[Aika Auto Industry Watch Original]
Some people may not know that the history of Changan Automobile can be traced back to the first year of the Qing Dynasty, that is, 1862, and its predecessor was the Shanghai Ocean Artillery Bureau. With the development of history, it changed its name several times, relocated, and finally settled in Chongqing. Changan Automobile also produced China's first jeep, the "Yangtze River Brand" Type 46 jeep, and in 1984, it produced china's first small cars, and has officially entered the automotive field since then. Moreover, in 2014, Changan Automobile became the first Chinese brand to enter the "10 Million Club". And how is such a Chinese brand with a long history developing in overseas markets? Today,"Chinese Brands Overseas Road" we will talk about Changan Automobile.
In the past few years, Changan Automobile has maintained a growth rate of more than 30% overseas, which is higher than the industry average. In 2021, Changan Automobile exported a total of 114,070 new cars to overseas markets, a year-on-year surge of 114.3%, ranking fifth in the export volume of Chinese brands in 2021. Since the beginning of overseas business in 1991, Changan Automobile's products have been exported to more than 70 countries and regions, of which 74% are countries along the "Belt and Road", and the main export areas are Russia, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, North Africa, Central and South America and other markets.
In fact, in 2003, Changan Automobile took the lead in opening the layout of global research and development, Italy set up a design center, and now has formed a global collaborative research and development pattern with emphasis on Chongqing, Beijing, Hebei, Hefei, Turin, Japan, Birmingham, Detroit, usa and Munich, Germany.
Today, Changan Automobile has 14 production bases and 33 vehicle, engine and transmission plants around the world, as well as a wholly-owned subsidiary overseas - a Russian subsidiary, an overseas office - Dubai office; and the first overseas joint venture company - Pakistan Joint Venture Company - has been established through joint venture cooperation.
Among them, Pakistan is one of the most important overseas markets for Chang'an. In 2018, Changan Automobile decided to enter Pakistan through a fully fragmented components (CKD) joint venture, and it took only 10 months to complete the roll-off of the vehicle. In October 2020, the Chinese team of 6 people went to Pakistan to support the production of Changan's third-generation Yuexiang in the local area, and the first batch of prototypes was completed in December, and the first passenger car of the joint venture was listed as scheduled. In December 2021, the Chinese technical support team went to Pakistan to fully guarantee the production of the joint venture X7, and successfully realized the production of Changan Automobile's first right-hand drive SUV.
Changan Automobile plant in Pakistan
Last year, Master Changan, a joint venture between Changan Automobile and Pakistan's Master Motors, sold 18,000 vehicles, an increase of 293% year-on-year, ranking first in local Chinese brand exports and fifth in global brands. At present, Changan Automobile has more than 20 4S sales channels in Pakistan, covering 10 key cities such as Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore.
Changan Automobile ALSVIN (Ruixiang)
At present, in addition to the sales of Changan brand models in Pakistan, Changan Automobile also plans to introduce UNI series models into the Pakistani market, UNI-T has conducted road tests in Pakistan, and released a number of teaser videos in the social ligand of Changan Pakistan Company, showing functions such as automatic parking, adaptive cruise control and emergency automatic braking. Although these functions seem to us to be commonplace, they are very advanced for the market of Pakistan's complex road conditions.
In the Middle East, Saudi Arabia, which we have always regarded as a local tycoon, is also an important market for Changan Automobile, and in 2020, Changan Automobile sold nearly 20,000 units in Saudi Arabia, becoming the first Chinese brand to enter the top ten annual sales of the Saudi automobile market. By 2021, in the total sales ranking from January to July, Changan Automobile ranked fifth, selling 14,658 units, an increase of 30.9% year-on-year, and the cumulative number of changan automobile users in Saudi Arabia has exceeded 55,000.
Saudi Arabia's Changan Automobile, which is full of local tycoons, ranks 5th in sales
In addition to the good sales of the car, Changan did not win awards in Saudi Arabia, Changan CS75PLUS, EADO (Yidong) PLUS, Hunter (Kaicheng F70) in Saudi Arabia won the best mid-size SUV, the best C-class sedan and the best pickup model in 2021 and other awards. Not only that, Changan Automobile was awarded the "Best Chinese Car in Saudi Arabia" award.
Buy a car in a low profile and win the award in a high profile
At the same time, in order to further increase its influence in Saudi Arabia, Changan Automobile also actively participated in the local auto show, at the Saudi International Auto Show at the end of 2021, Changan Automobile had the largest brand booth in the field, with its 8 models unveiled at the exhibition, but also brought UNI-K and UNI-T and other star products. At present, Changan Automobile has launched Hunter, EADO PLUS, CS75 PLUS, CS85 and other models in the Saudi market, realizing the comprehensive layout of product layout in different market segments. In the future, it plans to introduce UNI series models to enrich Changan Automobile's local product matrix.
Closely follow the "Belt and Road" policy
In addition to the West Asian and Middle East markets, Russia and independent countries are also one of Changan's important strategic markets, as a bridgehead to enter the Eastern European market, Changan Automobile's only overseas subsidiary is currently in Russia. In May 2018, Changan Automobile's first self-operated store in Russia opened in Moscow, and in 2020, the sales volume in Russia reached 7,101 units, 1.5 times higher than in 2019. In 2021, 5,705 units were sold. It is also planned to increase the number of sales centers by two times, from 35 to 106.
