With the advent of the electrification trend, the market share of traditional fuel vehicles has been repeatedly compressed, and as for the hardcore off-road vehicle market, it seems to have become an "outcast". Looking at the global automotive market, only a handful of manufacturers are still insisting on updating hardcore off-road vehicles.
From 2018 to 2021, the number of new off-road vehicles launched by major manufacturers is also one of the few. Land Rover's new Defender and Tank 300 are two blockbusters in the off-road vehicle industry. However, with the arrival of 2022, the wind direction seems to have changed: this year, including Great Wall, BAIC, Ford, Toyota and other manufacturers, will focus on the listing of a number of hardcore off-road vehicles.
At that time, new and old opponents will compete in the same field, and the challenges faced by major brands will not be small. Today, we will talk about, in the cross-country battlefield, independent brands, American brands and Japanese brands, who will become the new king, who will fall off the altar?
Independent brands continue to roll inside, tanks 500 or encounter strong enemies
In the first two years, Great Wall Motor's tank 300 almost became famous in one battle, and its sales and word of mouth in the hardcore off-road market flew together, becoming one of the most worthwhile hardcore off-road vehicles to buy. Standing at the outlet of off-road, Great Wall Motors also rode the wind, and shunshi released a medium and large luxury off-road vehicle - tank 500 in 2021.
If the tank 300 is a cross-country toy with good looks and strength, then the tank 500 will be a breakthrough in the high-end "car of hope".
On this car, the new 3.0T V6 engine + 9AT power combination has been implemented, and this power system has become the main selling point of the tank 500.
At the same time, the interior luxury and riding comfort of the new car will also break through the performance of existing self-owned brand models, making this car a luxury off-road that can compete with the Toyota Prado. At present, Toyota has not yet released information about the new generation of Prado, while the rest of the overseas brands are also in a blank stage at this level. There is no doubt that after the launch of the tank 500 this year, it has enough strength to fill the gap of the previous generation of Prado's discontinuation and become the top pillar of the commercial off-road market.
Seeing that the Tank 500 received such attention, coupled with the fact that there is no similar product in the same class, other manufacturers are naturally reluctant to miss this opportunity.
Beijing Off-road, a subsidiary of BAIC Group, is also brewing a medium-sized luxury off-road vehicle. However, this car may not be a replacement for the BJ80, but appears in our vision with the new name of the BJ60.
From the current data, Beijing off-road BJ60 will adopt a more original design and follow the current family characteristics of Beijing off-road. In terms of the power system that everyone pays attention to, the new car will not be equipped with a new power system, but will continue to use the 2.3T and 3.0T V6 power of the BJ80. In general, BJ60 set its "imaginary enemy" as a tank 500 that has not yet been listed, in fact, such an operation also shows the strength of the tank 500.
Ford powered off-road vehicles, ORVs and pickups
When it comes to American off-road, most friends may first think of the model is the Jeep Wrangler and its derivatives. However, also in the United States, Ford also has a deep foundation in off-road vehicle manufacturing. Among them, the Bronco off-road vehicle and the F-150 pickup truck have been selling well in North America for decades, whether it is technology or word of mouth, they can stand alone.
Two years ago, Ford unveiled a new generation of Bronco, and it went public in North America first.
In fact, the positioning of the Ford Bronco, very similar to the Jeep Wrangler, belongs to the hardcore off-road vehicle. Like the Wrangler, Bronco has a powerful four-wheel drive system that wads through mountains and waters. At the same time, the car is also equipped with "Mustang same power", 2.3L Ecoboost turbocharged engine, with 7MT or 10AT gearbox, which can restore the pure driving experience for the driver.
In North America, the Ford Bronco has good sales, and after the launch, the new car has won 230,000 orders, and the Americans can imagine the love of this car.
However, in China, consumers may not like Bronco so much. On the one hand, Ford China has no official plan to introduce Bronco for the time being, and can only sell it through parallel imports. In Tianjin Port, a 2.3T+10AT power version of the Bronco basic version of the model, the price has even been speculated to about 700,000, making many users ashamed.
On the other hand, Bronco missed the best outlet in China's off-road market, the high-end toy off-road vehicle market, in fact, has long been eroded by the Jeep Wrangler, if bronco is introduced now, its influence will certainly not be comparable to the Jeep Wrangler. In addition, although Wranglers are well-known in China, because our off-road culture is still in the development stage, its own market capacity is limited. For Ford, the introduction of Bronco is indeed a "loss-making deal.".
