Recently, the high-profile Wuling announced the market data for 2023, but they are facing a situation that is not optimistic. For the whole of 2023, SAIC-GM-Wuling's annual sales will only be 1.4 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 1231%。In particular, the annual sales of Wuling Hongguang MINIEV are even more dismal, only 23790,000 units, a staggering 41% year-on-year decrease.
This is the second consecutive year that Wuling's sales have declined, looking back at 2021, sales reached 1.76 million units, and in 2022 they fell to 1.6 million units. At the beginning, as soon as Wuling Hongguang MINIEV was launched, it was red and purple, with monthly sales of more than 50,000 units, becoming the sales champion in the field of new energy vehicles for 28 consecutive months, and was widely praised as a new generation of "national god car".
However, the launch of Wuling Starlight at the end of 2023 seems to bring some hope for the brand, with sales in the first month approaching 180,000 units. This car has set off a lot of craze in the market because of its affordable ** (about 100,000 yuan), and is known as the "benchmark of the new A-class family car".
In the face of the dual pressure of declining sales and the gradual shrinking of the mini car market, whether Wuling Shenche can regain its glory has become a matter of great concern. Its advertisement that "what the people need, Wuling will make" may not be empty words. Looking back on the history of Wuling, we can trace back to the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, and its predecessor was Liuzhou Machinery Factory.
In the 30s of the last century, Li Zongren built a machine factory to manufacture military products in response to wartime needs. In 1933, the charcoal truck was successfully used for logistics transportation, and in 1937, the first fighter plane in Guangxi, "Zhu Rongzhang", was independently manufactured, which made contributions to the Anti-Japanese War.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the machinery factory responded to the call of the country's industrialization and the promotion of agricultural development, and devoted itself to the production of agricultural tractors. Despite the difficult conditions at that time, with the foundation and the hard work of the workers, it took only 4 years to successfully build the "Fengshou" brand tractor.
In 1965, due to the firm texture of the "Fengshou" brand tractor, which greatly facilitated agricultural production and was widely praised. Therefore, the machinery factory was renamed Liuzhou Tractor Factory, officially entering the era of tractor production. Due to its popularity with farmers, the annual production capacity reached 5,000 vehicles, which was a staggering number at the time.
Despite abundant production, planned economic constraints led to a backlog of inventories, and as the new era dawned, excess inventories brought factories to near closure. In order to survive, the factory changed its strategy and began to produce products that were in demand by the population, such as looms and sewing machines.
However, this is not a permanent solution, and new ways of transformation must be found.
When the country began to train domestic automakers, the keen Wuling realized that this was a good opportunity to re-enter the market. Although Wuling was not in the training program at the time, they decided to enter the automotive market on their own, not wanting to miss this great opportunity. Lacking the necessary technology, Wuling decided to buy off-the-shelf vehicles first and then conduct research, which was also a popular practice in Chinese manufacturing at the time. As a result, Wuling was under the pressure of a shortage of funds and spent money to import a Mitsubishi car from abroad to study and research. After months of hard work, in 1982, Wuling successfully developed the first mini truck - model LZ110, which marked a zero breakthrough in China's mini car market. In 1985, Liuzhou Tractor Factory was renamed Liuzhou Mini Automobile Factory, and the Wuling trademark was used to enter the automotive industry. It is said that Wuling's original logo was not the diamond-shaped logo of today, but adopted the "W" logo of Wanjia, a popular sewing machine brand at the time. Later, it was suggested that a new logo be formed with five diamond shapes, and named it "Wuling". The appearance of this logo not only resembles a "W", but also gives people a feeling of spreading its wings, implying that Wuling will become stronger and stronger in the future. Subsequently, Liuzhou Mini Automobile Factory began to study and manufacture various mini trucks, and introduced foreign manufacturing technology to cooperate with domestic and foreign enterprises. At the end of 1989, Liuzhou Wuling Automobile Enterprise Group Co., Ltd. was formally established.
After entering the 90s, Wuling rose rapidly. In 1990, with continuous excellent testing results, Wuling successfully broke free from the shackles of inspection, and in February of the same year, the newly developed mini-sedan LG100 was first introduced to the Thai market, although there were only 15 units, but it was a key breakthrough for Wuling, because Wuling had no experience in export business before.
In 1991, Wuling achieved the annual production target of 10,000 units two months ahead of schedule, with cumulative sales of more than 50,000 units; By 1995, Wuling's cumulative production had reached 150,000 units. In 1996, Liuzhou Wuling Automobile Co., Ltd. was formally established and successfully received orders for more than 100,000 units the following year. In 1998, Wuling's production took the lead in the mini vehicle segment.
At that time, Wuling was already a leader in the domestic automobile manufacturing field. If the 20 years after the reform and opening up are Wuling's emergence, then after entering the 21st century, Wuling's development has soared.
In September 2000, Wuling's production of mini vehicles exceeded 600,000 units, and in order to further strengthen its strength, it actively sought partners and strengthened financial and technical support. In 2001, Wuling made an important decision to reach a strategic cooperation agreement with SAIC. In 2002, Wuling cooperated with SAIC Motor and GM to establish SAIC-GM-Wuling. With more financial and technical support, Wuling's development is more handy.
In 2003, the Wuling family ushered in an important member - the birth of Wuling Light. Subsequently, Wuling successively launched Wuling Sunshine, Wuling Small Whirlwind, Wuling Hongtu, Wuling Rongguang and other models. Among these models, there is no doubt that the Wuling Light is the most famous.
