Rebirth 99 to become a car giant.

Chapter 197: Put a hat on you and immediately fall into the whirlpool

On October 2002, 10, Spring City Toyota's first model VIOS was officially launched.

先期推出包括DLX、GL-i、GLX-i和GLX-S在内的六款车型，搭载代号8A-FE和5A-FE的1.3升及1.5升直列四缸自然吸气发动机，与发动机相匹配的是5速手动变速箱和4速自动变速箱，售价11.50万元至19.50万元。

If this price is placed in future generations, it will naturally not be competitive at all.

But in 2002, although it was a bit more expensive, it was still considered normal.

If there are no surprises, the Vios, positioned as a high-end economical car, will develop very smoothly in the next few years and win the recognition of many consumers.

But now that Zhang Fugui is planning to use Spring City Toyota as a test target for Autohome, the situation is hard to say.

These days, all media are basically government-run, and there is no self-media.

Therefore, Spring City Toyota invited relevant personnel from various newspapers, magazines and major portal websites to go public.

Autohome, a new website that was just launched on October 10, was naturally not included in the invitation.

Objectively speaking, it's not that Spring City Toyota looks down on Autohome. It's just that you established it too late, and their invitation letters were sent out long ago.

However, Zhang Fugui was happy not to invite them.

In this way, when Autohome reports bad news about Vios, everyone may just think that Autohome is a black brand because it was not invited.

The real purpose behind it was covered up.

"Ayang, Spring City Toyota's first model has been launched, have you noticed?"

Zhang Fugui knew that Cao Yang attached great importance to Autohome and dealing with Spring City Toyota, so he wanted to listen to Cao Yang's opinion before formally implementing the plan.

Taking advantage of the opportunity to have dinner with his elder sister today, he took the initiative to bring up this topic.

Anyway, his sister is the legal person and de facto single shareholder of Autohome, so there is nothing to hide from her.

On the contrary, this matter is not easy to discuss in the company.

"Vios' advertisements can now be seen on various portal websites. They invited Lao Mouzi and Pu Shu to shoot advertisements for them, which is a big deal."

In Cao Yang's view, the Vios of this era naturally has no sense of beauty.

But for consumers in 2002, most of the entire market consisted of old models from international giants, and the appearance of the Vios was still good.

"Yes, the more they pay attention to it, the better the effect will be when we deal with them."

"I am going to take advantage of its high selling price and say Toyota is not sincere."

Zhang Fugui tentatively proposed his own plan, but Cao Yang immediately rejected the proposal.

"The minimum configuration is RMB 11.5. Compared with Geely and Chery, this price is naturally uncompetitive."

"But the price of the Jaguar and Passat, which are one level above it, is more than twice as much. In this way, consumers don't think they are expensive."

"It's better to change the angle, raise the level of the matter a little higher, and directly let Toyota fall into the vortex."

When it comes to hacking a car, Cao Yang can think of too many ideas.

After all, there are countless classic cases for future generations to refer to.

He also knows where to point his finger at others.

"Putting Toyota into a whirlpool?"

Zhang Fugui looked at Cao Yang expectantly.

If it can really do this, then Autohome will become famous in one battle.

"Toyota has many successful models around the world. Whether in Japan or the United States, their sales are very good."

"But whether in Japan or the United States, there is no such model as the Vios."

"Although the new models behind them are global models, they are currently being promoted and are expected to be mass-produced soon."

"But Vios is a car specially supplied to China. No one can question this fact."

"We can firmly grasp this point and say that Toyota discriminates against Chinese consumers and is unwilling to import its most advanced models."

"On the contrary, they are discriminating and creating special cars for China to make dirty money."

When Cao Yang said this, Zhang Fugui couldn't help but take a breath of air.

China's special car?

I had never thought of this statement before.

But as soon as you hear it, you can immediately understand what it means.

Many black people's plans immediately came to his mind.

The materials used in the special cars are very poor, and the material grade is not as good as other models.

