Written by Nie Yiyao.
Produced by Automobile Grand View.
In October last year, Yin Tongyue, chairman of Chery, publicly shouted for the first time that "Chery New Energy will no longer be polite in 2024". As soon as these words came out, "You're welcome" quickly became popular and became the eyes of the outside world: Chery New Energy New Year's flag.
If you think that as an old car man, Mr. Yin, who is used to being suave, can say "you're welcome" is the biggest breakthrough, then you are still too young.
On the evening of January 3, at the launch conference of Chery Fengyun A8, Mr. Yin not only emphasized "you're welcome" again, but also said that Fengyun A8 would become a "subversive". The sharp edge is obvious, which makes people shock.
In fact, for this "for subversion" press conference, Chery is really "welcome". Not only was the location of the conference located in Shenzhen, but before the press conference, a team of 10 Fengyun A8 drove all the way from Wuhu to Shenzhen, verifying its "superior technology" with a full battery and full fuel mileage of more than 1,400 kilometers.
Then at the press conference, after Mr. Yin's passionate speech, the endless "superior skills", "blockbuster", "welcome" and "subversive" made it clear that the shouting would be transmitted from Bao'an to Pingshan.
Can Fengyun A8 become a "subversive"?
Priced at 11990,000 yuan-14990,000 yuan, positioned as a "super hybrid new family car" Chery Fengyun A8, in the words of Mr. Yin: "Its emergence is to become a disruptor, subvert the existing hybrid market pattern, and set a value benchmark for the hybrid family car market." ”
Obviously, this car is coming straight to the BYD Qin PLUS DM-i. Why has the latter become the object that Fengyun A8 wants to subvert?The reason is none other than status and sales.
In terms of status, BYD Qin has dominated the 100,000-level sedans. Also as a subversive, it only took more than three years to subvert the pattern of long-term domination by joint venture A-class sedans such as Sylphy and Lavida.
In terms of sales, BYD's sales of 3 million units in 2023 will be as high as 48210,000 units, with a contribution of more than 16%. Accounting for the vast majority of BYD Qin's sales, it is the plug-in hybrid model Qin PLUS DM-i.
Since ancient times, the back waves of the Yangtze River have pushed the front waves, and everyone wants to be the new king, not to mention the high-spirited Chery at the moment. Moreover, the 100,000-level car market has always had the largest base and is a must for many car companies. Needless to say, even if Fengyun A8 gets half of the share from Qin Plus DM-i, it is enough for Chery to step into the main market of new energy with one foot.
So in this battle, Chery must fight with BYD. Prior to this, including Geely Galaxy L6, Changan Qiyuan A05 and other models, they have already competed with BYD Qin PLUS DM-i.
So the point is here, Chery Fengyun A8, what to subvert the BYD Qin plus DM-i?The focus of Chery's emphasis is on "superior technology", which is embodied in these aspects
First, it is more fuel-efficient, and the fuel consumption of WLTC 100 kilometers is only 42 liters, a comprehensive range of more than 1400 kilometers, full of fuel, can drive from Wuhu to Shenzhen.
The second is high performance, with 0-100km h acceleration in 7 seconds and a top speed of 185km h. The focus is on not stalling at high speeds, and Li Xueyong, deputy general manager of Chery, emphasized: "Stall is the biggest problem!".He also said that some other plug-in hybrid models have "high-speed stalls", which threatens driving safety.
The third is collision safety, the whole car is made of 80%+ high-strength steel, and the front aluminum alloy anti-collision beam coverage rate is 7813%, and the one-piece door ring design ensures the structural integrity of the passenger compartment in the event of a crash.
Fourth, it is smarter, 246-inch dual screen, HMI50 digital interactive interface, 8155 intelligent chip, car machine system can be turned on in 2 seconds. There is also the L2 advertised by CheryLevel 9 intelligent driving assistance, with 19 active safety and driving assistance functions such as TSI traffic sign recognition and 540° transparent chassis.
In addition to the above publicity points, Fengyun A8 also has a big "magic weapon": feelings. In fact, the resurrection of Fengyun is a sentimental card that Chery bets on. Fengyun was Chery's first sedan product, and from 1999 to 2016, it set a record of its own brand sedan, breaking the market pattern of joint ventures.
Taking advantage of the good impression left on consumers, Chery's use of "Fengyun" IP should be able to mobilize the memory and goodwill of some old users to a certain extent. Therefore, Chery also showed great sincerity in the Fengyun A8 replacement ceremony: the replacement subsidy is up to 18,000 yuan (this product is shared with other products).
But then again, it is still unknown whether the Fengyun A8 can become a "subversive", but Chery is confident in this. Mr. Yin said that Fengyun A8 will be Chery New Energy's "sales responsibility" in 2024. Li Xueyong said, "We anchor this market, and we must ensure that we are the most competitive in this market."
