In 2023, automakers are transforming. For national teams such as FAW, SAIC, Dongfeng, GAC and Changan, the difficulty of transformation may be higher. However, there are no financial problems for the national team, and if a successful transition can be found, then the prospects are relatively bright.
According to the data, the sales volume of Changan Automobile will reach 255 in 2023310,000 units, an increase of 882%, outperforming the market. This performance belongs to the well-deserved first echelon among domestic manufacturers. So, what kind of achievements will Changan Automobile achieve in 2023?
How is Changan Automobile's performance?
Among the many domestic brands, Changan Automobile is a special one, with a strong sense of presence of its own brand, surpassing SAIC's Roewe and MG, and also surpassing FAW's Pentium; At the same time, its joint venture is the weakest in the national team.
This is evident in Changan Automobile's 2023 report card, where Changan Automobile's own brand sales reached 209 in 2023780,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 1191%, accounting for more than 80% of Changan Automobile's total sales.
Considering the continuous decline in sales of joint ventures, this change of Changan Automobile may be a favorable factor. If nothing else, it may be difficult for the fuel vehicles of the joint venture manufacturers to turn over in the future, while Ford and Mazda are basically lying flat.
Among Changan Automobile's own brands, Changan's main brand is the main force, and passenger car sales reached 15970,000 units, an increase of 1486%, among these models, the Changan CS75 has the highest sales volume of 2450,000 units.
In addition, Changan Yidong, Changan UNI-V and other models also have the strength of monthly sales of more than 10,000 yuan. However, there are not many new cars of the Changan brand in 2023, and there are only a few models such as Changan Yida and Changan UNI-V IDD.
In addition, Changan Auchan, which is positioned in the low-end market, also performed well, but there were no new cars either. In fact, this is the commonality of the industry in the past two years, in the case of new energy models continue to be popular, the desire of major manufacturers to launch new fuel vehicles has been greatly reduced.
In contrast, Changan Automobile has invested much more in new energy vehicles. In the past year, Changan Automobile has launched models such as AVATR 12, ** Deep Blue SL03, Deep Blue S7, Qiyuan A05, Qiyuan A07, and Qiyuan Q05, and has achieved good results. In 2023, the cumulative sales of Changan Automobile's new energy models will reach 4740,000 units, ranking first in China.
Will Changan Automobile's transformation be successful in 2023?
In fact, most traditional manufacturers are reluctant to transform, because transformation will bring higher costs and greater uncertainty. However, the situation is strong, and the transformation is still very necessary, so is the transformation of Changan Automobile a success?
The main force of Changan Automobile's new energy models is the Deep Blue brand, with the cumulative sales of the Deep Blue SL03 and Deep Blue S7 reaching 120,000 units, which have been recognized by many users. But in addition to Deep Blue, neither Changan Qiyuan, which is positioned in the low-end market, nor AVATAR, which is positioned in the high-end market, does not have many advantages.
In contrast, Changan's old rival Geely Automobile has formed a pattern of multiple brands such as Zeekr, Smart, Lynk & Co, Galaxy, Geometry, and Polestar going hand in hand, and is becoming more and more perfect in the layout of new energy products. It can be said that Geely is becoming more and more "small BYD", and the layout has been basically completed, but Changan Automobile has not yet reached such a level.
In 2024, Changan Automobile needs to follow the path taken by BYD and Geely. It needs to cultivate some brands or car series with high market recognition in addition to Deep Blue Automobile. Such a traditional manufacturer must spread a big stall, relying on a few cars to win the world of the new power development model, not suitable for Chang'an.
The slow transformation is mainly due to the lack of core technology?
From an objective point of view, Changan Automobile's core technology level is not bad, it has EPA1 pure electric exclusive platform, in pure electric, plug-in hybrid, range extender and other power systems have good performance, but also has a bell cover battery, intelligent cockpit and intelligent driving has also reached the domestic first-class level.
But the problem is that these technologies and equipment can be obtained by domestic mainstream manufacturers. China's new energy market is too volatile, and mainstream manufacturers have a complete set of new energy solutions. If Changan Automobile wants to truly become a leading brand in the industry, it will not be able to rely on these technologies alone.
What should Changan Automobile do in 2024?
According to Zhu Huarong, chairman of Changan Automobile, Changan Automobile's sales target for its independent sector in 2024 will reach 2.2 million units, of which 750,000 will be sold as new energy vehicles.
At present, Changan Automobile's official confirmed new cars in 2024 include Changan Hunter pickup, dark blue G318, AVATR 15, AVATR E16, Qiyuan C798, Qiyuan E07, Changan Kaicheng G393, CD701 and other models, covering multiple segments from pickup trucks to medium and large SUVs.
With the scale of Changan Automobile, it is not difficult to launch 8 new energy models a year, but it does not mean fine, Changan Automobile wants to compete with Geely and BYD, or to work core technology and brand building, it needs to have its own "blade battery", and it also needs to create a popular model like ZEEKR 001.
Compared with other countries, Changan Automobile's actions are already relatively fast; However, compared with the vigorous BYD and Geely, Changan Automobile's new energy field still lacks some heat. The market competition in 2024 will be more intense, and Changan Automobile needs to achieve a multi-pronged approach in terms of brand, technology, and channels.