Watanabe was only going to stay in China for three or four days.

But because of the Highlander affair, his return ticket has been delayed twice.

The Dongying people of Yangcheng Toyota and Toyota Huaxia Branch are under great pressure.

In particular, the people in charge of the sales field feel the invisible pressure.

On the one hand, the Internet is full of negative news about Highlander.

The previous matter of buying a car at a higher price was also taken out and approved.

The most troublesome thing is that after such a toss, Highlander's sales have dropped significantly.

The 2.7L is the best version of the Highlander sells, and the price of the 3.5L is too high.

Now no one buys the 2.7L Highlander, and the sales data is naturally ugly.

"The Highlander sold less than 300 units last week?"

"It's slumping so much?"

Mu Linsen looked at the data summarized by Ma Hongjian, and his heart was dripping blood.

"Now is the period when sales are most seriously affected, and even the emojis of QQ chat have some related emojis."

"This makes many consumers who originally wanted to buy Highlander choose to wait and see, or consider other models."

"On the side of Changan Automobile, the sales of CS95 in the last week are said to be much better than before, with a month-on-month increase of at least two percent."

"And it's when you need to add 5,000 yuan."

"And our Highlander, not only does there not have a price increase now, but you can already give away more than 10,000 yuan worth of high-quality products when you buy Highlander in the 4S store."

As soon as Ma Hongjian said this, Mu Linsen's heart hurt even more.

When I bought a car with a price increase of 20,000 or 30,000 yuan before, although the money for the increase could not go to Yangcheng Toyota.

But because the car is easy to sell, they almost don't need to give any sales funding support to the 4S store.

Now not only is there no way to increase the price, but it is also necessary to start giving discounts.

The difference between the above and the lower ones has brought losses to the entire industry chain of more than 100 million yuan per month.

Not to mention the long-term impact on future sales, there is no way to calculate.

"Toyota has decided that for a small number of consumers who strongly demand to return the car, it will be repurchased according to the price of the second-hand car."

"For some consumers who are not so resolute, we will provide a gift package of five years and ten times of free maintenance."

"I hope that through these methods, the heat of this matter can subside as much as possible."

"Each 4S store will also restrain employees to avoid conflicts with Highlander owners."

"You pay attention to whether there is any change in the market after this policy goes down."

Mu Linsen's information, Ma Hongjian was not surprised.

If the matter is big, it will definitely cost money to eliminate the disaster.

It's the same thing behind all the hot news in the automotive industry.

Whether it is the "brake door" or the "anti-monopoly" that the United States has developed at the beginning, the final solution is to pay for it.

What else would you do?

"I'll start going to the 4S stores in various places tomorrow to see what the actual situation is on the front line."

"However, I think Huaxia consumers are more forgetful, even if our 2.7L Highlander really can't climb on some special ramps, there will still be many people who buy it."

"In the future, we will achieve localization, and after the price is greatly reduced, the sales volume will have the opportunity to double."

Ma Hongjian's words were not only to comfort Mu Linsen, but also to comfort himself.

Of course, although this is uncomfortable for ordinary consumers, it is also a big truth.

Many hot-selling models have had accidents, but in the end, it is not for various reasons that they continue to sell well?

Did the wedding door incident of Accord affect its sales now?

Anyway, there is no way to hammer the news that there is a big problem with the model, and it will eventually be forgotten.

That is, Volkswagen was unlucky after all, and the Passat collided with the Passat and was nailed to the pillar of shame.

As a result, the sales of the Passat have not risen until now.

……

"Mr. Cao, the popularity of Highlander on Weibo has gone down, and the past two days have been some messy things in the entertainment industry."

"Toyota has finally shown weakness to consumers this time, and things are slowly passing."

Zeng Tingting is still relatively clear about the things of Highlander during this time.

The sales department even arranged for people to connect with people from Changan Automobile to discuss some publicity plans on the Internet.

