On December 28, Chery iCar's first model, QQ Ice Cream, was launched, launching three models of sundae, cone and pudding, starting from 29,900 yuan. The new car is available in 120km and 170km endurance versions.
Whether it is the appearance design or product positioning, this car gives people a sense of surprise at first glance. But soon some netizens pointed out that this car and the Wuling Hongguang MINI EV are completely similar in shape and product route.
Why did Chery want to launch a product that looks less innovative at first glance?
Plagiarized Wuling Hongguang MINI EV?
Chery QQ used to be a very good car, once marketed millions of vehicles, based on this, you can even set up a brand, but unfortunately Chery QQ finally appeared "fault", Chery QQ official account last update is still stuck in 2014. In the early years, Chery QQ was sued for resemblance to Chevrolet SPARK, but in the end the Chinese side found QQ innocent.
Today, Chery QQ has been "reborn" by new energy and transformed into a new energy vehicle: QQ Ice Cream. But soon people found that this car was very similar to the Wuling Hongguang MINI EV.
We mixed the two cars together, and on closer inspection, they were very similar. Looking at the product positioning carefully, the product ideas of QQ Ice Cream and Wuling Hongguang MINI EV are also completely consistent.
Coincidentally, the Wuling Hongguang MINI EV is from SAIC-GM-Wuling, which has a share of GM, and the last time it was GM that sued QQ for infringement.
In addition, from the perspective of the name, QQ Ice Cream launched the name of "sundae, cone, pudding", which also makes people feel that there is a lack of innovation. Long before the "ice cream", the Great Wall launched models such as mocha after the introduction of big dogs, tanks and other names and sold well. Chery gives people the feeling of "following the same steps" and lacks the spirit of the creator.
If you look at it from this point of view, QQ Ice Cream does have a serious suspicion of plagiarism.
QQ ice cream plagiarism but does not prevent Chery from making money?
However, if combined with the current market, QQ ice cream is still an innovative work in chery Holdings. According to public data, the car has been booked by more than 60,000 users since the pre-sale, indicating that this car is very sought-after.
There is only one similar model on the market, that is, the famous Wuling Hongguang MINI EV. In November this year, The monthly sales of Wuling Hongguang MINI EV reached 33,094 units, and the cumulative sales volume from January to November was 344,800 units. This sales volume made the entire car circle very popular.
According to public data, Wuling Hongguang MINI EV sales in 2020 is 127651 vehicles, and Wuling won 440477 points in that year, calculated according to the price of 3,000 yuan per carbon credit, the theoretical point value is as high as 1.32 billion. According to this calculation, from January to November this year, Wuling Hongguang MINI EV will earn about 3.569 billion theoretical points value for SAIC.
According to media reports, Tesla's global carbon credit revenue reached 10.2 billion yuan in 2020, if there is no carbon credit income, Tesla will not only not be profitable that year, but will lose about 5.57 billion yuan. The carbon credits purchased by FAW-Volkswagen from Tesla that year, if calculated according to the unit price of 3,000 yuan per minute, FAW-Volkswagen may pay 3.56 billion yuan to Tesla.
The Wuling Hongguang MINI EV is a new category born in July 2020, divided into 120 km and 170 km endurance two versions, the manufacturer guidance price is only 28,800 yuan - 48,600 yuan, its 170 km endurance model once became a hot commodity in the Shanghai market.
Nowadays, although QQ Ice Cream is suspected of plagiarizing Wuling Hongguang MINI EV, if you look at sales, QQ Ice Cream may not be too bad. In addition, after all, in the direction of product quality and quality control, Chery still has strength. For example, Qoros, its original model Qoros 3 is considered to be of good quality.
Of course, today's market has been completely different, if there has been a lack of innovation, such a company is still difficult to go to the front of the entire industry.
From a certain point of view, whether it is Wuling Hongguang MINI EV or today's QQ ice cream, it is the product of special policy conditions. Once the policy changes, it is still unknown whether the vitality of its products can still be strengthened.
At present, the reason why many new car-making forces are playing well in the industry is because of their ability to innovate. At this point, Chery's responsibility as an independent brand needs to be greatly strengthened.