[HOONIGAN] Ken Block # 39; GYMKHANA NINE: Raw Industrial Playground
Any trip to Wal-Mart reveals the inevitable Chinese products take over our homes, but China's thirst for American cars badged equally large US automakers are ready to sell more than 2 5 million vehicles in China this year with American and European car markets stagnate, sales to China are vital to the health of the US auto industry.
Indeed, during the first half of this year, GM sold more cars in China 1 2 million vehicles in the United States 1 08000000 And GM expects to sell more than three million cars there each year in five years, but Ford is not faring as well in China GM outsells the blue oval brand from four to one So what GM is doing in China, and what Ford did wrong and what can we expect in the future.
The management of countless brands under the umbrella of GM was not one of the general strengths in recent decades, but its China operations run Chevrolet, Buick and Cadillac amazing well and are about get a fourth sales channel, more -priced Baojun.
The success of Buick in China helped save the mark of destiny Pontiac, Oldsmobile and Saturn In 2009, China accounted for 450,000 Buick sales; the United States last year, sales of Buick barely broke 100,000 The average Buick customer in China is in his mid-30s about half of its US counterpart age -MARKET Buick is the brand of choice for young people , successful entrepreneurs and enjoys born stamp to the popularity of the car among the wealthy in the 1930s in China Although it doesn t try to compete with German car manufacturers upscale Buick is significantly higher the typical trademarks of mass Chinese market Interestingly, since the last Buick LaCrosse В design was driven by the tastes of Chinese buyers.
For a long time, the range of Buick in China consisted of a hodgepodge of many cars GM's operations in Korea, Germany and America, they had little in common, except wear the insignia shield three brand new product invigorated the Buick brand and kept losing his position in the eyes of the Chinese.
LaCrosse and Regal based on the Epsilon II platform are assembled in China and are shared with the U S market; Enclave SUV, also available in China, was built in Lansing, Michigan At the bottom of the range is the best-selling Buick Excelle of a sedan based on a Korean Daewoo platform last seen in the US Dressed as the Suzuki Forenza look like a Buick, the Excelle he almost pulls off the Excelle GT will be based on the German Opel Astra design, but the old Excelle will remain in production and continue to be sold at the top of the range is rear-drive Park Avenue, built on the same platform Zeta Australian Pontiac G8 and Chevrolet Camaro minivans are strong sellers in China and represent 375,000 sales per year; although GM doesn t sell in the US They also live in China GL8, a Chinese iteration in the market for the minivan unlamented Chevrolet Venture, will soon be joined by a top version restyled range which should generate nice profit margin for GM if the Chevy Volt made in China, it is said that it will be badged a Buick.
Said Christoph StГјrmer, an analyst at IHS Automotive in Frankfurt In China, GM has played a local strategy They let people run Buick alone, and they are very successful in building the brand there.
Chevrolet is the second important pillar for GM in China With an expressive style and a range composed mainly of GM Daewoo designed cars like the Chevy Sail, the brand has established a growing presence in the lower segments of the market the backbone of the China's auto industry, according StГјrmer IHS small Chevrolet Spark, based on the Daewoo Matiz, was a controversial Chinese automaker Chery copied the first Spark generation and renamed the QQ GM wouldn t rest and sued, but the Chery QQ still on the market and still outsells the spark.
While Chevy sells based Daewoo vehicles, they are still superior to other homegrown cars who play in the lower segments of the market, and the brand has managed to keep a distance of Buick GM managed to pull Chevrolet and Buick apart with extreme skill is virtually no overlap, said Jochen Siebert, an auto analyst in Shanghai It adds They did a much better job than Volkswagen with its complex range.
Below Chevrolet, GM sells microВ vans in a joint venture with China's Wuling With sales of nearly 600,000 last year, the sun was Wuling GM China's best-selling vehicle and Wuling also working on a cheap car, rumored to be based on a former Daewoo codenamed platform GP 50, it will likely be sold under the new Baojun brand.
Irony of China's experience of GM as the strength of Buick Cadillac caused serious troubles in the People's Republic SLS, an STS with a stretched revised rules was developed for the huge Asian market, but despite changes made based on the Chinese SLS suffered disappointing sales angular styling language Cadillac doesn t seem to work for the Chinese  nearly as well as the more fluid body Buick, and the brand just does not have the prestige plates German Safety within GM, there are now in favor sweeten the Cadillac style to appeal to Chinese buyers.
This, of course, threaten the soul of Cadillac, with the rebirth of the brand in the United States due in large part to its design masterfully reinvented Cadillac shouldn t change to try to meet the Chinese, suggests analyst Siebert In this segment, German carmakers have a status that will be impossible to match if Cadillac is to have a future in China, it will be with SUV if they really catch.
While GM is likely to exceed two million sales of Chinese market vehicles in 2010, Ford is struggling to reach a million Ford half dozing and arrived late in 2003 about six years behind the growth of GM China has not been on the radar in the mid 1990s, remembers a former executive of Ford.
Says Siebert They didn t commit horrible mistakes, but they were simply late GM, Honda and Toyota were already there, and the air was getting thin The most promising potential cooperation partners a requirement of operating in the Chinese market had their Ford dance cards filled has been left with a company called Changan, which is located in Chongqing inconvenient, far from the international business centers.
The Focus and Fiesta models are selling well, and the sporting S-Max MPV and the European Mondeo designed recently joined the range Lack of really competent dealers structure means that Ford is poorly adapted to growing radical plans, said Siebert and restructuring is a cornerstone to get sales up to 900,000 units a year planned in the next three to five years.
Ford is no luxury brand in China, and perhaps is a good thing before Ford launches a second brand, it still has potential to explore with its core brand, otherwise it might just throw money says IHS analyst StГјrmer.
Clearly speaking with market insiders that China is not exactly looking forward to Lincoln, and the leaders of Ford  privately admit they are happy to be relieved of Volvo Meanwhile, Ford and Mazda continue separate, with Ford clearly focusing on its own brand range from the Asia-Pacific headquarters from Bangkok to Shanghai is a strong sign that China is finally taking a more appropriate place in the Ford corporate strategy but with his late arrival and a single brand, Ford will continue to play catch-up to China for the foreseeable future.
Ford and GM battle for sales in China Feature Car and Driver, Ford, sales, China.