摘要
2007年上半年,美国次贷危机爆发,最终在2008年演变成了全球性经济危机。经济危机给世界经济和产业带来了严重冲击,实体经济遭受重创,而其中的汽车业首当其冲。随着克莱斯勒申请破产保护,美国汽车巨头通用也在2009年6月1日申请破产保护。通用汽车这个排名世界500强前十位的商业巨鳄,这个在1931年到2007年一直雄霸全球的汽车巨头最终走上了破产保护之路。我们不禁要问是什么导致了这艘汽车界航母如此结局?难道仅仅是金融危机带给通用的灾难吗?
一波未平,一波又起。2010年伊始,全球汽车老大日本丰田汽车公司因零部件质量问题在全球大规模召回汽车,再一次在业界掀起了巨澜。召回事件使丰田汽车公司和产品陷入了严重的信任危机,因为丰田,日本精益求精的制造业,光环消褪殆尽。人们不禁要问,曾经是高品质和低价格代名词的丰田汽车为何会在质量上遭遇滑铁卢?引发召回事件的根源在哪里?丰田究竟出了什么问题?
全球经济危机爆发以来,全球汽车巨头逐渐将目光转移到了中国这个潜力巨大的市场上,危机给我们国内汽车品牌带来挑战的同时也带来了前所未有的机遇。中国汽车品牌应该何去何从?维持现状,必定在激烈的市场竞争中落败;迎难而上,才是我们求生存的法宝。中国汽车企业应该用积极准备的心态来面对这场危机,因为它为我国汽车企业参与国际汽车市场新格局秩序的制定带来了绝佳机会。一方面,我们需要根据自身特点制定出一套适合中国汽车品牌走向世界的策略;另一方面,要吸取前人的教训,避免重蹈覆辙。
本文在对相关理论进行系统分析的基础上,采用了宏观和微观,定性与定量相结合,层层推进的分析方法。首先选择通用和丰田汽车作为案例,深入分析他们的危机事件,研究各自遭遇危机的深层原因。在此基础之上,总结出对中国汽车品牌国际化的启示,希望借此给中国汽车品牌企业敲响警钟。本文最后对中国汽车品牌国际化战略进行探索,力求为其国际化道路提出有理有据,切实可行的建议。
本文第一章综述了全球经济危机背景下的汽车产业。首先对经济危机下汽车业遭受重创的原因进行分析,如它与实体经济密不可分的联系以及消费者信贷紧缩等。然后指出在经济危机大背景下,中国汽车产业面临着像汽车品牌遭受重创,市场竞争加剧等巨大挑战。但同时,经济危机也为我国汽车产业带来了前所未有的发展机遇。不仅我国政府提出了利好政策,加大了支持力度,中国企业自身也迎来了超常规发展的机会。总之,机遇与挑战并存。
第二章借助理论分析了中国汽车品牌国际化的可能性,先后阐述了比较优势理论,后发优势理论和波特的钻石理论,从理论高度为全文奠定基础,使文章更有说服力。
中国汽车品牌的国际化除了具有理论基础外,也具有现实依据。第三章借助SWOT分析方法,对中国汽车品牌自身以及内外部环境进行了全面分析,论证了中国汽车品牌国际化的可行性。此章首先阐述了当今中国汽车品牌的优势和劣势,一方面我们拥有有利的政府政策和投资环境,而且产品成本低,市场潜力巨大;另一方面,劣势不容忽视,如企业自主研发能力不高,汽车零部件发展滞后等。其次,分析了外部环境中所面临的挑战和机遇。危机爆发后,国外汽车品牌的涌入,加剧了国内市场竞争;外国贸易保护主义开始抬头。但机遇也前所未有,政府给予了中国汽车品牌足够的重视与关注,同时外企涌入我国市场的同时,也带来了资金和先进的技术,还给了我们对困境中的外国车企兼并重组的机会,若能妥善处理,积极应对,则对中国车企来说,无疑是一笔巨大的财富。除此之外,中国汽车品牌意识的崛起和消费者观念的改变,也必将促进国际化的进程。
理论基础和现实依据都具备后,在提出国际化策略之前,我们不应该忘记前车之鉴,知己知彼,方能百战不殆。本文第四章深入分析了通用申请破产保护和丰田召回事件的深层原因。通用在它的百年历史中,经历过无数次风浪,最终在这一次的金融海啸中“翻船”,很多人认为这场突如其来的金融危机是罪魁祸首,然而,“冰冻三尺,非一日之寒”,通用走到今天这一步,其堕落的根源在于多年来根深蒂固的“大企业病”。公司员工的福利和医疗保健等成本居高不下,人员臃肿,效率不高直接导致了通用汽车的高成本。此外,产品不能适应市场需求也是通用走入困境的原因之一。加之通用内部管理的官僚性,导致公司战略决策的失误,管理松散,使百年通用走向衰落。通用还奉行“多品牌战略”,但由于经营分散,在研发、生产、服务、营销等方面都没有形成有效的整体,最终导致成本增加,顾此失彼。
