In the past many years, in the field of fuel vehicles controlled by joint venture vehicles, many independent brands have actually essentially played the role of "followers", what kind of models are launched by joint venture brands, independent brands will launch similar models, similar to car companies such as Zotye, and even directly copy and copy. However, as independent brands ushered in a wave of closures in 2018-2020, many independent brands were out of the game or completely marginalized, and in the process, some brands survived and tried to get opportunities in the "blue ocean market" where competitors were relatively small. For example, in the past few years, many independent brands have made efforts to run SUV models, of course, the results are obvious, many independent brands can only be said to be short-lived in the field of coupe SUV, and now car companies can still only "die" in the field of traditional SUVs.
A few years ago, the new Honda Civic was listed, that is, the compact sedan equipped with a 1.5T engine, this car is a small precedent in China, that is, the 100,000-level "small steel cannon", because the 1.5T Civic 100-kilometer acceleration time can achieve the level of 7 seconds, which was very rare before, plus the Civic itself has a hatchback, coupe-shaped design, so that this car quickly becomes a star model in the domestic compact car market. Many young consumers choose this "performance car" that is not very expensive. In our opinion, since that time, many manufacturers have tried to lay out some better performance models in the 100,000-level market to attract young people who advocate performance to buy, such as the Hyundai Festa and other models.
Of course, for independent brands that are extremely keen on market observation, of course, they have also found this "business opportunity", so some independent brand car companies have begun to launch similar models. I remember that the car company that launched the 100,000-class performance model earlier was SAIC MG, the new MG 6 is a representative product, priced at 10.38-13.98 million yuan, the new MG 6 is equipped with a 1.5T turbocharged engine, the maximum horsepower is 181Ps, the peak torque is 285N·m, and the official acceleration time of 100 kilometers can reach 6.6 seconds, which is a very strong acceleration ability. So for a while, there are many MG 6 owners on the Internet who are very confident in their cars and frequently "provoke" other performance car owners.
Another domestic 100,000-class compact model that can be called a net red model is GAC Trumpchi Shadow Leopard, which is priced at 983-13.18 million yuan, equipped with a 1.5T turbocharged engine, matching a 7-speed wet dual-clutch transmission, with a maximum horsepower of 177Ps, a maximum torque of 270N·m, and the official acceleration time of 100 kilometers is 6.96 seconds, which is also a relatively fast acceleration level. And this car, like the MG 6, is also a compact sedan that pursues mecha style in design and has a more maverick appearance, and the slipback shape is the relative consistency of the two cars.
In fact, when these two cars were just listed, the overall sales were relatively excellent, Trumpchi Shadow Leopard was listed in August last year, and the sales volume in October and November exceeded 10,000 for two consecutive months, showing a relatively strong upward trend; the new MG 6 was listed in August last year, and the highest monthly sales also reached 7340 vehicles, in fact, the sales volume was relatively excellent. But in the past February, the sales of Shadow Leopard and MG 6 quickly collapsed, and the sales of Shadow Leopard in February were 2002 units, and the sales of MG 6 were 2235 units, compared with the sales performance of this car at its peak, at least in February, the sales data was very bad.
In fact, seeing such sales data, we have a sense of déjà vu, that is, when the domestic coupe SUV collectively "appeared", the sales curve of many models was also like this, after the new car was listed, the volume was very fast, but after a few months, the sales volume sank collectively, until finally the sense of existence was completely lost. In our view, if the domestic 100,000-level "performance car" such as Trumpchi Shadow Leopard and MG 6 also replicates the sales path of domestic coupe SUVs, then it may be a broken road to implement performance cars in the 100,000-level market.
In fact, the 100,000-class compact car can be said to be the most important segment of domestic fuel vehicle manufacturers, because this price range has the largest sales volume and the largest number of consumers covered. So if you can spread sales in this market, it is indeed very attractive. It can be said that the sales performance of these two cars is more or less short-lived, so why is the same compact car, these two cars have relatively strong performance, but the sales are high and low?
In our opinion, there is a big misunderstanding that models like shadow leopard and MG 6 add a relatively strong power to the size of compact cars, as if they are simply adding, but in essence, they still do subtraction, that is to say, the performance is strong, but other aspects are weak. For example, these two cars are slippery back style, so the head space in the second row is indeed relatively general, and many home users may be difficult to accept.
On the other hand, similar to the appearance design of these two cars, it is actually relatively advanced, they can attract some consumers who advocate personality, but from the perspective of big data and probability theory, when most consumers can buy a car, they have actually reached the age of more pursuit, but they are more moderate, such as more fuel-efficient, more space, and even care about other people's eyes and opinions. Therefore, MG 6, Shadow Leopard and other models, relative personality and advanced design, in fact, for many home users, may be some appreciation, for most consumers in this price range, may be Langyi, Xuanyi, Bora, Corolla such relatively decent models are a relatively balanced choice, which is also a factor that can not be ignored.
Of course, we also see another problem, which may also dissuade many consumers who are ready to buy these models, that is, the owners of cheap "performance cars" such as Shadow Leopard and MG 6 are too high-profile. Before the Internet, there have been many shadow leopard car owners "shaking the air", many car owners think that their models can beat a number of luxury brand models and performance cars in the real sense, and the rhetoric is very heavy. In fact, this has led to many relatively less high-profile consumers abandoning the car, because these consumers do not want to drive out by themselves, and they are pointed out by others, saying that these owners are too angry and do not measure up!
So in our opinion, although the performance of Shadow Leopard and MG 6 in the field of 100,000-class compact cars is relatively strong, this does not mean that the performance of these two cars is a prominent point after the balance of product forces in other aspects, on the contrary, such models are essentially niche models, and some consumers will choose, but most consumers will not choose. Therefore, the sales of these two cars after the listing are relatively excellent, but there will soon be a sharp decline, which may also be the "fate" of independent brands in the field of niche cars.