The coming year 2007 is a year worth reviewing and recording. From the frequent recalls in the auto market to the new round of reorganization and cooperation between domestic and foreign auto companies, and then to the collective bid change and rising oil prices by independent brands seeking overseas markets, it is difficult to sum up too many hot events in one or two words. Then, we might as well review these hot events one by one, and perhaps we can see clearly what the auto market experienced in 2007.

　　Keywords: recall

　　In March of this year, Guangzhou Honda recalled some Accord, Odyssey and Fit cars; In April, PSA Peugeot Citroen recalled some C5R and C6 cars; In June, Beijing Benz-Daimler? Chrysler recalled some 2007 domestic Chrysler 300C cars, Changan Ford Mazda recalled some 2.0 manual Mondeo cars, Nissan recalled Guishi V42 multi-purpose passenger cars, Sichuan FAW Toyota Changchun Fengyue Company recalled some Prius cars, and Hunan Changfeng Automobile recalled some Mitsubishi off-road vehicles; In July, Mercedes-Benz recalled some W220 and W215 cars; In August, Jiangxi Changhe Suzuki recalled some Liana cars; In September, Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd. recalled some cars; In October, Sichuan FAW Toyota Motor Co., Ltd. recalled some Costa buses; In November, Shenlong Automobile Co., Ltd. recalled some Dongfeng Peugeot 206 automatic cars and Honda recalled some Acura RL cars …

　　Counting the recall events in the auto market this year, the recall frequency of auto manufacturers in the China market has reached almost every month. According to a data from the Defective Product Management Center of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, since China officially implemented the Regulations on the Management of Defective Automobile Product Recall on October 1, 2004, as of November this year, more than 1.3 million vehicles have been recalled in China, involving 107 models of 45 domestic and foreign enterprises, with 103 recalls. Among them, there were 13 recalls in China in 2004, involving more than 320 thousand vehicles of 13 models; In 2005, there were 27 recalls, involving more than 60 thousand vehicles of 27 models; In 2006, there were 40 recalls, involving more than 340 thousand vehicles of 42 models; In the first 11 months of 2007, there were 23 recalls, involving more than 580,000 vehicles of 25 models.

　　Such high-frequency recalls attract attention. After careful observation, it is not difficult to find that many of the frequently recalled models are new models that have just been on the market for one or two years or even more than half a year. It is precisely because automobile manufacturers are eager to push new cars in recent years that more and more models are too eager to put on the market. Coupled with the round of price cuts, automobile manufacturers have to reduce costs, and domestic cars have begun to enter a peak period of automobile product recall.

　　Keywords: merger and reorganization

　　Since the beginning of this year, the domestic auto market has once again set off a wave of mergers, acquisitions, cooperation and joint ventures-asset reorganization fever: On June 29th this year, PSA and hafei automobile Group formally signed a memorandum of understanding to study the feasibility of establishing a joint venture company, and the two sides will set up a new joint venture company to produce light commercial vehicles under PSA Group; On July 4th, Chery and Chrysler formally signed a strategic cooperation agreement in Beijing. The two sides used Chery’s ability in the development, manufacturing and cost control of small and medium-sized automobile products and Chrysler’s advantages in brand influence and marketing to explore major international markets such as North America and the European Union. In addition, the dispute between Nanjing Automobile and SAIC, which has attracted much attention, has finally made new progress this year after many rounds of difficult negotiations and consultations, and is expected to reach a plan of comprehensive cooperation. Since the acquisition of Rover in Britain, there has been a feud between Nanqi MG and SAIC Roewe. This round of asset reorganization of automobile manufacturers has different characteristics, and foreign manufacturers seem to be more optimistic about their own brands, which provides a good opportunity for the development of independent brand enterprises: for example, the strategic cooperation model of "complementary advantages and win-win cooperation" between Chery and Chrysler; After Hafei’s joint venture with Peugeot Citroen, it is undoubtedly an opportunity for Hafei’s independent research and development and enterprise development.

　　Keywords: bid change

　　From last year, China’s self-owned brands such as Jianghuai, Changan, Haima and Shuanghuan quietly replaced the old logo, and this year, Geely, Great Wall, BYD and other self-owned brands collectively changed the logo, which aroused widespread concern inside and outside the industry, and pushed the action of changing the logo of China’s self-owned brands to the forefront of public opinion.

　　In January this year, Geely Automobile announced that it would collect a new Geely logo globally and offer a huge bonus of 3.6 million yuan. Geely’s 3.6 million-yuan global bid for new cars, which lasted for 10 months and set a world commercial bid record, ended in November this year. According to the data from the Organizing Committee of Geely Bidding, 27,336 manuscripts and emails were received at home and abroad, and 12,205 manuscripts were finally valid. These manuscripts came from more than 100 countries around the world, setting a world record for enterprise bidding.

　　In order to enter the overseas market on a large scale, BYD started to use the new corporate logo, changed the traditional blue-and-white brand logo, and redesigned the brand logo. Judging from the LOGO that has been released, the new logo has been replaced with solid red, giving people a clear feeling, concise and eye-catching. The new logo will be used first abroad, and there will be a period of replacement of old and new in China.

