In the eyes of many Chinese, the status of the Hongqi car is very sacred, it represents the rise of China's automobile industry, but also witnesses the rejuvenation and prosperity of a country. Since its birth in 1959, Hongqi has participated in many military parades as the "presidential car" and has also played an important role in many diplomatic occasions. It can be said that the historical aura on Hongqi is unattainable by other independent brands.
However, a momentary success can not be used as a capital to open up the market, and in the context of the intelligent and electrified reform of the mainland automotive industry, Hongqi seems to have also begun to decline. Looking back at the past 2021, the turnover of the Hongqi brand exceeded 300,000 units last year, although the overall situation has increased, but compared with Changan Automobile's sales of more than 2.3 million units, Hongqi can only be regarded as a "fraction" of others.
So, why has the red flag, once surrounded by all faiths, become a third-line independent brand that does not enter the stream? In the author's opinion, the source of all this is the confusion of Hongqi entering the field of civilian vehicles, and the past behind it that cannot be put down.
The "idol baggage" that can't be shaken off
In 2018, the Hongqi brand launched a brand strategy conference in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, officially establishing its determination to enter the civilian vehicle market. At the press conference, Xu Liuping, who is the chairman of China FAW Group, once said with passion: "The new red flag is just like a humble gentleman, just like a humble gentleman, just in time, noble and noble, while having a heart like a lotus, not stained with dust at the same time, it also reflects the ultimate pursuit of elegant taste and high-quality life concept." Not to stay on the surface, but to explore the authenticity of life. ”
It can be said that this conference determines the product direction of Hongqi brand today, and also provides a "hotbed" for poor sales.
From 2018 to now, four years have passed, and the "flag" set up by Hongqi that year is also gradually realized, from the entry-level H5 to the HS7 that dominates the luxury market, which has a bit of ABA appearance in the product layout. But even so, it is still difficult to get rid of the image of the "official car".
Take its entry-level sedan H5, which focuses on the young market, although it adopts a more dynamic design language than its past products, it is intentionally or unintentionally pleasing to young consumers in terms of body lines and configurations. However, the slightly old chrome mesh at the front of the car and the conservative design of the interior are giving people a sense of "tender" vision.
This deviation between positioning and aura has also created a gap between H5 and young consumers, so that many people would rather choose younger brands such as Geely and GAC than order a red flag at the same price.
Secondly, in terms of high-end products, taking the Hongqi HS7 as an example, the price of 275,800 to 463,300 has been able to match many luxury brands, and even higher than some BBA models. But returning to the product itself, can HS7 support such a large façade with the appeal of the red flag? I think the answer given by the market is no. Looking back at the sales performance of HS7 in the past year, the transaction volume has never exceeded 2,000 units almost every month, and the overall performance is not satisfactory.
It is true that from entry-level to high-end products, Hongqi has gradually entered a market dead end of "high or low" under the strategy of civilianization. Even if there is a historical background with unlimited scenery behind it, it is difficult to escape the abandonment of the times in the end.
Gradually "net contract"
In the author's view, another key point of the decline of the red flag is its wrong layout of new energy products.
With the deployment of the two strategic goals of "carbon neutrality" and "carbon peaking" in 2020, the mainland automobile market has officially ushered in the climax of the development of new energy vehicles, among which in addition to the new forces of car manufacturing, many traditional domestic car companies have also joined the layout of electrification.
In 2018, Hongqi also listed its first pure electric SUV E-HS3, which was born earlier than new energy brands such as Geely Geometry. But Hongqi did not seize this transformation opportunity, but put all the E-HS3 into the camp of online ride-hailing. Nowadays, walking in the streets and alleys of major cities, there will always be a few Hongqi online ride-hailing cars passing by from time to time, and there are very few users who really buy E-HS3 as a family car.
Coincidentally, At the end of 2021, Hongqi launched a new pure electric product E-QM5. Not surprisingly, due to the high pricing, this E-QM5 was once again put into the operation of online ride-hailing by Hongqi, and its car platform "T3 Travel" absorbed a large number of new energy orders for Hongqi, and finally few products were really delivered to users.
According to a latest sales report, in the past January, the total sales of The Faw-hongqi E-QM5 were only an embarrassing 6 units, and the decline was very serious. At the same time, the identity positioning of online ride-hailing is also lowering the value of the existence of Hongqi New Energy, making it a spokesperson for cheap cars.
From E-QM5 to E-HS3, although most of these sales have contributed to the ride-hailing industry, it is still a bit unreasonable to say that Hongqi really gave up the new energy field. Because in the high-end market, Hongqi single-handedly created the first large domestic pure electric SUV E-HS9, which was priced at nearly 800,000 at one point, approaching Tesla Model X. However, in terms of volume, the performance of the E-HS9 was also unsatisfactory, with sales of only 175 units in January. In the high-end pure electricity market, which is not ideal in its own recognition, Hongqi's attempt undoubtedly ended in failure.
Still can't stand the test of quality
If the deviation of product positioning may still retain some customers with feelings, then the frequent quality problems have completely ruined the back road of the red flag.
Judging from the information intercepted by the author on the car complaint network, more than 10 complaints about related car owners have been received in the past three months, and it is interesting that almost all of the complaints are related to the entry-level sedan H5, and the H9 and HS5 account for a small part. It can be seen that in terms of quality control of low-end models, Hongqi does not show the level of craftsmanship that a luxury brand should have.
In addition, when the content of the complaint is refined, it is not difficult to find that most of the problems encountered by car owners are related to mechanical failures. Among them, there are many vehicle noises, engine alarms or various quality problems, and the frequency of failure is much higher than that of independent brands such as Geely and Changan.
In addition, Hongqi's bad after-sales attitude is also the place that many car owners are most dissatisfied with, and inaction, maintenance technology is not passed, etc. are commonplace. For a domestic car company advertised as a "luxury brand", this undoubtedly lowers the value of Hongqi in the market.
Auto network review: from thrift to luxury, from luxury to thrift
In the ancient Chinese texts, there was once recorded such a truth: from frugality to luxury, from luxury to frugality. This means that it is relatively easy to go from frugality to luxury, but it becomes difficult to return from a life of luxury to frugality.
Looking at the current situation of Hongqi, there is no doubt that it is in the situation of "from luxury to frugality". As a luxury car once developed for major occasions such as military parades after the founding of New China, it has been enjoying the infinite glory brought by the "national car" for more than 50 years. However, in the face of today's increasingly competitive market, Hongqi has also begun to take the people-friendly route, but from the perspective of sales volume and product strength, this "downward" development of the brand strategy has not received much recognition.
At the same time, in contrast, those independent brands that have only been established in the past 20 years are in the stage of "from frugality to luxury" under the torrent of the times. Among them, the product lineup led by Geely's "Chinese star" and BYD dynasty family is constantly encroaching on Hongqi's control of the domestic high-end market.
Now, when I think of the ambitious strategic conference of Hongqi in the Great Hall of the People in 2018, the author's heart is the same as that of the Chinese men's football team: I thought it was a beginning, but I didn't expect it to be the peak.