The author | Wang Yunpeng
The source | Auto Grand view
Whether you accept it or not, as Gen Z gradually becomes the main consumer force in the automotive market, it is a fact that the balance of the A-segment car market is tilted toward "sportiness".
The change in the direction of the market wind has also made words or labels such as design and performance an important means for many auto brands to seize the market segment and achieve brand upwards. The strong rise of the previous generation of Civic, SAIC MG 6, Lynk & Co 03 series and other sports car models is the best example of this.
With attributes such as "sport" and "performance" gradually penetrating into all corners of the market, how should car companies talk to young people and enter their inner world? On December 16, "dreamer" Guangqi Honda gave its own answer.
In the evening, Guangqi Honda's new strategic model INTEGRA was officially launched, and a total of 6 versions of the new car were launched, with a guidance price of 142,900-166,900 yuan for the CVT version and 129,900 yuan for the MT manual version.
Guangqi Honda INTEGRALGRA Chinese named the model, positioned as a style sports mid-level car, the whole series is equipped with 240TURBO power, "this is a synchronous era of the early young people's desire, from the inside to the outside is a fully renewed new product imprint of the trend of the car." Guangqi Honda said.
For the naming of "type", the explanation given by Guangqi Honda is: "type" is handsome and personality; "style" refers to style and taste. The combination of the two words means sports, stylish brand charm and handsomeness at the forefront of the times.
In the author's opinion, the reason why Guangqi Honda restarted INTEGRA is that in addition to paying tribute to the classic and giving sports attributes to the new car, there is also a consideration of expressing its attitude of not giving in to the sports car market to the outside world.
What is the origin of the type?
When it comes to this new model of Guangqi Honda, many people may feel unfamiliar, after all, the car has not been involved in the domestic market too much before. But in fact, this model, which many people are not familiar with, has undergone 4 generations of changes, and once had a lot of influence.
Looking back at the development of the model, the first generation of models dates back to 1985. At that time, in order to replace the less successful Civic sister model HONDA QUINT, Honda launched the INTELGRA built with the same architecture as the Civic, but due to the slightly higher positioning, the car has been hanging acura logo in the US market.
Time came to 1993, with the introduction of the third generation of models, INTEGRA began to really enter the field of vision of domestic car enthusiasts. Due to the combination of strong performance, beautiful shape and avant-garde personality, INTEGRA also became the high-performance "Dream Car" that car enthusiasts dreamed of at that time, which was their deepest desire and unremitting pursuit of dreams.
At a time when sports and performance have once again become the trend of automobile consumption, the style that inherits the essence of INTEGRA has also officially entered the domestic market. It is worth mentioning that the style of this listing not only inherits the spirit of INTEGRA, but also has a rather outstanding sporty appearance like INTEGRA, with honda's latest recognizable family design.
In terms of exterior design, although the type continues the overall style of the Civic, the details of the front face have been redesigned, the split grille highlights the layering and three-dimensional sense of the front of the car, the internal blackened honeycomb-like middle net reflects the sports atmosphere well, the narrow headlamp group is sharp and energetic, compared to the Civic, the overall style of the front face of the type grid is more sporty and impactful.
On the side of the body, the waist line of the style extends from the front of the car to the taillights, the overall design is quite sharp, the line and surface blend complement each other, refreshing and simple at the same time, but also give people a full of spirited visual feeling. Combined with the 18-inch cutting wheels, sport tires and low center of gravity body design, the shape is very sporty at first glance.
The rear part of the car, the rear wing, the diffuser, and the double-sided round exhaust pipes all show the movement characteristics of the type. At the same time, the tail lights with a rich sense of line show the sense of strength of the rear of the car between the edges and angles. In terms of size, the length, width and height of the model are 4689/1802/1420mm, the wheelbase is 2735mm, and the body is 15mm longer than the Civic, which also highlights its positioning is more aggressive.
In terms of interior, the styling follows Honda's latest design concept, and the overall layout of the center console is roughly the same as that of the Eleventh Generation Civic, but it is different in some details such as the steering wheel. In addition, the model is also equipped with BOSE speakers, card keys and mobile phone Bluetooth keys. As can be seen from the above configuration, the type is aimed at younger trend users.
"The type is for the sports to break the game, and its addition will further build GUANGC Honda's perfect car product matrix, bringing consumers a more diversified product choice." Guangqi Honda said.
Make "sporty" different
Since the birth of the first model, the name INTEGRA has carried Honda's original intention of pursuing extreme performance and begun to lead the trend of the sports car era.
Today, how will the style that inherits the essence of the INTEGRA brand be different and meet the infinite desire of young people for sports?
The answer given by the type is: start with the power side first. According to the data, the model is equipped with a 1.5T turbocharged VTEC engine. The exhaust side of the engine adopts Honda VTEC technology, and adopts advanced technologies such as high-power turbocharger, high-rigidity crankshaft, and high-rigidity oil pan, and has high-fuel performance, with a maximum power of 134 kW and a peak torque of 240 N·m.
In terms of transmission, in addition to matching the CVT transmission with integrated G-Design Shift technology, the model has also launched its own MT model. In the case that the Civic has already eliminated the manual transmission model, the model's practice of doing the opposite is undoubtedly to give those young consumers who have limited budgets and love to drive a difficult reason to refuse. After all, in their view, MT manual transmission is the symbolic element of extreme performance, which can bring the passionate driving pleasure of human-vehicle integration, and the type can meet their needs.
In addition, the "sportiness" of the distinctive style is also reflected in the chassis adjustment. According to reports, the lattice chassis adopts low-friction technology, lightweight and high-rigidity aluminum alloy subframe, etc., which can make the chassis both sporty and solid.
In terms of safety, under the new architecture and new benchmark, the rigidity of the type body has been improved in a breakthrough. Thanks to the new structure aluminum alloy, high tension material application, the body torsional rigidity increased by 8%, bending rigidity increased by 13%. At the same time, the car is also equipped with 10 airbags, preloaded seat belts and pedestrian protection systems as standard.
In particular, the Honda SENSING safety supersensitive system can fully escort users on their travels. Among them, the monocular wide-angle camera can achieve longer distance and more accurate identification; the TJA function (Traffic Jam Assistant Traffic Jam Assist System) is coordinated with the ACC active cruise control system to realize the steering assistance in the full speed domain and reduce daily driving fatigue; the ACL active steering lighting system can illuminate the inner road with the turn signal and steering wheel to ensure driving vision; the ADB adaptive high beam system can automatically switch the high beam according to the vehicle position in the front view. It can not only reduce light interference to other road users, but also expand the lighting range and ensure a clear field of view.
In this increasingly homogeneous market, how to further deepen the brand image has become a question that every automobile brand must think about and answer.
In this regard, GUANGQI Honda is no exception. Specifically, looking at guangqi Honda's existing product system, it is indeed lacking a model that can strengthen its own blood sports brand genes, but with the arrival of the type that inherits the blood of INTEGRA performance, the above problems will be improved.
However, in the future, between Lingpai and Accord, whether the type has enough strength to become a family car that attracts young people to carry on the upper and lower levels and broaden the market remains to be verified.