Written by | Li Qingyuan
Edit | Huang Zhi
Produced | Automotive Sankei
After three consecutive years of negative growth, China's auto market will finally pick up in 2021.
This year, the domestic auto market ended with 26.275 million units year-on-year growth of 3.8%, and the full outbreak of new energy vehicles is the biggest highlight of the auto market.
This year, who is the best-selling new energy model? In 2021, Wuling Hongguang MINI EV rode the dust, overpowering Tesla and BYD, and won the first place in China's new energy vehicle single-model sales.
As the "top stream" of the automotive circle, SAIC-GM-Wuling sold 1.76 million vehicles in the whole year, an increase of 13.5% year-on-year, ranking first in the sales volume of national brand single car companies, and the cumulative sales volume of GSEV platform (global small pure electric vehicle architecture) exceeded the 750,000 mark.
When Asked how Zhou Ju (deputy general manager of SAIC-GM-Wuling Sales Company) summed up 2021, he listed four key words: brand rejuvenation, explosive products, channel innovation, and diversified marketing.
"This year, Wuling has become a brand that young people like more, and the explosive products Hongguang MINI and Wuling Xingchen have created new sales in the market segment; in terms of channel innovation, direct sales stores and brand centers have been established; at the marketing level, more people with communication capabilities have joined in," he added.
In 2021, with accurate insight into consumer demand, Wuling has opened up one market segment after another in its own way, and what new areas will be activated by Wuling this year, which is worth looking forward to.
How did the blockbuster come about?
Wuling, which has always been good at creating blockbusters, continues to show its creativity in 2021.
This year, SAIC-GM-Wuling brought the "best SUV in 100,000" stars and the Ling OS intelligent ecosystem that "always wants to have more tacit understanding with you".
If the success of The Silver Label Capgemini in 2020 is still a breakthrough in the field of MPV that it is best at, then Xingchen is another effort of Wuling to transform into the mainstream market with a standard SUV model.
As a compact SUV, Xingchen faces the most competitive market segments in China, including strong competitors such as Haval H6, Geely Boyue, Changan CS75PLUS and joint venture brands such as Toyota Rongfang and Honda CR-V.
But even so, Wuling still showed a good strength.
Less than a month after the listing, the sales volume of Wuling Xingchen has exceeded 10,000 units. According to the data, the sales volume of Xingchen reached 19,073 vehicles in December, an increase of 22% month-on-month, and the cumulative sales volume of 2021 has reached 54,563 vehicles, and the strength of "explosive models" has begun to appear.
"With the blessing of Ling OS and its own product strength, Xingchen can achieve the most capable SUV within 100,000 yuan," Zhang Yiqin (director of the brand and marketing department of SAIC-GM-Wuling Wuling Division) told Auto industry and economics.
Wuling hopes to establish a super account LING ID through Ling OS in order to establish a multi-scenario, all-dimensional communication connection with these users, open up the full-link ecological service, and leave them in Wuling's system.
As Zhou Ju said, Wuling hopes that every car owner can share the benefits of brand upgrading, and with Ling OS, Wuling also has the opportunity to revitalize more "fan users" and let the brand's hilarity be precipitated and transformed.
Channel upgrades are not just about selling cars
After the global brand center settled in Shanghai, the pace of Wuling's entry into first-tier cities has accelerated.
In December 2021, Wuling New Energy Guangzhou Flagship Center was officially opened. Here, Wuling strives to create an open, young and trendy "net red window" that can be integrated with local characteristics.
In the past year, the Wuling brand has continuously innovated around the comprehensive "To C" and explored more contact points with consumers.
Offline, Wuling Global Brand Experience Center Ling House has settled in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Zhengzhou, Liuzhou, unlike most traditional offline 4S stores, Ling House has been built into a "young group communication space", where car owners can participate in community activities, experience model modification and user privileges.