At the beginning, when Wuling was mentioned, what came to people's minds was undoubtedly this ordinary-looking, small-looking "van". Even today, the products of the Wuling Light series are still the best-selling models on the market. Although the car is low and the performance is average, it is extremely affordable and has a large cargo space. With these advantages, Wuling became the "first brother" in the mini car market at that time.
In just seven years after its launch, Wuling Light sold 2.16 million units, and in 2009 alone, it sold nearly 600,000 units, quickly emerging in the domestic market. The large-scale micro-passenger model based on Wuling Light, Wuling Rongguang, has sold nearly 300,000 units in less than 2 years after its launch, becoming one of the models with the fastest growth rate in domestic sales.
At the same time, Wuling Light has also been widely recognized in overseas markets. In 2011, Forbes named it the most important car on the planet. In 2011, the Wuling Light ranked third among the best-selling cars in the world, becoming the only vehicle to make it to the list as a non-sedan model.
In 2010, the Wuling family ushered in the far-reaching model in history - Wuling Hongguang, which was officially unveiled.
The Hongguang series has a lot of improvements compared to Wuling Light, especially in terms of fuel consumption and space. **Although the aspect is similar, the SUV and MPV models launched have won the love of many consumers.
The space of this car is really large, and it has become the first choice of many merchants and freight people, and some people even joked: "The Wuling God Car with a limit of 7 people, you never know how many people can fit it." ”
In 2011, Wuling Hongguang's annual sales exceeded 200,000 units, becoming the champion of the MPV market, and its monthly sales even reached 80,000 units at its peak.
In 2017, SAIC-GM-Wuling's annual sales reached a record high of 2.15 million units, and Wuling's market momentum has been maintained until about 20 years.
In 2020, Hongguang MINI EV debuted on the market and became a member of the Wuling Shenche family. Unlike before, Hongguang MINI focuses on the low-speed tram market with an ultra-low 2880,000 yuan** swept the mini tram market.
With this unique "old man's music", Hongguang mini quickly became the top sales of new energy vehicles in China, and even surpassed Tesla at the beginning of the following year to become the global sales champion.
However, despite the fact that there are new explosive models that have once again supported the façade of Wuling, in the face of profound changes in the tram market in the past two years, this car brand with a history of more than 20 years has inevitably begun to decline.
Wuling is represented by the Hongguang MINIEV, and as of October 2022, the sales volume of this model reached 410,000 units, however, in the next two months, sales failed to break 40,000 units again.
By January 2023, the sales of Wuling Hongguang MINIEV will be only 160,000 units. Although relying on the newly launched Hongguang MINI third-generation macaron, Wuling Binguo, Wuling Xingguang and other first-class models, it has successfully stabilized part of its market share, but the decline in sales for three consecutive years has caused many people to worry about the development of Wuling.
Although Wuling's strength has not diminished at the beginning, it seems to be inadequate. Wuling's success has always been based on an accurate insight into the market, from the initial tractor manufacturing to the transformation of the production of automobiles, has always been to meet the needs of the market.
In the decade of the early 21st century, China ushered in a blowout growth, and consumers had more money and confidence to buy cars. At the same time, many domestic automobile manufacturers have also seized the opportunity to create a better brand image.
In this context, Wuling aims at the low-end market, providing the best choice for those users who pay attention to both face and practicality. Even if other manufacturers later tried to imitate Wuling's experience, it was difficult to impress those consumers who had already been deeply occupied by Wuling.
However, in the past five years, the rapid development of the economy and the continuous changes in the market have gradually made Wuling's original routine no longer work.
In the face of consumers' increasing product expectations, more and more companies have begun to upgrade their brands and products. Under the trend of consumption upgrading, Wuling Hongguang's living space in the low-end market will obviously become smaller and smaller. For Wuling, the popularity of Hongguang MINI is only temporary. Although this kind of low-speed tram similar to "Old Man Le" is cheap, it obviously cannot be compared with traditional fuel vehicles and pure electric vehicles in terms of performance, and it is not complicated to manufacture. The entry threshold is low, which will naturally attract a large number of competitors, and the launch of Chang'an LUMIN and QQ ice cream has increased the competitive pressure of Hongguang MINI. In addition, in recent years, the rectification of low-speed trams has become increasingly strict, and the interest of market consumers in this low-speed tram after the initial novel experience is getting lower and lower, and the situation of Hongguang MINI will be more embarrassing in the future. With the advancement of battery technology and the decline of raw materials, pure electric vehicles can also enter the field of less than 100,000, and this impact will be more deadly. BYD's latest Qin Plus-DMI Champion Edition is only more than 80,000 yuan, and the highest configuration of Hongguang MINIEV is enough to buy a Qin PLUS with a higher brand, so how will you choose? With the development of the economy and the increase in consumers' budgets, Wuling will naturally prefer to choose high-quality and low-cost products that can enhance the brand image.
Wuling once took low prices as an advantage, and the monopoly market was once impressive. However, once it loses its competitiveness, Wuling's market position begins to jeopardy. Continuous investment in technology research and development, brand image and product diversity is the cornerstone of the survival and development of enterprises. Only by continuous efforts can we find new opportunities for development in the changing market.
Industry experts pointed out that 2025 will become a critical year for many car companies, and a new round of automobile competition will be coming. If Wuling can't make improvements in technology and products in time, then in the next 5 years, Wuling will face an uphill battle.