You're welcome, who is confident and really anxious
In the past 2023, it is not an exaggeration to describe Chery as "incomparably beautiful" and "enviable". In 2023, Chery's sales reached a historic 188130,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 526%；In particular, exports reached 93710,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 1011%。
In terms of ranking, Chery is already the third largest car company in China in terms of sales after BYD and FAW-VolkswagenIn terms of exports, it has won the first place in the export of Chinese brand passenger cars.
Sales is the source of confidence, with the dazzling sales data, Mr. Yin changed his low-key style in the past and shouted "You're welcome", which is also predictable. The day before the launch of the Fengyun A8, Chery announced the annual sales results, which was both confident and morale-boosting.
But the confidence is the bottom of the ground, and Chery's anxiety about new energy may be the key to the rise. In fact, Chery New Energy has also reached the point where it is impossible not to be in a hurry.
In the composition of Chery's glamorous sales figures, it has become an open secret that "more than 90% of sales rely on oil vehicles". The rest of the new energy vehicles, which contribute to its sales, are mainly mini-cars such as Chery Little Ant and QQ ice cream.
There is no future in mini cars, which the author judged for Chery two years ago. Now, if new energy is not done, it will inevitably become the biggest obstacle to Chery's further increase in sales in the domestic market, which has become Chery's internal consensus.
Li Xueyong said, "China's passenger car market will quickly form a model structure of 40% hybrid, 30% pure electric and 30% fuel in 2-3 years." Therefore, if you walk on one leg of fuel vehicles alone, the end result is that you cannot continue to grow bigger and stronger, and may even regress, and you must quickly raise the share of new energy.
Therefore, you can find that with the significant increase in sales, Chery will work new energy in 2023.
First of all, in April last year, Chery held the "2023 Chery Automobile New Energy Night" at the Beijing Water Cube to show the outside world a grand new energy layout and technical base.
The Mars architecture, the third-generation hybrid technology - Kunpeng super performance electric hybrid C-DM, Lion Intelligence, as well as electric vehicle brands such as ICAR and Xingtu Xingji, and hybrid models such as Xingtu Yaoguang were all unveiled at that time.
Half a year later, in October, everyone heard Mr. Yin's "you're welcome" and released a topic that attracted attention from a strategic point of view. This was followed by intensive moves, which continued to attract the attention of the outside world to Chery's new energy.
For example, in November last year, the news about Chery New Energy included: the release of the "Fengyun" sequence, the unveiling of the Fengyun A9 and Fengyun T11 concept cars, and the release of the Jietu Shanhai sequence;Chery's cooperation with Huawei's Zhijie, the first car Zhijie S7, was also launched at the end of the same month. In December last year, Chery's iCar 03 also opened pre-salesXingtu Star Era ES was also launched in the same month.
Then on January 3, 2024, Chery Fengyun's first model, the Fengyun A8, "came for disruption". Within two years, Chery has planned to launch 15 products in the Fengyun sequence alone, covering sedans and SUVs, including plug-in hybrid and extended range. In the follow-up products, Fengyun Sequence will mainly aim at the 150,000-200,000 yuan ** band, and may also exceed 200,000 yuan.
It is not difficult to **, Chery's next new energy action will be in full swing and dazzling. In the era of new energy vehicle change, any company that wants to be a hero must strive to gain more new energy market share, not to mention that time has waited for no one.
The finals of the competition in China's auto industry are 2024 and 2025, and 2024 is especially important, and 2025 will end," Li said.
This session of netizens and consumers is not easy to serve
Although 2023 has passed, the annual auto market battle and the world's largest number of new car launches have made the industry's anxiety and panic, and consumers' hesitation and wait-and-see, not dissipated because of entering 2024.
On the one hand, in order to better highlight their own products, car companies are racking their brains to compare competing products, and the competition is still intensifying. Before the emergence of technology like Apple's mobile phone to subvert Nokia's mobile phone, everyone can only keep rolling until death.
On the other hand, consumers are becoming more discerning, and it's no fault that they have more product options and better service. But it is precisely because there is more choice that consumers are bound to be more picky, which is an objective law.
Take Fengyun A8 as an example, there is no shortage of netizens and consumers who are picky. Some people think that 11The 990,000 yuan version only gives 2 airbags, 2 horns, or halogen lamps, which is not sincere enough. Some people think that the premium is too high, and they shout to do "wait for the party" again, and the plug-in market is so rolled, and the ** will drop ......In short, in a market where car companies and products are a "sea of blood", it is more difficult to get the support of netizens and consumers to pay.
When we take off our emotions and look at Chery Fengyun A8 and Chery New Energy with a completely rational eye, it is not easy to turn the tables against the wind. The key lies in strategic focus.
Previously, in the new energy, "get up early in the morning and catch up late", in the final analysis, Chery weighed too many gains and losses and lacked strategic determination. At present, whether it is BYD or Tesla, it has not taken decades of hard work and dormancy to get its current position in the new energy vehicle market.
In the end, I couldn't help it, and I wanted to say something about pouring cold water on Mr. Yin: It's not easy to be a blockbuster, and the most important thing is to persevere to the end.