Automotive people should pay attention to
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We are in an era of rapid change. Transformation and upgrading are issues that every enterprise cannot, dare not, and is unwilling to ignore. As an industry within an industry, how should the automobile industry transform and upgrade? There is no ready answer, and no one dares to be 100% sure. The collision of ideas is a good way to explore the way forward.
On July 18, the "Tsinghua Global Industry Forum - Innovation and Transformation: The Future of the Automotive Industry" hosted by the Tsinghua University Global Industry 4.5 Research Institute (hereinafter referred to as the "Industry Research Institute") was held in the main building of Tsinghua University. Many industry experts from China Automotive Technology and Research Center, Tsinghua University Institute of Automotive Industry and Technology Strategy, Tianjin University, Tesla Company, etc. spoke freely.
A group of IT giants have entered the automotive field, bringing with them a different way of thinking and touching the nerves of both big guys and junior guys in the automotive industry. The role that this external force brings to the automotive industry is mainly reflected in the following aspects:
◆ Satisfy new user experience
◆ Rapid iteration
◆ Big data realization
◆ Open cooperation
◆ Decentralization
◆ Wikimedia Commons
◆ Global operations
1
Meet new user experiences
In the open Internet era, with rich product choices and high-frequency updates, once a certain product or technology better meets the needs, users will quickly transfer. For example, 360 anti-virus software is easy for users to understand at a glance and has changed the traditional understanding of anti-virus software. It quickly gained more than 200 million users and became a black swan in the Internet industry. For another example, Xiaomi mobile phones have achieved considerable development in two years by quickly following customer experience.
There are many Internet companies that have recently entered the automotive industry, and they all emphasize that they attach great importance to new user experiences in the new era, such as driverless driving and in-car entertainment systems.
Traditional car manufacturers are subject to path dependence and are much slower to respond to experience. Some OEMs still view cars as transportation, while others are aware of changing trends. BMW is one of them. In recent years, BMW has taken the lead in focusing on user experience and positioning itself from a car manufacturer to a high-end travel service provider.
This transformation of automobile manufacturers is not only a self-awakening, but also motivated by new Internet companies entering this field.
2
Rapid iteration
Rapid iteration significantly reduces the cost of experimentation and failure in product development. In the Internet era, multiple rapid iterations can continuously improve the user experience contained in the product.
For example, in October 2015, Tesla launched the 7.0 system to Chinese Model S owners, adding automatic lane keeping, automatic lane changing and automatic parking functions. Three months later, Tesla released the 7.1 system, which improved the functions of vertical parking and remote summoning of mobile phones and car keys. At this point, car owners do not need to go to the 4S store to update. In just three months, users have upgraded their products, enriched vehicle functions, and gained new experiences. This reflects the rapid iterative development model of the Internet entering the automotive field.
3
Big data realization
In the Internet era, there is a huge explosion of data. The speed, breadth and quantity of data are unmatched before.
The traditional sales model cannot connect manufacturers and users well; the intermediate contact process between customers and developers is fragmented. The cycle for mainstream car companies to develop a new car is five years. In five years, the user experience may undergo major changes, and the blue ocean may turn into a red ocean.
After the data is accumulated, the algorithm shows its power. Google, Amazon, Baidu, and Alibaba all use algorithms. In fact, the role of algorithms is more obvious in the automotive field. For example, automotive websites and terminals can collect a large amount of customer information, much more than 4S stores. Analyzing this data can extend many services; for another example, UBI (Usage-based insurance) is an American insurance company. Commercial insurance based on driving behavior.If users choose to join the UBI car insurance plan, they can install an automatic on-board diagnostic system (OBD) for free to record data in real time. The vehicle's sudden braking, sudden acceleration, and driving time and other parameters will be recorded and analyzed. During an observation period, users can receive cash rewards from insurance companies or commercial insurance discounts based on driving performance. Today, there are more than 2 million users in the U.S. participating in the UBI program.
4
Open cooperation
Some traditional automobile companies make everything from engines, gearboxes to suspensions themselves, forming a so-called industrial closed loop. However, modular R&D and production in the automotive industry have become a trend. Against the background of increasingly detailed division of labor, the R&D and production model of the entire industry chain has been difficult to adapt to the requirements of rapid and flexible response to customers and participation in fierce market competition.
