Accelerate the localization of Toyota's counterattacks

YARIS, the car that once let GAC Toyota suffer, has finally ushered in a new era.

On August 23, the whole new generation of YARIS was formally released. “Considering that the previous result of 'small size and high pricing' led to poor performance, the new generation of YARIS has undergone secondary research and development based on localization both at home and abroad, in terms of localization. It was enough time," said an insider of GAC Toyota in an interview with reporters.

This is only one aspect of Toyota’s search for a more localized layout in China. A few days ago, Toyota announced a personnel adjustment: General Manager Hirano Yasuo of FAW Toyota Sales Co., Ltd. and Tian Ming, deputy general manager of the company, exchanged positions. Making the Chinese executives “righting” is seen by the industry as a reflection of Toyota’s efforts to increase localization in China.

Since Toyota's sales in China continued to be damaged due to the Diaoyu Islands incident in September last year, Toyota began a "counterattack" with a new "localization" approach. This time, can Toyota completely get rid of the predicament?

Fight small cars
For GAC Toyota, which has a relatively short product line, its layout for the new YARIS models is significant.

According to GAC Toyota, the newly launched third-generation YARIS is a "tailored" model for the Chinese market, reflecting the will of a large number of Chinese R&D personnel. To meet the needs of the Chinese consumer market, the new YARIS's body length and axis There is also a notable increase in distance.

Of course, the most important change in the new YARIS models is GAC Toyota's redefinition of its market positioning and marketing strategy. Li Hui, the deputy general manager of GAC Toyota, believes that the biggest problem of the old YARIS is that it does not meet the needs of Chinese consumers. After exploring the market, GAC Toyota learned that the small car in the hearts of Chinese consumers is to be reasonably priced and The interior space is as large as possible, and the models as a whole should perform more comprehensively. “After the market has been clarified, GAC Toyota has improved the design and interior space of the new YARIS, and the final pricing will be more reasonable.”

In fact, the change in YARIS stems from its poor performance in China. At the time of its listing in 2008, YARIS was placed in great hope by Toyota. At that time, Toyota had thought that YARIS would open up the domestic small car market and change the development pattern of the market. However, contrary to what is expected, due to the high positioning of YARIS, the vehicle is not only selling at a price higher than that of the same model, but its model design also lacks practicality and popularity, which runs counter to the current concept of small car consumption in the Chinese market and also makes YARIS self-listing. After sales have been sluggish. According to the data of the CUCH, YARIS's annual sales volume in 2008 was only 19,170 units, ranking 12th in the market segment; and even in the rapidly developing domestic automobile market in 2009, YARIS's annual sales volume was only 17,892 units. The submarket ranking is even down to 25. Affected by this, GAC Toyota had only been relying on the Camry model for a long period of time before it went public in May 2009, and the development of the company was even more embarrassing and slow.

“There is no doubt that the small car that was originally designed for the European market was sold because it was eager to seize the small car market in China. It is natural for YARIS to become a challenge. As a result, this also gave Toyota a profound lesson in its development in China." Jia Xinguang, a well-known analyst in the automobile industry, believes that after learning lessons from the past, GAC Toyota apparently hopes to redefine the new YARIS in small domestic vehicles. Market share.

Chinese and foreign "exchange defense"

While GAC Toyota has placed more localized labels on its new products, FAW Toyota, another Toyota joint venture in China, is also experiencing a new stage of development.

According to report, FAW Toyota plans to launch 4 models in the second half of this year, including two modified models - Reiz, Prado, and two new models - the RAV4 and Vios, of which the new Vios models that will be available at the end of the year will be FAW Toyota Motor Co., Ltd. has for the first time built a special model for the Chinese market, and RAV4, the main model of FAW Toyota, will also undergo a lot of improvements in shape and configuration for the Chinese market after the replacement. In addition, in order to tie in with the launch of new models, FAW Toyota will also vigorously expand the sinking of distribution channels in the second half of the year. Currently, there are more than 100 4S stores that have been identified but not yet opened, and most of these distribution channels will be mainly distributed in China. Third and fourth tier cities.