The configuration of a special car is not as good as that of global cars. Reducing the configuration in China will increase the price.

He could even sort out the prices of Toyota's main models in Japan and the United States, and then list them with Vios.

This sets off the high price of Vios, which is definitely more lethal than simply complaining about other people's prices.

As for the differences in taxes and fees involved, it can be completely optional and not mentioned.

Most consumers don’t pay that much attention anyway, they only care about whether the absolute price is higher than others.

The more Zhang Fugui thought about it, the more excited he became.

The first battle of Autohome is sure to win.

"After this label of China's special car is given to Toyota, it is estimated that not only the Vios will be affected, but all models that Toyota will introduce to China in the future will be affected to a certain extent."

"Ayang, if we do this, it will really be a fight to the death between us and Toyota."

Zhang Fugui was excited, but also a little worried.

After all, Toyota is a giant. Does it really want to make the relationship so tense?

What's more, the Vios is produced by a joint venture, and there is a big mountain behind it.

"We just told some truths. Is it wrong to tell the truth?"

"You just need to remember that our articles don't tell lies. If what they say is all true, they can't do anything even if they have opinions."

Cao Yang is a guilty person, how can he be afraid of Toyota's retaliation?

Even if Spring City Automobile Group is behind it, he is not worried.

Articles that tell the truth are the hardest to attack.

Even the more aggressive the opponent is, the easier it is for public opinion to backlash.

……

"Laid-off and Re-employment of Toyota Vios"

"Specially supplied cars to China, is this Toyota's sincerity?" 》

"Worse materials and configurations, higher price, Vios has a bad start! 》

……

In the past few days, Autohome has published some related reports about the "Vios".

At the beginning, because Autohome's traffic was far less than that of portals such as Sohu, its influence was not very great.

But as many "enthusiastic netizens" forwarded these articles to various forums, these topics immediately became popular.

"Old models are remanufactured. Old models in foreign countries are even removed from the market. They are transferred to new platforms and transformed into new models to achieve 'laid-off and re-employment'."

"I have gained more knowledge. It turns out that being laid off and re-employed has such a meaning."

"Cars specially supplied by China? Costs have been saved in many places, but the quality has not been improved. On the contrary, the platform is old and the safety standards are low. It is really disgusting."

"The Vios has poor sports performance and handling performance, and the identification has been completed!"

"The Vios is indeed not a global model of Toyota Motor. The standards for car manufacturing only meet the needs of the Chinese market. Therefore, the standards are low, the workmanship and materials are poor, and the safety performance is not as high as the global car requirements."

"Without all the advanced technologies of global cars, the Vios is seriously overpriced and not 'conscientious' enough."

Various comments from netizens immediately made "China's special car" a hot word.

The topic quickly moved from Autohome to the entire Internet.

Whether it is Sohu Auto Channel or various forums, there are some related discussions.

This caused consumers who had already paid deposits to immediately go to Spring City Toyota's 4S store to request a refund.

At this time, there was finally some movement from Spring City Toyota.

"Minister, I found out that this article about 'China's Special Cars' was first published on a website called 'Auto Home'."

"I took a look at the recent articles on this website, and there was not only this article that maliciously slandered us, but also many other articles that explicitly or covertly slandered us."

Chen Zhihui from the Marketing Section of Spring City Toyota Auto Sales Department reported the situation he collected to Director Miyazaki Hizashi with a serious face.

In the conference room, the section chiefs and department heads of the marketing department also gathered together to discuss countermeasures.

"Did we invite people from between cars to our launch conference?"

Although Miyazaki Himasa only arrived in China last year, he studied abroad in China in his early years and has a relatively clear understanding of China's national conditions.

Every car company will invite many media to its launch conference. Even before the launch, there are various test drives and other activities. The media are also invited to large hotels in beautiful cities for activities.

All accommodation and air tickets are arranged uniformly.

In addition to the need for publicity, this is actually a way to win over the media.

