Hu Yiming is a very wise scholar, and Han Hao has benefited a lot every time he communicates with him.

According to Hu Yiming's theoretical analysis, China's automobile market is divided into three levels of coexistence, the first level is the core cities in the developed coastal areas, the second level is the inland counties, cities and urban areas, and the third level is the vast rural hinterland. Due to China's vast territory and unbalanced economic development, these three levels of markets present a ladder distribution coexists.

In the time evolution path of the automobile into the Chinese family, he also made four major stages.

The first stage is the privilege stage, where cars are a symbol of power and only high-ranking government officials are eligible to ride, which is basically before the mid-80s. The second stage is the business stage, when the car becomes a tool of production, and the company becomes the main force of market consumption, and this stage develops to its peak at the end of the 90s.

The third stage is the household stage, where automobiles, especially cars, begin to enter ordinary people's homes on a large scale, and automobiles become a large consumer product. This stage began in 2002, marked by the fact that 60% of domestic car sales began to be bought by ordinary families. The fourth phase will take place 24 years later, in 2026, when automobiles will become consumer goods in China. Ordinary Chinese families will not have too many scruples about buying a car, and the car will now become a motorcycle-like household consumable.

"According to the experience of Europe, the United States, Japan and South Korea, the process of cars entering central urban households on a large scale and then spreading them nationwide will take at least 15 years, and the longest time will be 24 years. The situation in our country is complicated, so I will calculate in 24 years that by 2026, China will complete the popularization of automobiles in the whole country. The development of China's first-tier cities is faster, and it is estimated that it will be able to reach this standard in 15 years, so in 2017, the car in the first-tier cities will no longer be an enviable status symbol. ”

Hu Yiming made a bold prediction for China's automobile market, according to the current per capita GDP of 1,000 US dollars, China has started the process of large-scale urbanization, and automobiles will become the pillar industry of the national economy in the future, along with housing.

Due to the uneven economic development in China, also at the beginning of 2003, the demand for automobiles in different regions of China was very different. The developed coastal areas of the primary market are now beginning to enter the stage of automobiles entering the family, and many families have begun to buy cars in order to meet the hope of a better life; while the counties, cities and towns in the inland areas of the secondary market are still in the transition stage from business to home. Buying a car for commercial use is still the mainstream, but home car buying is starting to flourish, and in the vast rural areas, cars are still a luxury item, and the process of transitioning from privilege to business is underway. Whoever bought a car in a village is definitely a local bigwig. As for others, buying a car is mainly for the purpose of making a living, such as Huaxia Weimian is the best choice for rural people to transport goods and passengers.

Han Hao can see that naturally foreign auto giants have been able to understand it with the help of consulting companies, otherwise they would not have squeezed into the Chinese market desperately.

On the occasion of the Lunar New Year in 2003, Han Hao reviewed his achievements in 2002 and felt that this year had passed very quickly, and he was one year older in the blink of an eye.

"I fought two lawsuits, launched two new cars, and then earned more than 2 billion!"

He found that he could summarize his achievements for the whole year in just one sentence.

The lawsuit with Suzuki and General Motors is known all over the world, and Zhonghua "Qin" and Zhonghua "Tang" have become the faces of the group, and the group's annual profit increased by 200% to 2.82 billion.

Benefiting from the excellent market positioning of the second-generation Zhonghua "Qin", the annual sales exceeded 110,000 and achieved sales of more than 10,000 for three consecutive months, becoming a god car that can compete with Santana and Jetta. What is even more rare and commendable is that Zhonghua "Qin" has become the king of kings in the sales list of sedans, and has become the champion of a single model with a score of 112,000 units, surpassing the Jetta by 8,000 units! This model alone has brought a profit of 1.6 billion yuan to the Zhonghua Group.

The newly launched SUV Zhonghua "Tang" is not willing to be lonely, with sales exceeding 5,000 units in the first month, 6,000 units directly in the second month, and breaking through the 8,000 mark before the Lunar New Year, which has become a new generation of best-selling models.

In 2002, Chunghwa Group's automobile sales exceeded 420,000 units, becoming the fourth largest automobile company in China. If the 23,000 units sold by the Chunghwa BMW joint venture and the 73,000 units sold by Wuling Motors are added, the Chunghwa Group will surpass the FAW with a score of 516,000 units and continue to become the third largest automobile conglomerate after FAW (650,000) and SAIC Motor (540,000).

Ranked among the top three for two consecutive years, Zhonghua Group, as a private enterprise, has become a non-negligible presence in the domestic automobile market.