Since Bronco can't look forward to it, it's not a bad idea to think of the Ford F-150 Raptor Raptor.
Although the Ford F-150 Raptor is already an old friend of ours, the parallel imported car price of the new generation of F-150 Raptor is too outrageous. In Tianjin Port, if you want to take away an F-150 Raptor, you even need to prepare about a million, which is nearly double the guide price of 572,800.
But thankfully, if you open the official website of Ford China, Ford China has set aside a page to introduce the Ford F-150 Raptor. This not only indicates that Ford will introduce the F-150 Raptor in the form of official imports, but also means that you can pick up the car at an official guide price of about 600,000 in the future. And Ford plans to open a direct sales model for the F-150 Raptor to avoid price increases from the source.
Toyota concentrated on promoting new ones, but the most anticipated ones had to wait
At present, Toyota has launched a new generation of LC300, and it has been derived into two models, the Land Cruiser and the Lexus LX600. In addition, a new generation of full-size SUV Sequoia, as well as the same platform as Sequoia pickup Tantu has also been released, but at present, Tantu and Sequoia are only sold in overseas markets, and there are only a few parallel imported models in China.
Focus on the LC300 series: As the "YYDS" of China's off-road vehicle market, Toyota Land Cruiser and Lexus LX600 will undoubtedly set off a wave of Japanese off-road vehicles again.
As Toyota's new generation of off-road vehicles, the LC300 family is based on the TNGA-F non-loader platform, and abandons the former naturally aspirated engine in favor of a 3.5T twin-turbo engine. With the new engine, the power and fuel consumption economy of the new car will also be improved.
However, for many Toyota off-road fans, everyone may have to be a little disappointed.
Due to production capacity constraints, Toyota has no plans to introduce the LC300 for the time being, and Land Cruiser's little brother Prado is also far away. At present, although the production capacity is limited, a number of new cars have entered China in parallel imports.
As for the price, after entering the country, the LC300 has more than doubled its value, and the terminal price is about 1.3 million yuan. But even so, the high price can not resist the enthusiasm of Toyota fans, many users waiting for the LC300, has already booked this batch of new cars.
In the off-road market in 2022, who will be the king?
If you have to order the popularity and attention of several manufacturers' new off-road vehicles, then the author will arrange it like this:
Tank 500 > Ford F-150 Raptor > Toyota Land Cruiser LC300 > Lexus LX600 > Beijing Off-Road BJ60 > Ford Bronco.
In fact, the reason is very simple, the tank 500, whether from the product design, or from the price (pre-sale price of 335,000 yuan - 395,000 yuan), are far more advantageous than overseas brands of off-road vehicles. At the same time, this car may also be the only medium-sized luxury off-road vehicle worth buying before the launch of the new generation of Prado.
The same is true of the F-150 Raptor in second place, and as Ford officially introduces this high-selling pickup truck, the terminal price of the new car will inevitably be further reduced. At that time, with less money, buy one of the world's strongest off-road pickup trucks, I believe that the F-150 Raptor will also have a wave of fire in the country. However, Bronco may not be too lucky, because the price of this car is too high, coupled with the fact that there is already an alternative model of Jeep Wrangler, so the chance of "going off the rails" in China is not large.
As for Toyota's LC300 series models, although they will be sought after by many off-road hobby car and luxury car users in China. However, the production capacity of new cars is limited, and orders need to be reared for several years. Many users who really have the strength to buy this car may often go further to choose the BBA's medium-sized and large SUVs, or choose the Lincoln Navigator at the same price.
And Beijing Off-Road is about to launch the BJ60, this car is not officially unveiled because it is currently not. Judging from the information gathered so far, this car may only be a change in design, and it is highly consistent with the BJ80 in terms of mechanical structure. Therefore, this car is likely to be a "companion car".
epilogue
In 2021, the domestic MPV market experienced a "blowout". In 2022, will the domestic hardcore SUV market also usher in a new spring?
After seeing the new cars launched by the autonomous, American, and Japanese systems or the new cars that will be introduced soon, we are actually more convinced that in the post-fuel era, hardcore off-road vehicles will shine again under the leadership of Great Wall, Ford, Toyota and other manufacturers.