The car giant started by marrying the daughter of the king

Chapter 377 Huge Impact
"In addition to its stylish appearance, our Camry's fuel efficiency is also a major advantage."

"In addition, our quality stability is unmatched by other competitors. We need to find a way to promote these advantages."

The North American market is the market that Shoichiro Toyoda attaches the most importance to, and Camry is the mainstay of their sales.

Now that he is facing resistance from his competitors, he naturally has to find a way to fight back.

"When I came back, I arranged for the American branch to invest additional promotional resources to let more consumers know the benefits of Camry."

"But the publicity campaigns for Ford Taurus and GM Forester were also very strong, with their ads appearing in many mainstream media."

"In addition, some American consumers still have a certain degree of brand loyalty to locally produced cars. It will probably take some time to quickly reverse the situation."

Saito Shangying doesn't dare to make any promises easily.

Once this trend is formed, it will be very difficult to reverse it.

Now, relevant departments throughout the United States are trying to suppress Japanese companies. General Motors and Ford will naturally receive more support if they launch impressive products at this time.

To some extent, the export of Mercedes-Benz cars to the United States can be said to have come at a particularly good time.

If it had happened a dozen years earlier or later, the situation would have been different.

"I will also communicate with the R&D center and ask them to speed up the development of the next generation Camry and strive to put it into mass production one year ahead of schedule."

Toyota's traditional new model development cycle is about five to six years.

Basically, after a product is mass-produced and launched on the market, the development of the next generation of models is also started at the same time.

Combined with feedback from consumers in the market, the relevant situations will be reflected in the design of the next generation.

At this time, most automobile companies are following this rhythm.

Of course, with Toyota's strength, there is no problem in advancing the time a bit.

Compared with Toyota's dilemma, Ford is a bit happy and a bit troubled.

"Peterson, our Taurus sales in the first month on the market reached more than 12,000 units, exceeding our planned number."

"From the current responses from various media and consumers, the Taurus sedan is still highly regarded."

As the sales director, Bill must report the good news to the president, Peterson.

Ford Motor Company has had a tough time in recent years, but now its fortunes are finally turning around.

"Have you arranged for someone to investigate and find out what the consumers who buy our Taurus sedan are like and what they base their considerations on for our Taurus?"

Peterson is very clear about the development background of the Taurus sedan. This is a new product designed to compete with the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord.

Now that it's on the market and sales are performing very well, he is naturally very concerned about whether the previous goal of blocking Japanese car companies has been achieved.

"The data in this regard is already being collated. According to preliminary investigations, the market share is mainly taken away from Camry and Accord."

"At the same time, the market space for some other mid-size sedans has also been squeezed by us."

"Taurus' design style is very advanced and fashionable, and many consumers approve of it."

"But we are not without opponents."

Although Bill was in a good mood, he was not so proud as to think that the Taurus sedan was invincible.

Even the appearance of his car, which he was proud of, had no advantage over the General Motors Forester.

In other words, only General Motors and these two companies have relatively avant-garde product appearance styles in the market, and there is still enough market space for them to share.

Otherwise, the market response to the Taurus sedan would probably not be so ideal.

"The opponent you are talking about is General Forest?"

Peterson is not a R&D personnel who turns a deaf ear to what is happening outside. He has a relatively clear understanding of several major competing products on the market.

"Yes, apart from the two traditional rivals, Camry and Accord, I feel that GM Forester is the biggest rival of our Taurus."

"General Forest has a clear advantage in appearance, and many consumers buy it just for its beautiful appearance."

"In terms of vehicle size, our Taurus has an advantage over the Camry and Accord, but is inferior to the GM Forester."

"The only thing that is better than the other party is that our cars are made in America, while GM Forester's are imported from China and re-branded."

"If the sales of General Forest continue to increase rapidly, I will arrange for people to promote the General Forest OEM business."

The Taurus sedan was developed very successfully, but no one would complain about the high sales volume of their own products.

In the eyes of others, if it weren't for the emergence of General Forest, the sales of their own products could have increased by at least 20%.

Therefore, throwing mud at competitors is something that needs to be put on the agenda.

Besides, he felt that he was not throwing mud at others, he was just stating some facts.

"Our main goal now is to unite and suppress Toyota and Honda in Japan. As long as our Taurus sales are still rising, we should not confront General Motors."

As they are both automobile giants in Detroit, Peterson and GM's president Murphy are actually very familiar with each other.

When there is no need to fall out, it is better to maintain a certain degree of decency.

"Toyota's factory in the United States is a joint venture with General Motors. I'm afraid that General Motors will be reluctant to suppress the sales of Camry and then compete with our Taurus. That would be disgusting."

"Besides, there is Nissan following behind Toyota and Honda, and the increase in their Bluebird sales will also have an impact on our Taurus sales."

Others looked at Peterson with some concern.

In his opinion, no matter who the competitor is, as long as it affects the sales of his own products, then he will fight!
"I'll talk to Murphy first and see if we can work together to deal with the Japanese car companies. We shouldn't fight against each other."

If you think about problems from different dimensions, the approaches you take will naturally be different.

As the president of Ford Motor Company, Peterson naturally has more to consider.

As for General Motors, after tasting the sweetness, it became very enthusiastic about cooperating with BMW Group.

"Jiang, every time I meet you, I feel you can bring me surprises."

