The key word at the beginning of 2022 is still indispensable to chips, and the global chip shortage continues to affect the automotive industry. In the first quarter alone, a number of car companies announced production cuts or suspensions. Although the "chip famine" is becoming more and more intense, the sadness and joy of car companies are not the same. As one of the few car companies that bucked the trend, GAC Trumpchi sold 60,357 vehicles in January and February this year, an increase of 25.5% year-on-year. Among them, the shadow leopard endorsed by Su Shen has become the "shoulder handle" of brand sales.
Even so, the sales of Shadow Leopard are still more or less affected by chips. Speaking of a bit of "Versailles", the terminal market is too hot, even if the current sales volume of Shadow Leopard has remained high, but there are still many orders that cannot be delivered in time. But in the face of the same dilemma, some people are self-pitying and waiting for a warm spring, and some people have already begun to implement how to turn problems into motivation. At present, can the shadow leopard effectively cope?
Magnified by the spotlight, strength is the best reply
As we all know, the compact sedan market has always been the largest segment in terms of ownership, however, it has long been occupied by joint venture brands. Even in the newly opened market segment of "sports car", the best-selling model in the past was still the joint venture brand model. However, over the years, with the successive appearances of independent brand sports cars, the situation will be expected to be rewritten.
Among them, the hottest model is perhaps the Shadow Leopard. Sales have always been the best proof, since its listing, its monthly sales have repeatedly exceeded 10,000, until December last year, the cumulative orders exceeded 70,000, the highest single-day sales of 930 units. This is undoubtedly a sales performance worthy of recognition, and what is more rare is that it is still its performance under the influence of chip shortage and the impact of the epidemic.
Behind the outstanding sales data is inseparable from the double blessing of product strength and marketing. At the product level, from design to control, Shadow Leopard is fully closer to movement. Even the objective data of 0.26cd wind resistance coefficient and 6.95 seconds of 100-kilometer acceleration alone is actually enough to support it to become a representative of its own brand performance car. At the same time, Through cooperation with Asian flyer Su Bingtian, Shadow Leopard also carries out marketing publicity with high compatibility with each other, making its sporty label more deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
It can be said that Shadow Leopard not only brought a more Chinese automotive ecology to the young people of Generation Z at a price of about 100,000 yuan; it also broke through the upper limit of independent brands in terms of performance and broke the monopoly of joint venture brands on sports cars.
"Car red is not much", the strength, sales and traffic are too outstanding in many aspects, and it is inevitable that Shadow Leopard will fall into some controversy. For example, the shadow leopard "sunroof rust" spread on the Internet, after the actual sampling and verification by the media, in fact, it is only the skylight glue that turns yellow by the light, forming a similar rust color, rather than rusting; for example, some netizens tested the shadow leopard with a handheld formaldehyde tester of 168 yuan and concluded that the harmful substances in the air in the car exceeded the standard, and the official quickly sent the vehicle to a professional organization for inspection, breaking the rumors. Under the strict and standardized test, the air quality indicators in the Shadow Leopard car are excellent. The doubts from all sides have been confirmed one by one to be properly rubbed against the eyeballs.
As a phenomenon-level product, the performance of shadow leopard has always been magnified by the spotlight, and it is inevitable that people with hearts will use a magnifying glass to nitpick. Under the hustle and bustle, it is more necessary to think calmly and independently. For consumers, instead of believing in rumors that catch the wind and shadows, it is better to look at it rationally.
Without a core, how can I do without two brushes?
If the engine is the "heart" of the car, it directly determines the performance of a car; in the era of intelligence, the chip has become the "brain" of the car, and the car's pursuit of chip quality and demand is getting higher and higher. Unfortunately, automotive chips have always been a weakness in the independent industry, and due to the impact of the epidemic, most overseas chip factories are facing production stoppages, resulting in a shortage of global chip supply.
As a new model just launched last year, the level of intelligence of Shadow Leopard is advanced, and the demand for the number of chips will be more. Coupled with its too hot sales in the end market, it has further promoted the growth of chip demand. Obviously, the more popular the star model, the more serious the phenomenon of "lack of core". Affected by the continuous shortage of chips, Shadow Leopard has inevitably limited production capacity and delayed delivery, and products have been in a state of short supply, which eventually led to a decline in terminal sales.
In the chip market "more monks and less porridge" environment, raw material prices rose in the environment, car companies also "eight immortals across the sea", trying to do everything possible to survive the difficulties. Some are taking advantage of the opportunity to raise prices, or increase the terminal price, or let consumers "voluntarily" increase the price of the car; what is more, they are secretly "reducing" the model, so that consumers are forced to give up certain advanced functions, thereby increasing the production capacity of the car.
GAC Trumpchi did not throw the cost pressure to consumers to increase the price of Shadow Leopard, but chose to self-digest. For the shortage of "ZF DP-EPS steering system" chips in the vehicle, it does not reduce the standard of chip use for sales, but actively cooperates with ZF Group headquarters and chip suppliers to jointly develop a production increase plan to shorten the waiting time for users to pick up the car as much as possible.
It is undeniable that under the influence of chip shortage, car companies are suffering from many development difficulties, and independent chip companies also need to build a moat with more core technology. However, in the face of the current shock, the problem of chip shortage is only temporary, and the car company's insistence on quality control and commitment to users cannot be discarded at will. In the ebb and flow of the automobile market, through shadow leopard, we can see the consistent quality control of GAC Trumpchi and its sincere corporate attitude. Perhaps, for the prospective owners of Shadow Leopard, all the waiting will be worth it.
A butterfly flapped its wings, causing a storm across the ocean; a small shortage of chips also triggered a series of upheavals in the automotive industry. Nowadays, the shortage of chips is a common challenge faced by the entire automotive industry, and only when the automotive industry chain works together can it usher in a turnaround. It is undeniable that with the shadow leopard as the epitome, the independent brand has changed the passive situation in the past and the performance has continued to improve. At present, opportunities are brewing in the crisis, and the future car market may also have a new pattern and excitement.
Wen = Lin Jing
Image: GAC Trumpchi