However, the situation in China is different. Domestic joint ventures are generally called automobile manufacturers, but the word "manufacturer" here is more in line with the literal meaning of "manufacturing". Because in the joint venture automobile enterprises: First, there is basically no real product R&D team, even if there is a so-called R&D department, its role and function are just like a "transit station", which is responsible for translating, archiving and transmitting the product data and product change information released by the R&D department of the foreign parent company to domestic enterprises; Second, manufacturing and sales &; Market separation, that is, the joint venture is only responsible for production and the market &; The sales of this part of the business are operated by another joint venture company or a wholly foreign-owned company. For example, wholly-owned companies such as BMW China, Volkswagen China and Mercedes-Benz China all undertake domestic market research, promotion, dealer network development and expansion, after-sales technical support and training. Therefore, from this perspective, several major domestic automobile joint ventures are more like foundries.
In order to get rid of the embarrassing situation of "OEM", FAW-Volkswagen and Shanghai Volkswagen, two companies that have done well in domestic joint ventures, have invested a lot of energy in independent research and development. Judging from the market performance, their own models are good in performance, cost performance and sales.
A dealer in a narrow sense is a sales storefront similar to a 4S shop or a 3S shop. In a broad sense, it can be understood as an oligopoly that monopolizes the sales channels of one or several brands in China, such as Huge, Lixing and Zhong Yi. These oligarchs also focus on sales, but their roles and functions are more like the internal market of foreign automobile manufacturers. The role of the sales department. The existence of these oligarchs has greatly weakened the sales profits of some big brand cars in China. Recently, it is very popular that Mercedes-Benz and BAIC want to set up a separate company to be responsible for the marketing and sales of Mercedes-Benz in China, so as to end Li Xingxing's previous monopoly on Mercedes-Benz's imported car business.
Daimler AG is one of the German automobile manufacturers, and it belongs to the same traditional automobile manufacturers as BMW, Volkswagen and Porsche. Mercedes-Benz brand belongs to Daimler Group and is a brand of Daimler AG. In Germany, all Mercedes-Benz factories can see such a brand "a factory of Daimler AG Group".
As early as 1998, Daimler AG acquired the American Chrysler Group (Chrysler was then the third largest automobile manufacturer in the United States). At the beginning, the two sides reached the cooperation intention because Daimler AG valued Chrysler's success and advantages in low-end cars, and Chrysler Group hoped to gain the successful experience of Mercedes-Benz and help develop its own high-end products (such as Chrysler 300 and Chrysler 300C). However, due to the differences in corporate culture between Germany and the United States, in the ten years after the cooperation, the two sides not only failed to realize the original intention of complementary advantages, but also affected the respective operating conditions of the two enterprises, resulting in the loss of Chrysler Group for many years. Finally, the two companies announced their dissolution in early 2008.
After the disintegration, Daimler AG quickly integrated resources and closed funds, realizing the growth of corporate profits; However, Chrysler Group, because of its strong vitality, went to the ranks of applying for bankruptcy protection in the financial crisis. At present, Italy Fiat Group has acquired Chrysler as its new owner. Judging from last year's situation, Chrysler's operating conditions are improving.
After Daimler AG acquired Chrysler Group, Toyota executives lamented "Thanks to the Germans for helping us eliminate a growing competitor". If you know about lean production and are interested in its development history, you can know the story behind this sentence.
At present, we can pay attention to the story between Geely and Volvo, and I believe we will also write a ups and downs and confusing chapter.