The chip famine is still continuing, the epidemic has begun to repeat, and under the double impact, China's car market has entered a relatively tired and difficult period. Looking at the recent sales list, eight out of ten car companies have declined to varying degrees. However, there are also a small number of car companies, in this unfavorable situation, still made a very dazzling report card, such as - Auchan.
From January to September this year, the cumulative sales of Auchan Automobile have reached 179301, setting a new record for the same period, with a year-on-year increase of 65.3%! Among them, Changan Auchan X5 sold 12,612 vehicles in September, and has achieved monthly sales of more than 10,000 units for 10 consecutive months, and together with Auchan X7, it formed Auchan Auto's "Blue Whale Twin Star", leading Auchan Auto to move forward against the market.
According to this growth rate estimate, by mid-November, Changan Auchan can break through the annual sales mark of 200,000 vehicles. And it is worth mentioning that the X7 PLUS based on the upgrade of the family's star model has been officially launched on October 17, and it has received 3475 orders on the day of listing, and the potential of "explosive models" is fully displayed.
In the eyes of industry insiders, the inclusion of X7 PLUS will not only help Changan Auchan's sales to a higher level; it also means that Changan Auchan has officially entered a new era of "PLUS". Next, Changan Auchan will surely achieve comprehensive upgrades in terms of products, quality and brand.
01 Products are king Listening to market demand
From a macro point of view, since the announcement of the official transformation to passenger cars in 2018, Changan Auchan's passenger car road has just passed 3 years. It is undeniable that in terms of sales scale, Auchan still has a certain distance from the old passenger car brand, but from the perspective of product design and technology, Auchan Automobile, which is endorsed by Changan Group, actually has a very deep and spicy skill and precipitation.
Taking the "Blue Whale Gemini" Auchan X5 & X7 as an example, the core reason why these two models can stand out in the market segment is nothing more than that they achieve a perfect balance in design, configuration, space, power and price: in a number of high-value SUVs, Auchan X5 & X7 has a more powerful power experience; in the high-configuration SUV, Auchan X5 & X7 has the most sincere price; and in the SUV with similar price and configuration, The two also have the best brand service and quality reputation at the same level.
The same is the 100,000 yuan SUV, users buy other brands of products, can only get 100,000 yuan of experience; while Auchan here, but can get 200,000 yuan worth of service and product experience.
Ostensibly, Auchan's momentum stems from the further strengthening of the product matrix. But the deeper reason lies in the brand concept of "bringing double value experience to users" pursued by Auchan Automobile behind the product.
This concept is even more vividly displayed on the newly listed Auchan X7 PLUS.
On the basis of Auchan X7, the product strength of X7 PLUS has been comprehensively improved. In terms of appearance, X7 PLUS adopts a more stylish and dynamic design, and the whole vehicle is more exquisite and advanced. At the same time, its body size has also been greatly upgraded, with a length, width and height of 4730mm * 1870mm * 1720mm, coupled with a 2786mm ultra-long wheelbase, making it have an unparalleled wide space in the same level of SUV. The 140mm second row of legroom and the maximum 1407L trunk space are enough to meet the travel needs of large family users.
More importantly, at the level of technology, Auchan X7 PLUS has also achieved a breakthrough, using a new 8-core car chipset, and the vehicle computing power has reached a higher level. The full-scene OnStyle3.0+ intelligent control car machine system has a faster, smoother and smoother operation response, which can provide a more intelligent and convenient car experience for young users in the Z era.
Auchan X7 PLUS is equipped with the power combination of Blue Whale's new generation NE1.5T engine and Blue Whale's 7-speed wet dual-clutch transmission, which not only has excellent fuel economy, but also takes only 8 seconds to accelerate in fact, achieving a comprehensive advancement in power.
However, it is such a smart SUV with high value, large space and strong power, and its starting price is less than 80,000 yuan! Such a high quality-price ratio can naturally win the support of young consumers.
