On February 4, Dongfeng MotorCorporation (DFM) held a press conference themed with “Belt and Road· With You”to release DFM’s overseas medium-term business plan. The Plan set forth theoverall target for DFM’s overseas business in the coming three years: by 2020,achieve overseas sales goal of 150,000 vehicles and enter European and Americanmainstream automobile markets. Compared with DFM’s magnificent overseasstrategy, the target that Dongfeng Race Team hopes to win championship in VolvoOcean Race this year is merely a small target. DFM is to practice national “theBelt and Road” Initiative and tell well Chinese brand story with the help ofVolvo Ocean Race.
Dongfeng Race Team ranks second in total scores in Volvo Ocean Race andruns for championship.
Volvo Ocean Race, known as “Everestof sailing”, is a global top offshore sailing race. In the last race season,Dongfeng Race Team, a fleet named with a Chinese enterprise, participated inthe race and won the third place, which has attracted extensive attention andsupport from global fans and the public. The brand communication value rankedthe first among all the fleets, which drew the greatest attention from mediaand made the world know well about Chinese Dongfeng.
Up to now, Dongfeng Race Team hasbecome only one fleet to win awards in consecutive four times, including 3second places, 1 third place and 2 in-port race championships. After thein-port race held in Guangzhou the fifth station of the Volvo Ocean Race onFebruary 3, Dongfeng Race Team scored a total of 27 points ranking the secondin the scoreboard, only 5 points lower than that of the first place.
It is learned that Dongfeng RaceTeam’s players are about to head for Hong Kong, and to prepare for thelong-distance race from Hong Kong, China to Auckland, New Zealand, with thesailing distance of 7,000 NM (nearly 13,000 KM), and an estimated duration of20 days.
In the interview after thecompetition at Guangzhou Station, Dongfeng Race Team’s 3 Chinese playersexpressed their confidence in the captain’s and teammates’ ability. Theythought that, based on the captain’s rich experience and teammates’ concertedcollaboration, Dongfeng Race Team is capable of making better achievements inthe follow-up races, and running for championship.
Overseas medium-term business planhas overall content and pragmatic target.
Originally, we thought thatchampionship is a big target. Unexpectedly, compared with overseas medium-termbusiness plan, championship is merely a small target.
n the press conference held onFebruary 4, Dongfeng reviewed the existing overseas development achievements,and released the development plan with overall content and pragmatic target.
According to the introduction, overthe past five years, DFM has taken measures for overseas layout frequently, forexample, on September 23, 2012, Dongfeng purchased Sweden T-Engineering AB andestablished DFM’s first overseas R&D base in Sweden; in March, 2014,Dongfeng cooperated with French PSA Group and became PSA’s the first majorityshareholder; in January, 2015, Dongfeng and Volvo Group jointly built a newjoint venture - Dongfeng Commercial Vehicle Company, with Dongfeng holding 55%equities; in Iran, Dongfeng built its first overseas KD assembly base, whichassembled and exported 30,000 vehicles in 2017.
In term of the product export,Dongfeng has exported over 800,000 vehicles, with over 30 types of vehicles, toover 80 countries and regions, forming a host of stable partners and stableexport markets. In 2017, Dongfeng sold 65,000 vehicles overseas, withyear-on-year growth at 55.3%.
In the coming three years, by 2020,Dongfeng hopes that Dongfeng sells 150,000 vehicles overseas, and entersEuropean and American mainstream vehicle markets.
To this end, Dongfeng is to build3+3+N business layout. 3+3+N is to create 3 in-depth KD manufacturing bases,build 3 overseas sales companies, and set N overseas opportunistic reserveprojects. On that basis, Dongfeng is to create DFM’s characteristic modes, suchas KD mode, sales platform mode, strategic cooperation mode, “the Belt andRoad” follow mode, etc. Through concentrating on the strategic markets todistribute production capacity and channel resources, Dongfeng will promoteDFM’s ability in localized manufacturing and localized marketing, andaccelerate Dongfeng to “go into” the strategic markets.
In the coming three years, Dongfengwill launch 10-15 competitive new products and new energy products to targetedregional markets continuously.
DFM’s target in 2018 is 4,500,000vehicles.
In the press conference, DFM alsointroduced corporate overall business operation and business target of the year2018.
In 2017, DFM sold 4,121,000vehicles, achieving sales revenue of RMB 631 billion with year-on-year growthat 10.2%; achieving profit and tax with year-on-year growth at 7.8% and 15%respectively. DFM declared that “The evaluation indicator assigned byState-owned Assets Supervision And Administration Commission of the StateCouncil has been achieved”.
The sales volume of DFM’s self-brandvehicles was up to 1,439,000 vehicles, with year-on-year growth at 4.5%,ranking the third in the automobile industry. The sales volume of DFM’scommercial vehicle was 593,000 vehicles, ranking the first in the automobileindustry again, and promoting the market share up to 0.8%. The sales volume ofDFM’s new energy vehicles was up to 55,000 vehicles, with year-on-year growthat 118%, far higher than the average industry growth rate. Compared with otherself-brand vehicles, DFM’s new energy vehicle business achieves itsprofitability, without any major operation risk.
In 2018, DFM sets forth threetargets: sales volume breaks through 4,500,000 vehicles based on high quality;growth rate outperforms the market; benefit gets enhanced continuously. To thisend, DFM sets forth various plans based on the market segments.
In the commercial vehicle sector,Dongfeng is to enhance key technologies, make great efforts in such sectors ashigh horsepower, tractor, special-purpose vehicle, etc., positively improveweak markets, and seize market shares with help of such opportunities as ruralrevitalization strategy, regionally coordinated development strategy, etc.
In the self-brand passenger vehiclesector, Dongfeng is to accelerate cultivation of scale products, accelerateenhancement of product power, marketing power, service ability and brand power,and build the ability of full-value-chain system from R&D to sale, andboost Dongfeng Aeolus’s 3-year revitalization plan.
In the new energy vehicle sector,Dongfeng is to focus on improving new energy business development plan,accelerate implementation of commercialization projects of self-brands(Dongfeng Aeolus, Dongfeng GLORY) and joint ventures (Dongfeng Nissan, DongfengRenault), accelerate advancement of industrialization projects of electronicand electric control, cell grouping and drive motor, and grasp core resourcesof the above-mentioned three sectors. In 2018, the sales volume target of DFM’snew energy vehicles is 80,000 vehicles.
Moreover, in therapidly-developed intelligent networking sector, DFM hopes that all thebusiness units focus on commercialization and engineering, promote developmentof various sectors, and enhance commodity competitiveness; accelerate thebuilding of intelligent networking platform at the group level, builddigitalized innovation company, and grasp universal prospective technology andnew business mode.
As one of China’slargest automobile groups in Chinese automobile industry, DFM has great impacton the development of Chinese automobile industry. In response to “the Belt andRoad” Initiative, Dongfeng launches an overseas development strategy which canbe matched with our own development level and technical ability, and hasoverall and pragmatic target. Such target presents DFM’s rapid stable growthstatus, expresses DFM’s ambition to be a larger and stronger enterprise, anddisplays DFM’s resolution to shoulder the central enterprise’s socialresponsibilities. As “The Belt and Road” Initiative has proceeded steadily andmade great achievements continuously, DFM which positively embraces “The Beltand Road” Initiative, no doubt, will reap a lot of benefits. The rapid economicdevelopment of the countries along with “The Belt and Road” will provide aconsiderable market for commercial vehicle and passenger vehicle, and advanceDongfeng towards a new height.
