On the afternoon of January 10, Jetto Automobile participated in the first Travel + Conference held in Fuzhou, and the T-X of Jietu, which had previously announced the renderings, made its first real car appearance. The new car is a very typical hardcore SUV design, the appearance uses a lot of flat lines, it looks full of muscle.
As we all know, Chery has actually not had a hardcore SUV. Even among the top ten domestic car companies, only the Great Wall has been drilling in this field. Geely has been rumored to be involved in the market, but Chery has not been related to the movement. I didn't expect that this time through the sub-brand Jietu directly on the real car debut, to everyone brought a lot of surprises.
What are the highlights of this new car of Jietu? Can it shake the position of the Great Wall in the domestic hardcore SUV field? Let the kung fu car take everyone to see it together.
(1) Niche to public, domestic hardcore off-road SUV ushered in spring
As mentioned earlier, among the top ten domestic car companies, only the Great Wall has been pushing hardcore SUVs. This is mainly determined by its product characteristics, the hardcore SUV is actually derived from the traditional off-road vehicle, the advantage is through the strong, high playability. The disadvantages are also obvious, the body is heavy, the fuel consumption is high, and the space is smaller than the same level of urban SUVs, so it is not so good in terms of practicality.
Therefore, the hardcore SUV market has actually been dominated by joint venture cars, because they tend to have a stronger premium ability and can "hold" the shortcomings of this model, Toyota Overlord, Jeep Wrangler, Mitsubishi Pajero These cars are all famous.
The Great Wall has long begun to lay out in this area, launching the first hardcore SUV Haval H9 as early as 2015, and has been insisting on upgrading. Strictly speaking, the market performance of H9 is still good, but its commonality with other platforms is too poor, non-load-bearing body, professional off-road chassis, three locks these configurations can only be used by one car, but also to purchase ZF's 9AT gearbox and BorgWarner's four-wheel drive system, so the great wall this series of revenue is not high, which is why other car companies have not been involved.
But moving into 2021, things have changed. The delivery of the luxury hardcore SUV tank 300 continues to rise, with 84,588 units delivered in 2021, accounting for more than 50% of the market share of the hardcore off-road vehicle market. This achievement was not even expected by the Great Wall itself, so throughout 2021, the tank 300 was undergoing a capacity climb until December delivery reached 11958 units. And the recently launched Tank 500, as a domestic car of more than 300,000, received 20,000+ orders on the day of pre-sale.
It can be said that the emergence of the Tank 300 has made the niche market into a mass market, which is also the main reason why major car companies have entered the hardcore off-road vehicle market. I just didn't expect Chery to be the first, catching up with all the car companies. From the appearance alone, the Jietu T-X is still quite good, domineering, and can be said to be a good imitator. In particular, the tail design is also carried with a "small school bag", and the vertical taillight design is also very capable, and the recognition is quite high.
(2) Kunlun architecture + Kunpeng power, can it work?
The new car is based on Jietu's latest Kunlun architecture, which was announced by Jietu on the brand night in July last year, and its main feature is to focus on the travel scene and cater to the "travel +" market positioning. But as we all know, although there is a certain correlation between travel and off-road, there are still subtle differences, depending on how the shortcut will eventually be distinguished.
For example, the first question in the mind of Kung Fu Automobile is whether the Jietu T-X uses a non-load-bearing body. I even asked a friend who went to the scene to take a picture of the chassis of the new car, whether it was with a girder. Unfortunately, the on-site staff told this exhibition car that it cannot shoot the chassis, which may have two reasons, one is that the manufacturer wants to keep this secret, and the other is that the exhibition car is not yet a completed version of the model, and there may be major changes in the follow-up, so it can only show the shape for the time being.
The biggest feature of the non-load-bearing body is that it has a high enough torsional strength to ensure that the body is not deformed when off-road. If it is a load-bearing body, it cannot withstand high-frequency twisting, because the body will have plastic deformation of steel plates. Just like the Haval dog, its positioning is a three-quarter scale car, although its passability is stronger than the average urban SUV, but because there is no carrier body, its off-road limit is not as good as the tank 300.
Therefore, if the Jietu T-X also uses a non-load-bearing body, it has the opportunity to break the wrist with the tank 300. Of course, there is also a suspense that Chery first intervened in the market, how reliable the technology is.
The other is its power system. Compared with Chery's Tiggo series, the Jietu brand has actually been the main cost performance, and the highest end assembly it is equipped with is a 1.6T engine. But at the same time, the most expensive model of Jietu is only the Jietu X90 PLUS from 101,900.
According to official news, the pricing of jietu T-X will be 150,000 or 60,000, so that it has a larger premium space, and it is entirely possible to carry Chery's latest Kunpeng power 2.0T engine. If it is this model, its maximum horsepower on the moon can reach 261 horses, the maximum torque of 400Nm, are very prominent.
But there will be another problem, the need to choose a suitable gearbox for it. Chery's current matching gearbox is mainly CVT and DCT, both of which have limited load-bearing torque and are rarely used in hard-wired SUVs. Great Wall's own Haval H9, tank 300 is the use of ZF 9AT gearbox, carrying higher requirements, using 3.0T engine tank 500, has not been able to purchase a suitable gearbox, using the Great Wall independent research and development of 9AT.
That is to say, if Chery wants to make the Jietu T-X into a hardcore off-road SUV, it is also indispensable to take this road, and this development will be quite difficult.
(3) Jietu T-X is more likely to take the Haval Big Dog route?
Considering the positioning of the Jietu brand, it is actually more difficult to make a pure hardcore off-road SUV. It is necessary to develop a non-load-bearing body that Chery has never been involved in, a special off-road tuning of the engine, the need to match a special gearbox and a four-wheel drive system, and the premium ability of Jietu, I am afraid it is difficult to support such research and development investment.
Therefore, a more realistic choice may be to learn from the Haval Dog and make a model between an urban SUV and a hardcore SUV. The retro design, improving the approach angle, departure angle and ground clearance of the vehicle, coupled with two locks, can trek to a certain extent, but also have good comfort, which is very similar to the positioning of the Shortcut T-X Travel+.
In fact, the sales volume of Haval Big Dog in 2021 reached 100,690 vehicles, which is also a very good result. Of course, such positioning is more for daily household use and occasional off-road, and it is impossible to challenge various extreme road conditions like the tank 300.
In this way, the power system of the Jetway T-X does not have to change significantly. Directly taking the combination of 1.6T+DCT or 2.0T+DCT can also greatly reduce the subsequent matching adjustment time and cost.
Of course, many users may find this surprise seriously insufficient. But considering that the Jietu T-X is only positioned for 150,000 or 60,000 yuan, is it fragrant to be able to buy a 2.0T hardcore model with the latest architecture?
(4) Kung Fu shooting
Although the current evaluation of this car by all parties is overwhelming chery's first hardcore SUV. However, considering the positioning of the Jietu brand and Chery's technical reserves, the possibility of the Jietu T-X being made into a pure off-road vehicle is actually not very large.
If you want to challenge the tank 300, it is actually more difficult in the short term. More features of the Jietu T-X may still test the market to see how receptive this light off-road car with a retro appearance is accepted by the market.
If Chery really wants to make a hardcore off-road vehicle, it is more likely to be a Xingtu brand or Chery brand.