"It's normal, it's been more than a week."

"Toyota's response, even if it is slow, has to make some moves."

"If the trouble continues, the loss to Toyota will be even greater, and it is inevitable to spend money to eliminate the disaster."

"We don't expect to completely reduce Toyota's domestic sales through this incident."

"Even if Highlander's sales have declined very much in the last week or two, it is estimated that in a month or two, it will slowly recover."

"It's just that if they want to buy a car at a higher price, I'm afraid it won't be so easy to go back."

Regarding the content of Zeng Tingting's report, Cao Yang was not surprised at all.

No matter what the hot news is, it will eventually be replaced by more popular news.

Besides, strictly speaking, this matter of Highlander is not particularly big.

It's just a variety of coincidences and pushes that made it last for a week.

This has achieved the goal that Cao Yang envisioned.

"The people of Changan Automobile are estimated to be happy, and they have achieved this successful result in the first shot."

"In the past few days, the sales of Changan CS95 have not only not been affected, but have become better."

"It seems that this 7-seater SUV is still very marketable."

"Even if there are only two children in the third row, there are many people who want it."

Zeng Tingting actually thinks that there is no way to compare a 7-seater SUV like Highlander with looking up.

One is a mid-to-large SUV with a length of less than four meters and nine, and the other is a large SUV with a length of 5.2 meters.

Don't look at it, it's just a difference of more than 30 centimeters, and when you put it in the last row and the luggage compartment, the gap is very big.

Sometimes, she can't understand why some consumers buy such a chicken product.

This idea should also be the idea of many car company marketers.

So 7-seater SUVs are very rare in China.

However, starting from this year, with Changan, Yangcheng Automobile, Great Wall and other car companies successively launching their own 7-seat SUVs, consumers will have more and more choices.

Toyota's Highlander wants to live a good life again, which is obviously impossible.

Even Changan Automobile's CS95 is unlikely to have a constant increase in the price of the car.

"When domestic consumers buy cars, most of the time there is still a lot of demand for family cars."

"When you go out to play, if you are overloaded and checked, it will still be very troublesome."

"Even if the seats in the last row of the 7-seater SUV are not very friendly, at least people can use them in an emergency."

"The most important thing is that consumers like big cars, and this will not change for a long time to come."

"When the price is not too much, everyone will definitely buy a larger SUV."

Cao Yang combined his own insights from later generations and gave his own judgment with great certainty.

……

When the automobile industry in China was lively for half a month because of the Highlander incident, some interesting things also appeared in the auto market in the United States.

Some time ago, the Insurance Association for Highway Safety of America announced the results of 25% offset collisions for 13 SUV models, of which only one received an "excellent" evaluation, and most of them only received a "pass" or even "poor".

And this SUV model is the look up to Xingchen Automobile.

With such a good publicity opportunity, Ford Motor will not miss it.

After all, although Yangwang is hung with the logo of Xingchen Automobile, all sales in the American market have been handed over to Ford Motor.

The more popular the model sells, the more Ford earns.

In the context of last year's huge losses, no matter how small the mosquito is, it is still meat.

What's more, it's not a mosquito, it's a big fat pig.

"President, as a result of the 25% offset collision this time, the Highlander's driver space has lost a lot."

"The upper part invades 25cm at the hinge post, the dashboard intrudes 20cm, and the lower part intrudes 17cm at the hinge post."

"Before the steering column is moved forward to the right, the dummy's head barely has a chance to touch the steering wheel airbag, facing the hard structure directly in front of him."

"At the same time, the restraint of the seat belts is insufficient, allowing the head and torso of the dummy to be displaced, further amplifying this danger."

"And the Highlander's side air curtains also need a larger coverage area."

"According to the current situation, under the impact of this intensity, the driver's left hip will be hit very hard, and the two calves will not be able to escape."

"So the Highlander 25% offset collision result is poor."