But the high return on investment of China's auto market, like blood coming out of the sea, attracts many sharks who come to the smell of blood.

Around the Spring Festival, joint venture brands launched products in China on a large scale, opening the era of Warring States melee.

South Korea's Hyundai's Sonata mid-level sedan, which cut in with an accurate positioning of 200,000 yuan last year, sold 52,000 units in one year, creating an astonishing "modern speed". When it was put into production and profitable, the magic of the Chinese market continued, so the Koreans couldn't wait to officially launch the A-class compact sedan Elantra in the domestic market.

This is a joint venture model that can directly confront the Chinese "Qin", so Han Hao has always regarded it as the biggest competitor.

151,800 and 162,800, Elantra first launched the 1.8L model, and the price of manual and automatic transmissions is higher than expected. As for the highly anticipated 1.6-liter model, Shouqi Hyundai announced that it will be launched in half a year.

Elantra finally came in to compete with domestic independent brands, and such a price made the Chinese "Qin" feel no threat.

Shouqi Hyundai has set a sales target of 130,000 units in 2003, including 60,000 units for the Sonata and 70,000 units for the newly launched Elantra.

As for Kia Motors, which also belongs to the Hyundai-Kia Group, Dongfeng Yueda Kia, a joint venture in China, abandoned the Pratt model and introduced the 1997 Hyundai Accent prototype to China, named Maxima and put on the Kia logo for sale.

The success of Shouqi Hyundai's cost-effective route has also been copied to Dongfeng Yueda Kia, this Maxima engine and transmission are all imported, and the price is only 89,800-116,800. The 1.3-liter engine is mainly equipped with an entry-level manual transmission, while the 1.6-liter engine is equipped with an automatic automatic transmission.

This is a 100,000 yuan sedan that is very much in line with Chinese family consumers, and Kia believes so, and has set a target of 50,000 annual sales for it.

Ambitious Koreans have set themselves a target of 10% share in the Chinese market in the future, which coincides with Toyota.

In order to reassure the FAW Group, Toyota hurriedly took the lead in making the Vios sedan in the form of CKD, and imported many parts from the local area to assemble them in China, and soon FAW Toyota officially rolled off the assembly line.

As the younger brother of Toyota's Corolla, Vios has the reputation of a small Corolla in appearance, and now it has officially landed in the Chinese market, which makes Han Hao a little worried.

However, with the announcement of the price of Weichi, Han Hao breathed a sigh of relief.

The price is 13.5-192,800, and there are four models to choose from, of which the main one is the 192,800 AT automatic transmission. The beautiful 135,000 manual transmission models can't be booked at all, and they are also more than 160,000 models, and FAW Toyota is a little too obsessed with its own joint venture halo.

In order to maximize profits, Toyota sold a small car as a mid-level car beyond the compact class.

Of course, this unhealthy trend started from Volkswagen, and the newly launched hatchback Polo small car in the second half of last year was listed at a high price of 12-151,900 yuan. As a compact car in line with international standards, the Polo uses two engine series, 1.4L and 1.6L, and the price is close to 160,000 yuan.

Unfortunately, the sales of hatchbacks in China are not good, and the sales of the Polo did not meet expectations, so the sedan Polo will be launched after the year, with a price of 13-162,900 yuan. Volkswagen expects the Polo sedan to become the entry-level sedan of choice for Chinese families.

In the eyes of the joint venture brands, a 10% share is the basis for gaining a firm foothold in the Chinese market and maintaining a break-even position, so Ford Motor Coincidentally has set the same market target for itself.

After the belated joint venture between Ford Motor and Changan, it finally launched its first product, the Fiesta, which is much more realistic in terms of pricing compared with Toyota and Volkswagen.

The 1.3-liter and 1.6-liter engines are based on the IKON sedan, which Ford developed specifically for the Indian market.

Because it is a special product for India in 1999, so the carnival model is relatively old, Changan Ford knows its own catties, in order to seize the market as soon as possible to achieve the goal of 10% of the Chinese car market, to launch at a low price.

From 88,800 to 126,800 yuan, FiestaHuawei has set a relatively reasonable price for joint venture brand small cars, aiming at GM's Sail, Volkswagen's POLO, Kia Maxima and other joint venture cars.

As for the killer mid-level car Mondeo, Changan Ford is expected to launch it in the second half of the year to seize the most lucrative market.

Nanqi Fiat, which has been working hard, has also launched derivative models based on the Palio hatchback, namely the sedan Siena with a butt and the station wagon weekend style from Europe.

