Daimler's "abandoned son" became a king and a "new favorite", why did Denza Nirvana?

Produced | Visitor Travel (aka Visitor Deep Technology)

Author | Liao Hongjie

Edit | Egg total

American editor | Qianqian

Recently, a public denunciation sent Denza Auto to the hot search.

On February 10, Wu Jianming, founder of the car-sharing platform iGO Mobility, publicly bombarded Denza Auto's "store cheating". Wu Jianming said that more than 1,000 Denza cars purchased by iGO Mobility suffered difficulties in the operation of the car rental platform due to battery decay, resulting in a loss of more than 600 million yuan, and so far it has not been reasonably solved by Denza .

In response, Denza responded on February 12: Regarding the content mentioned by the relevant parties, it is a dispute arising from the performance of the contract, which is still in legal proceedings and has not yet been concluded. He also called on both parties to actively cooperate with the court's trial work and accelerate the settlement of the above-mentioned disputes in accordance with the law.

From the statements of all parties, it can be confirmed that the car purchase dispute of iGO Mobility does exist and has not yet been resolved. Denza timely response also shows the seriousness of the problem, especially at the critical time point when Denza Auto is in the climbing stage after the new brand.

However, it is slightly disappointing that Denza avoids talking about the key issue - battery decay, and instead asks the other party to wait for the court hearing.

When the Denza brand was reborn after being "taken over" by BYD, such a scandal of "store cheating" suddenly appeared, whether it was a private settlement or a public judgment, it was undoubtedly a heavy blow to the brand image of Denza Automobile.

1. Denza nirvana rebirth

In early February, Denza Automobile announced its sales data for January 2023, ranking first in the sales of new energy luxury MPVs of more than 350,000 yuan in January, with sales of 6,439 units in a single month and an average price of 410,000 yuan per vehicle.

Since the start of deliveries in October 2022, Denza Automobile has delivered more than 16,200 units in four months, and by the end of January 2023, the cumulative order volume has exceeded 50,000 units.

"Visitor" learned from the data of Chedi that since the delivery of the Denza D9 four months ago, monthly sales have increased from 350 units in October 2022 to 6,439 units in January 2023, and the sales ranking has also risen from the initial 391st to 63rd today, and won the second place in monthly sales in the domestic MPV market, which is only less than 200 units away from Toyota Xena, the first MPV sales company.

In addition to sales and growth rate, Denza Auto's bicycle prices are more eye-catching.

Compared with the top 10 domestic MPV sales models in January 2023, the Denza D9, which ranked second in the monthly MPV sales list, had a significantly higher price than the top 8.39% to 13.31%. Although the Buick Century, which ranks eighth in MPV sales, sells much more than Denza but sells less than a quarter of Denza D9.

The average price was CNY 410,000, and the cumulative sales volume in four months was 16,200 units. In terms of sales, the Denza D9 is catching up with old brands such as Toyota, GM and Honda in the MPV segment, and is ruthlessly "crushing" major joint venture brands in terms of price.

It can be seen that Denza in the MPV market is the new pride of its own brand after GAC Trumpchi.

If the "curve catch-up" of independent brands to joint venture brands is in the SUV market, and the "curve overtaking" of new brands to traditional automobile manufacturers is in the new energy track, then Denza is "cornering and crushing" in the luxury car market is in the subdivided MPV market.

This is why the current sales volume of Denza is always inseparable from the MPV market, after all, the current Denza models on sale are only for the MPV market Denza D9, which is also the first model after the new Denza brand.

As for what makes people deeply puzzled, why is the first model of the Denza brand replaced by MPV? Instead of the SUVs sought after by other "new brands"?

From the data ranking, the Denza D9, which sold 6,439 units a month after delivery, can rank second in the MPV sales list, if it is ranked 30th in the SUV list, and if it is placed in the sedan market, it has to rank 33rd. In addition, for the "frustration" of the old Denza brand in the SUV market, BYD has a lot of layout in the SUV and sedan market.

In other words, Denza successfully exited the circle because BYD gave up the entire MPV market. After the "big sale" of the first model, the road to Denza brand replacement may be much easier.

2. Reduced to "outcasts"

When it comes to brand renewal, we have to mention the bumpy road of the old Denza .