In recent years, major Chinese brands have been talking about "high-end", so they have launched many new products with a price of more than 150,000 yuan. Objectively speaking, there are some strong boutique models; but in our view, the so-called "high-end" does not need to be targeted at price increases, but should be measured by the comprehensive upgrading of product strength and price ratio.
In other words, we believe that although the average price of Auchan brand products is not high, from the perspective of product strength, whether it is Auchan X5, X7 or X7 PLUS, they are all "high-end models" in their price range.
Not all consumers can pay 200,000-300,000 yuan to buy a car, especially for those young people who are still growing up in the workplace, it is already a rare and happy thing to have a car for 100,000 yuan. Auchan, which has a strong product and a real price, is undoubtedly the most preferred choice for this group of young people to buy a car.
02 How to build the car The user has the final say
When it comes to young users, I have to mention that Auchan is also very thoughtful and grounded in product design and brand marketing.
According to statistics, at present, there are more than 170 million post-90s in China. For any car company, as long as it captures this group of young people, it means that it has won at least two decades of development opportunities for the brand. Understanding their preferences and needs and establishing effective communication channels with them has in fact become the top priority that car companies need to solve.
Auchan's approach is very straightforward, that is, "co-creation with users". This word is actually not new in car companies, but there are not many brands that are really practicing this concept. So what does Auchan do?
Let's take a simple example.
First of all, at the product level, such as the shape and configuration design of Auchan X7 PLUS, it is not done by designers and technicians alone in the laboratory of Changan Automobile. In the whole process from product establishment to landing on the market, Changan Auchan will conduct research on target consumers, learn from the opinions and suggestions of massive users, listen to customer needs, and adjust and upgrade immediately. To put it bluntly, how Auchan X5 and X7 should be built and what price they sell is up to the user.
There were two other events that particularly impressed us. The first is that after the Auchan X5 prototype came off the production line, Auchan invited hundreds of professional automotive media and potential users, including us, to become "super testers". What we have to do is one thing, that is, to "find fault" for the new car, and to give advice on all the places where we feel dissatisfied or can be improved, such as styling design, power matching, chassis tuning, etc.
As the saying goes, the one who understands the needs of the owner the most is the owner himself. Is there any reason why a car built by the owner himself is not a fire?
In addition, in order to demonstrate the quality of the process, Auchan Automobile also launched the "Cloud Supervision" project, and set up the camera to every aspect of production and manufacturing. Users can observe the production and manufacturing progress of the vehicle in real time through the live broadcast of the mobile phone, and witness the whole process of their car changing from a part to a whole vehicle.
This practice can not only show users the exquisite production technology of Auchan Automobile and endorse high quality; it has also triggered a large number of young users to watch, which has played a role in fueling the brand influence accumulated by Auchan.
Including after buying a car, users can also download the Auchan Style APP to use a series of services such as car use, maintenance, repair, owner activities, etc. by downloading the Auchan Style APP, so as to make the car life more convenient and fun.
Of course, whether it is a product with excellent technology or a marketing that is grounded in the ground, it is inseparable from the support of Changan Automobile's strong research and development system of "six countries and nine places". With the strength of global wisdom research and development, parts and supporting systems, and together with users, Auchan can continue to create market-favored products such as Auchan X5, X7 and X7 PLUS.
03 If there is a color in Chinese cars, it must be indispensable to Auchan red
The progress made by Chinese brands in these years is obvious to all, whether it is Chang'an or BYD, the Great Wall, Geely, the product value under it is getting higher and higher, the technology is getting more and more sophisticated, and the product power is getting stronger and stronger. It doesn't make much sense to simply discuss the achievements of Chinese brands in terms of sales or not.
Standing at the threshold of the new era, the goal of Chinese car companies should be to return their eyes from competitors to the origin of building cars for users, just as Changan Auchan is doing now.
For Auchan, 200,000 vehicles sold a year is just a number. Continuing to work with users to create more products and services that consumers like to hear is the goal that Auchan should pursue. From a certain point of view, Auchan's success also represents the victory of China's car-making concept and culture over overseas car-making concepts. In the future, if There is a color in Chinese cars, it must be indispensable to Auchan Red.