Is Jaguar Land Rover a foreign brand or a Chinese brand?

Asking a question on such a topic is expected to be overwhelming for a while.

"I think it's still a foreign brand, their design, R&D and production are all abroad, and they have little to do with China. ”

"They weren't acquired by the Zhonghua Group, and they should belong to our Chinese car brands." ”

……

When Han Hao acquired Jaguar Land Rover, he promised to let the other party maintain its independent operation status and continue to take the international route. For this reason, it also deliberately downplayed the imprint of the ownership of the China Group, and Jaguar Land Rover still maintains the pedigree display of British culture.

However, today, how to define the nature of Jaguar Land Rover has to make Han Hao make a choice.

Because Jaguar Land Rover wants to set up a factory in China, it must be the first to define and understand this issue.

Prior to the acquisition of Jaguar Land Rover, they had already been introduced to China in 2003 in the form of imported cars, which were of course wholly foreign-owned brands.

After the current Chinese shareholding, the nature of the two major brands of Jaguar Land Rover has changed, and how they are classified is inconsistent.

It is important to know that the Chinese government has strict regulations on foreign car brands to set up factories in China, not only requiring joint ventures with domestic car companies, but also obtaining the approval of the National Development and Reform Commission before production and operation.

According to Han Hao's original expectation, since Zhonghua Group wholly acquired Jaguar Land Rover, they certainly belong to the group's subsidiary model and should be regarded as a Chinese car brand.

Since it is a Chinese brand, if you enter the Chinese market, you do not need to find a joint venture, nor do you need to be approved by the National Development and Reform Commission to build a factory, but take the operation mode of your own brand.

Why do you have to dwell on the nature of the Jaguar Land Rover brand?

It is because if you use the independent brand model to enter China, the project approval may only take 1 to 3 months, and if you want to go through the joint venture project, you will not be able to get off in one or two years, which is the only way for many joint venture brands to enter China.

Time is money!

The sooner Jaguar Land Rover goes into production in China, the sooner it will be able to get out of the predicament. Based on the expected annual loss of 300 million US dollars, the cost per day is more than 6 million yuan.

"It's the equivalent of pushing a brand new Ferrari into the ocean every day and wasting it!"

After carefully calculating the accounts, Han Hao also felt that the cost of such a wait was too high.

As soon as the proposal to submit with its own brand arrived at the Provincial Development and Reform Commission, it was stopped. Because they received the wind, there was a heated debate within the National Development and Reform Commission about the nature of Jaguar Land Rover.

"Jaguar Land Rover is an international car brand owned by Chinese capital. ”

Such a conclusion is acceptable to everyone, but there are many debates on the specific operation.

Legally, Jaguar Land Rover is undoubtedly owned by Chinese; but in terms of operation mode, they are out-and-out international brands that have always appeared as foreign cars.

Unexpectedly, Han Hao gave the National Development and Reform Commission a big problem at this time.

Before the nature of the problem is not clarified, even after the National Development and Reform Commission, and later the Ministry of Information Industry, the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Transport, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, etc., there is still a lot of discussion, Jaguar Land Rover wants to declare and pass with its own brand, basically there is no need to have any hope in a short time.

More importantly, the curtain of this year's government change is about to open, and the reform and integration of national ministries and commissions is imperative, and a series of management agencies involved in the automotive industry will be affected, and project approval will naturally be delayed.

Han Hao tried to set up a factory in China for Jaguar Land Rover under his own brand to declare to the National Development and Reform Commission, and sure enough, he was beaten back on the grounds that this problem needs to be studied.

Dealing with the government is a very troublesome thing, and time is wasted when you come and go. If you negotiate with the central ministries and commissions, you are even more afraid of "procrastination" and may not reply for a year and a half.

At this point, the situation is clear.

It is the nature of whether Jaguar Land Rover is an independent brand, and everyone argues very fiercely and does not reach an agreement. If it is defined as a foreign brand, it is generally acceptable, and it must be followed by the joint venture model to set up a factory.

"If you are directly given the identity of your own brand, other car companies have great opinions, and they have to consider the impact in order to take into account the overall situation. In the current situation, maintaining stability is the most important thing, and getting into less trouble is the consideration of many leaders.

If you follow the joint venture model, others will have nothing to say, and there will be much fewer obstacles to approval. The former path may seem like a shortcut, but it is full of uncertainties, while the latter is difficult but time-sensitive. Sometimes, it is also a great wisdom to compromise on one's own behalf. ”

When Han Hao asked his mentor Hu Yiming's opinion, the other party gave this reply.

"My own joint venture with myself should be regarded as unique in the history of Chinese automobiles. ”

Speaking of this, Han Hao understood what was his best choice.

Although it seems like a redundant move, in today's management model, it has to go through the process. He hopes that the joint venture approval process will be smooth and approved within a year.

In 2007, Jaguar sold 1,069 units in China, while Land Rover achieved six times as many units as it did at 6,573 units. It is a pity that the sum of the two is less than 10,000 units, and it is in the downstream position in the luxury car field, and the only bright spot is that Land Rover belongs to the top three positions in the imported SUV field.

