In 2021, under the influence of the epidemic, the butterfly effect caused by the lack of cores in the domestic automobile market has become more and more serious, and the production capacity and output of major car companies have also been reduced by different margins. Of course, in addition to the cold production and sales data of the automotive industry, it will also bury some car circles that are of interest to car friends. After careful screening, we have selected ten of the most important car circle news that is enough to "break the circle", if you are interested in the car circle, then hurry up and make up for it.
1. On February 24, 2021, Mercedes-Benz's new generation of C-class debuted in the world
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The all-new C-Class unveiled its mystery on February 24, 2021. Its transformation is indeed the most disruptive. It borrows a lot of S-class technology and design, making its sense of luxury more intuitive than the 3 series and A4, which is more in line with the needs of consumers for social orientation.
The new C-Class is based on the second-generation longitudinal rear-drive MRA platform, with a more slender nose and a cockpit rearward design that further enhances the sporty feel of the vehicle. The front net adopts Mercedes-Benz's new "Galaxy Grille" design, and the whole series adopts the central standard of the grille, and the domestic long wheelbase will also provide a standard version.
In addition to the exterior interior, the new C-Class comes standard with a 1.5T high and low power version of the engine, with a maximum power of 125 kW and 150 kW respectively, and a peak torque of 250 Nm and 300 Nm. The overseas version of the 2.0T engine was not introduced.
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The new C-class is the second generation after BMW in the BBA, and this pressure of "before there are wolves and then there are tigers" can be imagined. Mercedes-Benz obviously understands that the C-class is a real running product, and its profits will greatly affect the overall profits of Mercedes-Benz in the next few years, so this is a "battle" that cannot be lost. However, when we stand in 2022 and look back at the sales volume of the new C-level, we find that it has not achieved the sales volume corresponding to the "benchmark" of the same level. This may be the new C-level purchase threshold of nearly 20,000 yuan, and the market terminal has less preferential treatment. The 1.5T engine equipped with the new C-class series, if the bmw 3 series of 2.0T engines is compared to the bmw 3 series, coupled with the bmw 3 series, it is low in the starting price of nearly 30,000 yuan, even if consumers who do not understand the car at all choose, it is difficult to choose the new C-class. Nowadays, buying a new C-grade is really relying on feelings, brand awareness and even impulsive consumption.
Second, on March 17, 2021, Audi announced that it would stop developing a new fuel engine
On March 17, Audi announced that it would stop developing gasoline or diesel engines and would completely switch to the development and production of electric vehicles in 10 to 15 years.
Audi CEO Marcus Dusman said in an interview that the decision was made because of stricter environmental requirements and restrictions such as carbon taxes imposed by the European Union. For existing gasoline and diesel engine models, they will gradually be converted to electric models in the future.
It is reported that Audi will launch 20 electric models in 5 years. Audi's announcement of electrification is actually reasonable, after the British luxury brand Jaguar announced that it will become a pure electric vehicle brand in 2025 and will only produce and sell electric vehicle products.
In the domestic market, Chinese brand car companies are also accelerating the transformation of electrification.
Although many car companies said that they will no longer develop new internal combustion engines in 2021, this does not mean that the internal combustion engine has come to an end, after all, Audi itself has said that it is only no longer developing a new generation of internal combustion engines, but it will still optimize and improve the existing internal combustion engines to adapt to the upcoming new carbon emission standards. Compared with Mercedes-Benz, Audi expressed its determination to transform electrification. BMW CEO Oliver Chipsey has a different view, and his response is that BMW will continue to meet the demand for internal combustion engines as demand for internal combustion engines will remain strong for many years to come. That is to say, in the future, BMW's product trend is to provide diesel, gasoline, plug-in hybrid and pure electric power systems at the same time, leaving the choice to consumers.
3. On March 23, 2021, Geely's high-end brand Extreme Kr was officially established
On March 23, 2021, Geely Automobile Holdings Limited announced the establishment of Extreme Krypton. It is understood that the company was jointly invested and established by Geely Automobile and Geely Holding Group. Among them, Geely Automobile holds 51% of the shares, and Geely Holding Group holds 49% of the shares. In addition, the new company plans to inject 2 billion yuan in cash, with Li Shufu as chairman and An Conghui as CEO.
Geely Auto revealed that the first model of Extreme Krypton is based on THE SEA Haohan intelligent architecture, will be unveiled at the Shanghai Auto Show and open for pre-order, and will begin to be delivered in the fourth quarter of this year. For the next five years, Extreme Krypton plans to introduce at least one new product to the market each year.