In 2010, Daimler, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz, signed a cooperation agreement with BYD to establish the first new energy joint venture in Shenzhen with 50% of each shareholding, and Daimler also took this opportunity to enter the Chinese new energy market.

Two years later, the joint venture launched the Denza brand, which focused on the new energy vehicle market, and the first concept car was officially unveiled at the 2012 Beijing International Auto Show. According to the agreement between the two parties, BYD will provide the three electric technologies for the Denza brand, and Daimler will be responsible for the production and manufacturing of the whole vehicle.

In 2014, Denza launched its first production car, and the joint venture between Daimler and BYD was officially renamed Denza New Energy.

Immediately, Denza also ushered in a multi-year brand upgrade plan, under the promotion of Daimler, the metal logo of "Engineered with Daimler Group Daimler Joint Design" was also embedded in the Denza body, and Denza cars also successfully entered the sales channel of Mercedes-Benz...

Figure / Network

In the external promotion of products, Denza Automobile is also emphasized as a joint venture car brand under the century-old automotive technology of German Daimler and China's most advanced electric vehicle technology, and Denza Automobile has entered the historical highlight moment since the establishment of the brand in terms of marketing momentum.

In November 2014 and May 2015, in order to support Denza new cars, Yu Chengdong, CEO of Huawei's consumer business, and Li Xiang, founder of Autohome, successively received the "key" from the Denza management, and became the early owners of Denza cars, and were also the earliest public figures to stand for Denza Automotive.

However, a very dramatic scene is that a few years later, Li Xiang, the founder of Autohome, brought his ideal car to become a "benchmark" among the new forces of car manufacturing, and vowed to "the best SUV within 5 million yuan". A little later, Huawei's Yu Chengdong also led the Huawei car BU team to jointly launch AITO with Cialis, and the Qianjie brand also issued the "million-level luxury car" statement.

Photo / Denza Auto's WeChat public account

In contrast, the "luxury electric brand" that once backed Daimler and BYD has gradually become an "outcast" in the market.

According to public data, in the eight years from 2015 to 2022, the cumulative sales of Denza Automobile were about 32,700 units, and if the sales of 9,803 Denza D9 units in 2022 are excluded, the cumulative sales of the Denza brand led by Daimler are only 22,900 units.

This also includes car rental platforms represented by IGO and local taxi companies that purchase hundreds of thousands of operating vehicles in bulk.

It shows how unpopular the former Denza Automobile is in China's new energy market.

In addition, "Visitor Travel" learned from the official data of Denza Automobile that in the past ten years since the establishment of the joint venture car company, Denza Automobile has successively launched the Denza 300 and the facelifted models Denza 400 and Denza 500, and the Denza X model that Daimler has high hopes for, and there are only a few models.

Objectively speaking, Denza Automobile's project started too early, and the main problem of the slow project progress was that it was difficult to pioneer the electric vehicle market in the early years. Due to the policy subsidies for the new energy market and the protection of its own brands, Denza Auto is far less fortunate than its own brands such as BYD, BAIC New Energy, Dongfeng Fengshen, and GAC Aion, and will be escorted by local state-owned rental platforms.

In addition, Daimler, which focuses on the brand in the Chinese market, and BYD, which focuses on technology, will also take time to run in under the joint venture. Facts have also proved that in addition to the road of Denza Automobile, the smart cooperation between Daimler and Geely does not seem to be smooth, and the EQ series brand launched by Mercedes-Benz has embarked on the "road to death" step by step.

3. "Persistent" takeover

Whether it is "born at the right time" or "water and soil are not satisfied", in the face of the "decline" of Denza Automobile, there must be a result in life and death.

In February 2021, Daimler's Chairman and CEO Kang Linsong said about the future of Denza Automobile: "The success of the Denza X crossover model launched by Denza will determine the future of this brand, Daimler's cash investment in Denza has been completed, and we will continue to observe its development before making a decision." ”

It can be seen that Denza X is Daimler's last insistence on Denza Automobile, everything that can be done has been done, and the last chance is indeed no way to compete with it.

Judging from the sales data of 4,783 units in 2021, although Denza Auto is better than in previous years, it still fails to live up to Daimler's wishes.