According to Han Hao's expectations, Land Rover Jaguar will achieve the sales target of 100,000 units in the Chinese market in five years, and it will not be possible to achieve it if it does not reduce the price of domestic production and launch a low-cost model as soon as possible.

Leopard Land Rover announced that it will officially enter China as a foreign brand, and they will build a joint venture with Zhonghua Group to conduct business in China, and apply to the national authorities.

When Jaguar Land Rover announced the domestic production, there was a group of people who loved and hated it, they were the pioneers of the two brands in China, and they were also the direct stakeholders.

In 2003, Jaguar Land Rover officially entered China, and in the face of the unfamiliar Chinese market, they chose to select four regional distributors from south to north to expand the market.

In the four major areas of South China, East China, North China and Northeast China, Jaguar Land Rover is looking for agents in the local area, giving them great power to order directly from the UK headquarters, and develop their own secondary and tertiary agents, as well as responsible for sales, after-sales, advertising and personnel training services.

At a time when Chinese consumers are ignorant of Jaguar Land Rover, it can be said that the four major regional agents have introduced the two major brands to China and made a lot of contributions to brand communication. They divided their spheres of influence, did not interfere with each other, and formed an independent kingdom in the literal sense of the word.

Now that Jaguar Land Rover has announced domestic production, the first change is that there will be more models and the price will fall, which is a good thing for the promotion and popularization of the brand, and dealers will of course welcome it with both hands.

However, if it is domestic, the Chinese market will be managed by the joint venture company in the future, and the four regional general agents who have laid the foundation will inevitably face the situation of cutting power. They will change from the "vassal kings" who are now in the region to the "common people" who directly obey the orders of the joint venture company, and no longer enjoy other privileges.

It is more difficult to touch interests than to touch the soul, and the establishment of a joint venture company will inevitably involve the redistribution of interests between the two parties.

You must know that the four regional general agents not only have military achievements, but also obtain a lot of benefits by virtue of the growth of Jaguar Land Rover brand sales. If you want them to bow their heads obediently, you can't just say hello and send documents.

Han Hao had been busy communicating with the National Development and Reform Commission before, and he did not have time to intervene in the agent team. Now that the dust has settled, he has time to make a move on the four general agents who occupy the mountain as kings.

At present, Jaguar Land Rover has a total of 43 dealerships in the country, all of which are established with the consent of the four regional distributors.

Without their consent, even if a powerful dealer wants to act as an agent for Jaguar Land Rover's 4S store, it will not be successful.

You must know that in the future, the Chinese market will be the world's No. 1 sales place for Jaguar Land Rover, and the control is of course not allowed to be left behind.

Finding a regional distributor to sell cars in China was a common tactic used by many luxury brands. After all, due to the small sales in the market, I only need to sell the car to dealers, and they are responsible for various promotional and after-sales services, which can effectively reduce costs.

Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Volvo and other companies operated in China at that time, and naturally Jaguar Land Rover was no exception. However, after the major brands announced the establishment of joint ventures in China, the regional agency rights were all taken over by the joint venture companies, and although the channels were different, the results were the same. Therefore, at present, in addition to Jaguar Land Rover, only Subaru and Bentley are still maintaining the general agent model.

When Han Hao was in a joint venture with BMW, he demanded that the distribution power be included in the joint venture, and for this reason, he did not hesitate to suffer the loss of short-term sales decline caused by the boycott of the original agents, and also canceled their privileges.

With his experience at BMW, he is much more comfortable dealing with Jaguar Land Rover's regional distributors.

It is easy to delegate power, but it is difficult to collect power, and it is not a simple matter to make the privileged general agents obey.

In the past, Jaguar Land Rover was operated by the British headquarters, and the Emperor of Shangao was far away from China, resulting in the expansion of the four major agents. Now that the Chung Hwa Group has become the new owner, they also know that good times are coming to an end, so when the dust settles on the acquisition, they privately contact and conspire on how to deal with the foreseeable future reduction of the feudal domain.

"It can be said that now all the networks of Jaguar Land Rover in China are in our hands, and as long as everyone advances and retreats together, we have enough strength to bargain with them.

If we can't reach an agreement, we will close the door and rest, and let the vast number of car owners ask them for an explanation! Of course, we will not take such an extreme approach until the last minute.

In a word, it is to maintain our existing interests to the greatest extent possible, and we cannot be cooked by people who are cunning rabbits and lackeys. ”

At the alliance meeting, the four major agents reached a certain consensus, that is, they could not be at the mercy of others in vain. Although they knew that Han's richest man was not negotiable, they did not intend to sit idly by.

"Mercedes-Benz's Lei Shing Hong has set an outstanding example for us, and they are the number one contributor to Mercedes-Benz's entry into China. In the past two years, Mercedes-Benz took back the domestic agency, but had to admit the contribution of Lei Shing Hong. Eventually, they were allowed to take a stake in the new joint venture sales company, gave them the position of director, and even signed an eight-year protection agreement.

Let's all join forces to learn the goals with the Stars and fight for the benefits we deserve!"

Although the relationship between the agent and the OEM is that the arm cannot be twisted into the thigh, with the successful case of Mercedes-Benz recruiting Amway Stars at a high price, Jaguar Land Rover's dealers are very ready for Han Hao.

This struggle, buried under the table, is not destined to be peaceful.