·Imported trucks enter the downturn in China and lower the overall trend

“From January to August 2013, the cumulative import of trucks was 0.9 million units, a decrease of 41.99% year-on-year. Among them, the import volume of heavy trucks with more than 20 tons dropped by a large margin, which lowered the overall trend.” Recently, the Director of Data Resource Center of China Automotive Research Center Zhu Xianglei said at the 2013 China (Suizhou) International Automotive Industry Development Forum.

It is understood that the Chinese truck import market shows a clear cycle, with an average of four years as a cycle. Due to the increased demand for high-end trucks in recent years, the number of Chinese truck imports has remained at a relatively high level from 2010 to 2012. This year's decline in truck imports has once again confirmed this pattern.

What is the performance of imported trucks entering the downturn in the Chinese market?

Segmentation and subdivision have advantages and disadvantages

When it comes to importing trucks, people first think of "high-end, atmospheric, and high-grade". Imported trucks enter China, and it is naturally high-end areas to be captured. In the limited high-end market, imported trucks have been further subdivided.

“Imported trucks have a certain focus in the expansion of the Chinese market. From the previous large-scale exhibitions, this obvious feature can be seen: the exhibits exhibited by foreign brands are nothing more than two types, one is modified cars and chassis. One is the tractor.” Tan Xiuqing, an expert of the Expert Committee of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers and vice president of Shandong Heavy Industry Group Co., Ltd., said: “This strategy is correct. The market must be subdivided, especially imported trucks. When it's big, it can't be fully rolled out, it has to be focused, and there is no need to compete with domestic products with competitive advantages (such as dump trucks)."

From the high-end market segmentation to the chassis, modified cars and tractors, imported trucks have not stopped here, and the imported cars of various brands have been subdivided again.

Taking Volvo as an example, at present, its FM models are mostly used in fast logistics companies, while FH models are more suitable for long-distance fast logistics.

"In China's imported brands, Mercedes-Benz's market share in the mixer truck and pump chassis market is relatively large; Man and Volvo's chassis products are complementary; previously Iveco's chassis is also more, now less; Duff almost no There are also very few Scanias. In the field of tractors and efficient transportation and large-size transportation, there are many brands on the road such as Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Mann, Scania, etc., but their respective proportions are different. In the field, there are more people; in the high-altitude fire trucks, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo can be seen, and Iveco, Duff, and Scania rarely see them.” Tan Xiuqing analyzed: “There is a historical reason for this distinction. Imported trucks have different focuses when they first entered China. Over the years, they have been recognized by users in certain fields, which has formed advantages in these fields."

However, this segmentation and subdivided market strategy may be able to guarantee high profits, but at the same time limit sales. “In recent years, the total amount of truck imports has not increased much,” a person from the European Automobile Industry Association told reporters.

Quality doesn't have to be suitable or not, who knows

As the saying goes, one penny is worth the price. The high price of imported heavy trucks corresponds to high quality. For this, Chinese consumers have no doubt.

“The domestic trucks we used before needed to be overhauled when driving 300,000 kilometers. Now the quality of the cars is good, and the average 450,000 kilometers is needed for overhaul. The first 15 imported cars in our hands need to be overhauled. After driving 980,000 kilometers, the rest were over 1.2 million kilometers before it was overhauled. It can be seen that the quality gap between Chinese and foreign trucks is still very obvious.” Zhai Ziwang, assistant general manager of Sanxin Refrigerated Storage and Transportation Co., Ltd., told reporters.

Yang Wensheng, deputy general manager of Shenyang Jixiang Logistics, also expressed a similar view: "Our company has used two imported trucks from Europe, and the effect is good. It is indeed a good car, almost all year round."

However, high reliability is only one of many requirements of consumers.

"The cars are good, but they are too oily. When the speed is high, the fuel consumption can reach 35 liters per 100 kilometers. If the speed is faster, the fuel consumption will reach 38 to 39 liters per 100 kilometers." Yang Wensheng complained.

