Source: Visual China
In March, BYD sold 103,000 new energy vehicles, becoming the most thorough autonomous car company in the electrification transformation. BYD has also become a star-making expert, the new model to push a fire, especially BYD DM-i series models, in the terminal market a car is difficult to find, consumers have to wait at least 3 months to pick up the car.
Not long ago, BYD successfully launched a blockbuster model SEAL, in addition to the 3.8-second 100-kilometer acceleration performance and benchmark Tesla Model 3, the shape of the Porsche Taycan also added a lot of discussion heat to it.
In fact, there has never been a lack of "Porsche" in the domestic car camp. For example, the rear of the Huawei Q&C M5 was complained by netizens that it resembled Porsche Macan; Euler Good Cat was jokingly called "a miniature version of Macan" by netizens; the ZERO concept of Lynk & Co branded a high degree of similarity with porsche Panamera, and many netizens called it "domestic porsche".
Source: Understand the Car Emperor Car Circle
The shape design of domestic cars borrows from famous cars, which is not a phenomenon that has only recently appeared. At that time, Zotye sold well by copying Porsche, and was ridiculed by netizens as a "leather ruler".
From the comments of netizens who are "angry", it can be seen that consumers attach importance to the design of automobiles. "The car is a means of transportation in the West, and in China it carries more identity, status, and personalized demands, so appearance is very important for consumers." Zhang Fan, vice president of the GAC Research Institute and chief styling designer, said in an interview with the media.
However, the "Porsche" running all over the street reflects the fact that autonomous car companies still have a long way to go in terms of exterior design.
Started with "plagiarism"
Many independent brands have a "black history of plagiarism" that cannot be looked back on.
"At present, the independent automobile brands that have established a firm foothold are mostly reverse the development of foreign mature automobile product designs when they start, and through continuous accumulation of experience, they have gradually formed their own design styles." Liu Yan, a designer of the styling department of a self-owned brand technology research institute, told Future AutoMotive Daily that this phenomenon not only appears in independent brands, but also in the beginning of the Japanese and Korean automobile industries.
"Learners" also do not shy away from talking openly about the reverse research and development model. Wu Jianzhong, former chairman of Zotye Automobile, has publicly stated, "Zotye Automobile adopts the 'take-ism' and achieves the purpose of rapid development by introducing foreign models and technologies, which is a major feature of the integrated operation of Zotye Automobile." ”
With the "take-ism", Zotye has indeed experienced a period of highlights. In 2015, Zotye launched the Zotye T600 model that copied design elements from Volkswagen and Audi. According to the association, the car reached 120,000 units in 2015. Relying on the strong performance of Zotye T600 and Zotye SR9, Zotye Automobile's sales in 2016 increased by 50% year-on-year, reaching 333,100 units.
Not only has Zotye blatantly copied, but many independent brands have also embarked on the same path. For a time, plagiarism became a common practice, causing anger among overseas car companies.
South Korea's GM Daewoo Company has sued Chery Automobile in court, accusing Chery QQ of having "striking similarities" with its own Daewoo Matiz in the design of the vehicle and core components, suspected of unfair competition and filing a claim of 80 million yuan; Fiat has also sued Great Wall Motors, saying that the latter's Genie model is suspected of plagiarizing Fiat Panda; and Jaguar Land Rover v. Jiangling Motors, saying that the Landwind X7 copied the Land Rover Range Rover Evoque. Jaguar Land Rover CEO Schweider angrily denounced Jiangling Motors for violating international norms applicable around the world.
Porsche CEO observes Zotye SR9 at the Zotye booth, and the expression is difficult to say Source: Network
"From a certain point of view, the plagiarism of Zotye Automobile is successful, saving research and development expenses and time by imitating the design of overseas mature products, and also quickly gaining a group of consumers in the terminal market by virtue of the design effect of overseas brands." Liu Yan thinks.
But blindly relying on reverse research and development is ultimately "drinking and quenching thirst", with the continuous improvement of automobile popularity, consumers' consumption mentality has changed, and more and more people are scornful of copycat products. As a result, the number of people buying plagiarism has dropped dramatically.
"In addition to the automotive industry, mobile phones, clothing and other industries are the same. In a small survey we did in 2017, and of the nearly 600 interviewees, only 5% were willing to accept plagiarism. Liu Yan told Future Auto Daily.
This is true. After climbing to the peak in 2016, Zotye's sales have declined all the way. According to public data from the Association, Zotye's annual sales in 2017 were 317,000 vehicles, which plummeted to about 230,000 vehicles in 2018 and were slashed in 2019, with only about 117,000 vehicles.
For the sales performance of Zotye roller coaster, Liu Yan summed it up as "cheng also plagiarized, defeat also plagiarized".
At the same time, relevant regulations and industry norms have also been improved year by year. In 2019, in the case of Landwind X7 plagiarizing the Range Rover Evoque, the court ruled that Landwind should stop selling the X7 and compensate Jaguar Land Rover for 1.5 million yuan.
"Since 2012, the government has been increasingly protecting intellectual property rights. The Supreme Court's judgment on Lufeng can be regarded as a turning point, which means that the plagiarism of car companies in the future will no longer be condoned by the law. Liu Yan told Future Auto Daily that the suspension of sales is the most serious penalty for car companies, after the suspension of sales, the production line of car companies needs to be stopped, and it is also necessary to bear the breach of contract compensation for parts supply, advertising and other links.
Overseas designers control half of the country
Gone are the days of "relying on cottages to win", and independent car companies have embarked on the road of independent design.