After all, the media who come to participate in the event hardly need to pay any money themselves, and they can ask the company to apply for travel subsidies when they return.

But I took the "travel fee" and various "small gifts", and then took the official draft, revised it, or even just published it without any modification.

Normally, the media who came to participate in the event would not be so disrespectful.

"Minister, this car home was just launched on the 1st of this month, so they were not included in our original invitation list."

"I guess it is also for this reason that the other party wants to use us to increase their influence."

Chen Zhihui quickly cleared away his responsibilities.

If this situation occurs because he failed to invite Autohome, then his performance appraisal this year will definitely be ruined.

But put another way, the situation is different.

"Their articles seem to be telling the truth, but every sentence is very targeted to blackmail us."

"Currently, data from various 4S stores shows that more than 1000 consumers have chosen to cancel their orders."

"The impact of this matter cannot be underestimated."

“What proposals does everyone have to deal with this?”

In Japanese companies, bottom-up proposals are more important in all matters.

Even if Miyazaki has his own ideas, he will not put them forward directly. Instead, he will look at the proposals reported by the people below.

It would be best if the proposal fits your own ideas.

If it does not meet the requirements, please provide suggestions for modification.

"Minister, this is what we think about. This Auto Home has just been established. It must be because we are optimistic about the development of the auto market and want to get a share of the pie."

"For these websites, advertisements placed by car manufacturers should be their main source of income."

"We have not invited them to participate in Vios' launch event before, nor have we placed advertisements on their platform. I guess they are resentful."

"So we would like to propose a proposal to contact Autohome and ask them to delete the relevant articles immediately, and then we will start placing a certain amount of advertising on their platform from next month."

Chen Zhihui turned the PPT to the proposal column and reported the content discussed within the department.

In the past two years, they have heard about conflicts between brands and Internet companies.

The root cause is essentially a matter of money.

Obviously, they think that this time around Autohome is also a matter of not having enough money.

As long as you are willing to place ads, it shouldn't be a big problem.

"This action must be done, but many articles have been circulated on various forums. What should I do about this?"

Although Chen Zhihui's proposal solved the root cause of the problem, the problem has already exploded and formed a public opinion offensive. Advertising on Autohome alone is definitely not enough.

"Chinese netizens are interested in all kinds of hot news for three minutes. As long as no one adds fuel to the fire, in a few days, when new news comes out, no one will care anymore."

Chen Zhihui looked at his section chief and department head and found that none of them had any intention of answering the question, so he had no choice but to continue to answer the question.

"The incident was caused by Autohome. When we placed the advertisement, we asked them to delete the posts on other forums as well."

"I don't care what method they use, it's better than ignoring them."

In Miyazaki's view, these Internet companies in China are all about money.

As long as the money is in place, anything can be said.

Although Chen Zhihui said waiting is also a method, but there is no way to wait for the sales volume of 4S stores.

"No problem, I'll contact them."

"In fact, China's special supply of cars is not necessarily a compliment, it can also be a manifestation that we attach great importance to the Chinese market."

"China has a vast territory and a huge market capacity. The specific requirements of Chinese people for cars are completely different from the market demand in other regions."

"For example, if the road conditions are complex, the requirements for comfort and smoothness are higher."

"It's hard to make money, and most families only have one car. Everyone in the family has to think about it, so they pursue a spacious back seat."

"We have to travel on highways, urban areas, and mountain roads, so we attach great importance to the level of sound insulation and vibration filtration."

"I think as long as we guide it well, there is still a way to survive this matter."

Chen Zhihui's mind suddenly opened up and he thought of several good ideas.

"Then you organize an advertising company to write some articles in this area, and then find a partner to publish them."

"We can't just wait there passively. We must find ways to proactively quell this matter."

After hearing these words from Chen Zhihui, Miyazaki's face finally looked better.

He felt that this way, he could basically suppress the matter.

It’s just hard to say whether things are really that ideal!

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