"Mercedes-Benz's sales in the American market are very good. There is absolutely no problem in maintaining a stable sales volume of more than 5000 units per month."

"As long as your production capacity can keep up, we plan to strive for the high goal of monthly sales of over 10,000 next month." Austin personally flew to China on behalf of General Motors to visit the production line of BMW Group.

On the one hand, I want to confirm the progress of the expansion of Mercedes-Benz sedan production capacity, and on the other hand, I also want to discuss cooperation on subsequent models with Jiang Hui.

He knew that BMW Group had two new models under development. If these two products were to be marketed in the U.S., they could contribute 10,000 units in sales each month, which would be of extraordinary significance.

"Austin, congratulations on finding a cash cow for General Motors. The performance of Mercedes-Benz sedans will not disappoint you."

"Starting from next month, we will be able to ship more than 2000 Mercedes-Benz cars to the United States every week, and the production capacity can be further increased to 3000 cars per week starting next month."

"As long as GM can sell Mercedes-Benz sedans, we can sell as many of them as you want."

At this time, Mercedes-Benz cars must not fail due to production capacity issues.

Therefore, even if we have to work overtime in three shifts and not take any rest on weekends, we still have to increase production.

If it really doesn't work, the worst that can happen is that we can slow down sales in the domestic market and give priority to export earnings.

"The batch of high-precision machine tools that you asked our purchasing center to help you purchase can be officially shipped next week thanks to our president's personal lobbying."

"By then, all the high-precision equipment your engine and gearbox factories need can be met."

Austin came here to discuss a new project with Jiang Hui, and naturally he came with sincerity.

Previously, when BMW Group purchased five-axis machine tools from Japan, it suffered a lot.

Taking advantage of the cooperation between Mercedes-Benz and General Motors, Jiang Hui naturally arranged for people to raise some equipment bottleneck problems that Mercedes-Benz faced in increasing its production capacity.

In order to quickly increase the sales of the new Buick Forester model, General Motors is obviously also making efforts.

Thanks to the close relationship between China and the United States in recent years, the BMW Group successfully purchased some sensitive machine tools with relatively high precision.

This means that Nanshan Equipment has more time to develop its own advanced machine tools.

Otherwise, even with Jiang Hui's help, it would still be very difficult to develop high-precision machine tools within one or two years.

Now, with the help of General Motors, Nanshan Equipment can have at least two more years of buffer time.

"Thank you, Austin. Our new products require large-displacement engines. Although the development of these products was relatively smooth, we expect to encounter problems with machining accuracy and yield rate during the mass production of some parts."

"If there are no high-speed machine tools, it will be very difficult to increase the production capacity of new products."

Jiang Hui knew that Austin was planning on making Land Rover SUVs and Land Rover pickup trucks.

Although Jiang Hui did not really want all the cars to be sold to General Motors in the United States under OEM conditions, the situation was stronger than he was.

The most meaningful thing to do at this time is to make BMW bigger and stronger and earn more money to expand into other overseas markets.

Therefore, even if some sacrifices are made in the American market, it is acceptable.

"How is the development of your new product going? Can I go and have a look?"

Seeing that Jiang Hui mentioned the new product very considerately, Austin naturally would not miss this opportunity.

"The product design has been finalized, and the production of the first batch of prototypes has begun. It is expected to be officially launched next year."

"We can go and see the clay models of these two cars together later."

Now that they have considered continuing to cooperate with GM, and these models will be on the market next year, it is not unacceptable to take Austin to see the clay models.

Anyway, even if he saw these clay models, it would take at least three years for General Motors to develop a similar product on its own.

Time waits for no one, and General Motors, which urgently needs to improve its operating conditions, will not choose to wait passively.

Of course, the other party may not continue to cooperate with BMW.

When others launch similar products of their own in the future, who knows, there might be new ideas.

Even if the cost of producing new models in China is lower, it may not necessarily keep General Motors' cooperation.

Therefore, the window period of recent years is very precious.

"That's great. I have great confidence in your design skills, Jiang Hui."

Austin couldn't wait to follow Jiang Hui to the clay model making room.

When the staff pulled open the curtain next to the clay model, Austin's eyes lit up.

Pickup trucks and SUVs are two very popular market segments in the American market.

Especially pickup trucks, General Motors and Ford are still able to hold on, and the sales of pickup trucks have played a very critical role.

"Jiang, the quality of your products is still as high as ever. You have never let us down."

"GM is ready to cooperate with you on these two products. We can also arrange the logo design work at the same time."

"When these models are put into mass production, they can be officially shipped to America, allowing them to shine on the international stage."

As the design director of General Motors, Austin's vision is definitely not bad.

No matter which of the two products in front of us is any less classic than a Mercedes-Benz sedan.

In this case, he naturally chose to continue cooperating with BMW Group without any hesitation.

"No problem. I believe that the competitiveness of these two models will not be inferior to that of Mercedes-Benz sedans. By then, with these three models, GM's monthly sales can increase by 30,000 to 50,000 units, or even higher."

"The sales of Japanese car companies will all be put on the back burner!"

Jiang Hui's words touched Austin's heart.

He was really looking forward to this day.

"If you encounter any difficulties in the mass production of these two new models, please tell me and I will try to help you solve them."

Austin is a man of discernment.

The most beneficial thing for General Motors is to get these two products into GM's sales system as quickly as possible.

By then, the company’s stock price may increase by several percent!

(End of this chapter)