Tetsuaki Kobayashi, as the head of Toyota's North American headquarters, just wanted to report the situation encountered by Highlander in the United States to President Tetsuaki Watanabe in a timely manner.

Especially what Highlander encountered in Huaxia some time ago, he also heard about it.

"Apart from our Highlander, are there any other models that perform worse?"

Watanabe's mood was a little heavy.

25% offset collision is a thing that everyone didn't pay much attention to before.

Now that the American Highway Safety Insurance Association is starting to pay attention to it, many car companies are not ready.

"The BMW X5 didn't do particularly well either."

"After the collision, the occupant's empty compartment was severely invaded by the body structure, the left foot rest pedal was 40cm intrusion, the dashboard was 15cm, and the dummy's right foot was stuck in the empty compartment under the brake pedal."

"However, the BMW X5 did a good job of suppressing the forced movement of the dummy during the collision, and the head hit the center of the steering wheel airbag, which was protected to the greatest extent."

"However, the X5's side air curtain is somewhat lacking in coverage for the front row, and this Highlander is the same."

"Finally, the dummy's data shows that in such a crash, the X5 driver's left calf is inevitably injured, but the probability of injury to other body parts can be kept at a low level."

After Tetsuaki Kobayashi finished speaking, Watanabe Tetsuaki couldn't help but ask: "You just said that Xingchen Automobile's performance is very good, how is it an excellent method?" ”

As the president of Toyota Motor, it is naturally impossible not to know about Xingchen Automobile and Nanshan Group.

This is the one that brings the greatest confusion to Toyota among all the automobile-related companies in China.

"The results of the collision showed that the parts in the cockpit looking up after the collision were kept at a good distance from the occupants of the vehicle."

"The intrusion distance is 10 cm in the lower part and 5 cm in the upper part."

"In addition, the forced movement of the dummy during the collision is well controlled by the seat belt, and the head of the dummy is always in contact with the center of the airbag until it rebounds, maximizing the protection of the airbag."

"The side air curtain is large enough to cover the front area, which can effectively reduce the damage caused by the collision between the occupants and the side structure of the body, and the side airbags can be deployed smoothly."

"Overall, looking up can reduce the probability of injury to a passenger to a relatively low level when encountering an impact of this magnitude."

Tetsuaki Kobayashi reported while observing Watanabe's reaction.

This result is definitely not what Watanabe wants to see.

"President, in fact, in this test, the evaluation of the body structure of most SUV models is not high."

"Judging from the results of the collision, the passenger compartment of most of the SUV models that participated in the test was greatly violated like the Highlander."

"At the same time, since the vehicle usually has a rotational offset motion after a collision, the occupant's head moves to the left front."

"If the seat belt does not play a good role in restricting the occupant's head movement, and the airbag cannot buffer the movement of the occupant's head, it will cause great injury to the occupants."

"I think that as long as the 25% offset collision is fully considered when designing new models in the future, these problems can be solved."

Tetsuaki Kobayashi's explanation did not satisfy Watanabe Tetsuaki.

However, considering that in addition to looking up, the SUVs of other car companies are also not performing well, Watanabe is not easy to get angry.

But there is no need to mention the grievances in my heart.

And with such a good crash test result, Ford will naturally not give up on key publicity.

There is a picture and a truth!

Even in order to convince American consumers of what they say, Ford even put information about one of its underperforming SUV models in the comparative promotional materials.

In this way, looking up at the American auto market, it became popular all of a sudden.

Of the 13 SUV models that participated in the test, only one performed well.

If it's not convincing, what is?

Coupled with the fact that it is sold in Lincoln's sales channel, American consumers subconsciously think that this is another independent brand of Ford Motor.

In this way, consumers have fewer worries about buying and looking up.

"Cao, looking up to this month's sales exceeded 3,000 units, and next month is expected to exceed 4,000 units, and even challenge 5,000 units."

