Upon arriving at Incheon Airport, Hackenberg personally test-drives Hyundai Equus and connects his mobile phone to Bluetooth with his wife in Germany.

The above scenario is based on the narrative of a South Korean reporter. The conclusion of the test drive made by Ulrich Hackenberg, a member of the Volkswagen Group Board of Directors who is in charge of research and development, is that Hyundai Motor’s Bluetooth and other electronic products are better than Japanese cars, and the overall level is also worthy of recognition. The material is still lacking.

Perhaps, Hackenberg would also like to know how Hyundai-Kia Group has evolved into the world’s fourth-largest car manufacturer in a few short years. Apart from being excavated from the head of the Volkswagen’s chief designer, Peter Shirèle, Kia Motors has an extraordinary presence. As a result, the market share in the United States exceeds the public.

As a strategic goal of “establishing a foothold in China,” Hyundai Motors’ president, Zheng Mengjiu, achieved its goal of producing and selling 1 million vehicles in the Chinese market last year. This figure surpassed that of all Japanese companies such as Nissan, Toyota, and Honda. Relying on Elantra, Freddy, and ix35, Lions Running, Hyundai Kia, which has made amazing achievements in China, can copy their success to mid- to high-class cars? Whether it is modern Sonata or Kia Yuanchuan, they have all gone in China before.

Now, South Koreans have tried to challenge the mid-to-high-class sedan market, which was dominated by the Honda Accord, Toyota Camry and Nissan Teana, through the replacement models with their distinctive European design style.

Brand restraint

Once launched, Beijing Hyundai Yuet moved quickly to one of the top ten best-selling cars. In the first 11 months of 2010, it sold a total of 21.35 million units, second only to Shanghai Volkswagen Langyi. Even Dongfeng Yueda Kia Furui of the same platform has started to break through the monthly sales of 10,000 vehicles.

In the SUV market that has continued to be sought after by Chinese buyers, Volkswagen, Toyota, and Honda have no choice but to fight aggressive Hyundai Kia. No hot car model can compete with the ix35, Tucson, and Chi running and lion running.

However, this success is largely due to its modelling of European style design, but it is significantly lower than the European brand's selling price. There is also a preference for SUVs that most buyers themselves can hardly explain. However, once the competition rises to mid-to-high-class cars, every attempt to change the Korean cars will come to an end. Spend $130,000 to buy a Sonata Pioneer, which sold only 1900 vehicles in November last year, which is equivalent to 1/9 of the Accord sales. Even in the best September, it only sells. 2,700 vehicles, and the performance of Kia Yuanjian has not been able to break through three digits.

Of the more than 50 automobile manufacturers in China, Kia is still regarded as a modern second-tier brand. Even Hyundai Motor, the parent company, has a significantly lower premium price than Japanese and European brands. “We rank fourth in global sales and rank seventh and eighth in brand status.” Modern Chinese insiders frankly say that brand status has become the biggest bottleneck restricting the development of modern automobiles.

According to the financial data provided by a securities analyst, Dongfeng Yueda Kia’s profitability in cycling is expected to increase from RMB 1,000 in 2007 to RMB 7,300, but it is still only 1/2 of that of the mainstream brands like VW and Honda. Strong.

In each company executive interview, the topic of brand promotion cannot be avoided. “Without the vision, goals, and specific plans to boost brand value, there is no room for continuous growth and the possibility of coming on later.” Zhou Wenjie, deputy general manager of Dongfeng Corporation and vice chairman of Dongfeng Yueda Kia, sighed at the time of Zhi run listing. The attitude of Li Honglu, former deputy general manager of Beijing Hyundai, is exactly the same as the former. “In the coming years, we will focus on increasing brand value.”

Global ambition

At the Guangzhou Auto Show in December last year, Beijing Hyundai and Dongfeng Yueda Kia’s lineup predicted that the Accord and Camry may also be threatened by new additions to the Buick LaCrosse and the Volkswagen Passat — the new Sonata and the Kia K5. Both of them use fashion design as a selling point, modern style as "fluid sculpture", and Kia's designer Peter Shiril himself is a living sign.

Since moving to Kia Motors as the chief designer of Volkswagen in August 2006, Hirrell has quickly become the soul of the company, and the new design force has made Hyundai Kia shine in the American market after China. With SORENTO R, Soul and Forte, only Kia surpassed Volkswagen with a share of 3.2%. The new Sonata ranks third among the top ten popular models with an average monthly sales of more than 20,000 units.

Volkswagen, which aimed at the world's top car makers, had to start researching Hyundai Kia. “We are paying close attention to the development of the modern Kia Motors, especially how to design and manufacture Hyundai Kia Motors,” Hackenberg said. According to Wendrun, the CEO of Volkswagen, it is better to pay more attention to competition from South Korea instead of Toyota as the most worrying competitive partner.

"In 2010, the sales of Hyundai Motors and Kia Motors in the world market are likely to reach 5.4 million units. Based on this, we will achieve the goal of selling more than 6 million vehicles in the near future." Hyundai Motors Chairman Zheng Mengji inspected a few days ago A Kia factory said. According to local sources in South Korea, the group has reset its business plan for this year to 6.4 million.

China wins

As a single overseas country, Hyundai Kia has established a sales target of 1 million vehicles in China for the first time. The future of the company for Zheng Mengjiu depends on the outcome of the Chinese market. The new Sonata and Kia K5, which will be successively put into production, are the key battles to reach their ambitions. If they fail again, upgrading the brand is empty talk.

Li Feng, deputy general manager of Beijing Hyundai, also regards the new Sonata as a key strategy for Hyundai Motor's breakthrough in the Chinese market. Due to the hot sales of the new models in the North American market, Li Feng also teamed up to visit the United States in hopes of finding inspiration. In the first seven months of last year alone, Sonata sold 108,000 vehicles in the United States, accounting for 46% of Hyundai’s local share.

According to Jiang Yubin, director of the copy of Dongfeng Yueda Kia Sales Department, its sales forecast for K5's 30,000 vehicles this year is somewhat conservative. “Chinese people like newer and more beautiful. We have done a lot of work in this area. The K5 was designed by Master Peter Shirley. First of all, it has a very bright appearance, a dynamic appearance, and the same level of car. The highest power performance and technology configuration.” Jiang Yubin told reporters, “I know that K5 will definitely exceed our expectations. The annual sales plan is 430,000 units, an increase of 30% compared to 2010, and will strive to enter the top ten manufacturers. ."

Can the design power and the ambition to compete for the market break the brand bottleneck of Korean cars? An information from the inside of the Kia company shows that they are also brewing technological changes. “In 2012, we will introduce mainstream turbocharged engine technology into the Chinese market.” Related sources disclosed to the Times.