Zhang Ke
Great Wall's heavy off-road vehicle tank 500 was officially launched on March 18, launching a total of 6 models, with a guidance price of 335,000 yuan to 395,000 yuan. However, before the launch of the Tank 500, the attention of the new car was already very high, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is a crowded attention.
Of course, all this has its own reasons, compared with other models of the same class, the tank 500 has a unique advantage of time and place, and gets three hard cards in advance. This is the root cause of the tank 500 born with its own aura and its own flow.
Three hard cards in hand
The first hard card of the Tank 500 is Origin. Tank 500 was born in Great Wall Motors, which can be called the number one overlord in the domestic SUV market, and occupies half of the hardcore off-road vehicle market, which is invincible. As early as 20 years ago, the Great Wall launched the first hardcore off-road vehicle, and has launched a number of hardcore off-road vehicles including Seffer, Haval CUV, Haval H5, Haval H9 and Tank 300, which belong to the real giants of the hardcore off-road vehicle jianghu.
The second hard card is the endorsement of the Tank 300; before the Tank 500, the Tank 300 had already been fired, and with the power of one car, Sheng sheng dragged the marginalized hard-riding SUV back to the midfield. In January 2021, more than 10,000 tank 300 units were sold, which is the best performance in China's off-road vehicle market. Before the Tank 300, no hardcore off-road vehicle could sell steadily to 5,000 units per month. With tanks 300 in front, tanks 500 that are larger than tanks 300 can't be low-key. In the minds of consumers, Tank 500 has not yet been listed, and has already sat firmly in the identity of Tank 300's big brother.
Third, hardcore SUV identity is a hard card in itself. At present, hardcore off-road vehicles are still deserted, whether they are on sale or new cars on the market, there are very few, completely unable to meet market expectations. So far, the hardcore off-road vehicle is still a car with a far greater impact than sales, so any new hardcore off-road vehicle will be particularly watched and welcomed.
Combat effectiveness of tanks 500
In addition to the advantages of time and place, the tank 500 itself is also very good, and its product strength can also be summarized as three hard cards.
The first hard card of the tank 500 was space; the new car had a three-dimensional 5070 (4878)/1934/1905mm and a wheelbase of 2850mm. This size is a typical hunk in the hardcore off-road vehicle space, a full lap larger than the Tank 300, noticeably larger than the Prado, and two notches larger than the Jee Wrangler. In short, the wheelbase of 2850mm and the length of more than 5 meters can bring the advantage of generous space. Choose two rows of 5 seats and get a very large rear space and a huge trunk. Choose 3 rows of 7 seats, which can also be completely placed. This is the advantage of a large space.
The second hard card of the Tank 500 is off-road capability; this is also the core indicator of the hardcore off-road vehicle. The basis of the tank's off-road capability is the power system, and the new car is equipped with a 3.0T+9AT power system, in which the 3.0T engine has a maximum power of 354 horsepower and a maximum torque of 500 Nm. By analogy, the top big brother of the off-road vehicle market, the Mercedes-Benz Big G, is only equipped with a 9AT transmission, and the G 350 engine with a guidance price of 1.46 million has a maximum power of only 258 horsepower and a maximum torque of only 370 Nm. The Prado 2700, which has a huge stock on the market, has a maximum engine power of only 163 horsepower and only matches a 5-speed manual or 6-speed automatic transmission. The comparison shows how powerful the tank 500's power system is. The core of the tank 500 off-road capability is passability, the new car is equipped with the third generation of intelligent four-wheel drive system, with mechanical locking function, and has 11 terrain model off-road options. This means that the tank 500 is perfectly suitable for long-distance crossing, and the general trek over the mountains and rivers is a piece of cake for the tank 500.
