At the beginning of the introduction of MAGOTAN, FAW-Volkswagen regards it as “allowing the company to realize unprecedented operating profit”, and this strategy has not changed in the new model.

However, it is similar to Shanghai Volkswagen New Passat, which is also from the PQ46 platform of the Volkswagen Group. Similar design, similar prices, the same power system, and even the same logo, it may be difficult for ordinary buyers to accurately identify the two cars. True difference. The only variable may exist only in North and South China's differentiated marketing strategy.

It is obviously a good time to display a new car at the highly-concerned Shanghai Auto Show, especially the recognized heavyweight like the Passat B7L, but FAW-Volkswagen has given up this plan and they have to name this one still known as “Magotan”. The new model looks for another opportunity.

Is it necessary to evade the edge of Shanghai Volkswagen New Passat on the 17th of this month? The voice of public opinion largely revolves around this view, and the display of two models with a similarity of up to 90% may compromise the effect of new cars.

But for the new Magotan, which will be rolled out in July, this kind of tit-for-tat is relatively inevitable. This time FAW-Volkswagen will be able to regain the face that was defeated in the Passat field by the previous generation model.

A FAW-Volkswagen dealer Investor said he believes that the success of the new Magotan is not difficult to predict. The reason is that "longer", too short wheelbase and lack of space are always fatal to the old Magotan.

Test marketing wisdom If it is not SAIC Group’s refusal to pay the public a high technology transfer fee, Passat’s fate in China may not be so unpredictable.

The PASSAT B5, which was put into production in China in 1999 and has undergone two reforms, still occupied the top three titles in the mid-to-high-end auto market in 2010, and it can sell 10,000 vehicles per month, second only to Honda. Accord and Toyota Camry. The PASSAT B6, which was named after MAGOTAN and imported into FAW-Volkswagen, has always lacked the means to squeeze into the above rankings.

The investors of the first batch of GAC Toyota dealerships admitted in private that the Camry’s one model alone enabled them to recover the cost of building the shop. Today, the Camry and Accord are still the pillars of GAC Toyota and GAC Honda.

FAW-Volkswagen's product structure is just the opposite. From Jetta, New Bora, Sagitar, Magotan, its model sales are inversely proportional to sales. Even if compared with another public joint venture in China, the former did not have the upper hand in the product layout. Shanghai Volkswagen Passat has always held the second place in the performance of the company, and the more advanced platform of FAW-Volkswagen Magotan's monthly sales have been between 6,000 and 8,000.

"FAW-Volkswagen's serious miscalculation of Matang's early market judgments," said a dealer in Beijing, the dealer told reporters, "the internal space is too small, and they actually believe that most buyers are only interested in manual models, a lot of row As a result of the production, if there is a slow sale on the market, no one wants a car with 200,000 yuan worth of hand-held cars. Discounts are inevitable, and it is difficult to sell hot.”

In fact, FAW-Volkswagen once intended to launch an extended version of Magotan, but they quickly gave up the plan and placed their hopes directly on the new B7L model.



FAW-Volkswagen's mistake in updating FAW-Volkswagen's micro-blog by Wang Feng indicated that the company did not intend to reduce the price in exchange for a higher market share.

“When Volkswagen initially wanted to develop a low-cost B-Class for the North American market, its colleagues in Shanghai have now completed this task, first appeared in the United States, and called the 2012 Passat. The price is very competitive.” Wang Feng in his personal micro Bo on the record, "We MAGOTAN B7L certainly does not have a price advantage, more emphasis on technology and performance."

In fact, when MAGOTAN launched its main technology brand in 2007, rather than price, it made its brand image ranked first in its BIC model image survey last year. The 1.8 TSI engine provided by MAGOTAN achieves a perfect combination of direct injection and turbocharging technology in the fuel tank. The maximum power of 118kW and the maximum torque of 250Nm make the magotan 1.8 TSI more powerful than a comparable model with a 2.4-liter engine. The widespread use of turbocharged engines has even made it a technical benchmark for powertrains and has been followed by other competitors. The Magotan 2.0 TSI, which was later launched in the first quarter of 2009, increased the maximum torque to 280 Nm, and the power level reached the output level of 2.8L or 3.0LL.

"In January of this year, MAGOTAN's sales reached 8,202 units, and in one fell swoop, it refreshed its monthly sales record last year, which also made it a beautiful starter this year," said the Public Relations Department of FAW-Volkswagen Sales.

The same body length and wheelbase as in Europe ensure that the magotan's chassis fully inherits the driving experience of the prototype vehicle, but its sales volume still fails to compete with its main competitors. The B7L appellation indicates that FAW-Volkswagen has attempted to correct mistakes and copied the successful experience of Audi A4L to the Volkswagen brand.

MAGOTAN intends to make profits at the initial stage of the introduction of MAGOTAN. FAW-Volkswagen regards it as “the company can achieve unprecedented operating profit”. This strategy has not changed in the new model.

However, it is similar to Shanghai Volkswagen New Passat, which is also from the PQ46 platform of the Volkswagen Group. Similar design, similar prices, the same power system, and even the same logo, it may be difficult for ordinary buyers to accurately identify the two cars. True difference. The only variable may exist only in North and South China's differentiated marketing strategy.

"The new Magotan and the new Passat were originally 'born twins' and similar to each other." The source told Times Weekly, "The two cars will open up the price gap with luxury configuration, the former configuration is higher, including the 3.0-liter engine, and Passat The price/performance ratio is a big selling point."

An internal production plan of FAW-Volkswagen shows that the company will produce as many as 70,000 new Magotan vehicles this year, and the old models will stop production after producing 30,000 vehicles. In the 70,000 new models, the output of a matching 1.4-liter turbocharged engine is only about 2,000 cars, even lower than the market expectations of the 3.0-liter model. Its intention is to lower the entry-level price threshold by as much as 86%. The production capacity will be used to produce a 1.8-liter supercharged engine.

This seemingly in line with the product upgrade strategy in the mid-to-high-class car market, will continue to test the marketing wisdom of FAW-Volkswagen. If the new flagship is still unable to contribute to its turning point, the company will inevitably continue to rely on sales of only 20%, profit contribution may be Up to 80% of the Audi brand.