Zhang Yi: Joint venture car companies become independent brands

On the morning of September 8, Dongfeng Nissan Passenger Vehicle Co., Ltd. officially released Dongfeng Nissan’s own brand “Kaichen” in Beijing. Dongfeng Nissan became the third Sino-foreign joint venture automobile company with its own brand after Guangzhou Automobile Honda and SAIC-GM-Wuling.

Beijing Hyundai, Guangzhou Automobile Toyota, Dongfeng Honda, Changan Ford Mazda and other joint ventures have also reported that they will develop their own brands. Joint venture auto companies have launched their own brands and are becoming a trend.

In 2007, when Guangben announced that it wanted to develop its own brand, it was ridiculed by many people and even thought it was a show. However, Guangben’s practice has received strong support from the national authorities.

At the time, the head of the Industry Development Department of the National Development and Reform Commission (now the Department of Industrial Coordination) believed that Guangben’s development of self-owned brand cars had brought out a new model for the Chinese auto industry on the road to independent innovation and opened two of China’s automobile joint ventures. One: One is to increase the R&D of the joint venture to the development of the automotive platform, and the other is that the product will be linked to its own trademark. The development of self-owned brand cars in Guangben will rewrite the fact that China's auto joint ventures do not have their own brands, but simply take the foreign brands.

What is an independent brand? There are four conditions. The first is the trademark exclusive rights obtained in China by domestic automobile manufacturers, including Sino-foreign joint ventures, that is, registered trademarks. The second is that it must be a domestic enterprise, that is, a trademark registrant has the sole right to exclusive use of trademarks on a global scale. Thirdly, domestic auto manufacturers must possess independent intellectual property rights of the brand, industrial property rights of products, product improvement and recognition rights, and technology transfer rights of products. Fourth, as the main sign of consumer recognition, it must be marked on the exterior of the car, such as the front and rear.

The "Auto Industry Adjustment and Revitalization Plan" issued at the beginning of last year puts forward the implementation of self-owned brand strategy for the first time. The state will formulate corresponding policies in technology development, government procurement, financing channels, etc., and guide auto manufacturers to develop their own brands as the strategic focus of the company, and support auto manufacturers to develop autonomy through various means such as independent development, joint development, and domestic and foreign mergers and acquisitions. Brand.

The National Development and Reform Commission believes that the development of China's auto industry to this stage, the car brand should have three existential methods, one foreign brand, the second is a Chinese-funded brand, and the third is a joint venture brand owned by both sides.

What are the advantages of joint ventures engaging in independent brands? Some people think that if they want to become an independent company, they must have their own research and development capabilities, innovation capabilities, and products under their own corporate brand, so that they have the core competitiveness. The joint ventures such as Guangben and Dongfeng Nissan have undergone years of development. Both the manufacturing technology and the product quality are in the leading position in China, and they have a high degree of trust. Consumers will recognize the joint-venture car company R & D design and manufacturing of its own brand cars.

Guangqi Honda's first self-owned brand production car “concept” will be officially unveiled at the Guangzhou Auto Show in December this year and will be launched in the first half of next year. In the first half of 2012, Dongfeng Nissan’s first mass production model “Qichen” will be officially launched. In a few years, we will see more self-owned brand cars developed by joint ventures on the road. The joining of joint-venture car companies will play a role in boosting the implementation of the independent brand strategy promoted by the country.