I've been in the automotive media for many years, and I've been to numerous new car launches, and almost every time, the idea comes to my mind: "This car should sell well."
Of course, this is a very subjective idea, but when you are at the scene of the press conference, listening to the manufacturer's various in-depth explanations of the new car, coupled with the host's or exciting or emotional words, coupled with the concert-level lighting and choreography, your emotions will indeed be driven, so you can't help but praise and applaud the car.
I have to admire the current high communication methods of car companies!
However, whether a car can sell well depends not on the excitement of the conference, but on the consumer's decision, when the overwhelming publicity has passed, the cruel market will give the most authentic answer.
This issue of "New Car Half Year Review", selected several key new cars listed in June for review, these models have a lot of heat before the listing, the conference is more than a shock, then what will be the performance after half a year?
The new generation of Highlander
The market popularity and importance of this car is unquestionable, and its name has become a label for medium and large 7-seat SUVs, as well as a common rival for many similar cars.
But now things are a little different, with two models on the market that can really threaten Highlander's position, one is its sister model Crown Landing, and the other is the new generation Trumpchi GS8 with the same hybrid system.
If Crown Land Amp can expand market share with Highlander, then the emergence of Trumpchi GS8 is to grab share. In the two key areas of space and power, the performance of the Trumpchi GS8 can be said to be more than enough, the configuration richness is even better, coupled with a lower price, the lethality is indeed very large.
The new generation of GS8 is the opponent that the current Highlander has to face.
Of course, Highlander still has its own unique advantages, compared with the emerging competitors, Highlander's market recognition is undoubtedly higher, after three generations of model evolution, it has become a model brand linked to quality, durability and value preservation. With the blessing of the new architecture technology, the overall strength of Highlander has been further strengthened.
Since its launch in June, sales of the new Highlander have been growing, with sales approaching 10,000 units in September, which is already the high monthly sales of older models. In October and November, the total sales volume of the car series exceeded 10,000 units consecutively, and the proportion of 2.5L hybrid models was more than 65%.
It is not difficult to surpass Highlander in a certain technical indicator, but in order to achieve synchronous surpassing in sales and word of mouth, latecomers still need to redouble their efforts.
Volkswagen ID.6X
Volkswagen ID.6X can be understood as a 7-seat version of ID.4X, in addition to the size, price, number of seats, the difference between the two is not large, endurance and acceleration capabilities are also very close.
This practice of launching an "enlarged version" of the model is effective in the field of fuel vehicles, such as Tuyue, Tiguan L, Anduang, all of which are models of different sizes and different levels under the same technology platform, and these three cars have relatively good market performance in their respective segments.
However, in the field of pure electric vehicles, due to the small size of the market, two products with too high homogenization are easy to compete with each other, and products with lower prices and smaller sizes tend to prevail. The monthly sales of id.6X since its launch have not exceeded 2,000 units, while the sales of ID.4X are steadily increasing, and looking at the smaller ID.3, the sales volume in the second month after the listing is close to 3,000 units, which is also better than the ID.6X.
Volkswagen launched five ID. family models in China this year, but it was not until September that the total sales of the entire ID. family exceeded 10,000 units.
This status quo is actually more thoroughly reflected in Tesla, and after the emergence of the Model 3, the Model S has become a product that no one cares about.
In the final analysis, pure electric vehicles are still a model that is only suitable for commuting in the city, low cost, small size is its most suitable product positioning, when more and more similar positioning models appear on the market, such as ID.6X such as medium and large pure electric SUVs, the market situation may be more difficult.
AionS PLUS
The Aion S is a familiar model, and in many major cities, it has become a dedicated model for ride-hailing platforms. Due to the relatively stable demand in the B-end mobility market, Aion S's monthly sales have been hovering between 4,000 and 5,000 for a long time, and recently, the situation has changed.
From September to November this year, the monthly sales of Aion S terminals exceeded 7,000 vehicles, and the sales curve showed a significant jump, mainly due to the launch of the new Aion S PLUS.
Compared with the old models, Aion S plus has been optimized in terms of endurance and power, the design is younger, the technology configuration is more abundant, and the vehicle tuning is further "private carization". More critically, AION S Plus is equipped with a "magazine battery", compared with the ordinary ternary lithium battery pack, its battery cell heat resistance temperature increased by 30%, the battery pack on the shell temperature resistance of more than 1400 °C, safety has been significantly improved.
