By Yang Zhongyang, Tong Na & Chang Yanjun

The joint-venture self-owned brands are finding their path one after another

Guangzhou Honda EVERUS S1 came into the market in Wuhan on April 17; SAIC GM Wuling Baojun 630 appeared in Chengdu on August 9; the first Venucia D50 of Dongfeng Nissan was sold in Guangzhou on November 21. At the same time, Beijing Hyundai and Dongfeng Honda also released two self-owned brands of BHCD-1 and Ciimo recently on the Guangzhou Auto Show.

According to the announcement published by Ministry of Industry and Information Technology this year, we find "Kaili", a joint-venture self-owned brand of FAW-Volkswagen, and Tantos, a self-owned brand of Shanghai Volkswagen, are also listed. Currently, Changan PSA, established just in the last month, also announced to create the "joint-venture self-owned" brand.

Intensive emergence and rise of the joint-venture self-owned brands becomes a new force in the Chinese auto market this year. However, the rise of the joint-venture self-owned brands also arouse a big controversy in the industry. The controversy refers mainly to three aspects. Firstly, whether is the "joint-venture self-owned" an expedient of the transnational companies for the hard restriction of new project approval from the government? Secondly, "joint-venture self-owned" is nothing more than an obsolete product after "cosmetic surgery" by the transnational companies and it is a new approach and trick of foreigners to make money in China. So can the Chinese really learn from it? Thirdly, whether does mass launch of "joint-venture self-owned" vehicle types become a nightmare of the traditional self-owned brands.

Liu Jinliang, vice president of Geely Holding Group, and general manager of Sales Company, views that "in fact, the joint-venture self-owned brand is still a joint-venture one, not self-owned". Yin Tongyue, chairman of Chery Automobile Co., Ltd., says that "only those brands with complete intellectual property can be considered as self-owned". In other word, the joint-venture self-owned brand is not be worthy of the name.

In spite of the intensive controversy in the industry for the joint-venture self-owned brand, it never affects the rapid access of the joint-venture enterprises to this segment market this year. Yao Yiming, executive deputy general manager of Guangzhou Honda makes an introduction that launch of EVERUS S1 formally in the market on April 17 and the accumulative sales volume has reached to 20,000 during the period less than 7 months. "It means that our operational mode of synchronized in technologies, homologuos in quality and network-communized in service has made an initial success".

Kevin Wale, president of General Motor China, told the reporter that Baojun 630 came into the market in this August and the monthly sales volume have exceeded 5000 for consecutive several months. The sales volume reached 6108 in last November. "Presently, the sales channels of Baojun are set up gradually and the amount of Baojun stores will increase to about 150 by the end of the year in China."

In view of above, an expert says that "joint-venture self-owned brand" enjoys both the quality advantage of a joint-venture brand and the price advantage of a self-owned brand, so the cost effective advantage just meets the consumption requirement in the secondary and tertiary market. In view of the obvious slow growth of the auto market, the market performance of the two cars is not bad.

However, it is too early to say the joint-venture self-owned brands will dominate the market. "It is not economical to maintain two, three, or even more brands for an enterprise because it requires a lot of resources". Zhu Fushou, general manager of Dongfeng Motor Corporation says, "it is impossible for a foreign-funded brand to strategically promote the development of a joint-venture self-owned one." In his opinion, the joint-venture self-owned brand may make some success only on the basis of the strategic system set up by some large joint-venture enterprises. Single joint-venture enterprise can never dominate the market depending on one or two joint-venture self-owned products.

New-energy automobiles get ready

"About to be issued", "issued in (month) at the earliest", "issued definitely", "impossible to be issued" and "returned again", from the beginning to the end of the year, Industrial Development Plan of Energy-saving and New-energy Automobile (2011-2020) initiated by Ministry of Industry and Information Technology fails to emerge in spite of repeated calls.

However, when people feel nothing more and more about the "dystocia" of the Industrial Development Plan of Energy-saving and New-energy Automobile, Notice about Furthering the Pilot Work for Trial and Promotion of Energy-saving and New-energy Automobile was issued jointly by Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and National Development and Reform Commission, in which it requires the pilot cities, while carrying out the central pilot policy, make a study and develop the encouragement policy for trial and promotion of new-energy cars, and implement the policy of exemption from the restriction measures of license auction, lots drawing and traffic control. Such a notice seems to stimulate people to long for the accelerated development of new-energy vehicles.

In fact, the development of the new-energy vehicles this year is not so "favored" as the one in the last year and even seems to be a little cold during a period, especially after "4.11" Spontaneous Combustion Accident of Zotye electric taxi in Hangzhou.

After the "high fever" period of last year, the development of new-energy vehicle is cooled slightly this year with the following reasons. Firstly, battery safety problem is not solved completely and effectively; secondly, battery energy density is hard to be increased substantially in a short time; thirdly, the battery cost still maintains high; lastly, there is still dispute for technological roadmap in the industry.

However, there is surging undercurrent beneath the calm surface. On October 26, BYD E6 electric MPV was sold formally after two years of warming. It is said that full charged E6 electric MPV can drive for 300 kilometers, the longest life mileage for an electric vehicle in the world. However, the price as high as RMB369, 800 yuan results in much sigh from the market.

Similarly, on Guangzhou International Auto Show in the end of the year, GM Chevrolet Volt Extended-range electric car was introduced in China in the way of complete export with a price of RMB498, 000 yuan. By now, China, after the US mainland, has become one of the markets in the world where the car based on the innovated electric driving technology is introduced at the earliest. The reason for Shanghai GM to choose to introduce Volt at this time, apart from taking the lead to seize the opportunity in the industry, seems to be trial in the new-energy market in China. With frequent actions by transnational auto enterprises, in fact, the fight for new-energy cars has begun quietly this year.