rolls-royce motor cars
General Manager of Greater China
Mr Li Long
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Writing · Qin Shaojie Format · Ma Ning
Q1
How did Rolls Royce perform in the first quarter of China? How does the Chinese market compare with the global market? What are the characteristics of consumers in China's ultra luxury car market?
A： First of all, let me mention that last year, despite the sudden outbreak of the epidemic at the beginning of last year, the recovery of the luxury market in the second half of last year far exceeded everyone's expectations. Our Greater China region achieved the second best performance in history under the circumstances of the epidemic last year. Considering that the Goodwood factory stopped for more than two months due to the epidemic, the second is that last year our main model, Guster, experienced the replacement of old and new models and was in short supply. Based on these conditions, the performance exceeded all our expectations.
As for the customer group, one of the obvious characteristics of last year is that the customers are younger now. Last year, the average Rolls Royce car owner in China was 39 years old, and the car owner under 30 years old accounted for 16% last year. Our customers' personalized demands are much higher than before. Last year, our Bespoke advanced customization turnover reached the best year ever. We are not a mass production car brand, nor do we like to pay too much attention to sales. The first quarter of this year saw an increase of 260% over the same period of last year. Of course, the base in the first quarter of last year was relatively low. At present, Rolls Royce's sales in China account for 30% of the world's total. Since the first quarter of this year, China has become Rolls Royce's largest market in the world.
Youth is one of the main characteristics of Chinese consumers. With the growth of wealth in the past few years, our appreciation of arts and humanities has also increased a lot. Five years ago, most of our auto show booths were black, emphasizing modesty and steadiness. Now, the car can have a body color like mint green (jagged green), so it can also reflect some changes of the whole brand. We have adopted the latest visual effects of the brand at the booth of this auto show. Now this booth feels more like a luxury than a traditional car. We are not positioning ourselves as a super luxury car product in the future. I hope that when you mention Rolls Royce, the first impression is that it is a luxury. This is the work we have done in the past few years, and now it is slowly showing its effect.
Q2
In recent years, Rolls Royce has combined more and more elements with China. What is the proportion of customer customization in the overall sales volume of the Chinese market? What is the customer's feedback on the online ordering of the Phantom "Tempo" classic? What new initiatives and changes will be made in marketing in the future?
A： As for the online sales activity of the Phantom "Tempranillo" collection, as I saw yesterday, there are nearly 300 registered customers who want to buy this car. Of course, we have strict requirements. For example, the registration number is consistent with the final car purchase contract and cannot be changed. This is our first attempt at online sales. To clarify, Good Media said yesterday that 20 limited edition Phantom "Tempo" collections had been sold, which was inaccurate. 20 cars are the global quota, 8 cars in Greater China and 7 cars in mainland China. These two cars are the ones during the Shanghai Auto Show and can only be bought through online channels. Online shopping is also one of the practices that conform to the habits of young Chinese consumers. It is also a try for us. Including the offline flash showroom of the Phantom "Templar" collection in Hang Lung Plaza, we have integrated customized and personalized audio. On site, you can order your own electronic music, and a device can directly convert music into video. Many young people like taking selfies, which makes them interactive. This is the way of communication we have promoted in the Chinese market in the past few years.
In the past two years, the biggest feature of Rolls Royce Bespoke advanced customization is that the Chinese elements of labeling and Facebook are becoming less and less. In the past, everyone mentioned the limited edition as a familiar theme, such as Chinese red, blue and white porcelain, plum, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum, dragon and phoenix. But in the past two years, we have adopted a more interesting and exploratory customization theme: select some symbols in Chinese cultural elements and show them in a more modern way, so that customized cars can have an interesting theme story. For example, Gust in the middle of the booth is called "Yijing", which is specially customized for Shanghai International Automobile Exhibition. Its biggest customization highlight is the ice pattern on the rear armrest seat. The ice pattern pattern comes from Shanghai Yu Garden. The ice pattern pattern on the window of the pavilion inside also has a good meaning in China, symbolizing perfection and extending in all directions. This is an element that Chinese people can understand at a glance, but it is not facial and rigid. This is its biggest Bespoke advanced customization feature.
In addition, the appearance of the car is gray, with a green waistline design. In this warm spring season, gray and green are the colors of the earth. This combination is a bit like seeing trees sprouting or green algae rushing out of the land in Jiangnan gardens, so it creates a very good artistic conception. The front and rear seats of Guster's "Yijing" special edition interior are different. The front is dark and the back is light. This car is Guster's long axle model, so of course, it also pays more attention to the customer's rear experience. Its design is to give people a way to open the door and sit in the car after turning around the Jiangnan Garden, It's like enjoying a moment of peace in the house after you turn the garden, living in a busy but small oasis or paradise of your own. It is just like you go shopping in the garden in the south, enjoying the beauty of turning a corner into a scene. You have the fun and sentiment of discovery. I think customization with theme is the most important feature in the future, unlike the previous label embroidery on a symbol. In the past few years, guests have become more internationalized, and their appreciation and customization levels have become much higher than before after their wealth has grown. We should also make self breakthroughs accordingly.
Q3
Does Rolls Royce also seek to differentiate its power performance from other luxury brands?
A： Other luxury brands have more public attributes, which is different from other brands. When customers ask about power, the answer is "enough", because the differentiation of power parameters is really not their main demand. For example, for the customization of luxury bags, the discussion is more about what materials to use, what colors to match, what techniques to use, and where to reflect your own personal characteristics. Mainstream Rolls Royce customers are not concerned about power parameters, acceleration, etc. So this is the difference between us and other brands.