"You hurry up and arrange the production, load it on the ship in advance, and transport it over."

Melgen, the vice president in charge of sales, personally called Cao Yang.

The transportation of automobiles must only be by sea.

Drifting from Yangcheng to the United States, plus various procedures for export and import, a month's time was gone all at once.

"Melgan, congratulations, Ford made a very good choice."

Although it is Ford Motor that sells well in the United States and earns the most money, it is definitely a good thing for Xingchen Automobile.

After all, the more you look up to the export, the better the publicity.

At this pace, there is hope that the annual sales of 100,000 units will exceed this year.

That's pretty impressive.

After all, this is a high-end luxury large SUV that costs more than one million units.

"Mr. Cao, Tongxi, there is no problem with the production capacity of your Xingchen Automobile, right?"

"The current sales situation should be much better than the previous plan."

Melgan was in a really good mood.

Although the sales of a few thousand units are nothing in Ford's sales of hundreds of thousands of units per month.

But selling one Lookup makes more money than ten Mondeos.

In this case, the impact of thousands of sales a month is not small at all.

In particular, since Murali took office, he has been promoting open sources and reducing expenditure.

Looking up to the sales, it is definitely a very good open source project.

"You can rest assured, even if I give up the production capacity in the Chinese market, I will give priority to the supply of Ford vehicles, and I have clearly promised in the contract that I will give priority to the supply of the American market."

Production capacity is obviously not a problem for the current Xingchen Automobile.

As long as Cao Yang wants to increase production capacity, he will directly change from single-shift production to double-shift production, and the production capacity will go up at once.

If it doesn't work, it will invest in some new production lines on the reserved vacant land, and directly double the production capacity.

Not to mention the next few years, at least the production capacity in these two years will definitely not be a problem.

"This time, I hope to be able to stand out among all SUV models, which has a lot to do with its excellent crash performance."

"When consumers buy new cars, they still care a lot about these performances."

"Of course, looking up to abundant power, rich configuration, and classic styling are also very key factors."

"Cao, I heard that you still have an SUV under development, and when the time comes, I hope you can also consider the needs of the American market."

"Before the global unified listing, transport a batch of vehicles in advance."

Melgen is now very interested in the SUV of Star Motors.

Although the performance of Ziweixing and Starry Sky is also excellent, there is no way to compare with Yangwang in terms of sales.

Mainly in the field of sports cars, the United States' own car companies are not performing well, and consumers still recognize European car companies.

It will take some time for this to change.

But SUVs are different, and the SUV market in the United States is the largest in the world.

Consumers' acceptance of this model is also relatively high.

Looking up to the absolute advantage, the market reaction is naturally very good.

"According to the current progress, Xingchen No. 4 will be on sale by the end of this year."

"When the time comes, I will let the people from the sales department connect with you in advance and make arrangements for the unified global listing."

"Compared with looking up, I think the sales of Xingchen 4 will be more worth looking forward to."

"Whether it is in terms of rich power configuration or amazing appearance, Xingchen 4 is a product that I am particularly satisfied with."

Taking advantage of Ford's enthusiasm to help sell Xingchen Automobile's products, Cao Yang naturally wants to draw a big pie.

As a very young car brand, it is very important to increase sales as soon as possible.

Otherwise, there is no sales, and it makes no sense for you to say anything.

Once the global annual sales of Xingchen Automobile can reach the level of 300,000 units, it will be regarded as a preliminary foothold.

If it can stabilize at more than 500,000, it will have a place in the luxury car brand.

The latter performance is the icing on the cake to see if you can do better.

Sure enough, Melgan listened to it and became very interested.

He said that the next time he came to China on a business trip, he would go to Xingchen Automobile to take a look at the situation of Xingchen No. 4 in advance.

The two then chatted casually, and each other was very satisfied.

After hanging up the phone, Cao Yang immediately called Yu Yu from Autohome.

(End of chapter)