The prices of the two new models with automatic CVT models are 136,800 yuan and 142,900 yuan, respectively. Fiat hopes that they will improve on the poor sales performance of the Palio hatchback market and thus gain a foothold in China, an emerging market.

At a time when the above-mentioned joint venture brands have made efforts, the quasi-joint venture brands did not dare to lag behind and launched their own flagship products.

For example, SAIC Volkswagen and FAW Toyota are called joint venture brands for enterprises jointly funded by Chinese and foreign parties, while enterprises such as FAW Haima and Southeast Automobile that only carry out technical cooperation with foreign parties and do not involve capital are called quasi-joint venture brands.

First of all, FAW Haima launched the Fumilai sedan with the Mazda logo, which is a new generation of 323 models for technology transfer provided by Mazda, and launched after localization and improvement.

It is claimed that the glass and tires are made in China, and the rest are imported from Mazda's local factory, and Fumilai only provides 1.8L automatic transmission models, with a price of as high as 165,800-186,800. At the same time, the company announced that it will start production of the 1.6-liter model in six months, and the price will be further reduced.

The Familia was introduced from the Mazda Familia model that was unveiled at the Paris Motor Show in 2000, so the exterior design is simple and smooth, and full of dynamics. It belongs to the same class of competitors as the Corolla and belongs to the A-class compact sedan. Compared with the Chinese "Qin", the price is one-third higher.

Southeast Automobile has launched its own car brand - Southeast Lingshuai!

Lingshuai introduced the production technology of the Mitsubishi Lancer model, using the domestic Mitsubishi 1.6L engine, but was not allowed to hang the Mitsubishi logo.

As the Mitsubishi Lancer, which has a good reputation in the world arena, the introduction and localization of Southeast Motor has been cheered by many fans.

Known as the "entry car for middle-income families", Southeast Lingshuai is priced at 123,800-186,800, of which the main automatic transmission model is 150,000.

In the first quarter of 2003, around the Lunar New Year, joint venture brand cars were unveiled in China, and more than a dozen new models squeezed into the fiercely competitive sedan market. The estimated sales of these new brands and new models alone are as high as 800,000 units, and the annual sales of sedans in 2002 were only 1.2 million, and it is very difficult to increase the target of more than 800,000 units in 2003. Domestic independent car brands have ushered in the encirclement and suppression of strong opponents, and if they are not careful, they will be doomed.

However, it can be seen from here that in the Chinese market, the joint venture brand is profit-oriented, and does not pursue market share, giving priority to profits.

The price of joint venture brand cars is basically one grade higher than that of domestic independent brands, for example, small cars are sold to the price of compact or even mid-level cars, which gives domestic independent brands the opportunity to compete in a dislocation and win a certain amount of respite.

"This year we may not have the good days of last year, I didn't think that in just 3 months, our competitors have more than a dozen models, this time it is really a group of heroes to see who can have the last laugh. ”

Although Han Hao was already mentally prepared, he was surprised that so many joint venture brands announced new models in the first quarter.

The growth rate of the Zhonghua "Qin", which has always been hot, began to decline, and the sales volume fell from more than 10,000 to 8,000 units, showing that the market was gradually diverted by new cars.

"As a result, we will cut our sales target by 10 percent this year in an effort to maintain last year's level. ”

In order to meet the upcoming fierce competition, Han Hao took the initiative to lower his sales target. Even when necessary, the first shot of the price war will be launched with the launch of the Chinese "Qin" value model.

But it was not the Zhonghua Group that really fired the first shot of price reduction, but the Guangben Accord, which has always been known as the benchmark for middle-class cars.

In the past 5 years since entering the Chinese market, Guangqi Honda has achieved enviable results, killing all sides with an Accord model.

Now the seventh-generation Accord has been replaced globally, and Guangqi Honda has introduced it simultaneously, so that Chinese consumers can once again enjoy world-class products.

When the seventh-generation Accord was unveiled, this product was more beautiful and elegant than the previous generation, and it conquered Chinese consumers at once.

Guangben announced that the Accord will cut prices across the board, with the starting price of 2.0L at 229,800 yuan and 3.0L at 309,800 yuan, once again pulling down the overall price of the intermediate car by 50,000 yuan. Affected by this, Volkswagen Passat and GM Buick Regal followed the price reduction, which led to a decline in the price of mid-to-high-end sedans. It also gave a slap to the mid-level cars such as the Ford Mondeo and FAW Mazda6 that had not had time to go on the market, and the sales and profits were recalculated.

GAC Accord single-handedly dragged the mid-level car market from the 300,000 market to the 200,000 range, once again becoming a benchmark model for mid-class cars.