Text | Joey
Although I have seen many cars and driven many cars, the first impression of a car like a pickup truck came from my wife.
My wife used to be a backpacker, and that year she traveled through The West with a few companions. On that trip, she met an old American lady and stayed at her house. One morning, the old lady picked her up and drove a Chevrolet pickup truck to a nearby shopping mall.
On that journey, she was surprised to find that a seemingly weak old man could skillfully drive such a huge pickup truck and eventually return with a full load. If you can't imagine an old man driving a pickup truck through the U.S. highways, consider Clint Eastwood's 2018 film The Mule (which is not appropriate, but it is also very informative).
For a moment, she was full of curiosity about the Chevrolet pickup truck and had many questions. And the old lady told her with a smile on her face that in the United States, pickup trucks are an important tool for life. It can solve not only the needs of people, but also the squirrel neighbors around her home, and the daily rations are all dependent on this pickup truck.
One day many years later, as we walked through a neighborhood near Xujiahui, she suddenly stopped, pointed to a Ford F-150 Raptor and said, "Look! A Pick-up truck! I've never seen this kind of car in China, can it be on the road? ”
I reluctantly told her, "No, at least you'll have to put a lid on its bucket." ”
Yes, that's how pickup trucks were actually in China at the time. At that time, the pickup truck was not regarded as a civilian vehicle. More often, its attribute is a commercial vehicle, and its functionality is positioned on the means of livelihood such as transportation and small business. Even if it is as strong as a bird of prey, it is impossible to escape such a fate.
But now, things seem to have changed a lot.
The "ancestor" of the pickup truck in the past is now your car
On March 1 at the beginning of this month, Ford China officially announced that it would open the order of the Ford F-150 Raptor through direct sales. In fact, the scheduled time for this rush was February 25.
But because users are too enthusiastic, for a while, almost all the suppressed needs of Chinese pickup truck enthusiasts suddenly burst out. This "spray thin" caused Ford's ordering mini program to be directly paralyzed, and this paralysis lasted for up to three days.
Just from the collapse of the buying system from the rush, you can predict what kind of favorable situation the F-150 will usher in. After the system was restored, the Raptor ushered in a "peak moment" of more than 2,000 orders in a very short period of time. After all, for a model that is directly imported, the instant "burst order" is very surprising.
There are thousands of pickup trucks in the United States, whether it is Chevrolet or Dodge, whether it is Jeep or Chrysler, there are pickup trucks for sale, why do people have such a fondness for Ford and for the Raptor?
In fact, more people's love for the Raptor stems in large part from trust in Ford. Because, if Mercedes-Benz is the inventor of the car, then Ford is the inventor of the pickup truck. It can be said that it is a product created by Henry Ford, the godfather of American automobiles. Seventeen years after he produced the Model T that he could sell to everyone, Henry Ford introduced his first pickup, the F-Series.
You see, the name "F Series" was used in the name of the pickup truck from the beginning, so the F-150 Raptor, in the sense of "bloodline", undoubtedly has the purest genetic heritage. It wasn't until 1975, 50 years after the F-Series, that the F-150 (in fact, it was also the sixth generation of the F-Series) was truly born, a product that was regarded as a pickup truck model.
The F-150 Raptor became the ruler of the Pickup Market in North America. For decades, this classic model has dominated the North American pickup market for the first time. Even the CHEVY (Chevrolet) pickup truck model, which holds the title of the National car of the United States, and toyota, which has mixed up in the North American market, can not shake the dominance of the Raptor.
Speaking of which, you should be able to understand why Ford caused such a huge sensation as soon as it pushed the F-150 Raptor to the stage.
Huge market, who gives up who is stupid
Seeing that I said the above chase with enthusiasm, did you have a feeling that pickup trucks have been "supported" in the Chinese auto market? If I give you this illusion, then I have to say sorry.
Judging from the market sales in 2021, the total sales of pickup truck models is more than 550,000 units. Among them, the sales figure of diesel pickup trucks was 422,000 units (76.17% of the total), while the sales of gasoline pickup trucks were 130,000 units (23.47% of the total). What concept does this data represent?
Let me tell you this, the total sales volume of cars in China in 2021 (including commercial vehicles and passenger cars) will be 26.275 million units. That is to say, leaving aside the applicable nature of the pickup truck models sold last year, only from the total number, it accounts for only about 2% of the total sales in the whole year.
From any point of view, this is not an encouraging statistic. But from another perspective, this is also an important opportunity for the F-150 Raptor, and even the pickup industry. As long as the eyes are not problematic, you can find that this is a super blue ocean market that has not yet been occupied, and is full of vitality.