In July 2022, Denza Automobile completed a new round of corporate changes, the chairman of Denza Automobile was replaced from the original Hubertus Troska (head of Mercedes-Benz Greater China - Tang Shikai) to BYD's Wang Chuanfu, and the legal representative was also replaced by Hubertus Troska to Ai Fengjie.

Figure / Tianyancha APP

At the same time, BYD's shareholding in Denza has also increased from 50% to 90%, and Daimler's shareholding in Denza has decreased to 10%. Daimler's Hubertus Troska, Markus Schaefer (Mercedes-Benz COO) and Olaf Schicak (Daimler Greater China CFO) all withdrew from the board of directors of Denza Motors.

At this point, BYD took full control of Denza Automobile, and Daimler also shifted from strategic investment to over-the-top financial investment.

On May 16, 2022, at a new product launch that lasted for an hour and a half, Wang Chuanfu personally took the stage to point out the new direction of the development of Denza new brand. Denza Automobile also completely ended the ten-year history of car manufacturing led by Daimler.

In the new brand architecture of "BYD led by Daimler", Denza new products will enjoy BYD's technology empowerment, including "e-platform 3.0", "DM-i hybrid technology" and "blade battery".

Yang Dongsheng, Vice President of BYD Group, promised at the press conference: "BYD will inject the best new energy power and intelligent technology into Denza and interpret the new definition of luxury with high-end technology."

Also at this press conference, Wang Chuanfu personally released the first model under the new Denza brand - Denza D9.

Taking this conference as a node, Denza Auto also changed the pure circuit line of the past, and the first Denza D9 DMi also alleviated the endurance anxiety of pure electric in the past. Coupled with the EV power system based on the e-platform 3.0 and the blade battery for safety and endurance, the brand's first model solved many problems such as short battery life and poor power under Denza "oil to electricity" in one go.

Photo / BYD's official WeChat account

BYD has high hopes for the new Denza brand, according to Wang Chuanfu, the new Denza brand will carry the high-end market of BYD dynasty series and ocean series. Combined with the million-level new brand "Yangwang" that has been released so far, the existence of Denza will fill the luxury brand market between the dynasty line, ocean network and Yangwang brand.

This will also be a 300,000-600,000 price market that faces the competition of many car companies such as NIO, Ideal, Extreme Krypton, Lantu, Zhiji and Avita.

The combination of pure electric and plug-in hybrid, the balance of power and endurance, the combination of brand and technology... It is not difficult to see that after the new Denza brand, whether it is product positioning or market targeting, it will face the current "new brand" of car manufacturing.

The big win of the first Denza D9 is only due to the dividends in specific markets, and it will take longer to verify whether the new Denza can change the "decadence" of the past.

4. Conclusion

Visitor Travel has repeatedly mentioned in articles that it is often easier to launch a new brand than to upgrade an old one. After all, cars have already completed the switch from industrial products to consumer goods, and car consumption has little to do with rationality.

Although the old brand may have a certain accumulation in popularity, in the face of the new track in the new environment, the inherent image labels such as "traditional" and "conservative" have also been deeply imprinted in the minds of consumers. Especially those "failed" brands will be abandoned by the market.

For traditional automobile manufacturers to hit the high-end market, in recent years, Chery's Xingtu, BAIC's Polar Fox, Dongfeng's Lantu, Xiaokang's Wenjie, SAIC's Zhiji and Feifan, Changan's Deep Blue and Avita, Geely's Extreme Krypton and Xinghe, as well as BYD's Ocean and Lookup... All of them are re-pulling out a team, from products to brands, from channels to after-sales "from scratch".

And it seems that only BYD's Denza and Dongfeng's fierce warriors do brand upgrades.

As for BYD's adherence to the Denza brand, in the view of "Visitor Travel", the industry "leader" BYD's brand lineup is relatively single, compared to working brand marketing, the helmsman Wang Chuanfu is more enthusiastic about engineer culture.

As for the future of Denza new brand, if positioning MPV is a market dividend that BYD intends to give, it depends on the market performance of the first SUV model or the first sedan. Another is the attitude towards the "old account" of the old Denza brand, after all, the old owner who once believed in Denza is still there.

When polishing a new product, remember to look back at the old owners who once chose to believe in you.

*The title picture in the article is from: Denza official website.