Zhao Fangcheng, general manager of the brand division of Jiangling Motors Sales Co., Ltd., remembers working overtime to make ambulances in the early days of the epidemic.
Recently, a screenshot of a red-headed document went viral on JMC Moments.
On closer inspection, I discovered that it turned out to be a letter of thanks signed "The Medical Materials Support Team of the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council in Response to the Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia Epidemic". The letter read: "JMC's first In response to the national call, we continued to overload production during the critical period of epidemic prevention and control, and successfully completed the production of negative pressure ambulances, making important contributions to winning the battle against epidemic prevention and control. ”
In order to understand. The story behind Jiangling Motors' winning of national recognition, "Auto Observer" interviewed Zhao Fangcheng, general manager of the brand division of Jiangling Motors Sales Co., Ltd. Zhao Fangcheng still vividly remembers his inner feelings when he saw the letter of thanks for the first time: "The moment I opened the letter, my heart was filled with pride and I realized that this was recognition from the country."
Zhao Fangcheng, General Manager of the Brand Business Department of Jiangling Automobile Sales Co., Ltd.
Resuming work and production despite all difficulties
At the end of January, on the eve of the Lunar New Year, the domestic new coronavirus pneumonia outbreak broke out on a large scale. Negative pressure ambulances for infectious disease protection and treatment were in short supply. As a key car company for the deployment of important medical supplies for epidemic prevention and control by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the largest medical ambulance manufacturer in China, Jiangling Motors has become the target of help from all parties.
Zhao Fangcheng recalled that starting from January 22, Jiangling Motors’ ambulance orders began to increase rapidly. Jiangling Motors Co., Ltd. and modified vehicle companies under Jiangling Motors Group responded quickly, contacted and cooperated in an emergency, and synchronized Start material preparation and production scheduling.
Unfortunately, since it is the Spring Festival holiday, most employees have already returned to their hometowns for vacation. In order to allocate the manpower required for production scheduling and delivery as soon as possible, Jiangling Motors officially established an emergency duty liaison system on January 24, launched an emergency feedback mechanism for epidemic prevention and control, called on employees to return to work, and organized production and epidemic prevention work.
In order to stabilize the morale of the military, Qiu Tiangao, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of Jiangling Group, personally visited the front-line workshops, visited the cadres and employees who gave up their Spring Festival vacation and fought on the front line, and issued a call to "Become a warrior in the current war" and demand While everyone is ensuring their own health, they are doing their best to ensure the quality and quantity of ambulances. Under the leadership of the chairman, Jiangling Motors' party organizations at all levels rushed to write overtime petitions saying "I am a party member, I work first." Employees close to the factory voluntarily gave up their vacations and returned to work voluntarily.
During the epidemic, cities across the country were closed down and people's movements restricted, making parts supply chains and logistics transportation unsustainable. Fortunately, with the coordination of Jiangxi Province, Nanchang Municipal Government and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, as well as active communication between Jiangling Motors and its suppliers, the difficulties were finally overcome together.
Giving roses to others leaves a lingering fragrance
With intensive preparations, Jiangling Motors quickly resumed production. On the afternoon of February 1, the first batch of negative pressure ambulances produced by Jiangling Motors rushed to Wuhan via special railway trains. Immediately afterwards, nearly 5,000 ambulances were delivered to all parts of the country, making them the earliest and largest among all car companies.
With the job successfully completed, Jiangling Motors once again set its sights on the field of medical supplies. Producing masks is not its specialty, so Jiangling Motors changed its thinking and sent a "maintenance team" to solve equipment failures for more than 20 mask manufacturers and help restore normal production. At the same time, special channels have been opened to provide technical services for Jiangling vehicles transporting medical supplies through warranty extension, remote fault diagnosis, priority and rapid maintenance, etc.
As the epidemic broke out around the world, Jiangling Motors also immediately extended a helping hand to overseas partners. For example, we actively donated epidemic prevention materials and shared epidemic prevention experience to overseas dealers and cooperative enterprises such as Ford, Faurecia, Renault, and Lear; we also donated ambulances to health institutions in Bolivia, Egypt, Panama, Myanmar, and other countries.
