Written by | Chen Hao, Liang Qiumeng
Edit | Yang Guang
Produced | Automotive Sankei
Looking at the market share of independent brands in 2021, you will find a very interesting curve - starting from the low point of 36.7% in March, the market share of independent brands climbed all the way to November at the end of the year, and the monthly share climbed to 46.3%.
This is almost an unprecedented height. 2010 was a peak of independent brands, and the market share of independent brands was only 45.6% that year.
The increase in the share of independent brands, on the one hand, is indispensable to the strong expansion of behemoths such as BYD, Chang'an, and the Great Wall, on the other hand, it is also indispensable to the wild growth of new brands like Auchan that have just been born for a few years.
In 2021, Changan Auchan's cumulative sales exceeded 230,000+, an increase of 53% year-on-year, and it belongs to the largest growth rate among independent brands.
The market respects the strong and does not respect the old. If the "Auchans" maintain the growth trend in 2021, then in 2022, it is bound to provide a powerful boost to the counterattack of the share of independent brands.
Of course, for young brands, the early crazy growth is not enough to make the brand "stand up". Only by running through the product logic and raising the scale to another height does it really mean that it has completed the initial market verification.
As a representative of young brands, how can Auchan reach the next height? Recently, Auchan debuted a new sequence product - Auchan Z6. Wang Xiaofei, general manager of Auchan Automobile, told us, "This car shoulders the important mission of selling more than 300,000 auchan automobiles in 2022. ”
That is to say, in 2022, Auchan wants to achieve an increase of about 70,000 vehicles, if Auchan Z6 wants to complete its mission, then it must achieve a monthly sales of six thousand without robbing Auchan X7 and Auchan X5 sales, becoming another veritable "hit" under Auchan.
"Hybrid" + industry's first "six-screen linkage"
In terms of body size, auchan Z6 belongs to the same level of compact SUV as auchan X7. Changan's independent subsidiary also includes CS75, CS75PLUS, UNI-T and other similar products, so the group has left little room for differentiation for Auchan Z6.
Not to mention that the compact SUV is the market segment with the most concentrated firepower, and the Oushan Z6 wants to eat away at this part of the profit, and the difficulty is equivalent to "pulling teeth from the tiger's mouth". What is it for?
The answer to Auchan Z6 is "hybrid" + "metacosm".
In fact, not only has Changan successfully launched a hybrid system, but also a round of "new plug-in hybrid movement" has emerged among major domestic independent car companies. The Great Wall Lemon Hybrid DHT, Chery Kunpeng Hybrid DHT, and GAC Julang Hybrid System are all on the string. As the first to deliver mass production, BYD has enjoyed a first-mover advantage in terms of sales.
Wang Xiaofei judged, "In the process of changing to a pure electric route, there will be about 10 years of plug-in hybrid models that are very prosperous." ”
From the book numbers, the Blue Whale iDD platform equipped with Auchan Z6 can achieve the fastest acceleration of 7s+ 100 kilometers in its powertrain, and at the same time, the pure electric endurance is 150km, and the comprehensive endurance is 1100km, which is more "able to fight" in the same level.
In addition, the Blue Whale iDD Hybrid has achieved a 2-ton SUV with a loss of 5L of power and fuel consumption for 100 kilometers through superb skills, even surpassing Highlander and BYD Tang DM-i.
Of course, for the outside world, the above data is still only in writing, and the real experience effect will not be known until the new car comes out.
The other two powertrains in addition to the hybrid are also the highlights of the Auchan Z6. The Blue Whale 2.0T+8AT power system and the Blue Whale 1.5T+7DCT power system have been fully verified in other SUV models in Changan.
As the pioneering work of Auchan's new sequence, Auchan Z6 differs from the previous two main products in that it creates three metaverse avatars.
These include the "Xiaoou" that can realize 10.25-inch instrument screen, 12.3-inch central control screen, 9.1-inch small European screen, AR-HUD head-up display four-screen interconnection, plus mobile phones and smart wearable devices can also achieve six-screen interconnection, which is the first in the industry.
If you don't like Xiao Ou's voice, then you can define your own image and voice through the second metaverse avatar, YYDS digital twin image. The third image, "Car Robot Z6", can realize voice interaction inside and outside the car.
It can be said that in order to be able to have emotional resonance with young people, Auchan Z6 has done its best to create a sense of scientific and technological atmosphere from multiple sensory experiences such as speaking, listening, seeing, and touching. At the time, a visiting media outlet described it this way: "Auchan's definition of immersive scenes is very mature. ”
Price up: Challenge the $150,000 level
In Wang Xiaofei's view, Auchan Z6 is not only the first car for Auchan to enter the new energy field with the Blue Whale IDD hybrid system, but also an important product for Auchan to impact the 150,000 yuan level and help the brand develop upwards.
In fact, since the comprehensive transformation of the passenger car market three years ago, Auchan has made a certain degree of breakthrough on the price side. In 2021, its average selling price rose from 83,000 yuan in the previous year to 92,300 yuan.
At the level of popularity, according to the survey, although Auchan is still a certain distance from several independent leaders such as the Great Wall, Geely, and Chang'an, among SUV users, its popularity has been parallel to Chery.
Although the progress is not small, Wang Xiaofei believes: "Now Auchan can not say that it is completely 'standing', the two product lines are basically 'standing', but the brand level has not 'stood'." ”
In 2022, Wang Xiaofei set an average selling price target for Auchan - to exceed 100,000 yuan.
The implication is that Auchan does not intend to take the cost-effective route forever.
The development of Auchan relies on the resources of Changan Automobile Group, and the positioning is slightly lower than that of Changan Autonomous, so the first impression of many consumers on Auchan products is always inseparable from "cost performance". But in fact, Wang Xiaofei said that simply comparing cost performance, the configuration of many first-line independent products is cheaper than Auchan X7plus and Auchan X5.
How to further get rid of the image of "cheap brand" and sell auchan Z6 has become a key step.
However, there are also concerns: hybrid is the next stage of fuel vehicles, and controlling costs is the most important thing for hybrid vehicles. Auchan Z6 may be able to make a breakthrough in price, but because the cost of hybrid cars is higher than THAT's DM-i, it is difficult to compete with BYD.
Wang Xiaofei also seems to be conservative about the proportion of hybrid models, he said: "We say that the Z6 will impact 150,000 yuan, but the main force can certainly not be 150,000 yuan, can only say that this car has great potential, but we must also look at it rationally." ”
For the future of hybrid models, Wang Xiaofei is full of expectations, and he even hopes that in the brand matrix of Changan Group, hybrid energy will become the biggest label of Auchan. It is understood that in addition to the Auchan Z sequence, the Ochan X sequence products will also be equipped with hybrid systems one by one.
At present, the new energy vehicle market presents a dumbbell-shaped layout (two large ends, small in the middle), but some people judge that new energy vehicles will sooner or later develop into the same spindle-shaped market structure as fuel vehicles (two small ends, large middle).
This is also one of the reasons why Wang Xiaofei hopes to conquer the hybrid market. He said, "You don't do the middle one, sooner or later someone will take it." ”
Whether "hybrid" can become the biggest brand difference of Auchan still needs to be slowly observed, and what can be determined at present is that for Auchan, with Auchan Z6 opening up a broader market, Auchan should also usher in more opportunities and possibilities.