通用的硝烟还未褪去,2010年新年伊始,一场全球汽车召回风暴把昔日霸主丰田汽车推到了风口浪尖,在召回之前,丰田曾是世界汽车业甚至世界制造业学习的榜样,但是随着召回事件的深入,人们不禁要问,丰田怎么了?从表面上看,是汽车制造出了问题,但更深的原因是日本制造扩张模式的危机。丰田在过去的十年内,大开油门迅速扩张,2008年超越美国通用汽车,成为2008年和2009年全球销售两冠王,正是因为如此,日本企业的膨胀在过长的产业链中管理出现了缝隙,一方蚁穴导致整个丰田帝国几近崩溃。为了应付财政亏空,丰田帝国削减了成本,正是这种减少成本的收缩,让整个丰田汽车在各个环节险象环生。而汽车零件通用化和减少零部件供应商等降低成本的手段恰恰提高了故障风险,这几次的召回事件都与零部件供应商有关。此外,丰田事件愈演愈烈,也与其对危机事件处理不当有关系。首先,丰田公司事前对此次“召回”危机的演变和发展预料不足,导致危机发生的时候事态迅速恶化;其次,产品质量问题浮出水面之后反应迟缓,不敢承认错误,特别是公司高层在迫不得已的情况下才被迫面对,坐失危机之初的应对良机;再次,丰田公司在发现问题后企图隐瞒事实,推卸责任,其表现出的社会责任感和伦理的缺失严重毒化了危机处理的氛围和环境,使得危机处理过程失控,危机升级。
第五章总结了通用和丰田危机对中国汽车品牌国际化的启示,并就国际化道路提出了自己的建议。从通用危机中得到的启示:第一,中国汽车品牌应该正确处理“做强”与“做大”的关系,不能违反经济发展规律而一味求大求多,要善于规避风险,更加重视做强。第二,及早关注成本优势。虽然我们有劳动力优势,但这并不是可以一直依靠并一成不变的。第三,关注汽车消费的趋势和需求,以消费者为导向设计和研发新的产品。第四,正确处理“多品牌战略”的利与弊,发展多品牌策略时要综合考虑。从丰田召回事件中得到的启示:第一,正确处理扩张的规模和速度,快速扩张的同时必然伴有潜在的问题,应该稳中求进。第二,危机时正确处理公共关系。提早建立危机预防,管理措施,本着负责的态度正确处理。第三,提高中国汽车品牌企业的质量意识和服务能力。改变过去中国汽车“低价低质”的形象,以质取胜,提高售后服务,增加附加值。
综合以上两方面的启示,本文在最后提出了对中国汽车品牌国际化的建议:第一,树立品牌形象,打造少而精的强势品牌。中国汽车应该逐步从劣质与低价产品的形象中突围。注意提升汽车的质量,打造优质品牌形象才是中国汽车生存的根本。但我们不应该忘记前车之鉴,放弃多品牌战略,集中精力打造少而精的强势品牌。第二,提高自主研发能力,走自主创新之路。这是实现汽车工业由大变强的基本条件,更是提高国际竞争力的核心所在。第三,关注市场需求,开发新能源汽车。中国汽车品牌要想抓住新能源汽车这一历史机遇,就要在国家对新能源汽车产业的投入和政策扶持的基础上,加紧自主创新,找准方向,提前抢占未来国家竞争的战略制高点。第四,提升服务意识,不断改进和完善,建立起一套健康、可持续发展的服务体系,才能使我国的汽车售后服务业在巨大的商机中得以更加辉煌的发展。此外,完善召回制度,是中国车企树立良好品牌形象的重要步骤,也是我们走向世界的必备功课。第五,利用天时地利,形成战略联盟。一方面,中国汽车企业之间进行合作,实现做强;另一方面,用世界经济一体化的眼光,看待中国汽车的发展。
本文研究的创新点在于在国际金融危机这个特殊的背景下,从理论和实际两方面对中国汽车品牌所处的环境进行分析,通过对当前影响巨大的通用和丰田失败原因的分析,使得最终结论的得出更具现实意义,更有指导性。本文的不足之处在于由于中国汽车品牌众多以及不断变化的内外环境,不可能针对每一品牌都提出具体的建议,只能从宏观方向上进行把握,具体实施还应具体问题具体分析,并且在发展中适时调整。
In the first half year of 2007, the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis broke out and finally evolved into the global economic crisis in 2008. The economic crisis brought great shock to world economy and industry, especially to the real economy, and auto industry suffered heavy losses. With Chrysler's filing for bankruptcy protection, the U.S. auto giant General Motors (GM) also filed for bankruptcy protection in 1st June, 2009. The commercial giant GM, ranking top 10 of the world' top 500, finally embarked on the road to bankruptcy. We can't help asking what led to such a result of GM. Is it just the disaster brought by the financial crisis?
