When it comes to Kaiyi Automobile, I believe most people will feel strange. But when it comes to Wuliangye, it is almost universally known. How are Kaiyi Motors and Wuliangye, a seemingly contradictory combination, connected? In 2018, Wuliangye opened its own cross-border car-making plan, and purchased 51% of the equity of Kaiyi Automobile from Chery, becoming the largest shareholder of Kaiyi Automobile. But for an inexperienced winery, the cross-border difficulty is even more difficult. After 4 years, today's Kaiyi car still seems to have failed to break through.
Technology is all about Chery
When will Kaiyi be able to "wean"?
As early as 2014, Anhui Jiangbei Development Co., Ltd., Chery Commercial Vehicle (Anhui) Co., Ltd. and Wuhu Construction Investment Co., Ltd. jointly registered Kaiyi Automobile through tripartite investment and were controlled by Chery Automobile Co., Ltd.
But from its establishment to its acquisition by Wuliangye, Kaiyi Automobile has not been able to stir up much splash. Therefore, in 2018, Yibin Automobile Industry Development Investment Co., Ltd. (50.5% shareholding) and Sichuan Yibin Push Group Co., Ltd. (holding 0.5% of the shares, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Wuliangye Group) acquired 51% of the equity of Kaiyi Automobile for 2.494 billion yuan, and the company name was also changed to Yibin Kaiyi Automobile Co., Ltd.
Kaiyi Automobile, backed by the "gold lord" tree, still failed to launch a competitive model in the following years. Although there are many products, but basically using Chery technology "shell" products, such as Kaiyi X3 is the Chery Tiggo 3 standard replacement model, Xuanjie is also known as the shell version of the Tiggo 5x in the industry, Xuandu is rubbing the heat of the Arrizo 7 in various places. But in the case of a close price, who would want to choose an unpunished Kaiyi?
The product has no highlights, the technology is all dependent on Chery, and under such circumstances, the sales of Kaiyi are naturally difficult to improve. Sales data show that Kaiyi Automobile sold a total of 20,123 units in 2021, down 34.04% year-on-year. In today's fiercely competitive market, Kaiyi Automobile can be said to be uncompetitive and destined to be marginalized by the market. The only hope is probably new energy products.
Can the late Kaiyi turn around with new energy?
The sales of fuel vehicles are dismal, and the only thing that Kaiyi Automobile can take is the road of new energy. Lu Lihua, vice president of Yibin Kaiyi Automobile Co., Ltd. and president of Kaiyi Automobile Research Institute, has publicly stated that "Kaiyi will cover the lineup of three new energy models from A00-class to A0-class SUVs in the future, in addition, Kaiyi is also simultaneously building a new energy platform, and in the future, Kaiyi New Energy will have a more perfect product array and layout planning." ”
However, Kaiyi Automobile's new energy platform has not yet been launched, but it has first found another thigh that can be tightly hugged. Kaiyi Automobile, which recently signed a comprehensive cooperation with Huawei, has once again embarked on the road of "finding milk to drink".
Nowadays, the cooperation between car companies and Huawei is not news, including BAIC Jihu, Xilis, Changan Avita and other car companies have cooperated with Huawei. But regardless of the actual sales of these brands, at least the brand positioning is much higher than that of Kaiyi Automobile. Compared with other car companies, Kaiyi Automobile obviously lacks core technology and research and development strength. Excessive dependence on suppliers will only make it more difficult for Kaiyi Automobile to achieve technological progress, and eventually it will gradually become a car company that can only "OEM".
Kaiyi Automobile, which has entered the market late, is still unwilling to invest in technology research and development in the absence of competitiveness, and even if it is now riding on Huawei, Kaiyi Automobile, which lacks brand value, is doomed to be difficult to gain a foothold in the new energy market.
Uncle Che summed up
Kaiyi Automobile really circled a wave of traffic last year with the gimmick of buying a car and sending Wuliangye, but what this brand can do is limited to this. In the field of fuel vehicles, the continuous replacement of Chery's products has made Kaiyi Automobile have never been able to establish its own brand characteristics; in the field of new energy, the dilemma of late entry and no technology has made Kaiyi Automobile have to rely on suppliers to provide solutions. Even if the "adoptive father" Wuliangye is not short of money, and the "adoptive mother" Chery is also willing to provide existing product technology, in the long run, the Kaiyi automobile, which lacks hematopoietic ability, may soon disappear from people's vision.