In 2022, can you still break into the world with a leather ruler?
Author: Wu Jingtao
I would like to ask which of our own brands are the most controversial? I believe that different people will give different answers, but Zotye, a brand that has made major luxury brands "frightened", will definitely be able to occupy a place in everyone's list.
From the beginning of relying on "copycat" Porsche, Audi, Volkswagen and widely discussed on the Internet, people gave the title of "leather ruler factory". In the later period, due to the "touching" reliability of the vehicle and the inability to launch the National VI model, Zotye had a tragic situation in 2019 that dealers had no cars to sell and sales were cut off, and finally applied for bankruptcy reorganization last year. Unconsciously, Zotye, which once had countless topics on the Internet, has been silent in our field of vision for two years. Recently, however, this highly controversial brand is stirring again.
2 billion to take over?
According to financial media reports, three months after the official announcement of bankruptcy reorganization in July last year, Zotye issued an announcement in October that Jiangsu Shenzhen Commercial Holding Group Co., Ltd., as an investor in the company's restructuring, had signed the "Reorganization Investment Agreement of Zotye Automobile Co., Ltd." with the company and the manager, with a restructuring investment of 2 billion yuan. Is there really anyone who wants to revive the "leather ruler factory"? Don't worry, let's take a closer look at the deal, maybe we can see some "clues".
First of all, what is the origin of this Jiangsu Shenzhen commercial company? According to online information, the company was established in September 2020 and is mainly engaged in investment activities, domestic trade agency, car rental, car sales and so on.
Some insiders said that Jiangsu Shenzhen Business spent a lot of money to participate in the restructuring of Zotye Automobile, and it is likely that they want to invest in the automobile industry. Although Zotye does not have any eye-catching core technology in vehicle manufacturing, the brand image and quality reputation are also quite general. But don't forget, Zotye Automobile is an enterprise with dual production qualifications for fuel vehicles and new energy vehicles, and has production bases in Zhejiang, Hunan, Hubei, Shandong, Chongqing, Guangxi and so on. Wanting to "build a car through a backdoor" is probably the real reason why this "behind-the-scenes player" threw 2 billion yuan.
To quote Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the Association of Passenger Vehicles: "Now we see that Zotye is not valuable, but if it is used well, the value of tens of billions and hundreds of billions of yuan can be created, and the key is who can control the resources of Zotye." Just a short time later, on October 27, Zotye issued an announcement that the 2 billion yuan of restructuring funds have all been in place, and the funds will be used to pay the reorganization costs, pay off debts, and use the advantages of industrial synergy to help Zotye Automobile restore the national sales network as soon as possible.
It is foreseeable that relying on Zotye's ready-made resources and production qualifications, Jiangsu Shenzhen Will be able to quickly obtain a complete chain from vehicle research and development to manufacturing to sales. Referring to those companies that have previously laid out the automotive industry across borders, is this practice very familiar?
Layout of new energy, comeback?
In addition to corporate restructuring, another recent big move by Zotye Automobile is also quite interesting. It is understood that not long ago, on February 21, Zotye officially acquired Shanghai Junqu Automobile Technology Co., Ltd.
After just receiving a large amount of restructuring money, Zotye seems to have begun a new round of layout in full swing. The intriguing part of this round of acquisitions is that there is an inextricable connection between this Shanghai Junqu Automobile Technology Co., Ltd. and Bo county automobile, which has announced its dissolution and liquidation.
The main business of this technology company is: new energy vehicles and parts research and development, manufacturing, sales, technical services, technology transfer, so some analysts pointed out that Zotye's acquisition of Shanghai Junqu Automobile is likely to come from the "surplus value" of Bo County. That means that Zotye Automobile is likely to focus its strategic focus on new energy, or even high-end new energy, after that.
