Time will always be there, but people will not always be young, when more and more young people put travel on the list of life plans, Li Xueyong firmly believes that once the epidemic improves and recovers, it will also bring a wave of explosive growth to the cross-border SUVs such as Jietu that focus on the "travel +" series.
Not long ago, at the all-V online symposium held by Huanqiu Automobile, Li Xueyong, deputy general manager of Jietu Automobile and general manager of the marketing center, answered a series of questions such as the way of survival of enterprises under the influence of the epidemic, channel layout and supply chain response methods.
At the symposium, in response to the impact of Jietu Automobile under the current round of epidemic, Li Xueyong also clearly stated, "We have not changed the annual target of Jietu, or we must ensure 200,000 vehicles and strive for sales of 300,000 vehicles." ”
Frankly speaking, as a car brand positioning "Travel +", the blow of this round of epidemic to Jietu Automobile is both dual and two-dimensional.
Although it is not located at the center of the epidemic, the headquarters of Jietu and Chery Holdings, Wuhu and its surroundings, have also been affected by Shanghai and Jiangsu, and the impact of Jietu Automobile is twofold in terms of the rhythm of production and the supply of raw materials. In addition, affected by the epidemic prevention and control, the heavy blow of the tourism industry has also made the shortcut of deepening the "travel culture" once constrained. From this dimension, the impact of Jietu is still two-dimensional.
Therefore, in the face of the cumulative decline of 39.5% in the first quarter of Jietu Automobile, only the sales volume of 26,700 vehicles, Li Xueyong still insisted on the goal of "ensuring 200,000 vehicles and striving for 300,000 vehicles", the market has undergone some subtle changes in the perception of this "young" brand that has been established for more than four years but has been independent for less than a year.
So, under the impact of this round of epidemic, where is the confidence of the goal of Jietu Automobile? In view of the complexity and uncertainty of the market situation and environment, what preparations has Jietu Automobile made?
It is necessary to make up for the dead sheep and to plan ahead
As we all know, unlike the sudden outbreak of the epidemic in 2020, the market demand side is suppressed, with the continuation of the global epidemic, parts suppliers are forced to stop work and production, the cost of raw materials is rising wildly, and production has become the biggest difficulty.
Especially under the influence of this round of epidemics, Shanghai, as an important town in the mainland's automobile industry, is even more involved in the existence of the whole body. Previously, due to the impact of the epidemic in Shanghai, in addition to the local OEMs in Shanghai, many domestic OEMs have been hindered in production due to shortage of parts and components, logistics obstruction and other issues.
Li Xueyong also admitted: "Shanghai's supply chain has led to the supply of Jietu, which was once again worse in the case of insufficient chips in April." According to reports, from the end of September last year to the end of April this year, for a full 8 months, the supply of Jetway cars can only meet about 40% of the demand.
To some extent, this also proves that the production pain points of the whole industry are gradually alleviated and solved along with the improvement of the epidemic, and the "terminal demand" that Jietu Automobile has suppressed is also expected to be gradually released with the improvement of the epidemic.
"After the epidemic, everyone's pursuit of poetry and distant places, more yearning for peripheral travel, and the demand for travel will become more intense." The demand in the market will not change, but because the epidemic has been suppressed and delayed. Once the epidemic improves, it may bring a wave of explosive growth to the crossover model of tourism-themed SUVs. Moreover, this growth should not be a matter of one or two months, it may bring about sustained growth in 3-5 years. ”
According to Li Xueyong, in order to ensure stable supply and demand, in terms of production, Chery Group's factory in Wuhu was only closed for two days, and due to the implementation of the one-way resumption of work, the factory has fully resumed production from the third day. In terms of parts procurement, Chery Group has also made a series of forward-looking reserves, including building reserves in advance and transferring some irreplaceable molds to non-epidemic areas for production.
"The outbreak in Shanghai did not suddenly stop all at once, there was a process. Chery Group has a more systematic procurement system, but also has a certain forecasting ability, we have a layout factory in Anhui, Henan, Jiangsu, Shandong, Guizhou and other eight or nine provinces. Li Xueyong expects that with the gradual alleviation of the chip problem, the supply of Jietu Automobile in May and June will slowly pull to 60%-70% of the demand, and after June and July, it can basically remain above 80%.
