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Audi Interview|Sales in the epidemic market are slack, companies are not cutting prices and using this trick to pave the way for future business

2020-10-26T03:11:46.399Z


The new crown pneumonia epidemic is raging around the world. In addition to affecting the aviation and tourism industries, the automobile industry is also the affected area. This is because under the city lockdown measures, car factories need to shut down and stop production. Coupled with the economic downturn, people reduce going out and buy cars.


Special interview

Written by: Kwong Yueting

2020-10-26 10:00

Last update date: 2020-10-26 11:02

The new crown pneumonia epidemic is raging around the world. In addition to affecting the aviation and tourism industries, the automobile industry is also the affected area.

This is because under the city lockdown measures, depots need to close and stop production, coupled with the economic downturn, people have reduced going out, and the desire to buy vehicles has been reduced.

Lothar Korn (Hao Longde), chief representative of Audi's Hong Kong representative office, said in an interview with "Hong Kong 01" that all of Audi's 16 production plants worldwide have resumed work and production has returned to normal.

Even though the current automotive market sentiment is still sluggish, the company believes that every crisis is a coexistence of "danger" and "opportunity". Therefore, it hopes to take advantage of this time to equip itself well, continue to upgrade technology and develop new products, and wait for the market to pick up again , You can grasp the opportunity.

In the first half of this year, the Audi Group’s revenue plummeted 29% year-on-year to 20.5 billion euros; global sales of 707,200 vehicles were achieved, a 22% year-on-year drop, but it was better than the industry average of 28%.

Among them, the Chinese market (including Hong Kong) delivered only a 3% decrease from the same period last year, while the European and American markets have begun to gradually recover in May.

Hao Longde said that compared with other regions, the epidemic in Hong Kong is relatively mild, so Audi Hong Kong's showroom will continue to operate during the epidemic.

However, in order to protect the safety of guests and employees, the company has not held major auto shows in the past few months. Instead, it has shifted its "front" to introduce the latest models of vehicles and new technologies to the media and guests through the online 360-degree virtual Volkswagen exhibition.

"Although the company may not hold similar events again, this is a very interesting experience. The epidemic has made the company aware of more possibilities for digital transformation. We are optimistic about the future prospects and believe that the market will gradually recover."

Hao Longde said that the company will not disclose sales targets to the outside world. However, the automobile industry not only depends on the sales figures, but also the quality of service, so that the business will last.

(Photo by Gong Jiasheng)

Price cuts have to pay more "price"

Hong Kong’s economy is in recession. The first nine months of this year’s net private car registrations were 25,409, only 66.6% of last year’s total. This is worrying about the prospects of the car sales market.

Hao Longde believes that when citizens take public transportation, they are more likely to come into contact with different people, and the risk of infection will be higher. Private cars are healthier and safer. Therefore, Hong Kong people still have a certain demand for cars.

At present, Hong Kong's economy and retail industry have been sluggish for more than a year. He hopes that after the Hong Kong government reopens, more tourists will visit again. By then, the tourism industry will become the growth engine of the economy and retail industry.

"The sales situation in the Chinese market is good and I hope that Hong Kong will have the same situation."

When asked whether he would consider adjusting vehicle prices, Hao Longde emphasized that the company will never reduce prices because this can only stimulate short-term sales. After that, customers will expect the company to reduce prices from time to time. In the long run, the company will have to pay more.

Therefore, the company hopes to attract customers with more new products. "The best selling model now is the second-generation Audi Q3, and my favorite model is the RS Q3, which feels more sporty in design." He also said that creating personalized travel solutions for users is also the focus of the group, "for example, providing a rich variety of in-car entertainment systems and smart driving configurations, and using Audi's Car-to-X technology to connect vehicles , The real-time data exchange between vehicles and infrastructure meets the needs of users for convenient, safe and intelligent driving."

The Audi Q3, an important vehicle series from Audi, is popular among Hong Kong car owners and has the best sales.

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Jigang government pushes support for electric vehicle policy

On the other hand, the auto industry has embarked on the road of “electricity” in recent years. Audi’s first pure electric vehicle, the Audi e-tron, sold 16,898 worldwide in the first half of the year. The group’s goal is to launch more than 30 electrified models in 2025. Among them, 20 models will be pure electric models, and sales of electric models will account for 40% of total sales.

Longde Hao continued to reveal that Audi will launch the second pure electric production vehicle e-tron Sportback at the end of this year in China and Hong Kong, and added that the company’s electric vehicle business is only in its infancy. In the future, the e-tron GT series will launch more product arrays. , "At least 1 item a year."

Regarding the prospects of the electric vehicle market in Hong Kong, he said it is difficult to estimate because there are currently insufficient charging stations for electric vehicles in Hong Kong. Even if car owners have purchased electric vehicles, they will encounter many difficulties in finding charging stations. , Signal bandwidth transmission and user environment issues, people will buy electric cars. You cannot rely on the auto industry to promote the development of electric cars. Government policies must be coordinated!"

Liang Baifu (pictured), general manager of Audi (Jinlong Automobile), said that Jinlong has been Audi's first strategic partners in mainland China since the 1990s, and it is believed that the two parties can exert synergy after the cooperation.

(Photo by Gong Jiasheng)

From July 1 this year, the exclusive official dealer of Audi Hong Kong will be converted to Jinlong Automobile Group, responsible for all Audi Hong Kong business operations, including wholesale and retail, sales, after-sales service, parts sales and Audi-approved car service .

Hao Longde said frankly that Hong Kong has always been one of the markets that Audi attaches great importance to. This business arrangement allows Audi to focus more on the brand's long-term business plans and at the same time explore future development opportunities.

Hao Longde said: "Buying a car is just the beginning. After that, we need to "raise a car". We hope to work with Jinlong to help buyers "raise a car" economically and comfortably, and provide buyers with detailed and updated information.

A new era of smart mobility builds a Hong Kong version of the "urban brain"

Audi retail market retail

Source: hk1

All news articles on 2020-10-26

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