But the city of Rome was not built in a day. At the beginning, the number of local designers in China was small and the level was relatively low, and independent car companies had to rely on the hands of overseas designers. Independent brands do not hesitate to spend huge sums of money to poach overseas big-name designers, especially favoring luxury brand design talents. According to Liu Yan, the salaries offered by independent car companies to overseas designers are very high, basically 2-3 times that of the European or American market.
Around 2016, Giles Taylor, who had been the design director at Rolls-Royce, joined FAW Hongqi; after Geely Automobile's acquisition of Volvo, Shunshi took Peter Hobley, former vice president of design of Volvo, into his position; Great Wall Motor recruited Pierre Leclerc, who had been the chief designer of Ford and BMW; Changan Automobile invited Atsuhiko Yamada, former design director of Mazda...
After ushering in the long-sleeved overseas designers who are good at dancing, the appearance of the products of independent car companies has also undergone a qualitative leap. The Wall Street Journal once said in a report titled "Chinese car prices are still low, but they are no longer ugly" that for a long time, Chinese cars have been known for their low-cost car ugliness. Now, as domestic manufacturers poach star designers from foreign rivals, Chinese cars (exteriors) are starting to turn.
"The joining of overseas designers has allowed independent brands to gradually get rid of the label of cottages, and models have a 'family-style' front face." Liu Yan called this stage the start of the design of independent car companies from 0 to 1.
Wolfgang Egger is known as the "Father of audi R8" Source: BYD official
Wolfgang Egger, former Audi and Alpha Romeo design director, became BYD's global design director, and in November 2016, he launched BYD's unique "Dragon Face" design language and took the lead in applying it to Song MAX.
According to BYD's official data, after the listing of Song MAX for one month, the cumulative number of orders exceeded 20,000 units, and the sales volume of the second sales exceeded 10,000 units in the whole month of sales. Subsequently, BYD's models have been replaced by "Dragon Face", and many netizens said that Wolfgang Egger gave BYD a "big facelift".
Independent car companies have achieved a start with the hands of overseas designers, and overseas designers have also gained a great sense of achievement by virtue of the stage given by independent car companies. Former Bentley auto designer David Hilton has said that first-class designers certainly expect to be paid twice as much in China as they do in the United States, but it is the biggest attraction to build a brand new from scratch.
But there are always positive and negative sides to a coin, and some insiders are worried that independent car companies rely too much on overseas designers and may be choked by their development lifeline. "Once the foreign designers who have been heavily invited leave, how to maintain the design level of the model, many independent brands have not considered this problem."
How far is it to achieve autonomous design?
Some insiders believe that due to the late start of the mainland automobile industry, it is difficult for independent car companies to cultivate a group of excellent appearance designers.
Gong Huanchun, a professor of vehicle engineering at a university in Beijing, told Future Automotive Daily that most of the models of independent brands (forward research and development) have only experienced one or two generations, and have not yet developed a sustainable design of the same model. At the same time, due to factors such as the weak strength of the enterprise itself, the product upgrading is relatively slow, and it is difficult to cultivate excellent designers in a large number of design practices. "Without the accumulation of design, it is difficult to have the accumulation of designers."
Shan Dewei, chief designer of Great Wall Huaguan Automobile Co., Ltd., also believes that Young designers in China are very talented, and their personal skills are not significantly different from those of foreign designers, and what they lack the most is experience, including experience in different projects, different institutions, and a mature grasp of the pulse of the market.
Fortunately, some car companies have begun to embark on the road of independent design, such as GAC Trumpchi and SAIC passenger cars. Zhang Fan, vice president of GAC Research Institute and chief styling designer, once served as the main designer of the R&D center of Mercedes-Benz, and after entering GAC, he created the "Lingyun Wing" family design style for GAC Trumpchi; Shao Jingfeng joined SAIC Passenger Cars after returning from SAIC Volkswagen's "school", served as the director of the design department of the technical center of SAIC Group Passenger Car Company, and created the concept of "rhythmic design" for the Roewe brand.
The environment is also changing, as the proportion of China's auto market in the world is increasing, and more and more overseas car companies are trying to use Chinese designers to please Chinese consumers.
At the beginning of 2021, in order to achieve the transformation from "Made in China" to "Chinese design", Tesla CEO Elon Musk proposed that he would set up a design and research and development center in China, recruit excellent design talents, create a "Chinese style" Tesla, and integrate the most beautiful Chinese art into the future-oriented Tesla and sell it globally.
On April 19, in the world debut of the Audi urbanosphere concept car, Audi officially said that it was the first concept model with the interior design independently responsible for the interior design by the Audi China design team. It can be seen that the status of the Chinese design team within Audi has improved.
Source: Audi Official
"Considering that the design should have family heritage, usually the appearance and interior of the models of overseas car companies are dominated by their local teams, and then fine-tuned by Chinese designers after entering the Chinese market." Designers of joint venture car companies believe that Audi can fully delegate the interior design to the Chinese design team this time, which is not easy, which shows that Audi attaches great importance to the Chinese market. "Compared with overseas designers, Chinese designers are more able to reflect the beauty of Chinese culture in their products and conform to the aesthetics of Chinese consumers."
Zhang Fan believes that "the (appearance) design of Chinese car brands can at least be said to be 'college graduate'. ”
Gong Huanchun is also more optimistic, domestic car brands are constantly maturing, there will inevitably be a group of excellent designers and brands long-term run-in, common growth, which is also the inevitable result of continuous competition in the Chinese auto market.
(At the request of the interviewee, Liu Yan is a pseudonym in the text)
The author | Su Peng
Editor| Li Huanhuan