Riding "Tiger" to Drive "Leopard" and Subaru Hits China's Auto Market


Impreza, Outback, Legacy, and many Subaru models are named after beasts. This unique feature is now known as a ferocious animal company that has entered the country with small, well-known auto companies. “We plan to sell 1,000 units this year, reach 2,500 units next year, and reach 5,000 units in the third year.” You may be puzzled by hearing such a sales target, and you have frequently announced hundreds of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of vehicles in many automobile manufacturers. Today's sales plan, what brand is so low on their own requirements? It is true that this is the publicly announced sales target for SUBARU Subaru this year when it launches six new imported models in the Chinese market. But don't be fooled by this superficial sales figure. This is just a prelude to Subaru's massive advance into the Chinese market. The unfamiliar Subaru Subaru brand speaks of Subaru, Fuji Heavy Industries's main car brand. Most Chinese consumers are still unfamiliar, but for real car owners, they can drive a professionally modified SUBARU to drive on the road. It is a dream thing. Although SUBARU's market share in Japan's domestic auto market is less than 5%, SUBARU's unique horizontally opposed engine (SUBARUBOXER) and Symmetrical AWD (Symmetrical AWD) have achieved outstanding results in a number of international competitions. , thus creating a high brand awareness in Japan's domestic and European and American markets. The championship team and drivers, including the famous 555 Beijing-Hong Kong Rally competition, also used SUBARU as a participating vehicle. "Forest," "Lion," "Tiger," and "Leopard," just the names of these products have clearly revealed an unscrupulous momentum. It is perhaps SUBARU's goal to use technology to win and build a good car that ordinary people can afford. Weakening Fuji Heavy Industries' Subaru image In fact, as early as the end of the 1980s, Fuji Heavy Industries began to explore the road of cooperation with China, and eventually cooperated with Guihang to produce miniature cars in China—the Guizhou Skylark. However, due to various issues such as technical support, capital investment, and corporate management, the joint venture business has stagnated and its products have basically withdrawn from the domestic auto market. Although the domestic auto market has cooled sharply since the beginning of this year, the huge potential purchasing power still keeps the sales growth rate at a relatively high level relative to the European and American markets. Faced with this temptation, no one car manufacturer dares to give up and Fuji Heavy Industries does not exception. This time, Fuji Heavy Industries has regrouped and pushed its six models that are hot in the international market into the domestic market at the same time, which shows that it attaches great importance to the Chinese market. Perhaps because the shadow of investment failure in China has not dissipated, manufacturers are interested in emphasizing the brand new SUBARU brand in the new car promotion, weakening the influence of Fuji Heavy Industries and expecting to use the latest technology to leave a good brand impression on the people. Due to the distinctive style of Subaru, it is determined that its consumer groups are currently mainly focused on the car owners who value driving pleasure. At the same time, as an imported vehicle, its price is not much competitive at the moment. However, SUBARU is still advocating a big fanfare. A wide range of media and user test rides, overwhelming advertisements, and early adjustment of prices into 2005 have proved the confidence of SUB ARU in the Chinese market. On the one hand, it also accelerates the general consumer's understanding of the brand. For Subaru, who is not eager to sell cars and focuses on marketing, the long-line fishing is its ultimate goal. The hidden "SUBARU" heart "Our goal is to occupy 1% of the world's market share." "The first thing we need to do is to seize 1% of the Chinese market. If this cannot be done, we will not be able to occupy the world. Objectives.” Talking about the ultimate goal of SUBARU, Fujimura Hiroshi Nakamura told the reporter. “We currently have 36 sales outlets and plan to reach 100 after 3 years. At the same time, we will not adopt a single model for building 4S stores. We will build 4S stores in major cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, and build after-sales services in small and medium-sized cities. The service-oriented 2S stores, while selling, do a good job of service, and when their sales volume reaches a certain scale, they will be changed to 4S stores.Since there is a lesson to build a sales network later, this time before establishing a sales network, There is no intention of cooperating with any company to build a factory in China. Only when the sales volume reaches 5,000 units will it be considered.” Although Fuji Heavy Industries has always avoided the issue of product localization, it is not difficult to see from this network development plan alone. The ultimate goal of SUBARU is to localize the products. However, the current market situation is not good, and it is still too early to identify specific partners. At the 2004 media test drive conference held by SUBARU, PR companies did not regard the most glorified “impreza” as the recommendation point. Instead, they used the “Lion Lion” whose appearance and function are more in line with public demands as the main trolley type. From this we may be able to infer boldly that "Lion Lion" will be the preferred model for SUBARU's domestic production. Due to the unpleasant cooperation between the company and Guihang, it is believed that SUBARU is unlikely to work together again. Recently, SUBARU has entered into a technical cooperation agreement with Jiangsu Yueda Group to successfully put its urban garbage collection vehicles into production and sell them in small quantities. This shows that SUB ARU has had substantial contact with domestic automobile manufacturers. It seems that “grabbing 1% of the Chinese market” is not the ultimate goal of SUBARU. Once the sales network is established and the domestic auto market is stable, SUBARU will definitely have a bigger role in the Chinese market. The SUBARUBOXER horizontally opposed engine is more intrinsically harmonious than the inline engine and the V-engine. A superbly balanced operation means less vibration because the mutual movement of the pistons counteracts lateral vibrations. Obviously, this flat design also means that the engine is closer to the chassis, lowering the center of gravity, and enhancing compatibility with all-wheel drive arrangements and suspension systems. The Symmetrical AWD symmetric all-wheel-drive system SUBARU brand's left-right symmetric all-wheel drive originates from the technology of rally racing. It can give you a real driving experience of power, control, grip and control under any road conditions and weather conditions. Because the horizontally opposed engine can provide a lower center of gravity, and the perfect symmetric power transmission system, SUBARU can control the power of any other car can not match. The symmetrically-distributed power transmission system combined with the compact design of the light-duty engine allows the SUBARU to accelerate, decelerate, and turn, maintaining a stable grip under all conditions, giving the driver a superior stability in driving control. No matter what kind of road conditions (dry road / bumpy road / wet road / icy road / sharp bend, etc.), this system can make the wheels tightly grip the ground, allowing drivers to experience driving pleasure safely and comfortably. In addition, Subaru uses mechanical all-wheel drive technology, making the entire drive system more stable and easy to maintain.