"Giving roses to others leaves a lingering fragrance in your hands." Every move of JMC has established a brand image of being generous and daring to assume social responsibilities. At the same time, JMC ambulances have also continued to sell well, which has played a great role in boosting JMC's sales.
Data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers shows that domestic car sales in the first quarter were 3.672 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 42.4%, while Jiangling Motors sold 45,000 units in the first quarter, outperforming the industry by 11.5%. Jiangling Ford brand commercial vehicles achieved a year-on-year increase of 10.21%. Most car companies' first-quarter performance plummeted, but Jiangling Motors made a profit of 69 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 174%.
How was the “first vehicle to fight the epidemic” made?
"In 2019, Jiangling Ambulance's market share was as high as 67.7%. Other ambulance brands generally did not exceed 10%." Zhao Fangcheng said proudly.
It is understood that the negative pressure ambulances delivered during the epidemic were mainly based on the Ford Transit series, and most other ambulance manufacturers also purchased Jiangling Ford Transit series chassis for secondary modifications. Because of this, the Ford Transit series ambulances have won the reputation of the "first vehicle to fight the epidemic" in society.
There are many light passenger models on the market. Why is the JMC Ford Transit series so popular? Zhao Fangcheng explained that the Ford Transit series has the advantages of reliable quality, superior performance, and strong plasticity, and is the "Versatile King" in the modified car industry. Currently, there are more than 600 Ford Transit modified vehicles on the market to meet the customized needs of various industries, and ambulances are one of them.
Zhao Fangcheng introduced that since the Ford Transit series rolled off the production line in 1965, global cumulative sales have exceeded 8 million units, with 700,000 owners in China alone. Among the Ford Transit series models currently on sale, the new generation Transit is the most representative one.
From the perspective of space layout, the new generation Transit has released a variety of specifications such as short axis/long axis/extended axis, mid-low roof/medium roof/high roof, etc., with flexible and convenient seat adjustment. Can meet different car needs. In addition, the new-generation Transit's trunk is designed with a double-opening tailgate that can be opened 180 degrees for loading and unloading cargo. When converted into an ambulance, it is more convenient for medical equipment and ambulance personnel to get on and off the vehicle.
In terms of safety and comfort, the new generation Transit also strives to move closer to luxury cars. It is equipped with Bosch 8.0 version ABS+EBD+ESP, dual airbags, intelligent reversing radar and other rich active and passive safety configurations. Taking into account the driver's operational convenience, the turning radius is also controlled to about 2 meters.
The Ford Transit negative pressure ambulance that went to the epidemic area strictly followed the characteristics of epidemic prevention rescue and isolation requirements. It was equipped with a medical negative pressure cabin, a disinfection cabin and an observation cabin, equipped with rescue systems and warnings. systems, electrical systems, negative pressure systems and other facilities. The independent isolation medical cabin can sterilize and filter the air exchange inside and outside the car. The air-conditioning fresh air system ensures that the air intake and air outlet are independent of each other. It can not only effectively prevent the spread of the virus, but also protect the health of medical staff in the car, fully meeting the requirements during the epidemic. Medical needs.
It is worth noting that Jiangling Motors also has rich experience in ambulance modification that other car companies cannot match. It is understood that as early as 2003, when the SARS virus was raging, Jiangling Motors quickly developed the country's first SARS Ford Transit ambulance; in September 2010, the negative pressure ambulance technology independently developed by Jiangling Motors won the national utility model patent in China. , changing the passive situation of negative pressure ambulances relying on imports; in 2013, Jiangling Group's modified vehicle company and the head of R&D became the main drafting unit and main drafter of the "National Ambulance Industry Standard" respectively.
When combined with the advantages of vehicle models and professional experience, it can be seen that Jiangling Motors’ professionalism and speed during this epidemic are evident, and it is reasonable for Jiangling ambulances to be so popular.
This article comes from the author of Autohome Chejiahao and does not represent the views and positions of Autohome.