Cooking wine on the car丨 from Capgemini to see the logic of Chinese brand MPV

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MPV, once in the Chinese passenger car market in a relatively deserted segment, is far less popular than cars and SUVs. However, in the past two years, we have seen the situation - the market is developing rapidly, new products are emerging in an endless stream, and the sales growth rate is gratifying. The reasons behind this are nothing more than changes in policies such as two-child/three-child, changes in consumption concepts, and so on.

However, careful people will find that in the past two years, the "fire" of MPV has mostly stayed in medium-sized or medium-sized MPVs - from Odyssey to Xena, Buick GL8, familiar with this level. The compact MPV is a different story. Overseas brands, once good sales of Tuan, Buick GL6, the current monthly sales can only hover in three figures; Yizhi and other products, but also many people can not remember where they are sacred. The Chinese brand circle, Song MAX, which was once prosperous for a while and sold more than 10,000 a month, has gradually fallen silent, and the performance of Jiaji after listing is also tepid.

Just when everyone thinks that "compact MPV can't be played", the products of other Chinese brands have begun to emerge. Typical representatives such as Wuling Capgemini - sales of more than 60,000 vehicles in 2021. Although this absolute value is not too high, it is really rare in the current environment. There are also trumpchi M6, which also won 48,000 unit sales in 2021, leaving a number of joint ventures in the same class far behind.

How did the compact MPV of these Chinese brands break this "curse"? Perhaps, from the feedback obtained after the listing of the representative model Wuling Capgemini, as well as the Wuling Capgemini 280T model that was launched not long ago, we can find the product logic behind the market breakthrough of these new generation of Chinese brand compact MPV.

Directly hit the pain point: it is not as simple as increasing the size and adding a leg rest

Why are compact MPV and medium to large MPV in very different situations? This is actually related to product traceability. Compact MPV is not available in the North American market, it is more like a typical "European market feature product". On the contrary, most of the medium and large MPV that are popular in China originate from the American Minivan.

What are the essential differences between different origins? The former tends to be too calculated in terms of controlling the size, while the latter focuses on the "full-featured experience" of the rear ride.

"Representative model of medium and large MPV - Buick GL8"

Then look at why domestic consumers want to buy MPV. Definitely not for the sake of looks. Then there is only one reason: space, or the full functionality of the rear row. In this regard, the performance of medium and large MPV is irreplaceable by other categories of models – even full-size SUVs that are more expensive and larger. The (previous) compact MPV is different — they're even inferior to some 7-seat SUVs in terms of rear experience.

Therefore, if you want to break this game, you must take full advantage of the advantages of MPV (short front, low chassis, conducive to space expansion), as far as possible to achieve the full function of the rear row that the SUV cannot achieve - even if it is compact.

Speaking of which, many people should have a resonance – This is basically what Wuling Capgemini basically does. When Wuling Capgemini was first listed, what made many people feel most deeply was that "the back row does not lose the joint venture medium-sized MPV". Corresponding to its "less than half the price of the joint venture medium-sized MPV", such a product attribute, it is rare to find a substitute in the market.

『Wuling Capgemini』

This kind of feeling, direct viewing mostly stems from two points. The first, of course, is space. Wuling Capgemini broke the norm in size, expanding the length to 4.875 meters and the width to 1.88 meters. For reference, the length of the Tuan L is 4.527 meters and the width is 1.829 meters, while the length of the Odyssey is 4.861 meters and the width is 1.82 meters. You read that right, although Capgemini is a compact MPV, it is indeed larger than the mid-size MPV of Odyssey.

The second is the leg rest. Based on some practices of overseas brands in the past, especially the former nanny car exclusive, it feels that the leg rest is extremely "tall". Wuling Capgemini models at this price point are also provided, of course, it has attracted much attention. These two points are indeed important, but Capgemini's efforts and innovations are not limited to this in order to achieve "full functionality in the rear row".

Here are three examples. The first is also a rare second row of left-right adjustments in its class – which is extremely important when travelling with children, especially two-child families (imagine four adults and two preschoolers). The second is more derived from Wuling's accumulated experience and inspiration in the field of commercial vehicles, allowing Capgemini's second row to be adjusted forward and backward (560mm) by a large margin. In the final case, the sense of space in the second row is comparable to those four-seater versions of nanny cars.

And that's just one of the advantages. Another benefit of the oversized second row is that it can provide a large carrying space without folding the second row - temporarily acting as a "passenger and cargo vehicle", a scene that is very common for small owners.

The third is the seat reclining range, and the first row and the second row can be placed almost flat. After the second row is reversed, with the leg rest, passengers can achieve "lying flat" during the journey. After the front and rear rows are all down, they can also be connected back and forth to form a "large plane". How to use this series of "flat", young people can give full play to their imagination.