Elon Musk published the article "All Our Patents Belong to You" on Tesla's official website in 2014, opening up all patents including batteries, chargers and solar panels to promote the advancement of electric vehicle technology. Some people think that Tesla's opening up of patents is a "drunkard". In fact, we have ignored the fact that in the Internet industry, an open platform is a key element to achieve rapid expansion, stimulate creativity and reduce costs.
In recent years, BAIC Motor (hereinafter referred to as "BAIC") has made outstanding achievements in the development and marketing of new energy vehicle products, which is inseparable to a certain extent from its open business philosophy.
In December 2015, BAIC and Baoya reached a cooperation project to produce 400,000 electric vehicles per year; in the same year, BAIC announced that it would jointly build new energy vehicles with LeTV. Chairman Xu Heyi once said: "BAIC is willing to be the first to OEM for Internet companies."
openness, inclusiveness, cooperation and sharing are not only important to the development of the computer Internet industry, but also to the automobile manufacturing industry.
5
Decentralization
Centralization and decentralization are the differences between centralization and decentralization. In the traditional industrial era, centralization prevailed. Many successful entrepreneurs attach great importance to product quality but ignore user experience. In the Internet era, the first priority for user experience is decentralized thinking.
For example, my country's passenger car industry is currently the largest in the world, and the technology and scale of new energy buses have led the world. However, car companies tend to be product-centric. However, mismatching product development will bring greater policy risks and technical risks.
For another example, the transformation of Volkswagen Group provides an explanation for "decentralization". In recent years, Volkswagen has had a lot of negative exposure, such as DSG failure, Volkswagen PR scandal, Sagitar broken axle incident, exhaust emission fraud, etc. The Volkswagen Group has paid a high price for its "big corporate disease". In March this year, the new Volkswagen CEO Murren said: "The Volkswagen Group will learn pragmatic and efficient ways of thinking from companies like Apple and Tesla. The new leadership team will adhere to an open thinking model and promote the decentralization of the Volkswagen Group. .”
6
Wikimedia Commons
Alibaba, Uber, and Airbnb don’t stock goods, cars, or homes. Don Tapscott pointed out in "Wikinomics": New large-scale collaboration is changing the way companies use knowledge and capabilities to innovate and create value. New business models open the door to the world, innovate with every consumer, and share previously highly protected resources. The idea of large-scale collaboration has promoted important changes in the industry and rewritten many competition rules.
For example, Amap has always adhered to the crowdsourcing model to mine map resources. Through the crowdsourcing model, Amap generates more than 700,000 pieces of traffic information every month, and has more than 100,000 kilometers of road updates and 150,000 maps every month. Data Update.
Internet companies have built a new business model - crowdsourcing. Users are both users and enjoyers of information, and sharers of information. Through the sharing and re-sharing of Internet information, enterprises have higher-quality content, such as traffic information, and high-quality information attracts more users, forming a virtuous cycle.
7
Global Operations
Global cooperation in the new era has brought new production methods to enterprises.Design, acquire resources, assemble, and market globally, treat the entire world as a village, and have optimal global budgets in terms of capital allocation, resource allocation, procurement, manufacturing, etc.
Globalization is more suitable for the automobile industry. For example, General Motors has brands such as Cadillac, Buick, and Oldsmobile, all of which have independent staff and procedures. Like many multinational companies, General Motors is divided into geographical regions, and the group's subsidiaries develop, produce, and sell vehicles based on local needs and supplier resources. This federal structure is redundant and large. Each company employs a large number of local employees and makes large amounts of repeated investment, which affects the effect of scale effects.
car sales is a global integrated platform. With industrial transformation and upgrading, smarter and more personalized product customization will soon become a reality.
For example, users purchase Tesla cars and Apple products directly from the official website. When Apple releases the smart car iCar in the future, hundreds of thousands of Apple fans will order online, and offline physical stores will become places where Apple fans can experience, upgrade, and try out new products.
In the past, enterprises relied more on very limited offline R&D, procurement, production, and sales networks. Nowadays, both online and offline networks are fully utilized at the same time, and the instant connection between the two networks is realized, reducing the time and space distance of various docking and cooperation to an unprecedented level. The development of the automobile industry will first benefit from this. As a mobile terminal, the automobile will significantly promote global operations and enter a new era.
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