The recent hot event in the automotive circle is the launch of a new brand deep blue by Changan Automobile, and the UNI series will also be branded. The Changan Automobile fader brand is only the epitome of independent car companies. In recent years, independent car companies are keen to launch a series of sub-brands, and even seek the independent development of sub-brands, such as Geely's Lynk & Co, Geometry, Extreme Kr, Great Wall's Euler, Weipai, Tank, etc., at the same time, Dongfeng Motor's Lantu and Chery Automobile's Jietu have carried out brand independent operations. Is it true that having more children will definitely be good at fighting? Will the multi-brand strategy of independent car companies repeat the same mistakes?
Multi-brand strategies have failed
History is always strikingly similar. The multi-brand strategy of independent car companies is basically the same as that of more than a decade ago. At the beginning of the 21st century, the mainland automobile industry has entered a stage of rapid development, with the rapid development of the national economy, the disposable income of residents continues to increase, the number of mainland automobiles is also increasing year by year, and the development state is very similar to today's new energy vehicle market.
At that time, independent car companies hoped to gain more market share, and the better way was to launch more sub-brands and create more new cars to further cover the market, so geely brought sub-brands such as Global Eagle, Shanghai British, Emgrand, etc. Chery also formed Chery, Karry, Ruiqi, Weilin, Kaiyi and Qoros multi-brand operation structure. In addition, Haima is also actively planning the development path of multi-brand operation.
Indeed, the multi-brand strategy allows car companies to launch more models to meet market demand, thereby increasing market segment share, and also conducive to resource sharing within car companies and faster car manufacturing. More importantly, even if the sub-brand is not successful, it will not have much impact on the development of the main brand.
Unfortunately, at that time, independent car companies were still in their infancy, the technology was not passed, the products were mainly for the low-end market of tens of thousands of yuan, and the market of more than 100,000 yuan was basically the world of joint venture brands. However, the market share of low-end models is limited, and independent car companies have launched more cheap models, and models will be highly overlapped in terms of positioning and price, resulting in internal friction. In addition, sub-brands also need to add teams in terms of production and service, which requires higher requirements for the management and marketing of car companies.
The final result is that most of the sub-brands of independent car companies ended in failure, and car companies basically returned to a brand strategy and concentrated on creating explosive products.
New era, new opportunity
The lessons of the past are still there, but what is the difference between independent car companies once again exerting their multi-brand strategy? In the view of the car buyer, there are now great changes in internal and external conditions. At present, the system of independent car companies is gradually stronger, there has been a certain amount of technology and product accumulation, while consumer demand for cars is becoming more and more diversified, at this time to vigorously develop multi-brand strategy is a good opportunity, but also the embodiment of the trend.
For many years, autonomous car companies have given the impression of being low-end and cheap, but once the consumer's mind has established cognition, it is difficult to be changed. The development trend of independent car companies is bound to go all the way up, impact the high-end market, want to independent high-end products to get consumer recognition, to create a new high-end sub-brand is the ideal choice, so Geely brought extreme Kr, the Great Wall launched Wei brand and tanks, as well as BAIC's ARCFOX, Dongfeng's Lantu and so on.
In addition, the automotive industry is also ushering in an inflection point, intelligence and new energy is the development trend, independent car companies want to better embrace market changes, the establishment of new brands is the best choice. It is understood that some traditional car companies have problems such as complex organizational structure and low decision-making efficiency due to institutional and cultural reasons, and it is difficult to adapt to the agile changes and rapid iteration needs in the field of intelligent electric vehicles. Then, after the establishment of the new brand, it can not only break through the shackles of traditional car-making thinking, but also carry out all-round reform in technology research and development, talent reserve, management system and other aspects, which is conducive to the better development of the new brand.
Not only that, but the new brand is better able to value it after independence, so it can better raise funds. Then, in the case of sufficient preparation in terms of funds, talents, and systems, it is also more advantageous to compete with opponents. These factors are important reasons for promoting independent car companies to carry out multi-brand strategies again.
I don't know if you have found that although the multi-brand strategy of car companies has similarities with that year, the essence has changed. Most of the sub-brands launched by car companies in that year took the product line as the core, gave different models different names, the overlap rate is higher, and now the sub-brands of car companies basically have different ecology, more in order to open up new market segments, such as the Great Wall Euler main female market or new youth consumer groups, Wei Pai mainly attacks high-end consumers, tanks take tough guy off-road routes, and Chery Jietu is aimed at travel scenes, etc., they can better meet the diversified needs of the market.
At present, the multi-brand strategy of most independent car companies has achieved stage success, and brands such as Great Wall Euler, Changan UNI, and Chery Jietu have a high degree of popularity in their respective market segments.
However, even if the time has come for independent car companies to develop a multi-brand strategy, it does not mean that there is no pressure, with the increase in the number of sub-brands of car companies, the competition between them is becoming more and more fierce, and independent car companies want to ensure the success of new brands, they need to spend a lot of resources for operation and maintenance, otherwise they can only repeat the same mistakes.
If more than a decade ago, car companies and the market were not prepared, resulting in the failure of the multi-brand strategy of car companies, then now the development of multi-brand strategy of car companies is a combination of time, place and advantages, and it is time to vigorously develop sub-brands.
However, opportunities and risks coexist, the automobile market gives car companies a good environment for the development of multiple brands, requiring car companies to have the ability to operate new brands, which tests the comprehensive system strength of car companies, only in terms of thinking, culture, system, research and development, technology and other aspects of the times, bold innovation, in order to increase the probability of success.