In fact, not only the Ford Raptor, but also the Chinese car companies that occupy more time, location, people and advantages than Ford have already taken action and begun to seize this blue ocean. You know what I'm talking about is the Great Wall system that is expanding momentum today, starting from SUVs, but moving towards the full model system.
Great Wall's pickup products have a resounding name - "Cannon" series pickup trucks. In this series, Great Wall Gun has launched a series of pickup products with different functions, such as passenger pickups, commercial pickups, off-road pickups, as well as artillery and locomotive guns (which can tow motorcycles). As of half a year ago, this series of pickup truck products has contributed more than 200,000 sales to the Great Wall.
Although compared with the Volume of the Great Wall, which has already sold more than one million a year, such cumulative sales performance is not outstanding, but if it is viewed according to the perspective of development, this market is definitely worth cultivating.
Therefore, I am personally optimistic that Ford China has finally figured out the move to introduce the F-150 Raptor into China in the form of direct sales. The popularity of the pre-sale also verifies my opinion. After all, no matter how small the market is, when 1.4 billion people are multiplied by any tiny coefficient, it is enough for Ford to make a lot of money, not to mention the potential of this market is still worth looking forward to.
So the question now is, 2,000 birds of prey, who can meet?
Do you want to try domestic production?
According to the plan announced by Ford China, the raptors that are currently ordered are only reservations. In the second quarter of this year, they will officially announce the market price and officially deliver to users in the third quarter.
Obviously, for the strength of Ford's industrial system, even if it is produced in the United States and shipped across Haiti, the volume of 2,000 units can only be called a test of water. But the enthusiasm of the market has been clearly revealed: this test of the water, too conservative!
As I've said before, even 1.4 billion people multiplied by a very small coefficient are big enough. It is okay to rely on luck alone and engage in hunger marketing, but for large enterprises that want to make money and want to engage in statements to meet shareholders, it really does not make much sense. So the question now is, why doesn't Ford try to make the F-150 Raptor domestically?
As early as 2 years ago, almost at the same time that the new F-150 Raptor spy photos were exposed, there were rumors that this model might land in China and be produced and sold by Jiangling Ford. Obviously, for Jiangling Ford, which has a solid strength in the field of commercial vehicles, the production of an F-150 Raptor that was almost completely defined as a commercial vehicle at that time seemed to be a very logical business practice (after all, Jiangling Ford also produced pickup trucks).
But not long after the rumors were announced, both Jiangling Ford and Ford made it clear that there were no plans for a domestic F-150 (at the time), and the two sides did not discuss this issue. But now, times have changed.
Speaking of which, I can't help but want to mention Rivian again. This new American car manufacturer, which relies on electrification and reshapes the form of pickup trucks, has now squeezed into the top ten of the market value of car companies. The product line only has pickup trucks and SUVs, no industrial accumulation, no more forward-looking technology, the playing style is simple and rough, that is, pickup + SUV + electric, has achieved such good results.
Clearly, Rivian is a success story worth referencing. But to take a step back, if you think that the Success of the Rivian lies in the fact that the American mainland is already very recognized for the pickup truck, and the electrification transformation is in line with the tide of the times, then there is nothing wrong with it. However, now that the Chinese market has begun to gradually accept the favorite pickup truck model, the Great Wall is not a very good example.
Based on such a premise, if we come to make a hypothesis. What will be the result of giving Jiangling Ford a chance to start localizing the F-150 Raptor?
First of all, the sales volume of the domestically produced F-150 Raptor is by no means more than 2,000 units; secondly, localized production will bring better prices, which will trigger people who are more likely to be blocked by the price of imported cars, enthusiasm for the F-150 Raptor; third, if sales increase rapidly due to domestic production, Jiangling Ford may have the opportunity to copy Ford's high-end brand Lincoln, after localization of good results (Lincoln sold nearly 100,000 vehicles last year, this figure is not unattainable for the F-150 Raptor), This will truly bring Ford a new, high-growth profit point in China.
Obviously, if these goals can be achieved, it will be a great thing for both the Ford brand and the F-150 Raptor. After all, if laws and regulations, prices, and oil prices are no longer obstacles, then who wouldn't want a big American pickup truck that's leathery, durable, high-horsepower, has a personality, and has a cultural heritage?
You see, speaking of which, even I think that with the F-150 Raptor, China's pickup truck market will usher in a new opportunity, so what about you?