Arcfox’s Journey to the West

ARCFOX is a high-end new-energy vehicle（NEV） brand of the Beijing ElectricVehicle Co.， Ltd.， （BJEV）， a subsidiary ofthe Beijing Automotive Group Co.， Ltd.（BAIC Group）， a backbone enterprise in China’sautomobile industry headquartered in Beijing.This year， with the NEV market booming， Arcfoxhas begun its foray into the European market.

In March， it signed a contract to supply thefirst batch of 200 NEVs to 3B95， a subsidiary ofthe renowned Spanish automotive dealer groupMebauto， which operates over 100 automotivedealerships covering the central and southernEuropean markets. The move is not only a keystep in Arcfox’s globalization strategy， but also animportant milestone in the BAIC Group’s internationaldevelopment.

A Foothold in Europe

Wang Aiqiang， product marketing director ofArcfox Automobile， told China Today the cooperationbetween Arcfox and Spanish car dealergroup Mebauto began last year.

At that time， Arcfox was seeking partners togain a foothold in the highly competitive EuropeanNEV market. After multiple rounds ofconsultations， it and Mebauto reached consensusin a number of key areas， including logistics，bonded warehousing， and cooperation with localtaxi associations. Both paid great attention toport logistics and warehousing arrangements toensure that Arcfox can enter the Spanish marketsmoothly and sell there quickly.

“The agreement clarified the future distributionand service network construction plan， andwe’ve set the goal of gradually expanding to thewider European market. This has laid a solidfoundation for Arcfox to further expand in theEuropean market，” Wang added.

Arcfox is making full use of the local resourcesof its partner and distributor. In the initial stage，it relied on the superior resources of its localpartner in talents， market networks and materialsupport.

As the market gradually expands， Arcfox plansto set up representative offices or sales companiesin Europe to better support market operationsand explore establishing a production base.These measures are meant to speed up its marketresponse， hire more international talents locally，and provide strong support for the subsequentbrand globalization strategy.

Wang said Arcfox has achieved effective integrationof resources in the process of internationalization，which will facilitate subsequent marketexpansion in other European countries.

In the next step， the company hopes to enhanceawareness of its brand and influence inthe global market. To ensure that， it has participatedin international automobile exhibitionsand industry forums， and carried out other brandpromotion activities in the international market.

“We have mobilized the entire BAIC Group topromote the globalization of Arcfox，” Wang said，adding that a dedicated and experienced internationalbusiness team has been established.

Breaking Barriers with Strategy

Wang says the biggest challenge for Arcfox toenter the international market is the internationaltrade barriers. Each market has its own regulationsand standards. Especially in the Europeanand American markets， there are harsh penaltiesfor dumping and countervailing investigations.“We think these are the challenges we must facehead-on. We are confident that we can surmountthese restrictions，” he said.

Before entering new markets， Arcfox does indepthresearch on the laws and regulations ofthe target countries or regions to ensure thatits products and business models are fully compliant.For example， in the European market，the company paid special attention to the EU’senvironmental standards， subsidy policies andantitrust regulations. This compliance inspectionbeforehand helps it quickly adaptto the local regulatory environmentafter entering the marketand avoid legal risks.

Cooperation with leading internationalautomobile manufacturingand technologycompanies is an important way tobreak through trade restrictions.Born out of BAIC’s collaborationwith Magna， the Canadian autoparts manufacturer， Arcfox is atypical example. It leverages Magna’s influenceand resources in the European and Latin Americanmarkets to enhance its market competitiveness.This kind of cooperation helps it to betterintegrate into the local industrial ecosystem，thereby reducing the impact of trade barriers.

Support from one’s own government andindustry associations at home is equally crucialfor enterprises to deal with international tradebarriers. The Chinese government and industryassociations have been fighting for the rightsand interests of Chinese companies on the internationalstage， such as helping companiesrespond to anti-dumping investigations and tariffincreases in European and American markets.Through industry alliances， greater synergy canbe developed to negotiate with European andAmerican governments and companies， reducingrestrictions on their export business.

However， in the final analysis， the key to breakingthrough trade barriers lies in technology andservice. For Arcfox， to stand out in the fierceinternational competition and win the trust ofcustomers， it needs to improve the technical andservice levels of its products. Competitivenessis the most effective way to deal with externalconstraints.

Walking into the Future Hand in Hand

The birthplace of Arcfox， BAIC Blue ValleyMagna Automotive Co.， Ltd. is a high-endNEV joint venture between the BAIC Groupand Magna. This cooperation model has benefitedfrom receiving advanced production technology，which has improved the product quality andreliability of Arcfox in the international market.Situated in Zhenjiang City in east China’s JiangsuProvince， the joint venture is home to a new generationof intelligent NEVs. Following the Magnafactory concept， or MAFACT， a set of guidelinesto reduce cost and improve quality， efficiency andsafety while boosting innovation and sustainabilityhave been formulated. The factory undertakesstamping – using specialized dies that presssheets of metal into precisely the right form， carbody work， painting， and the final assembly， and97 percent of the work is automated.

The factory has a flexible production linethat can produce both all-steel bodies and steelaluminumhybrid bodies for different models. Themanufacturing is entirely digitalized and recordedthroughout the entire process. For items evenas small as a bolt， the manufacturing process canbe controlled and traced throughout its productioncycle. All data of a vehicle during the productionprocess is recorded in the database andretained for at least 20 years.

Power batteries are the core component ofNEVs， directly impacting their quality and value.Arcfox has a collaboration with well-known domesticbattery maker CATL to ensure it has highendbattery resources in the industrial chain.