In terms of car service, Aion S plus has achieved lifelong free service in the three-electric warranty, vehicle networking service and roadside assistance service, which greatly reduces the user's concerns about pure electric vehicles.
The simultaneous strengthening of product strength and after-sales service has torn off the overly obvious characteristics of the Aion S and made it more widely recognized by the market. In the first 11 months of this year, Aion S ranked 6th in the new energy vehicle sales list, and was the only A-class pure electric sedan priced in the range of 150,000-200,000 in the top ten, becoming the "Corolla" in the field of pure electric vehicles.
LanTu FREE
With the gradual increase in sales of the ideal ONE, the extended range electric vehicle has once again attracted market attention, although this is not an epoch-making new technology, but with stronger practicality than pure electric vehicles, it has attracted some car companies to participate.
Like Lantu Automobile, their first model, Landu FREE, was officially launched in June, and before that, they had done a lot of publicity to shape their high-end image. However, land-to-free sales in the six months were not satisfactory, with the highest monthly sales since delivery in September, not exceeding 1,000 units.
From the product point of view, Landu FREE has many highlights, it provides two kinds of powertrains, range extender and pure electric, the former has a comprehensive mileage of 860 kilometers, and does not need to be bundled by charging piles, and the freedom of travel is greatly increased. The Lantu FREE's "range extender" is a 1.5T four-cylinder engine, which is better than the ideal ONE's 1.2T three-cylinder engine in terms of quietness, and the 4.5-second "zero hundred" acceleration time is also significantly better than the latter's 6.5 seconds.
In addition, Landu FREE also has high standards in terms of design, process and intelligent configuration, and it is reasonable to say that it should be able to ride on the "extended range wind" blown by the ideal ONE and taste a lot of sweetness in the market.
However, as a new brand, Lantu still lacks enough recognition, and in terms of marketing means, it cannot keep up with the rhythm of the first-line "new forces". In the current new energy market, it is not enough to honestly do a good job in products, and it is necessary to have a strong "storytelling" ability to gain the favor of consumers.
GS4 PLUS
In the period from 2015 to 2018, GS is the proudest model of GAC Trumpchi, with monthly sales ranking in the top ten of the SUV list for many years, and it can enter the top three at its peak, directly threatening the status of the "god car" Haval H6. However, after 2019, its sales have declined significantly, including problems with the overall industry environment and problems with the product itself.
In order to save the sales of GS4, GAC Trumpchi has also made many attempts, and the GS4 PLUS, which went on sale in June this year, is one of them. This is a derivative of the second generation of GS4, the price is slightly higher than the GS4, aiming at the price range of 120,000-150,000 yuan, the size is close to the mid-size SUV, the configuration level is more abundant, and the vehicle positioning is more similar to the discontinued GS5.
From the perspective of product strength, GS4 PLUS has no obvious shortcomings, the design can open the gap with GS4, power provides 1.5T and 2.0T two engines to choose from, the latter has 185kW, 390Nm power reserve, in terms of intelligent configuration, also uses ADiGO 4.0 intelligent driving interconnection ecosystem, the degree of intelligence is at the same level of leadership.
However, the addition of new cars is difficult to effectively boost the sales of the GS4 series, and the highest monthly sales of the entire car series in the second half of this year did not exceed 10,000 units, and the market performance is still not comparable to haval H6, Changan CS75 PLUS and other first-line models.
At present, GAC Trumpchi's advantages lie in high-end models, such as the M8, which ranks third in the MPV list in sales, and the new generation GS8, which has a high market demand, compared with the sales of mid-range models. Although this sales structure is different from most Chinese brands and is not conducive to the rapid increase in overall sales, it provides a strong fulcrum for the high-end development of brands.
The Trumpchi M8 sold nearly 65,000 units in the first 11 months of this year, ranking third in the MPV sales list, behind the Buick GL8.
If GAC Trumpchi can sink its heart to polish the high-end models, it will not only improve the brand influence, but also play a role in downward radiation and effectively drive the market vitality of other models.
Text | superman
(This article is the author's personal opinion only and does not represent the position of DearAuto.) )
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Mr. Li Guoyong of Guangdong Green Law Firm