As the "China's first brand of commercial vehicles," Foton Motors currently ranks the top spot among China's commercial vehicles, and has also become the backbone of China's auto brands. From high-end commercial vehicles to high-end commercial vehicles, from a single species to a full range of commercial vehicles, Foton Motor has achieved a significant leap forward in 10 years. Recently, the fourth "China's 500 Most Valuable Brands" ranking was released. Foton Motor ranked 42nd on the list with a brand value of 17.538 billion yuan. The brand value has once again soared to become the industry's "top three", ranking first among commercial vehicles. Recently, the cooperation between Foton Motors and Mercedes-Benz Company once again made it a focus topic in the industry.
Strong Commercial Vehicles and Development of Passenger Vehicles
In the second half of last year, Foton Motors and Mercedes-Benz signed a memorandum of cooperation in commercial vehicles. The joint venture company in the future will implement a "dual-brand" strategy: Mercedes-Benz will focus on high-end and Auman will focus on mid-to-low end; this is undoubtedly an innovation in China's auto joint venture model. According to the agreement between the two parties, Daimler will incorporate Auman into the Mercedes-Benz global brand strategy system. With the support of Mercedes-Benz in technology, products and management, Foton Motor is expected to occupy 30% of the domestic light truck market.
General consumers' understanding of Foton Motor is confined to several product brands such as Time Light Truck and Auman. Last year's full range of Shanghai Auto Show made people see the powerful strength of this "China's first commercial vehicle brand": , light trucks, SUVs, pickups, MPVs across the board, Zhongou Kaouman, light-card Omar and Ao Ling, light passenger Fukuda scenery, Piccasap, legend of SUV Futian, MPV Mengpak all attended. Many consumers were horrified after their visit: "I don't think so much about Foton Motor's products, and there are so many strengths in passenger cars."
As a high-end MPV product of Foton Motor Co., Ltd.'s advancement of passenger cars, Mengpike has won the favor of many business people with its unique third-generation chassis technology and excellent handling performance. On April 10, 2007, Mengpike was successfully listed in Spain and received high praise from Samaranch, Honorary President of IOC for life.
After Mengpike, Foton Motor also plans to launch a high-end MINIVAN codenamed “C2†(small utility vehicle) in early 2008. The car has a 1.7 meters high body, wheelbase of about 2.7 meters, the interior space is very comfortable. At present, in the CNCAP crash test in Changchun, the side bump score reached 15.47 points, which is the highest self-owned brand model for this test. C2 has unique advantages in fashion appearance, space, manipulation, safety, and cost performance.
Zhao Jingguang, deputy secretary of the Foton Motor Party Committee, said that while developing passenger vehicles, Foton Motor will continue to expand and strengthen commercial vehicles and maintain its unique advantages in the fields of light trucks and medium and heavy trucks.
Integrated knowledge, linked innovation
In the innovation practice, Foton Motor has created a new development model—“integrated knowledge, linked innovationâ€. Each product brand and product of Foton Motor is not a closed development of the enterprise. It is the result of integration of the most advanced technology and resources in the market.
Zhao Jingguang, deputy secretary of the Party Committee of Foton Motor Company, said: "The company's independent innovation has investment, but the more important thing is output. We must integrate all available resources in the shortest period and the lowest investment to ensure the high efficiency of innovation. ."
Fu Xuetian, deputy general manager and chief designer of the Foton Motor Company, took an example: “For example, in terms of parts and components, Foton Motor established a partnership between Futian Automotive Engineering Research Institute and its core suppliers among major parts suppliers. The “Synchronization Development Consortium†includes technology development cooperation with companies such as Hefei Yanfeng Visteon, Fast, Dandong Shuguang Axle, Weichai Power, etc. in interiors, gearboxes, axles and engines. The development of key components has also shortened the development cycle and reduced costs."
Not only did it cooperate with domestic companies, Foton Motors also shifted its sights overseas. Now, Beijing Foton Cummins Engine Co., Ltd., a joint venture between Foton and Cummins Engines, is starting up. This light diesel engine project has an annual designed production capacity of 400,000 units. It mainly produces Cummins new-generation 2.8-liter and 3.8-liter light diesel engines. These high-performance light-duty diesel engines have high starting points, high performance, and low emissions, and can meet Euro III. , Euro IV and above emission regulations.
In addition to Cummins and Foton Motor, they also cooperated extensively with foreign scientific research institutions and companies: In terms of research and development, Foton Motors has accumulated deep cooperation with Austrian AVL Corporation, British Lotus Corporation, Japan MIM Design Corporation, Motorola, USA, and Eaton USA. Technical details.
Build system competitiveness
According to Futian's "Eleventh Five-Year Plan", in 2010, Foton Motors will have sales of 800,000 to 100 million units, overseas sales will account for more than 20%, and sales revenue will reach 60 billion to 80 billion yuan, which will become Asia's leading automotive companies. World famous car brand.
So, what does Foton rely on to achieve such a grand strategic goal? In the interview process of Foton Motor, I experienced the comprehensive system competitiveness of Foton Motors in terms of talent, R&D, branding, and services.
Talent is the core and main body of independent innovation of enterprises. Fukuda Automotive Engineering Research Institute has several heavyweight “returnees†figures: Yan Xuebin, Ye Qingqing, Tan Fangping, and Ren Qilong. Yan Xuebin told the author that the reason for choosing Foton Motor was not only touched by the sincerity of senior leaders, but also taking into account the flexible and efficient development mechanism and great potential for development of Foton.
It is the unremitting efforts of these top technical experts that the research and development capabilities of Foton Motors have grown substantially: During the three years from 2003 to 2005, Foton Motors realized Auman, Omar, Futianou V, Aoling, Times, Foton, Legend of Foton Eight brands such as Sapu and Sap have all been upgraded; NVH technology has reached the leading domestic level, and the one-time pass rate of automotive noise has reached more than 90%. Today, Foton Motors has the leading domestic technology advantages in vehicle matching, body technology, electronic control matching technology, and verification.
"Seven-point management, three-point technology", Foton Motor also has its own unique insights in management. Zhang Bin, director of Futian Automotive Brands, thinks: “Fukuda only produces two kinds of things, one is automotive physical products, and the other is the production of intangible brands in the minds of consumers. The brand is managed out of it, rather than planning by ideas.†, Foton Motor has conducted systematic brand operation management on products, channels, services, and recognition systems, and formed a unique BIS (Brand Identity System), whose purpose is to increase the value of the brand's intangible assets.
The brand and product reputation are supported by services. Fukuda has reached 3,300 domestic service stations and cooperated with customer service centers to provide full-service for users throughout the year. The author visited the Foton Automobile Call Center. The center currently has 40 seats, 60 customer service representatives in rotation of 4 posts, daily information processing capacity of 4,000, and a connection rate of 95%, making it the largest private call in the domestic auto industry. center.
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