One woe goes and anther comes. At the beginning of 2010, Toyota, another world auto giant, began large-scale recalls of automobiles worldwide due to quality problems of auto parts, which raised great waves in the auto industry again. The recall incidents made Toyota fall into serious crisis of confidence. People can't help asking why Toyota, which was once famous for high quality and low price, took a plunge in quality. What is the root cause of the recalls? What exactly happened to Toyota?
Since the outbreak of the financial crisis, the world's auto giants have gradually shifted their eyes to China who has a huge potential market, which not only brings great challenges but unprecedented opportunities to our domestic auto brands. What should China's auto brands do? If maintaining the status quo, we certainly will lose in the fierce market competition, and braving difficulties will be our magic key for survival. China's auto brands enterprises should be prepared with positive attitude to face the crisis because it has brought golden chance for our participation in the formulation of orders of International automobile's new pattern. On the one hand, we need to develop a set of strategies suitable for internationalization of China's auto brands according to our own characters. On the other hand, we should learn from lessons of others to avoid making the same mistakes.
In this paper, based on systematic analysis of relevant theories, I use the analysis methods of macro and micro, qualitative and quantitative and "drill down" sequence. I choose crises of GM and Toyota as cases and study their underlying causes of crises. Then I sum up implications to the internationalization of China's automobile brands from crises of GM and Toyota, hoping to sound the alarm for China's automobile enterprises. At the end of my paper, I strive to propose reasoned and practical suggestions for their international road and make them prepare for a rainy day.
Chapter One gives an introduction of automobile industry against the background of the financial crisis. Firstly, it points out the reasons of automobile industry's bad suffering in the financial crisis, such as close linkage with real economy and consumer credit crunch. Secondly, it indicates that in the context of financial crisis, China's automobile industry faces huge challenges like heavy losses of auto brand and fierce market competition, but we also have unprecedented opportunities, not only our government puts forward good policy but China has also ushered in unconventional development opportunities. In short, opportunities and challenges go side by side.
With the help of theoretical analysis, Chapter Two explains the possibility of internationalization of China's automobile brand. It expounds comparative advantage theory, late-development advantage theory and diamond theory, which lay a solid foundation for the whole paper from theoretical height and make the paper more convincing.
In addition to theoretical basis, there is also realistic basis for internationalization of China's auto brand. Chapter Three, with the help of SWOT analysis method, conducts comprehensive analysis of China's auto brand itself and internal and external environment in order to demonstrate the feasibility of internationalization of China's auto brand. This chapter firstly describes strengths and weaknesses of China's automobile brands. On the one hand, we have beneficial government policy, investment environment, low product cost and huge market potential. On the other hand, disadvantages cannot be ignored, such as weak ability of independent R&D, lag of auto parts and so on. Then this chapter introduces our challenges and opportunities in external environment. After the outbreak of the financial crisis, the influx of foreign auto brands increases domestic market competition. Besides, foreign trade protection begins to rise. However, the opportunities coexist. Government has given enough attention and concern to China's auto brands. With the influx of foreign enterprises, they bring advanced technology and capital, and opportunities for us to merge and reorganize foreign auto enterprises which are struggling in the financial crisis. If these opportunities can be handled properly and responded positively, they will undoubtedly be great wealth for China's auto enterprises. Furthermore, the rise of brand awareness of China's auto enterprises and change of consumer concept are surely to promote the process of internationalization.