It is necessary to "sink" and "live"
From a product sequence, upgraded to an independent brand, as a "young" brand, if Chery Group's strong endorsement, the ability to resist risks and pressure, is the innate advantage of Jietu Automobile, then the image positioning of "Travel +" and the corporate thinking of "serving users" are the acquired efforts made by Jietu Automobile in the current situation is becoming more and more complex and the competition is more and more involuted.
Previously, at the time of the brand's independence, Jetway Announced its sales target for the next five years, that is, to achieve sales of one million units by 2026. At this symposium, Li Xueyong also made it clear: "700,000 domestic vehicles, 300,000 international vehicles, this goal has not changed, many people may feel very radical, but we are very confident." ”
This confidence, on the one hand, comes from the precipitation and reserve of products, technologies and channels. At the beginning of this year, at the first "Travel +" conference of Jietu Automobile, Jietu Automobile officially released a new "Travel +" product strategy, that is, the layout of X, T, P, V four major product layouts, corresponding to SUVs, hardcore off-road, hard pickup trucks and MPV models.
According to Li Xueyong, in the X sequence, Jietu Dasheng, code-named Jietu X-1, will open pre-sale on May 8 and be listed in the third quarter. The T sequence's Jietu T-1 will be officially launched next year, with a variety of powertrains of 1.6T, 2.0T and 3.0T, of which the main sales of 2.0T will be equipped with four-wheel drive.
Starting from 2024, Jetway Will also launch T-2 and T-3 successively, forming three hardcore SUV matrices. At the same time, the T-2 and T-3 will also spawn two pickups. Around 2025, Jetway Will also launch an MPV crossover.
"Based on the Jetto X70, Jetto X90 SUV and Dasheng Sports SUV, T-1, T-2, T-3 hardcore off-road SUV and two pickups, as well as MPV, it is clear that the direction of Jietu's development is aimed at 'Travel +', taking this market of light off-road and relatively heavy off-road."
Therefore, after consolidating the product foundation and finding a clear competitive direction, the confidence to achieve millions of vehicle sales in 2026 comes from the renewal and vitality of user thinking.
In Li Xueyong's view, "the essence and fundamental of the enterprise is to serve the user, you really care about the customer, I think the user will perceive, so I think that the more difficult the face, the more can highlight the user is the foundation of enterprise development." ”
In order to achieve the user's "Shortcut" from the user of Jietu, Jietu Automobile not only created three departments from the customer's rights and interests, the customer operation and maintenance department, the digital service department and the travel + ecology department, but also created three standards including 100% direct customer, 100% direct customer connection, and 100% user evaluation.
Moreover, Jietu Automobile continues to expand the "travel +" ecology from the four dimensions of travel + platform, travel + station, travel + product, and travel + alliance.
Among them, travel + products, that is, equipment products related to outdoor travel, Jietu Automobile has developed 509 products. Travel + platform, that is, through the interactive platform, to maintain contact with customers and improve stickiness. Travel + station, that is, to open up a number of campsites across the country, build a station of jietu car, and provide services. Jietu + Alliance, that is, Jietu provides users with ecological rights and interests that are "more than cars" through cross-border integration of tourism industry resources or scenic spots such as Ctrip, Pathfinder and Fangte.
"The goal of the future must be to focus on the user's use scenarios, so that users can more conveniently enjoy the ecology provided by Jietu in the way of travel, more convenient and convenient." With the increasing competition of automobiles, brands and users are the most core assets of enterprises, as long as they are recognized by users, sales are not a problem. Li Xueyong said.
Red dot observation:
Under the difficulty, Fang Showed Courage and Perseverance. This sentence is not only a true portrayal of today's automobile industry after the impact of the epidemic, but also a criterion for judging whether a brand has sustainable development capabilities. As a "young" brand that has only been established for more than four years and has been independent for less than a year, Jietu Automobile is practicing this truth to us.
Although the rebound of the epidemic and the instability of the supply chain have brought a certain impact to Jietu Automobile, in this test of coexistence of opportunities and challenges, thanks to the empowerment and endorsement of Chery Group, the accuracy and subdivision of product planning, the renewal and uniqueness of user thinking, and the perfection and meticulousness of user ecological scenes, Jietu Automobile's future development prospects are still promising!