Large size, many functions, coupled with cost performance, such a car is definitely popular, this logic is very simple, but why is it Wuling? The old tune repeats that Wuling's car-making ideas (Wuling's product development model and product strategy (explosive model, that is, dilution of research and development costs through large sales planning, listing is to adopt a high-end and low-price product strategy that exceeds market expectations) and so on.

Here's the question: If Capgemini's logic of success is a super back row, why did it launch the 280T model this time? You know, almost all of the changes in the 280T are pandering to motorists. Doesn't this conflict with the logic described earlier?

Cope with differences: make full use of the "basic disk" while meeting multi-level needs

The innovation and highlights of Wuling Capgemini can be regarded as the "basic disk" of its product strength. But having a strong enough basic disk does not mean that it can meet the needs of everyone. As mentioned earlier, the size of Wuling Capgemini is already comparable to that of some overseas brands of medium-sized MPVs, so is the powertrain it was equipped with before suitable? It can only be said that it is suitable for some groups.

The 147 hp and 250 Nm of torque are really not impressive enough, but as long as the matching tuning is in place, there is no problem for daily use. This is perfect for people who only use cars in the city most of the time – sacrificing high-speed performance slightly, but at a more affordable price than expected.

However, it is clear that not everyone only uses cars in urban areas. In fact, with Capgemini's powerful rear function, it is even more suitable for long-distance driving. It is not a minority to choose it as a target group for inter-city commuting and frequent travel. At this time, the previous power achievements are a bit stretched - especially when traveling with full loads and often having to face road conditions such as mountains and provincial roads, the "lack of staying power" of the engine will make many car buyers entangled.

This is the main logic of Wuling Capgemini's launch of the 280T. Although it is still a displacement of 1.5T, the engine is completely different in terms of structure, technical application and tuning. Power increased by 30 hp to 177 hp, and torque increased by 50 Nm to 290 Nm.

Power boost is easy to understand, so what is the other big change of Capgemini 280T compared to before - the standard Ling OS Lingxi system? Judging from industry practice, MPV does not seem to pay much attention to this item. For example, trumpchi M6, it is necessary to reach the top of 159,800 yuan to match the premium version to provide intelligent car and machine systems that provide supporting voice control, internet of vehicles, OTA and other functions.

First, however, "industry conventions" are not necessarily true. Peers do this more out of the result of reasonable "resource allocation" - to focus on the rear row, but also to ensure that the price is controllable, can only appropriately sacrifice the front row, especially for the driver's function items. This is reasonable in the era of treating MPVs as commercial vehicles and tool cars, but if it is facing pure home users, especially young home users, it is a bit contrary.

The second is the "explosive model" of Wuling in the product strategy mentioned earlier - through the "quantity" to spread the low cost, so as to achieve some of the conventions of "being broken". For example, the cost of smart cars and machines is more reflected in the sharing of research and development expenses than in the procurement and assembly costs of screens and systems. Then through a cost-effective strategy, to achieve a larger loading volume, you can achieve cost control beyond expectations. This, in turn, prompts manufacturers to have the ability to further improve the cost performance of their products and enter a virtuous circle. Therefore, it can be said that the Capgemini 280T's standard Ling OS Lingxi system can also be regarded as a small breakthrough in the field of MPV, especially in the field of compact MPV. Perhaps before long, the concept of "MPV does not pay attention to intelligent vehicles and machines" will also become a thing of the past.

There is also a phenomenon worth noting, the launch of the Wuling Capgemini 280T is not a product update, that is, it does not replace the old model, but together with the old model, to meet the market demand at different levels.

You can understand this. Capgemini will be a product line, and the previous 147 hp version is only part of it, and this 280T version is still just another part of it. In the future, Capgemini will have more products for different market needs, such as hybrid versions that have already appeared in the declaration directory.

conclusion:

When everyone felt that mini cars had no future in the Chinese market, Wuling launched The Hongguang MINIEV; when everyone felt that the SUV "hard route = cold door", the Great Wall launched the tank 300; when everyone felt that "compact MPV could not be played", Wuling launched Capgemini... From these cases, everyone should be able to feel that the creativity of Chinese brands in product research and development is indeed not what it used to be.

Specific to Wuling Capgemini, as mentioned in the article, on the surface, its successful logic is only because of its larger size, groundbreaking provision of rear leg rests, etc., but behind careful analysis, it implies the innovation of product development, the control of user needs and the precise product strategy. And these three are not just for Capgemini – look at the Hongguang MINIEV, Tank 300, and other successful and innovative products that are not listed.