After we have theoretical and practical bases, we should not forget the lessons drawn from others'mistakes before proposing international strategy, because you can win only by knowing yourself as well as your enemy. Chapter Four gives an in-depth analysis of reasons of GM's filing for bankruptcy and Toyota's recall incidents. GM has experienced numerous storms during its history of one hundred years, and shipwrecked at this financial crisis. Many people regard the sudden financial crisis as chief culprit. However, Rome is not built in one day. The deep-rooted reason why GM took bankrupt protection lies in its years of "big enterprise disease". Firstly, GM has high costs of employee benefits and health care, overstaffing and inefficiency, all of which led directly to the high cost of GM automobiles. Secondly, GM's product can't meet market demand. Thirdly, the internal bureaucracy of management resulted in mistakes of strategic decision making and loose management. Fourthly, because of decentralized operation, multi-brand strategy pursued by GM also led to increased cost.
The crisis of GM hasn't totally faded, and at the beginning of 2010, global automobile recalls put Toyota in the teeth of storm. Before the crisis, Toyota was a good example of world automobile industry. With the deterioration of recall incidents, people cannot help asking what problems Toyota has. On the surface, there is something wrong with auto manufacturing, but the deeper reason is the crisis of Toyota's expansion model.
In the past decade, Toyota expanded rapidly and transcended GM in 2008, becoming two-time winner of global automobile sales in 2008 and 2009. Just due to the rapid expansion, the over-long industry chain of Toyota emerged crack, and one nest led to the near collapse of the Toyota Empire. In order to cope with the financial shortfall, Toyota reduced cost. Just because of the cost reduction, all aspects of Toyota automobile have potential danger. The cost reduction methods, like general utilization of auto parts and reduction of parts suppliers, increase the risk of failure. In addition, the intension of Toyota's crisis is related with mishandling of crisis. First of all, Toyota lacked enough prediction of the evolution of the crisis development, which resulted in quick deterioration of the situation. Secondly, Toyota didn't admit mistakes immediately after quality problems surfaced, which made it miss the perfect time to deal with the crisis. Thirdly, after finding the problems, Toyota attempted to conceal the facts and passed the buck. The lack of social responsibility and ethic poisoned the atmosphere of crisis management and made the crisis management process out of control.
Chapter Five summarizes the implications to the internationalization of China's automobile brands from the crises of the General Motors and Toyota, arid puts forward suggestions for the international road. The lessons learned from GM are as follows:firstly, correctly deal with the relationship between "business expansion" and "business enhancement". We can't violate the laws of economic development to just pursue for large scale and quantity, while we should be good at avoiding risks and emphasizing on enhancement; secondly, pay early attention to cost advantage. Although we have labor advantage, it doesn't mean the advantage can be relied on forever and never change; thirdly, focus on auto consumption trends and demand change; fourthly, correctly deal with the pros and cons of multi-brand strategy. Implications draw from Toyota are as follows:first of all, correctly handle the expansion scale and speed and make progress while ensuring stability; secondly, correctly handle public relations in the crisis and establish crisis prevention system in advance; thirdly, improve quality awareness and service ability of China's auto brand enterprises to change past image of "low price and low quality".
Combined with above implications, at last the paper proposes suggestions to internationalization of China's auto brands. First of all, establish brand image and build strong brands. China automobiles should gradually move from the image of "low quality and low price". It is our survival rule to improve auto quality and create high-quality brand image. Secondly, improve independent research and development abilities and take the road of self-innovation, which are the core of international competitiveness improvement. Thirdly, focus on market demand and develop new energy automobiles to seize the strategic dominating height of future national competition. Fourthly, enhance service awareness and set up a series of healthy and sustainable development service system, which can bring more brilliant development to our after-sale service industry. In addition, the perfection of recall system is an important step for China's automobile enterprises to go global. Fifthly, use good timing and place to form strategic alliance. China auto enterprises should not only cooperate with each other to make them stronger but also treat our development with the view of world economy integration.
The innovation of the paper is that in the special background-financial crisis, it analyzes the environment of China's auto brands from both theoretical and practical aspects. The analysis of deep reasons of crises of GM and Toyota makes the final conclusions more realistic and instructive. The shortcoming of the paper is that, due to the large quantity of China's auto brands and changing conditions, it can't make specific measures for every brand and only can grasp from macro direction. Specific implementation should be analyzed in specific issues and be adjusted during development.
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