"Compared with ordinary 4S stores, here will pay more attention to the sense of experience, step into it, the aroma of flowers, coffee aromas come to the nose." The artwork in the store is also updated in stages, which greatly enhances the texture of the space. Vivian, a master who often goes to the Jing'an Temple business district to explore the shop, sighed.
It is reported that the Wuling Global Brand Center Ling HouseE@Shanghai store is divided into two floors, which is not only a city living room, a young collection store, but also a cross-border cultural center.
In order to cope with the characteristics of young products and Internetization, the appearance of Wuling brand dealers is also quietly changing. Auto Sankei noted that the decoration, layout and reception capacity of the Wuling brand flagship store have been significantly improved.
Online, Wuling launched Ling Club, a user brand centered on user needs and focusing on user experience, car life and car ecology, reaching users on mobile terminals with the help of APP, mini programs and other forms.
Wuling hopes that through this move, it will open up the online and offline full link between Ling Club and Ling House, which will facilitate car owners to conduct in-depth social networking.
At present, almost all car companies are talking about "user-centric", but for SAIC-GM-Wuling, this sentence is not a slogan-like slogan, but a practice that truly "comes from the user and goes to the user".
Enter the menu of young people
In the past two years, from masks to snail powder, to the stall cart and the "Autumn Mountain Car God" out of the circle, Wuling has created too many topics. In 2021, Wuling inherited the strong momentum of 2020, played "prosperous" on social media and short video platforms, and once again refreshed young people's cognition of the Wuling brand.
"We have established a 'six-in-one' communication matrix internally to achieve saturation exposure: one is the official matrix; the second is the regional matrix, that is, the overseas personnel and regional personnel; the third is the dealer matrix; the fourth is the KOL matrix; the fifth is the user matrix; and the sixth is the service matrix." Zhou Ju said that the biggest gain of Wuling in 2021 is to take the mass line.
In July 2021, SAIC-GM-Wuling established a special new media center, covering three sections: official new media content production and account operation, user and dealer empowerment, and digital marketing.
It is worth mentioning that the average age of the team is only 28 years old. A group of young people of Z generation is becoming an important driving force for the youthful transformation of wuling brand.
As Zhou Ju said, "This is an organizational innovation that 'originates from the market and ends in the market', and I hope that more people with communication ability will join us."
Not only that, but even Wuling brand dealers have established a new media operation team at the regional level to build a private domain traffic "reservoir" to retain users.
In terms of cross-border marketing, SAIC-GM-Wuling has created more surprises in 2021: cross-border linkage with Perfect Diary, a beauty brand loved by young people, and Fantawild, an amusement park with high popularity among young people.....
In the face of young people's pursuit, Wuling has also generously accepted the creativity and flamboyant brain holes of netizens, and at the same time, it has followed the trend and continuously launched young products for the needs of young people.
For example, for young people who love the culture of modification, Hongguang MINIEV is a good choice. Only through the lower cost of interior modifications, exterior film, etc., you can have a scooter with its own style and personality.
"The original intention of creating this car is still based on the needs of the people, and the new car tide has a change rate of up to 72%, forming a unique owner culture, of which Disney's image is very high." Zhang Yiqin told Auto Industry Andeconomy.
Write at the end
Although it started with commercial vehicles, it has always had a unique insight into the demand of SAIC-GM-Wuling for the passenger car market.
In the past two years, Wuling has activated many hidden markets with accurate insight into consumer demand, and even built it into a new market segment.
"To achieve the ultimate in a demand point focused on users, you can also find your own blue ocean opportunities in the Red Sea market." Wuling insiders have judged this way.
Many times it is not the wrong direction, or it may just be that the mind is not keeping up.
In 2021, when many auto brands have laid out high-priced high-end markets, Wuling has "taken the usual road" and chosen to lay out "another high-end" to create phenomenon-level products.
In 2022, Wuling still "doesn't care" whether it is taking the usual path, but will continue to focus on a unique path that best suits itself and meets the needs of its target consumer groups.