Reporter / Qin Yi Editor / Yan Ziwei
Denza cars come back to life.
Recently, Denza Automobile announced that it will soon release the first high-end MPV model D9. Zhao Changjiang, general manager of Denza's sales division, revealed on his personal Weibo that the D9 will provide DM (hybrid) / EV (electric) two different models, and use BYD's super hybrid technology.
(Source: Denza Motors)
Zhao Changjiang said that this year, Denza will release three new cars.
For a time, the vanished Denza automobile returned to the public vision.
Dispatch troops
In order to revitalize Denza, BYD planned for a long time, first dispatching the company's generals to garrison Denza.
There is a post-85 executive in BYD, who became the general manager of the sales company at the age of 30. He is Zhao Changjiang, who has been responsible for the marketing work of MANY BYD regions and has repeatedly doubled car sales.
Last year, BYD adjusted its organizational structure, and Zhao Changjiang rushed to Denza. BYD's move has attracted attention in the industry. What is the significance of Zhao Changjiang's transfer?
Founded in 2010, Denza Motors, born with a golden spoon, is a joint venture brand of DAIMLER, the parent company of BYD and Mercedes-Benz Motors, but the market response is not good and it has been quiet for a long time.
Denza has released three models, all priced at more than 300,000 yuan. At that time, the new energy vehicle market was in its infancy, consumer confidence was insufficient, and sales of new cars were sluggish after they were listed.
According to the data of the Association, Denza's sales from 2016 to 2021 were 2287 vehicles, 4713 vehicles, 1974 vehicles, 2089 vehicles, 4175 vehicles and 4783 vehicles, respectively, with a cumulative sales volume of only 20,000 vehicles in five years.
At that time, most Chinese car owners with a budget of more than 300,000 yuan considered fuel vehicles such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW. Denza's positioning was wrong at the beginning, the public recognition of new energy vehicles is not high, and the performance of battery life needs to be upgraded. Zhang Xiang, an analyst in the automotive industry, told 21CBR.
Denza, which has no sense of existence, continues to burn money, and from 2016 to 2021, Denza has accumulated losses of more than 4.39 billion yuan. According to the loss situation, dextile sold a car, the company lost nearly 220,000 yuan.
For Denza Motors, which did not make waves in the market, BYD and Daimler did not stop losses. From 2020 to 2022, BYD and Daimler have increased the capital of Denza Automobile twice, involving a total of 1.35 billion yuan.
According to the "21CBR", after the latest capital increase, BYD signed an equity transfer agreement with Daimler, and BYD's shareholding ratio changed from 50% to 90% before, becoming the actual controller.
That is to say, while BYD dispatches troops to punish the general, it continues to increase its position to save such a "loser".
Exactly one year passed, and the answer to personnel transfers surfaced. Denza is an important chess piece for BYD to impact the high end, and Zhao is the company's selected chess player.
Hit the high end
BYD cars sell more and make less.
The company's revenue in 2020 was 156.6 billion yuan and net profit was 4.2 billion yuan. This year, BYD sold 390,000 vehicles, including 160,000 new energy vehicles.
By 2021, BYD's revenue will be 216.1 billion yuan and its net profit will be 3 billion yuan. This year, BYD sold 730,000 vehicles. Among them, the sales volume of new energy vehicles was 590,000 units, an increase of 231% year-on-year. That is to say, in 2021, BYD sold 340,000 more cars, but the profit was 1.2 billion yuan less.
Roughly calculated, on average, FORD earns 4100 yuan per car sold.
Industry analysts pointed out that on the one hand, because low-cost parity models accounted for the vast majority of total revenue; on the other hand, the price of upstream raw materials pushed up costs, ANDD's gross profit margin fell by 7.8% to 17%.
In contrast, tesla car gross profit margin reached 30%, selling a car to earn 100,000 yuan. The gross profit margin of new power brands such as Wei Xiaoli has exceeded 20%.
BYD's pressure to make money is increasing day by day, and high-end brand is imperative.
"For BYD, the development of high-end brands can achieve higher profit margins. As a large-scale OEMs, this is also a matter of course. Zheng Yun, global senior partner at Roland Berger and vice president of Greater China, told 21CBR.
He believes that for car companies, high-end is a relative concept, which needs to be occupied in advance in the market segment.
In the high-end market, how BYD wins back a round and which market segment it will achieve a breakthrough in, it remains to be verified.
One view is that Denza has Daimler as a brand endorsement, has the recognition of high-end brands, ANDD takes over, and has high cost performance. To re-launch a high-end brand, BYD needs to invest a lot of marketing expenses.
(Source: Denza Motors)
"On the consumer side, Denza is in a state of suspension and delisting. However, in some public occasions, Denza's figure has been haunted from time to time, and it has not stopped operating. Zhang Xiang revealed.
Judging from BYD's structural adjustment, Denza may be a good piece of the puzzle.
Last year, BYD adjusted its sales network and launched a marine network to replace the original e-net, covering marine life series, warship series and e-series products. Industry analysis believes that the upgrade of the sales network is to prepare for BYD's high-end models.
On March 29, BYD introduced in the financial report that in 2022, the company will further expand the high-end market and launch high-end brands, and the price is expected to be 50-1 million yuan. "In the future, BYD's automotive business will be composed of four sections: Dynasty.com, Ocean.com, Denza and high-end brands. BYD's product matrix will become more and more perfect. ”
In the long run, Denza is not bydir's best sub-brand, but it is the fastest penetration into the high-end market.
(Intern Yashi Zhu also contributed to this article)
(Caption source: Visual China)