A8L will be listed in Hainan;
The new generation of Audi A8L will be listed in Hainan
At the end of next month, Audi and FAW-Volkswagen Audi will participate in together in the 15th Beijing international automotive exhibition;
On May 17, it was the 30th anniversary of FAW-Volkswagen and Audi signing the 「Technology transfer license for Audi 100 in FAW」……
But, at such an important moment, the old story of "re-joint ventures」, which has been put on hold for almost a year, has been retold again by VW and Audi, and became active in a sudden.
The new Audi A6 was officially released at the Geneva motor show in early March
At the Geneva motor show earlier this month, Jochem Heizmann, director of the Volkswagen group and CEO of Volkswagen group China, revealed in a media interview that the SAIC-Audi project was being accelerated;
"SAIC-Audi project is proceeding as planned, Audi needs to walk on two legs in China, thus increases our market share in the rising Chinese market."the Audi CEO Rupert Stadler said at the Audi global media conference ,which was held in the middle of March;
Recently, as reported: Audi's official website announced that constructive talks with SAIC are under way, discussing on enhancing its participation in the Chinese market in the future……
Audi’s 「re-joint venture」 revealed to the public, began in late October 2016, after more than half a year time, Dietmar Voggenreiter, global marketing and sales director of Audi, who championed the 「re-joint venture", has been "kicked out」, because of losing credibility among Audi dealers of China, as well as the first negative growth in the Chinese market.
Despite the discounts on several models, in the Chinese market, which Audi struggled for 28 years, Audi is still being overtaken by rivals, and global markets have been slashed by competitors; its profitability has been surpassed by Skoda, a common brand of Volkswagen Group…… At the same time, Audi had to sign a deal with FAW, making a number of promises.
But, this time the VW and Audi executives have "revived the old story" on different occasions, made Audi breaking promises again, and get it in a road of no return.
First, Audi lost the trust of its partners.
As we have talked about in the beginning, the completion of the factory of Audi Q series in changchun; the the new generation of Audi A8L in Hainan; the 15th Beijing international automotive exhibition, is expected to be big……For Audi in the Chinese market, these are the big events of the year, even in the next few years, and there is no room for error or distraction.But, when Audi's Chinese partners and dealers "fight" on the front line night and day, what Audi is doing is a "shoot" behind them! How will this make Chinese partners feel?
It's a horrible thing to think about, now that it can "shoot" its current partner behind their back, what can Audi do to its potential partners? Audi's "two-legged walk" is essentially a conventional ploy by Volkswagen to work with FAW and SAIC, This allows it to control the two Chinese partners.
Second, Audi will lose credibility with the competent authorities.
Thanks to the support of FAW group, as well as the government and competent departments, Audi has been developing so well in China since 1988.Thirty years ago, perhaps Mercedes didn't expect it, perhaps BMW didn't have the energy to take care of it, Audi grabbed a first in the Chinese market.
Nowadays, such a brand, which is not even an independent negotiating body, dare to 「make waves」 in the Chinese market, playing the two big auto groups in China around, making them jealous……How will this make the competent authorities in China feel?
Finally, Audi lost the trust of Chinese consumers.
After 30 years of joint venture cooperation, under the joint efforts of the Chinese and foreign sides, Audi has laid a solid foundation in China's premium car market, such as: approaching Mercedes and BMW brand awareness, premium car market share leading ahead of other high-grade car brand, and certain market appeal. However, in the past one and a half years of time, "rejoint venture" again, again and again, have put the image of Audi avaricious and changeable.Are Chinese consumers willing to accept more of such a brand image? How will this make the Chinese consumers feel?
Losing the trust of the partners, losing the trust of the competent authorities, and losing the confidence of Chinese consumers, Audi has been in a road of no return, blindly forward. In the end, it will be more haste, less speed, and the loss will be the market. The original intention of the "re-joint venture" to increase the market share will also be an empty one.（文：經濟日報-中國經濟網記者 張宇星 譯：張羽）
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