Recently, the Aomi Kerong virus is raging, and the epidemic situation in Jilin Province is severe and complex, but this has not stopped the process of Hongqi brand cars under China FAW Group Co., Ltd. from breaking into the market, and Hongqi LS7 was officially unveiled on the 24th, with countless online and offline fans.
Headquartered in Changchun, Jilin Province, FAW is known as the "cradle of the new Chinese automobile industry", and the first car in New China rolled off the production line from here. Nowadays, in the face of many unfavorable factors such as the severe impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic and the sluggish global automobile market, the old brand of Hongqi has achieved a contrarian rise in production and sales, and the scenery is unique. How did FAW do it? The reporter made a visit.
Hongqi LS7 real car. (Courtesy of the interviewee)
Hongqi car into "net red"
Approaching the Hongqi LS7, the luxurious sense of honor of this car comes to the fore. Up close, the large alpine waterfall grille, the length of the body of 5.7 meters and the width of the body of more than 2 meters, the unique headlights and taillight design, full of atmospheric majesty.
In addition to the interior and appearance, Chen Xu, general manager of FAW Hongqi Automobile Sales Co., Ltd., introduced that Hongqi LS7 is also equipped with a domestic car "ceiling" level engine - 4.0T V8 engine, equipped with a "triple defense" information firewall created by independent chips. These hard-core configurations are of great concern to consumers and the industry, which makes Hongqi LS7 quickly become an "Internet celebrity".
Citizens experience the Hongqi E-HS9 model (pictured on July 14, 2021). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Jian
Similar to the Hongqi LS7, the phenomenon of hongqi new cars not being sold is not the first time it has appeared. Today's Hongqi brand, there are more and more family products, the value is getting higher and higher, and the market expansion is more grounded. Chen Xu said that Hongqi Automobile closely follows the national tide and is closely integrated with traditional Chinese cultural symbols such as the Forbidden City and modern scientific and technological symbols such as China Aerospace, implanting Chinese elements into the car, so that the car is not only a means of transportation, but also a work of art.
Xu Liuping, chairman of FAW, often goes out of the office to communicate with car owners face-to-face, absorb "golden ideas", and narrow the distance between consumers and enterprises. Some Hongqi car owners said that now the appearance of Hongqi cars is getting higher and higher, and the streets are driving very "pulling wind". The efforts of the Hongqi brand have also exchanged good market performance. According to the data, the sales volume of the Hongqi brand exceeded 300,000 vehicles in 2021, an increase of more than 60 times in 4 years.
Innovation is reinvented
Hongqi Automobile can be "tide and sassy", and independent innovation is indispensable. According to the data, FAW's total R&D investment in 2021 was 21.42 billion yuan, an increase of 3.9% year-on-year, accounting for 3% of revenue; 63 key core technology breakthroughs were made, and 4757 patent applications were completed.
In the atrium of FAW's headquarters, the key core technology achievements such as the Hongqi brand automobile family and the latest breakthrough in 2021, such as the "zero carbon, zero pollution" emission hydrogen energy engine, were displayed together, which is a must-punch place for visiting guests. Cao Lijun, president of THE FAW Innovation Technology Research Institute, said that in recent years, some core technology research achievements have been applied to products such as Hongqi, and FAW has formulated five "14th Five-Year Plan" special technology development plans such as "card neck" to achieve independent control of key core technologies.
R&D is innovation, and innovation in the field of manufacturing is also non-stop. Walking into the Hongqi Prosperity Factory, which was just put into operation last year, in the spacious and bright automated workshop, one after another Hongqi E-QM5 is rolling off the production line in an orderly manner. This factory uses the latest intelligent manufacturing technology, with a standard production capacity of 240,000 vehicles per year, mainly producing new energy models.
Workers carry out production operations at FAW Group's Hongqi Prosperity Plant on April 22. Xinhua News Agency
In the factory, integrated robots can be seen everywhere working according to the stroke trajectory, ultrasonic inspection equipment is accurately measuring products, and many traditional worker workstations such as installing seats, screws, and gluing have been replaced by "meticulous" robots. According to reports, the whole process automation rate of the stamping production line of this factory has reached 71.4%, the automation rate of 628 robots in the welding production line has reached 100%, and the assembly production line has 28 robots and 95 AGVs (automatic navigation transport vehicles), which can realize the flexible production of A to D level full platform, escorting the quality of Hongqi Automobile.
Xu Liuping said that the Hongqi brand is accelerating the production capacity and market layout of new energy vehicles. By 2025, FAW's new energy intelligent vehicles will account for 20%, autonomous passenger cars will account for more than 30%, and Hongqi brands will account for more than 40%.
Openness wins the future
In order to make Hongqi Automobile continue to be "tidey and sassy", FAW, while practicing its internal strength, knows that openness can win the future. At the end of February this year, faww and BYD joint venture power battery project officially started, the project total investment of 13.5 billion yuan, the project covers an area of 800,000 square meters, the total production capacity of 45 gigawatt hours (GWh), after the full production will meet the needs of 1 million electric vehicles, to achieve an output value of more than 20 billion yuan.
Wang Chuanfu, chairman and president of BYD Co., Ltd., said that BYD will strengthen cooperation with FAW to accelerate the local transformation of green technology and contribute to making the national automobile brand bigger and stronger.
A boy poses with a Hongqi E-HS9 model in Tel Aviv, Israel, on April 14. Xinhua News Agency
FAW is accelerating its overseas market layout and gathering global resources to serve the development of enterprises. A few days ago, FAW and its Israeli partners held a listing ceremony for Hongqi's flagship model E-HS9 in Tel Aviv, Israel, marking the official landing of Hongqi Motor in the Israeli market. At present, FAW's overseas business has covered more than 50 countries and regions along the "Belt and Road", and has also set up R&D centers in Munich, Germany and other places.
Xu Liuping said that facing the future, who can not only comprehensively balance the rhythm of transformation and change of lanes, but also accurately grasp the main offensive position of future development; not only make full use of their own superior resources, but also firmly eliminate backward resources, who can seize the opportunity and win the initiative in this round of competition.
Planner: Hu Qinghai
Coordinator: Liu Xinhui
Reporter: Zhang Jian
Edit: Chonghai