Some Thoughts from My Dealer Visits to Lanzhou and Xining
One of the most important parts of my job is visiting our dealers and customers in different cities and provinces in China. It is important that I see firsthand what our products look like and how well we present them to our customers. It is also critical that I understand what our customers really want from the vehicles they buy from us.
Kevin’s dealer visits to Lanzhou and Xining
This week I was in Lanzhou and Xining. The weather was cold (-15 C), but it was fun to visit a part of the country that I had not seen before. I visited six different dealerships and got to understand the different challenges they face in Northwest China.
I even had a chance to meet some of our customers who were taking delivery of their new cars. One of them, Mr. Zhang, was buying a Buick New Regal 2.0 Turbo. He told me he was delighted with the styling, performance and technology advantages of his new car.
Kevin congratulates Mr. Zhang Chaoyang, who just purchased a Buick New Regal
I am sure he will be even more amazed by the products and technologies that we will deliver by the year 2030!
As I was leaving one of our Wuling dealerships, I came across some members of the Zang minority group. Different minority groups sometimes have different needs and customs. As we sell cars and develop cars for the future, we need to understand and respect these differences so that we can provide better products and services.
Kevin takes photo with Zang Minority members
When travelling around the country, I get to meet many ordinary people and taste different local foods. In Lanzhou, I had the local specialty – Lanzhou noodles – for breakfast and lots of lamb, beef and unique vegetables for lunch and dinner. I even did a few ganbeis with my dealer friends.
This type of communication is important. It is a different type of connectivity from what I talked about in my last blog. This is about face-to-face communication and seeing with my own eyes the different needs of our customers around the country. This human communication balances well with the improvements in our future products, which we can adjust in line with new advances in technology and connectivity.
There’s one thing that technology will not do, however. It will never replace human interaction. The learnings from dealers and customers will continue to help us create better and more exciting solutions for future technology.
That's a moving picture with Zang minority friends.