　　At the same time, on October 29th, Great Wall Motor began to renew its global standard. "Now Great Wall Motor has been sold to 109 countries, including more than 70 countries that have achieved batch export and established and improved 4S marketing networks. If there are true and false LOGO in many countries at the same time, it will cause great harm to the Great Wall Motor brand and even China Automobile. " Wang Fengying, president of Great Wall Motor, said that because the old trademark of Great Wall Motor was registered in many countries, it encountered some troubles in the process of overseas export, and it was helpless for Great Wall Motor to change its bid.

　　In view of the phenomenon of collective bid-changing of self-owned brand cars in China, some car manufacturers and people in the industry have their own views on this, and have formed distinct positive and negative views. Supporters believe that the bid change can enhance the image of the product’s own brand and help to expand overseas markets. On the other hand, the opponent thinks that the bid change is not only a denial of the past brands, but also requires a lot of money, which may not be worth the candle.

　　Keywords: Joint ventures engage in autonomy

　　Automobile joint ventures, which have always focused on imported models, have suddenly changed their independent innovation this year. Guangzhou Honda, Shanghai Volkswagen and other joint venture automobile companies have collectively made efforts to announce their own research and development plans and started to build their own brands.

　　On July 18th, German Volkswagen and Shanghai Volkswagen signed a joint statement in Shanghai to jointly develop a new generation of mid-to-high-class cars. The two sides will focus on developing a brand-new technologically advanced car based on German Volkswagen’s new generation B-class platform for the global market for the North American and China markets. The new product will be the follow-up model of Shanghai Volkswagen PASSAT, and will be released in 2009. The research and development of Shanghai Volkswagen will also be gradually incorporated into audi ag’s global development system.

　　On July 19th this year, at the establishment ceremony of Guangzhou Honda Automobile Research and Development Co., Ltd., Okawahara Rongji, general manager of Guangzhou Honda, announced that Guangzhou Honda would soon launch its own independent brand, and the newly established Guangzhou Honda Automobile Research and Development Co., Ltd. would undertake the important task of independent brand research and development. Guangzhou Honda’s own brand will launch a brand-new logo, and the first new car will be officially put into production in 2010.

　　Although there are doubts in the industry about the joint venture’s independent brand at present, some people think that the joint venture’s independent brand is the need of cooperation between the two parties, and it is also a compromise from the outside world to the China market, which is also in line with the requirements of the National Development and Reform Commission for the China automobile joint venture to have its own brand. At the same time, it creates a new road for China enterprises in the process of autonomy.

　　Keywords: C-NCAP crash test

　　This year, both automobile manufacturers and ordinary consumers have paid special attention to automobile safety issues. In October, Tianjin Automotive Technology and Research Center C-NCAP released the crash test evaluation results of the third batch of vehicles this year. Among the eight vehicles participating in the test, Guangzhou Toyota Camry, Shanghai Volkswagen Skoda Ming Rui, Shanghai GM Buick Boulevard, FAW-Volkswagen Audi A6L and Dongfeng Citroen Triumph all got the highest five-star results. Automobile manufacturers who have achieved good results have seized this favorable opportunity to play the "safety card".

　　At the same time, China People’s Property Insurance Co., Ltd. also formally signed a strategic cooperation agreement with China Automobile Technology Research Center in Tianjin. In the future, the two sides will work together to study the new premium rate standard, and the star rating of C-NCAP is expected to be an important reference. In the future, the higher the star rating, the lower the insurance premium. For a time, it also makes ordinary consumers pay more attention to safety issues when buying a car.

　　Although this incident has caused people’s controversy about the C-NCAP crash test results, with the increasing influence of the C-NCAP crash test, the crash results have begun to affect the sales of models, and even affect the sales of other models of automobile brands. Moreover, this will also encourage domestic automobile manufacturers to increase investment in safety research and development to provide consumers with safer models.

　　Keywords: new energy vehicles

　　On November 1, the prices of gasoline, diesel and aviation kerosene increased by 500 yuan per ton, and the national average retail benchmark prices of gasoline and diesel were respectively increased by per ton.

　　The 5480 yuan and 5020 yuan were adjusted to 5980 yuan and 5520 yuan, and the oil prices of major gas stations in our province also increased by leaps and bounds. The 93rd gasoline rose from 4.65 yuan to 5.07 yuan per liter, and the 97th gasoline rose from 4.91 yuan to 5.36 yuan per liter. At the same time as the oil price has risen sharply, there is even a shortage of diesel supply and demand in some parts of the country, and the problem of energy shortage has become more and more prominent.

　　In fact, from the frequent fluctuation of oil prices in 2005 to the fact that oil prices only rose and did not fall in 2006, and then to the slight decline of oil prices in early 2007 and this strong rebound, the impact of the continuous rise of oil prices on the automobile market has become more and more obvious. The consumption pressure brought by the rise of oil prices is quietly changing people’s habits of buying and using cars, such as small-displacement and energy-saving models, which are more popular. At the same time, automobile manufacturers are paying more and more attention to the research and development of new energy vehicles. BYD, Chery, Geely, GAC and other automobile manufacturers have actively demonstrated their research and development achievements in new energy vehicles, and said that they will put them on the market in the near future.

　　With the increasing energy shortage, new energy vehicles are undoubtedly becoming the trend of future automobile development. In order to better develop this industry, which is increasingly important to China’s energy-saving strategy, the National Development and Reform Commission officially issued the Management Rules for the Production Access of New Energy Vehicles, which was officially implemented on November 1, which undoubtedly provided a basis for the healthy and standardized development of new energy vehicles in the future. (Xie Yuanli)

Editor: Yu Qingqing