Q4
Silence is one of the characteristics of the brand new Guster. Can you introduce what technologies or solutions the brand new Guster has applied to vehicle acoustics?
A： First of all, Guster, like Phantom, has applied our luxury architecture, which is also Rolls Royce's own platform. This platform can satisfy different body chassis for the first time. All future models are based on this platform, so it gives us great flexibility. Secondly, the sound insulation of aluminum platform is better than that of steel platform. The third is in line with our manufacturing philosophy. The aluminum platform has different aluminum materials, which must be manually processed and cannot be used for large-scale production. This reflects the manufacturing philosophy of Rolls Royce, which does not make mass production vehicles.
We have equipped the engine with double baffles to ensure that the engine noise does not reach the body. The whole car uses more than 100 kg of sound insulation materials, including tires, glass, and inside the glass, all of which ensure the quietness of the car to the greatest extent. Many people are doing noise reduction, but our work to some extent is actually to maintain the harmony of its sound field: if the resonance frequency of some parts makes people feel uncomfortable, we will replace them. And after this car came out, because the test car was too quiet, it felt dizzy inside, so we adjusted the resonance of parts to make you feel more comfortable. Therefore, quietness has always been a feature of Rolls Royce, and this car is also the best Rolls Royce in terms of technology, including quietness.
Q5
What is the difference between the Phantom "Tempo" classic and other models? In addition to the marketing method of online purchase, what are the highlights of the model itself?
A： The Phantom "Tempo" collection is also a theme customization. The theme of this customization is time and space. The nameplate embedded in the glove box of the Phantom "Tempo" collection is attached with an introduction to the gallery and Einstein's famous saying: "The difference between the past, the present and the future is just an inherent illusion." Previously, Rolls Royce's biggest selling point was starry sky, while the Phantom "Tempo" The collection version has embroidery on it, creating a feeling of putting the whole universe in the car. It also has a group of new and bright designs in the door lining.
Because its theme is time, every Rolls Royce car used to be equipped with a clock, but in this car, we deliberately removed the clock, hoping to create a sense of freedom from time constraints in the car. The Phantom "Spirit of Heaven" collection edition also has a specially customized "Art Mirror Collection" gallery, which is equipped with 100 independent lamp posts, milled from a whole piece of aluminum billet, and treated with black anodizing and manual polishing, making you feel that time is solidifying. The feedback on this car in China is very good, beyond our imagination.
Q6
Do you think the target customers of Rolls Royce have changed?
A： We have always felt that there is no way to make portraits for Rolls Royce's customer groups. I have been working on cars for so many years, but in fact, the target group of all brands is not exactly the same as the real car buyers. We are committed to making a good product. Some products may have special functional attributes, some are only for young people, and some are for old people. A really good product, such as Rolls Royce, feels good no matter at the age of 8 or 80. People can love this product very soon. This is what we hope to achieve in the process of making products.
Q7
Does Rolls Royce have any electrification considerations?
A： Now, electrification is a must for every brand, so we have also clearly announced that all our products will change in the next decade, but we will not use hybrid power, but will directly use pure electric, including automatic driving, artificial intelligence, and the vehicle interconnection technology that we prefer in the future. In 2016, we actually had a concept car, which has demonstrated the technology of automatic driving and artificial intelligence.
Q8
As a top class ultra luxury brand, how will Rolls Royce combine with electrification?
A： Two levels: first, people cannot change the future development trend. This society is progressing, and electrification is the same. But as a super luxury, especially for Rolls Royce, we are now in a relatively good stage. Now people's perception of Rolls Royce is luxury, not just cars. In the future electrification stage, especially the biggest difference between mass production vehicles and ultra luxury vehicles, is that in the consumption of mass production vehicles, what you do is a single choice question. You have four models you like, and what you buy is the one. You have to drive to work, to work, and to go anywhere. There is no use scenario. There are use scenarios for ultra luxury cars. You can have four ABCD cars at the same time. You will make different choices according to different use scenarios, so there is a big difference between ultra luxury cars and mass production cars.
Q9
Do you think it is necessary to spread the stories of Rolls Royce products to the public? For Rolls Royce, is it better to actively spread the stories, or is it just to wait for a few people to come to learn about the stories and stay in the passive marketing mode?
A： I think in the Chinese market, both of them are needed. You want this car to be a brand audience even if it is not your buyer. Now the brand needs to become more interactive and modest. For example, everyone on the Internet is our media, so you need to become more open and generous, allowing different people to express their views, Especially brands like ours.
On the other hand, there is a leading role. The Bespoke models on display this time reflect the highest Bespoke customization level. To some extent, it is not to sell one or two cars, but also to tell others about the brand's production process, aesthetic appeal, humanistic philosophical thinking and value recognition, so that this stage is not just a simple product, sometimes called brand, The transmission is more about a brand's value concept, and it depends on whether the value concept is consistent with your target audience.
Many people ask me how to sell a Rolls Royce car. At this stage, we don't want to pursue the so-called hot sales. This is a stage of mutual choice, because no one needs to buy a Rolls Royce car from the function point of view. Some customers buy a Rolls Royce car only for important occasions. For example, someone buys expensive jewelry only once a year, which is the same. Luxury goods have very special use scenarios. When everyone has a common idea about aesthetics and car design, we are happy to see him choose our products instead of conducting guided sales.
Rolls Royce's active promotion is not aimed at selling cars, but to let more people better understand the brand. Our marketing is not just about selling a car. Of course, this is the final result, but the most important thing is to let more people understand and like this brand.