The third hard card of the tank 500 is a luxury attribute; the original conventional hardcore off-road vehicles generally pursue leather durability, which is very simple in terms of comfort and technology configuration, some models do not change the interior for 20 years, and some models are equipped with tractor levels. But the tank 500 is different, its technical configuration and luxurious comfort are completely up to the level of luxury SUV. In terms of luxury comfort shaping, the tank 500 adopts a full LCD dashboard, a 14.6-inch suspension large screen, a large area of soft material coverage, wooden decorative panels, leather power seats in the front and rear rows, independent air conditioning in the rear, and more equipped with air filters, mood lights, 12 speakers of The Yanfeilis audio and so on. In terms of technology configuration, the new car is fully L2 level automatic driving assist, the whole series of super voice control, more equipped with track reversing, tank U-turn, transparent chassis, 360 panoramic image, facial recognition, gesture control, wireless charging, head-up display, electromagnetic suspension and other high-tech configurations, in terms of luxury comfort and technology configuration, even surpassed the Audi Q5L and BMW X3.
So in fact, the Tank 500 is a very unique product. It has the luxury and comfort of the Audi Q5L or BMW X3 level, and it also has the ability to pass in the wild that the Audi Q5L and BMW X3 do not have. Compared with the hardcore off-road vehicles of the same class, it has the same ability to traverse the wild as Prado or Pajero, but in terms of luxury, comfort and technology configuration, it is much stronger than Prado and Pajero.
Is fuel consumption a "short board"?
So, is the Tank 500 flawless?
Of course, this is not the case, any model will have advantages and disadvantages, and even the opposite of the advantages is the disadvantage, the tank 500 also encountered some criticism, these criticisms invariably point in the same direction, that is, fuel consumption. According to official data, the tank consumes 10.79L of fuel per 500 kilometers, which does exceed most SUV models.
However, we believe that this fuel consumption level will not affect the sales of the tank 500 too much. First of all, the positioning of the tank 500 is a hardcore off-road vehicle, the core consideration of the hardcore off-road vehicle is off-road capability, which is bound to be higher, heavier, thicker, more wind resistance, and heavier chassis than the ordinary SUV model, in fact, the tank 500 is more than 5 meters long and weighs 2.5 tons, almost twice that of an ordinary car. At the same time, this car is equipped with a 3.0T large-displacement engine, with a maximum power of 354 horsepower and a maximum torque of 500 Nm, which is bound to consume more fuel than a 1.5T engine. At the same time, in order to reduce fuel consumption, the Great Wall Siege Lions do their best, the engine is integrated into N multi-energy-saving technology, the power system is equipped with a 48V light mixing system, a variety of advanced technology blessings, fuel consumption control at 10.79 liters, compared to ordinary SUV models are indeed higher, but compared to the same level of Prado Pajero and other models, in fact, fuel consumption has dropped significantly.
In addition, it is very important that the people who choose the tank 500 car will not mind too much about fuel consumption. An obvious reality is that if you can come up with a budget of 300,000+ and choose a hardcore off-road vehicle, the average family already has at least one car. They choose hardcore off-road vehicles, partly because of the functionality of hard-core off-road vehicles, partly because of their love of nature and the satisfaction of their deep desire for quality resources.
They do not pay too much attention to fuel consumption like ordinary home car consumers, and the higher fuel consumption than ordinary cars is already in their expectations. Just like consumers who choose luxury brands do not care too much about cost performance, even if Mercedes-Benz is very expensive, Audi configuration in general, BMW space is not large, but people like so they buy it, and consumers who like tank 500 are the same, which is the biggest reason.
Write at the end
Finally, let's talk about the market. In the tank 500 where the 300,000 to 500,000 hardcore off-road vehicle market, in addition to some cost-effective imported models, there is no suitable or direct competitor, this market even if can not be described as a blank, basically is the old and weak remnants, any budget in 300,000 to 500,000 consumers, tank 500 is not negligible existence.
Therefore, in fact, the real opponent of the tank 500 is only itself, and now that the new car has been listed, the fast horse has been whipped, which will end the huge profits of imported models and open up its own world. As for how the tank 500 performs, we will wait and see.