This judgment is not only corroborated by the above points, as clearly mentioned in the long-term plan released by Zotye Automobile: Zotye will build a brand matrix in the form of acquisitions and joint ventures to lay out the high-end new energy vehicle market. At the same time, just as GAC New Energy's layout such as Qi Travel, Geely's layout of Cao Cao Travel, FAW's layout of T3 Travel, etc., Zotye is also interested in building its own online travel brand and realizing the "closed loop" of self-production and self-sales.
Although Zotye has also tried to get involved in the new energy market before, launching electric vehicles such as Jiangnan T11, E200, Z500 and so on, these "oil to electricity" models are not only difficult to describe in terms of design and quality, but also in the degree of attention of the enterprise, and the new energy layout planning mentioned in the long-term planning, it is also incomparable. I don't know whether in the field of new energy, whether Zotye can reverse the inherent impression formed by Volkswagen in the era of "fuel vehicles" and enhance brand awareness, which may be the most urgent pain point for "New Zotye".
And if you want to start over, it is not easy for Zotye. In view of the fact that its image of "cottage car" has long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, getting rid of the cottage label is the first step and the most critical step for Zotye to do.
Copycat audi Q3 SR7
Copycat Porsche Macan's SR9
Copycat Volkswagen Cross Coupe GTE (later Tuon Coupe) Damai X7
With a series of "pixel-level plagiarism" models, Zotye quickly embarked on the "traffic fast lane" on major social platforms, especially after the SR9, which is highly similar to Macan, reached a peak in public opinion. At the beginning, network public opinion commented on the "cottage model" represented by Zotye with SR9. There are both scoldings that criticize this to lower the image of China's automobile industry and independent brands, and there are also ridicules like "the next luxury car will look at the Zotye leather ruler". Although there are not many voices on the Internet that criticize Zotye, it cannot stand the brand's attention is creeping up.
Thanks to this, in 2016, when the SR9 was launched, the cumulative sales of the Zotye brand reached a staggering 330,000 vehicles, an increase of 50% year-on-year. "People have no far-reaching worries, they must have near-term worries" The phrase is also very appropriate to apply to enterprises like Zotye. Just when everyone is blinded and blinded by such impressive sales, it seems that they have long forgotten the well-known advertising slogan of "mastering the core technology". There are even many people who compare Zotye with BYD, which has successfully "landed" at that time, and think that Zotye is just imitating BYD's model. But now it seems that Zotye, which has no core technology, compares itself with BYD?
With the increase in the number of users, Zotye broke out many quality problems. Problems such as gearbox setbacks, water leakage in the body, instability of the electronic system, etc., coupled with the more the name of the cottage car company spread more and more, Zotye's reputation began to decline rapidly. This has been followed by a series of declines in sales, from a decline in sales in 2017 to 150,000 units in 2018, only 110,000 units in 2019, and only 3,657 units in 2020. From 330,000 to 3,000, just 5 years before and after, this short-lived highlight moment is really sad to look back on.
Write at the end
There is no doubt that at the moment when Zotye is about to open a new chapter, the most urgent need to solve is how to enhance the core issue of how to enhance the image of the Zotye brand in the hearts of consumers. Regardless of whether the commodity car finally presented in front of the consumer still has the word Zotye, whether it still hangs the logo of Zotye. As long as it is a model that is inextricably linked to Zotye, it is easy for consumers to reminiscent of previous memories of "cottage" and poor quality control. Do consumers dare to buy? How to make the public re-objectively examine themselves will be a threshold that zhongtai will not be able to bypass.
Secondly, compared with 2016, when Zotye achieved dazzling results, the current automobile market has undergone considerable changes, especially in the new energy field that they intend to enter. From the "hundred schools of thought" at that time to today's ladder is clear, the new car-making forces represented by "Wei Xiaoli" have firmly locked the first echelon in the field of new energy, and gradually opened up the gap with other echelons. As a new competitor to Zotye, the time left for them has become more and more urgent, and the market space has become more and more narrow. Because of this, relying on a leather ruler alone is by no means enough for them to stand in the red sea of China's new energy market again.
(Some image source network)
Today's topic
Will Zotye honestly build cars?
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