Geely has already laid out in the field of new energy, and the geometry and polar stars born in recent years are aimed at the pure electric vehicle market, but at this stage, the electric vehicle market under the two brands is flat. Extreme Kr is the brand that came into being in such a dilemma, which will further integrate Geely's existing assets and technologies. Geely said that the integrated content includes, but is not limited to, electric vehicle model technology, haohan intelligent evolution experience architecture use rights, brand authorization, three electric technology, supply chain system construction and user ecological construction.
Throughout 2020, under the influence of the epidemic, Geely Automobile's cumulative sales volume for the whole year still handed over a report card of 1.32 million units, maintaining the first sales volume of Passenger Cars of Chinese brands for four consecutive years. This is inseparable from Geely's idea of accelerating the transformation of science and technology and advancing to "brand and technology leadership". Some people may ask whether Geely's newly born krypton brand will have an impact on the high-end pure electric brand Polar Star, which has long been laid out, and form an inner volume situation. Geely's official response is that Geely Group currently has three major electric vehicle brands of Maple Leaf, Geometry and Polar Star, and they also meet the brand matrix of high, medium and low. The newly established Extreme Kr pure electric brand will form a clear product difference with Polar Star to meet the car needs of different users.
4. On April 2, 2021, Genises officially landed in China
On April 2, 2021, Hyundai Motor's high-end sub-brand Genises held a brand night event on the North Bund in Shanghai and announced its official landing in China.
At the same time that Genises announced its entry into China, it brought two new cars, namely the GV80, which is positioned as a medium-sized SUV, and the G80, which is positioned as a medium- and large-sized sedan. The "double-line design" is the signature design of Genissy, which is reflected in the shape of the headlights and the trim strips on the side of the body.
According to the plan, Genises will gradually expand the Chinese market in the future based on direct operation and supplemented by online channels. All Geniseith sales channels will have a uniform price. In addition, the first Genises House in the heart of Shanghai is about to be unveiled. The entry of Geniseis into China has also sounded the clarion call for Korean luxury cars to enter.
Genises has a good reputation in North America, but since it is to challenge the market segment of domestic luxury brands, it is natural to avoid the "iron BBA". At present, not to mention the Korean brands that have been wiped out, the Japanese high-end brands can only barely rank among the first line. Looking at the second-tier luxury brands, in fact, many models have the name of luxury cars, but they can't sell the price of luxury cars, such as Cadillac, which has plunged sharply in terminal prices, and Lincoln, which is domestically produced to reduce costs... But in any case, it is a good thing that new car brands are willing to enter the country after all, one is to show that there is still room for increment in the domestic luxury car market, and the other is to further promote healthy competition among car companies that are also luxury brands.
V. On April 19, 2021, Tesla owners protected their rights
On April 19, 2021, at the Tesla booth of the Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition, a woman wearing a White T-shirt with a Tesla logo and the words "Brake Failure" shouted "Tesla Brake Failure" and was subsequently taken away by the staff. The incident has aroused the attention of all sectors of society.
In the afternoon of the same day, Tesla issued a statement saying that the woman was "the owner of the previous anyang speeding violation accident in Anyang, Henan" that occurred in February, and said that the owner "does not accept any form of third-party testing", and then Tesla vice president Tao Lin responded that the woman "insisted on high compensation" and that "Tesla could not compromise".
On April 20, the Shanghai police issued a notice saying that Zhang and Li mou went to the auto show site to express their dissatisfaction on the same day because of a consumer dispute with the brand company. At present, Zhang Mou has been sentenced to five days of administrative detention for disturbing public order.
On April 21, Tesla issued an announcement overnight, saying that it was willing to fully cooperate and provide the original data of the vehicle half an hour before the incident to a third-party appraisal agency or a government-designated technical supervision department, and Tesla would bear the cost of appraisal production.
On April 22, Tesla submitted the original vehicle data.
On April 25, the female owner of the Shanghai Auto Show was released, and the family said that they would continue to defend their rights.
It can be said that the Tesla rights protection incident is the hottest hot event in 2021, and its limelight even overshadows the Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition itself. Looking back at the entire incident, the complete driving data provided by Tesla was sent to Ms. Zhang's personal mailbox, and whether the data was complete or not was only clear to both parties. The female car owner's reluctance to hand over the vehicle to a third party for testing has weakened the public opinion support for her rights protection. As a Tesla side, it seems that the most speechless thing now is the "no way to compromise" that the executives responded when the incident first occurred, which somewhat reflects Tesla's contempt for consumers' interests. In 2022, the trial of the right to reputation related to the Tesla female car owner incident is still continuing, and we will wait and see what this incident that has earned enough traffic will evolve.
