Author | Jia Weizhong
Source | Car selection network
"Today's winter solstice is the longest day of the night. In recent years, ZTE Automobile has experienced a darkest and darkest moment. However, today's 'Rizhao' light finally broke through the darkness, and ZTE ushered in its own highlight moment..." On the evening of December 21, from Baoding, Hebei to Rizhao, Shandong, after 7 hours of turbulence, I was already drowsy, and I was drowsy when I heard the generous statement of Xiao Wei, chairman of ZTE Automobile.
China's first full-size pickup truck
Who is the top pickup truck sales player in China? Nature is the Great Wall. However, China's first full-size pickup truck did not come from the Great Wall, but from its brother in the same city, ZTE Motors.
On December 21, Rizhao, Shandong Province, ZTE Motor's new pickup truck model, Weishi 1949, was officially launched, which is the first full-size pickup truck model in China. The new car is equipped with a 2.3T diesel engine developed by Renault/Nissan, and five models are available in the passenger and commercial versions, with an official price range of 155,900 to 209,900 yuan.
According to official data, Weishi 1949 is 5692mm (5393mm) *2045mm*1965mm in length, width and height, with sufficient driving space and cargo space. With a total length of 2290mm and a width of 1660mm, the cabin can be easily seated with five adults, and the cargo compartment size is 1810mm (1530mm) * 1700mm * 515mm, whether it is a daily operation to pull goods or self-driving travel needs can be easily loaded.
Some media reported that "in the field of full-size pickup trucks, at present, other pickup truck companies of Chinese brands have not been listed in this class." The closest one is the X cannon of the Great Wall pickup truck, but it is still in the stage of spy exposure. Therefore, ZTE Weishi 1949 is at the forefront of other brands in this field. ”
Old businesses shine with new brilliance
The day's event site, "Field. ZTE The King's Return" theme slogan is everywhere. To outsiders, perhaps this is just a slogan. But for me, a native of Baoding, there is a feeling in this.
Although the auto company I joined 15 years ago was not ZTE, the pickup brand I saw most in the suburbs of Baoding 30 years ago was Tianye (the predecessor of ZTE Motors). ZTE Automobile is the same age as the Republic of China, in 1949, the company was formerly known as the Chinese People's Liberation Army Jizhong Military Region Automobile Repair Brigade, in 1983 renamed Baoding Automobile Factory. In 1985, China's first pickup truck with independent intellectual property rights was created here, which is a veritable "birthplace of China's pickup truck".
As Xiao Wei said: "With more than 70 years of glorious history, ZTE Automobile has witnessed the development of China's national automobile industry. In the stage of China's automobile entrepreneurship after the founding of New China, the ancestors of ZTE Automobile created a precedent for Light Vehicles in China. ”
However, due to multiple factors, the old company has experienced a multi-year trough. This year, the knockout race in the car market has advanced to the "hurdles race" - repeated epidemics, economic downturn, chip shortage, and weak supply, but ZTE Automobile, which was once plagued by setbacks, has shown a new look.
Zhou Zhanquan, president of ZTE Automobile Research Institute, said: "In recent years, ZTE Automobile has invested heavily in pickup truck product research and development and technological innovation every year, and now it has ushered in a product harvesting period, Little Tiger Conquest Edition, Weihu 2022 model, Weishi 1986, Weishi 1949 have been listed, and have completed the full coverage from economic pickup trucks to mid-range Yishang IKEA, and then to full-size pickup trucks, forming a perfect product sequence, which can meet the needs of different users such as home, commercial, and off-road. ”
What is the significance of ZTE's industry?
Although ZTE Automobile has shown a good momentum of development, the annual production and sales scale has still not crossed the threshold of 100,000 vehicles. In recent years, some companies that once produced and sold 10 times the annual production and sales of ZTE Automobile have fallen into a dilemma of survival, how did it survive?
In the media communication link, Xiao Wei told the "Car Selection Network": "In 1986, ZTE produced China's first pickup truck; in 1999, China's first diesel pickup truck was listed; in 2016, China's first off-road pickup truck was listed; today China's first full-size pickup truck was born in ZTE Automobile." Pickup trucks are considered farmer's carts in China, but in Libya ZTE pickups are used as combat vehicles. In the international market, the share of ZTE pickup trucks is growing, while the share of pickup trucks of some foreign brands is declining..."
On the surface, Xiao Wei introduced the history and achievements of the company, but in essence, he pointed out the housekeeping skills of ZTE Automobile - to improve product quality and cultivate intensively in the field of pickup trucks, and maintaining core competitiveness is an important reason for this small enterprise to survive in a harsh environment.
In the upcoming 2022, Chinese cars may face a more severe test. Guan Xuejun, president of "Car Selection Network", vividly described it as a "pole vault race". This means that even a strong head car company may have to make a hard leap to get through the difficulties. However, the person in charge of a "new force" car-making company recently, perhaps because of this year's performance, or perhaps because it was sought after by capital, openly declared: "In addition to buying an oil car, you can smell gasoline, what is good?" "The industry knows that the manufacturing industry is the hardest, the most pragmatic, need to endure loneliness, if the leader has achieved a little achievement so impetuous, no one in sight, how can the enterprise do it for a long time?"
In contrast, an important reason why this old company that was once in a safe corner can show a new look in a dismal market environment is that the company leaders have a clear understanding of themselves. Xiao Wei pointed out: "In order to realize the ZTE of the old enterprise, as early as 5 years ago, we established the development direction of 'based on pickup trucks, focusing on special purposes' and 'not doing the top 100, only doing a hundred years'. To this end, ZTE Automobile has begun a new journey of secondary entrepreneurship around the pickup truck market for factory construction and comprehensive product development, and has continuously summarized and accumulated in the process of climbing the slope of weight. ”
Obviously, the official listing of China's first full-size Picavour Lion 1949 is precisely the latest landing result of ZTE Automobile's secondary entrepreneurial strategy.
After a 7-hour journey of nearly 700 kilometers from Baoding to Rizhao, I saw a ZTE car that was actively working hard to get out of the darkest hours. Although the future market situation is still grim, ZTE Automobile's down-to-earth and indomitable and steady efforts to move forward is the right way to the goal.