“Because of the slower replacement of Toyota’s models in the past two years, Toyota’s sales in China are also affected. With the arrival of new models and the gradual deepening of the channel layout, FAW Toyota will soon reverse the current market sales. Situation, "said Zhang Sijun, FAW Toyota's marketing and planning director.

While the new car is ready to go into production, FAW Toyota has also made important steps in adjusting the senior management structure. A few days ago, FAW Toyota announced that the FAW Toyota Board of Directors had decided that since August 2013, the FAW Toyota Motor Sales Co., Ltd. has made the following personnel adjustments after negotiating between the shareholders of FAW Group and Toyota Motor Co., Ltd.: Appoint Tian smart to FAW Toyota General Manager of Automobile Sales Co., Ltd.; appointed Hiroyuki Hirano as Deputy General Manager of FAW Toyota Motor Sales Co., Ltd.

Prior to this, Tian was the deputy general manager of FAW Toyota Motor Sales Co., Ltd., and Hirano Masaru was the general manager. For industry intelligence, Mr. Tian believed that Toyota had delegated authority to the Chinese representatives in the joint venture company. Said that Toyota hopes to take advantage of China’s high-level expertise in the Chinese market and strongly restore Toyota’s current development in China.

It is reported that in the first half of this year, FAW Toyota sold a total of 244,000 vehicles, a slight drop from the same period of last year, and FAW Toyota’s sales target for this year was 580,000. This indicates that FAW Toyota will complete at least 330,000 sales in the second half of the year. In view of the sales momentum, this is obviously an impossible task. “In addition to more localization in terms of models and marketing, the localization of talent strategy is obviously indispensable.” Jia Xinguang believes that letting Chinese personnel hold sales The practice of the company’s top leaders is clearly a reflection of Toyota’s commitment to deepen localization.

Challenges are hard to avoid

"In fact, the recent series of actions by the Toyota joint venture can indeed be understood as an important part of Toyota's strategy of in-depth localization in China," said an insider of Toyota (China), who is responsible for marketing, in an interview with reporters.

The source said that since the "cloud action plan" was proposed in 2012, Toyota (China) has been developing in accordance with the established route, including the new car delivery plan and brand marketing plan of the two joint ventures at the current stage, all within Toyota's overall plan. . The core content of Toyota's "cloud action plan" is to deepen the "localization strategy" in China. “In the second half of the year, we will also make significant moves in R&D investment, mainly focusing on the domestically produced new energy vehicles,” said the above sources.

According to official data, in July this year, Toyota sold a total of 75,600 vehicles, a year-on-year decrease of 3.5%; from January to July, Toyota's cumulative sales in China were 492,500 vehicles, a year-on-year decline of 5.4%. According to Toyota’s previous plan, in 2015, it will have an annual output of 1.6 million to 1.8 million vehicles in China, but in 2012, Toyota’s sales in China were only 840,000, and this year's sales target is also initially set at 90. Ten thousand vehicles are far away from the established targets, and this is not the only gap that can be brought about by relying on new vehicles.

In this regard, the automotive industry analyst Zhong Shi said that in the current situation of increasing competition pressure in the domestic market, Toyota must not only in the form, but also in the development of concepts and actions to make more adjustments to adapt to the Chinese market.

In the eyes of the outside world, Toyota's development concept of "old" also makes its localization in the Chinese market development process is not deep. “Toyota has long insisted on 'stable development' in the global market, but this model is too conservative for seizing new markets.” Analysts from related industries stated that Toyota’s development has always been “step by step”. The market's reaction speed is also slightly slower: the product update cycle is longer, the brand lacks distinctive personality, and marketing activities lack innovation. Therefore, in the past year after the Diaoyu Islands incident, the Toyota market in China has recovered slowly.

"That is why Toyota's most important task at this stage should be to promote the localization process." The above-mentioned sources believe that hybrid products are Toyota's current important advantages. In addition, on the basis of continued advantages, Toyota must also be in marketing strategy. And put more new ideas on product promotion.