Up to now, Porsche has 121 sales outlets in China market. In addition to the well-known Porsche Center, there are E-Space, Extreme Experience Store, Porsche City Office Center and the first Porsche Experience Center in Asia in Shanghai. It can be said that Shi Maolin witnessed the rapid development of Porsche in China market from another angle.
Shi Maolin said: "Before, I was mainly responsible for the management and expansion of Porsche China dealer network, including selecting new cities to expand Porsche brands, finding new investment partners, building dealer network, and training professional teams to ensure the best service for our customers."
"My current job is mainly related to the brand positioning of Porsche in China, holding a series of very attractive activities, not only for our customers, but also for potential customers. In addition, we should also help the products to make pyridine quasi-pyridine and set the price suitable for the market. At the same time, I have to be responsible for the whole? ? Sports in the Asia-Pacific region. "
On November 22nd, Porsche Taycan made its debut at the first domestic auto show in "Yangcheng" Guangzhou. With the arrival of this pure electric sports car, Porsche has officially entered a new era of electrification. As you can imagine, in China, the world’s largest new energy vehicle market, Shi Maolin’s future work will revolve around electrification.
The "pure electric storm" has arrived
As a masterpiece of Porsche’s deep-rooted electrification research and development on track and highway for many years, Taycan will enter the China market in the first half of 2020. At present, three models of Taycan have been pre-sold in China market, including Taycan Turbo S, Taycan Turbo and Taycan 4S (including standard battery version and optional high-performance battery upgrade version).
Although the appearance of Taycan marks the official expansion of Porsche’s product lineup into the field of pure electricity, Shi Maolin stressed that Porsche will not change its brand positioning because of its lack of success. "Porsche’s brand image is very mature, whether it is an internal combustion engine or not, it is still pure electric, and it is also
Shi Maolin said that in electrification, in addition to providing customers with the most suitable products, it is also necessary to give support from the market, which is also the challenge he will face in the future.
He said: "We should accurately grasp the characteristics of Taycan’s customer base. Obviously, they will be different from the current customer base, so we should focus on these people and carry out various market activities in the future. Not only the auto show, but also other platforms, such as cultural and artistic platforms and motor racing platforms, to make our products closer to our customers. "
On November 15th, Porsche Taycan Private Tasting was officially launched in Shanghai, and then this preview activity specially made for Tanycan will go to 11 other cities, including Beijing, and continue until February next year. Although Taycan appeared in the second China International Import Expo(CIIE) and Guangzhou Auto Show successively, after all, the exhibition has time and geographical limitations, and the private tasting will be a good supplement.
"This is really what a Porsche should look like", "Taycan’s center of gravity is very low, and his sitting posture is very similar to 911", "The display is very intuitive and easy to use" …
These voices from the visitors at the Shanghai station tasting meeting made Shi Maolin feel very happy with chopsticks. He said, "People are very enthusiastic about Taycan, and they are all amazed by this car. If you have the opportunity to go to the track to experience this car, they will be even more surprised. "
Born on the track and riding on the road
In addition to being responsible for product and brand communication, communication and market expansion, another part of Shi Maolin’s work focuses on Porsche experience, racing and sports car culture cultivation. He believes that Porsche is born with racing genes, and every product is "born on the track", so event sports are the pillar of Porsche’s market activities.
On November 11th, the 2019 season of Porsche Carrera Cup in Asia officially ended after 14 rounds of exciting drama competitions in 7 stops. As the most influential single-vehicle race in Asia, the Porsche Carrera Cup in Asia has been going through 17 seasons, and it has never been interrupted since it first started in 2003, and it has already become an important link in the Porsche racing pyramid.
Back to October 19th, the 2nd Sportscar Together Day and the 1st Porsche Sports Cup in China started at Shanghai International Circuit. The 15-year-old Porsche Sports Cup came to China for the first time, further enriching the hierarchy of the Porsche Asia-Pacific Motorsports Pyramid.
Shi Maolin said: "The Porsche Sports Cup in China is a very good platform, which can bring our road bike customers closer to motor racing. We want to build a bridge between racing cars and sports cars through the Porsche Sports Cup in China, because it is one of our goals to help the further development of motor racing in China. "
"More importantly, through the Porsche Sports Cup in China, we can let customers better experience how Porsche implanted sports car culture and racing genes into road cars. In 2020, we will hold four Porsche Sports Cups in China in the southern, central and northern districts of China, so that more people can experience the passion of motor racing, which is also the meaning of our brand. " He added.
Together with Taycan, it was unveiled at Guangzhou Auto Show on November 22nd, and Porsche’s first pure electric racing car, 99X Electric. On the same day, the 2019/2020 ABB FIA Formula E Championship ushered in the first race in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. André Lotterer, the driver of Porsche Factory Team, drove his No.36 99X Electric car and won the runner-up in the first round.
After more than 30 years, Porsche returned to the single-seat circuit with 99X Electric. Shi Maolin pointed out that for Porsche, it is very important to put the winning technology on the track on the production car. Both Taycan and 99X Electric are equipped with 800-volt technology, and Porsche is eager to verify the performance and charging of 800-volt technology by participating in Formula E.
"Even though we already have two masterpieces, Taycan and 99X Electric, we will continue to develop and learn. Because we will launch more electric vehicles in the future, we should make continuous progress to promote the whole electrification process. Our engineers are eager to make progress every time, hoping to learn more new technologies. Joining Formula E gives us an excellent opportunity to gain experience and apply advanced technology to future road vehicles. " Shi Maolin said this.
Entering Formula E electric equation is an important step in Porsche’s strategic plan for 2025. The 99X Electric vehicle is regarded by Porsche as a research and development test platform for future pure electric production models, and Formula E is the most ideal place to test its electrification technology. Shi Maolin admits that although Porsche has rich racing experience, participating in Formula E is a real start for the whole company. "We don’t expect to win every competition, but we hope to gain experience in every competition."
In Shi Maolin’s view, harvesting experience is far more important than achievement, because the ultimate goal of the competition is to harvest higher-level technology on the track and apply it to mass-produced road vehicles. From this, we can see that Porsche is explaining what it means to be "born on the track and gallop on the road" with practical actions, just as Shi Maolin said: "This is why Porsche will always be Porsche."
Source: Netcom