6. On June 26, 2021, Tesla launched the OTA recall for the first time in China
On June 26, 2021, the State Administration for Market Regulation announced that Tesla decided to recall a total of 238599 Model 3 and Model Y electric vehicles.
Among them, the recalled batch is part of the domestic Model 3 produced from December 19, 2019 to June 7, 2021, with a total of 211256 units, and some Model Y produced from January 1, 2021 to June 7, 2021, a total of 38,599 units.
From the perspective of the number of recalls, the scale of this recall is very large. However, from the perspective of the recall method, this incident has made consumers feel that things are very simple. Because this recall is different from the traditional 4S store that requires users to open, users only need to upgrade the OTA remote upgrade system to complete it.
The reason for the recall is that there is a problem with the vehicle's active cruise control system.
In recent years, with the continuous rise in sales of new energy vehicles, the number of new energy vehicle recalls has also increased. Among the new energy vehicles recalled in this part, software-related safety issues have increased significantly, with a growth rate of more than 40%, and 7.12 million vehicles have been recalled in China due to information system problems, accounting for about 10% of the total recall. But on the other hand, the use of OTA technology as a means of recall has improved the efficiency of recalls and reduced the cost of recalls. In a sense, Tesla's large-scale recall has achieved a leap in the Chinese auto industry from hardware recall to software recall. It also laid the groundwork for the subsequent joint venture cars and domestic cars to carry OTA technology.
7. On July 19, 2021, Porsche announced the termination of its partnership with Wu Yifan
On 19 July 2021, Porsche China announced that it would terminate its partnership with Wu Yifan, "Spokesperson for Porsche Motorsport china", with immediate effect. Porsche said that it will continue to promote motorsport and sports car culture in China, and provide high-quality services for the majority of sports car enthusiasts and Porsche owners and drivers.
After being exposed by Dumeizhu, since July 18, a number of brands have announced the termination of contracts with artist Wu Yifan. Among them, as the only car brand owner to cooperate with Wu Yifan, Porsche also issued an announcement on the evening of the 19th that it terminated the cooperative relationship with Wu Yifan. In fact, since the evening of July 18, Weibo netizens have urged Porsche to "terminate the contract with Wu Yifan" more and more strongly.
In Porsche's plan, the cooperation with Wu Yifan is seen as a blessing for its further sales in China. Now Wu Yifan is deeply involved in the whirlpool of public opinion, so that Porsche also feels the risk of signing artists.
The biggest melon in July is Wu Yifan's gossip, for businesses, once the scandal is exposed, it is inevitable that the business and the star will terminate cooperation. Porsche is the only car brand that Wu Yifan cooperates with, and after the fermentation of the incident, Porsche China also announced the cancellation of the contract with Wu Yifan at 9:11 pm on the same day. 2021 marks the 20th anniversary of Porsche's entry into China, and in the first half of 2021, Chinese customers delivered 48,700 new vehicles, accounting for about one-third of the global market. Signing traffic stars as spokespersons helps the further dissemination of corporate culture, and now it has become a common means for car companies, even first-line luxury brands can not be an exception. But whether or not you can use the "double-edged sword" of celebrity endorsement now seems to be a science.
8. On September 16, 2021, the legal representative of Evergrande Hengchi New Energy Vehicle was changed
The legal representative of Evergrande Hengchi New Energy Automobile (Guangdong) Co., Ltd. was changed from Weng Manshan to Zhang Mingming on September 14. In addition, Weng Manshan withdrew from the position of executive director and general manager and was replaced by Zhang Mingming, who was temporarily unable to inquire more identities.
Hengchi New Energy Vehicle was born on August 28, 2019, and released the first six models on August 3, 2020, covering all levels of A to D classes, and a full range of models such as cars, coupes, SUVs, MPVs, and crossovers, to achieve full coverage of the product line.
Throughout September 2021, the topic of Guangzhou Evergrande frequently appeared in front of the public eye, after being interviewed by the head of the relevant state department, Evergrande Group seems to have entered the point of "breaking the wrist of a hero" and intends to sell some assets, the official said that it had only had a preliminary exchange with Xiaomi Group in the process of introducing strategic shareholders, and did not negotiate in depth to promote.