In this regard, Zhai Ziwang gave a detailed explanation: "We have rented two European famous brands of trucks for two years in Beijing-Chengdu special line. From the actual use situation, I think they are not suitable for the domestic situation, because These brands are high-speed cars with an economical speed of 95 to 105 kilometers per hour. The road conditions in China are not at this level, and the economic speed is 60 to 70 kilometers per hour. We calculate fuel consumption every month and every time, two foreign brand vehicles. The fuel consumption is higher than that of the domestic car. It is not to say that the imported car costs oil, but that they only save fuel at high speed, and their economic speed cannot be adjusted. This is related to the engine, and the high horsepower engine corresponds to high speed."

Safety is also a concern for Scorpion.

"With so many years in the transportation industry, our experience is to control the speed with fuel consumption and control the speed with speed. If you always run at 90 km/h, it is difficult to ensure safety. There is such an example, we have a colleague who used to be in China. After doing the clothing business with Russia, after earning money, I bought 10 imported cars of a well-known brand. After running for less than 5 years, there were 5 cars left in 10 cars. Two drivers were killed and two cars were scrapped. It is not the problem of the vehicle itself, that is, the speed of the vehicle is too fast. For the transportation company, as long as an accident occurs, the earned money will be fully lost. Therefore, safety is the first priority, and the safety is always valued when evaluating the vehicle. Now our newly purchased car is required to carry out speed limit at the factory, and the maximum speed is limited to 90 kilometers. On the one hand, it is good for the car, on the other hand, it is safe.” Zhai Ziwang said: “We all know Mercedes, Volvo, Man, and These are all good cars, and they can improve the company's image. But after all, the company is trying to make money instead of making a penny. Not to mention the price of imported cars, they are suitable for not suitable in China. Running on the road of national conditions is suitable for people and cars that are not suitable for China, and such uneven quality. Foreign countries, especially Europe, have a clear legal system, good road conditions, and fewer people and cars. These brands can fully run in these countries. Performance is achieved. But in China, the same car has changed environment, it may not be suitable. Now we use the joint venture car for long-distance transportation, and use domestic cars for short and medium distance."

Rational or conservative sales approach

In the expansion of the sales network, some people think that the channel expansion of imported trucks tends to be conservative, while others think it is very rational.

It is understood that Volvo Trucks currently has 21 authorized dealers and 50 service outlets in China. “The establishment of a regional professional sales service team can help Volvo trucks to better cope with the development needs of the local economy and solve the operational problems of local customers in a timely and efficient manner. The relationship between Volvo Trucks and Chinese distributors is not 'dependent'. But support each other. We have a rigorous assessment of dealers and assess their work in all aspects to ensure their strict implementation of Volvo truck service standards," Volvo said.

In addition, Iveco has more than 30 imported car sales outlets in China. Scania has a small number of truck dealers, and has opened its website for more than 10 homes. However, in August this year, the Scania Guangzhou direct store opened, which is the first wholly-owned distributor of Western truck manufacturers in China.

“Imported trucks are still mainly operated in China. On the one hand, imported brands have high requirements for dealers; on the other hand, because there are not many sales, setting up too many dealers is a waste of resources. We can see that imported trucks I often advertise in magazines, and the advertisements are published in contact with them. Now the information is spread fast, and users can find relevant information when they go online. Therefore, it should be more rational when arranging the dealer network, in the market, there are certain users. Place again, after all, the cost of building a store is very high, and users who buy imported trucks usually look for manufacturers instead of manufacturers to find users.” Tan Xiuqing analyzed: “In the case of Scania, it has been playing for several years. Foundation, first create the potential to let users know themselves. As for the opening of the Guangzhou direct store, I think it makes sense. Scania is mainly imported cars, which will bring two problems: the first is the high price, the second is Service is difficult. Therefore, we must first set up a 'base area' in one place, and then spread from point to point. The reason why we chose Guangzhou, after all, Guangdong and Fujian are Scania relative sets.

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