Changan Automobile's first self-operated store in Russia
At present, the main sales models in Russia are Changan CS35PLUS and CS75, accounting for 48% and 28% of the brand's total sales of vehicles, and Changan Automobile also plans to introduce UNI series models to the Russian market in the future.
In addition to Russia, Changan Automobile also has a good development in the independent countries, and has reached an agreement with the Belarusian company Unison to produce some models in the form of CKD, and these cars will radiate the Russian and entire CIS market. At present, there are already Changan CS35PLUS, CS35, CS55 and CS75 models in the Belarusian market.
Changan new car has attracted much attention from local media
In Peru, the Americas, since 2015, Changan Automobile has maintained the first sales volume of Chinese brands in Peru for many years. In 2015, it was named "Peru's Fastest Growing Chinese Automobile Brand", and in 2016, it was awarded the title of "Peru's First Chinese Automobile Brand" by the Peruvian Automobile Association (AAP). After that, Changan Automobile occupied the first position of Chinese brands in the Peruvian market for a long time, and achieved the top ten achievements of global automobile brands in the Peruvian market.
Changan Automobile Peruvian dealer
Moreover, Changan Automobile also attaches great importance to the after-sales service and professionalism of the local market, and has conducted offline technical training for Dealers in South America for many times. Explain the technical characteristics of each model and the theoretical knowledge of after-sales maintenance for them. At the same time, combined with actual cases in the training, trainees are arranged to complete data reading, fault maintenance and other operations independently to consolidate their understanding of theoretical knowledge. This not only provides technical reserves and service guarantees for the local market, but also accumulates valuable experience for Changan Automobile's overseas product technical training.
Conduct offline training for Agents in South America
In the Southeast Asian market, Changan Automobile also began to lay out very early, and signed a cooperation distribution agreement with Berjaya Group (BERJAYA) in 2005. Subsequently, the two sides signed a technology licensing contract for cm8 and CV6 products, which can enter the Malaysian market in the form of CKD. Finally, in 2009, Changan Benben and CM8 were officially listed on the Malaysian market.
Changan Ben Ben and CM8 are listed in Malaysia
Subsequently, the two sides continued to cooperate in depth, and in 2016, the M201 series models were officially rolled off the production line at the Johor Bahru plant in Malaysia. And then in its segment of the annual sales ranked second, after Daihatsu, recognized by local consumers.
Changan Automobile's M201 series rolled off the production line at its Malaysia plant
In addition to fuel vehicles, new energy models are also an important strategic layout of Changan Automobile. In January this year, Malaysia Fieldman Company cooperated with Changan Automobile to obtain the exclusive agency rights of Changan Automobile for electric vehicles in Malaysia and Southeast Asia, and successfully introduced the Eado EV460 model to hand over to the state government. It also announced that it will invest 1 billion ringgit (about $240 million) to set up an electric vehicle assembly plant in Malacca. Malacca State Chief Minister Suleiman said the project will create 5,000 jobs, drive the downstream industry of the automobile industry, and promote local economic development.
In fact, this is not the first time that Changan Electric Vehicle has entered Malaysia, in 2019, Fieldman EV, a subsidiary of Fieldman Sdn Bhd, signed an automobile export agreement with Changan Automobile and began to bring Changan Electric Vehicles to the Malaysian market. After several years of market accumulation, Changan electric vehicles have also been recognized by local consumers, and Fieldman Company obviously still trusts Changan New Energy's products very much, and is also very optimistic about Malaysia's new energy vehicle market, so it will cooperate with Changan to invest in factories.
In addition to relying on its own excellent products, Changan Automobile also deeply cultivates the local market, actively participates in brand activities, and increases its exposure. For example, in Peru, South America, participating in the Peruvian National Rally, the Changan EADO XT racing car has repeatedly reached the podium of the event. Changan Automobile also sponsored the Peru International Marathon as the first automobile brand, and its CS75 was the official designated car for this marathon event, escorting more than 20,000 marathon runners and enthusiasts on the spot.
Changan Automobile participates in the Peru National Rally
Sponsor the Malaysia Charity Run to support a healthy and positive attitude towards life in Malaysia. At that time, 50 Changan Nova modified food trucks were donated to local charities, so as to help local low-income residents and enable them to use these cars to start a business, thereby improving local people's livelihood.
Donate special vehicles to help low-income groups
Written in the end: In the 2021 evaluation of the National Enterprise Technology Center, Changan Automobile Group ranked first in the industry and second in the country with a score of 97.1. At the same time, as of the end of January 2022, Changan Automobile has 180 laboratories in China and has 6241 patents, of which 1634 are invention patents. It is reported that 5% of Changan Automobile's annual sales revenue is invested in research and development, with a cumulative investment of more than 110 billion yuan. These data show that Changan Automobile is really doing research and development and wants to build a good car brand. With its outstanding product strength, Changan Automobile has also made Changan Automobile gain a firm foothold in many automotive markets around the world.
At last year's China Automotive Chongqing Forum, Zhu Huarong, chairman of Changan Automobile, said, "In Changan's future sales, the overseas market share will exceed 30%. Changan will never become a mainstream global auto brand if it enters the overseas market. Today, Changan Automobile has more than 8,700 sales and service outlets around the world and nearly 120,000 professional service personnel. What Changan Automobile has to do is not only to go out of the product, but also to go out of the brand, enhance the brand value, enhance the competitiveness of brand differentiation, and thus enhance the strength of the entire enterprise.
Steady and steady how low layout