Remember that at the beginning of evergrande Hengchi's layout, Xu Jiayin announced in a high-profile manner that in the field of new energy vehicles, Hengchi Automobile is benchmarking Tesla, and will make Evergrande Automobile the "world's largest and strongest new energy automobile group" in the future. The early layout of Evergrande Automobile is indeed worthy of this discourse, because they directly released 6 new cars without a product on the market, which is also an unprecedented number of first launches of domestic car companies. Ironically, after the news of the change of legal representative on September 16, 2021, Hong Kong stock Evergrande Automobile plunged 17% intraday. According to the semi-annual report, in the first half of 2021, Evergrande Automobile's net loss was 4.787 billion yuan, equivalent to twice that of the same period last year. As we all know, the continuous thunderstorm of Evergrande Group has made Evergrande Automobile, which has not had products to the market, appear even more turbulent.
On November 16, 2021, Zhou Guanyu, China's first F1 driver, joined Alfa Romeo Racing
On November 16, 2021, Alfa Romeo Team officially announced that Chinese driver Zhou Guanyu will officially replace Antonio Giovinaz as the team's number two driver, partnering Walterier Bottas for F1 in the 2022 season. Zhou Guanyu thus became the first Chinese driver to compete in the F1 main event.
Born in Shanghai in 1999, Zhou Guanyu began his formula career at the age of 15 and was a member of ferrari's youth academy. Zhou Guanyu has developed a strong interest in racing since he was a child. At the age of 7, he was introduced to go-karts under the guidance of his family.
In 2010, with the support of his parents, 11-year-old Zhou Guanyu went to the United Kingdom to train while attending school and began his karting career in Europe. With his talent, he won the National Championship, the All England Championship and the European Championships in the 14-17 years old category. From F4, F3, F2 to now becoming a regular player in F1, Zhou Guanyu has been completely relying on excellent strength along the way.
In fact, in the 2020 season, Zhou Guanyu served as a test driver for the F1 Renault team. In September 2020, Zhou Guanyu won the first F2 career championship in Russia, and was also the first Chinese player to win the championship in F2 competitions. Some netizens have questioned what is there to be happy about getting an invitation letter from a team that is the penultimate team in an F1 race. That's all because those people don't know how high the gold content of driving an F1 car is. You'll start with a SUPER DRIVER's license at the highest fia and achieve 80% completion in at least two one-seater Formula seasons and 40 points in each of the three FIA-recognized races. These few requirements alone have dissuaded 90% of professional drivers. You can say that the Alfa Romeo team invited Zhou Guanyu to join the purpose of pulling commercial sponsorship, but it can never deny the objective fact that Zhou Guanyu has excellent driving skills.
10. On December 6, 2021, the central media named Euler Automobile for "core change"
On December 6, 2021, CCTV Finance reported on the "core change" of Euler Automobile, and many car owners questioned the suspected false publicity and misleading consumers in the sales of the Euler Good Cat brand.
Since the launch of the Euler good cat listing conference, the publicity of the model has either explicitly or implicitly taken the Qualcomm 8155 of the current cockpit chip computing power ceiling as the core selling point, but Ms. Zhou, a female owner in Shanghai, found that it is actually equipped with the Intel 4-core A3940 listed in 2016, and its difference is no different from Mercedes-Benz and Benben.
At the beginning of the incident, Euler's handling attitude was very tough, only mentioning the development of CarPlay, HiCar and other mobile phone interconnection functions to compensate the owner, and threatened to call the police to deal with the voice of the user.
It was not until after the CCTV roll call that Euler Automobile issued an apology statement and gave specific compensation measures. Euler has always emphasized the actual problem of Intel A3940 not affecting the use and safety of car owners throughout the incident, avoiding talking about chip packages, such wording undoubtedly disappointed Euler car owners.
In fact, the whole incident from the female owner found that the chip goods are not right after Euler Car has been difficult to end, and Euler Automobile argued before CCTV exposure that "Qualcomm chips are ready for subsequent models." Such an unbelievable operation has added a fire to this "core change" incident. Euler Automobile's original cute shape and the market positioning of the main women's car can be said to be a rare successful case in the marketing of its own brand, but the brand that originally had a good prospect directly turned the previous efforts into vain because of this "core change" incident. In fact, if Euler good cat can stand up for the first time to admit that it is due to the shortage of chips this year, it is a last resort, and before the owner finds out, he will take the initiative to announce the chip "downgrade" and give compensation measures. Today's situation may be completely different.
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