"Wake up early in the morning and catch a late meeting. It seems appropriate to use this proverb to describe the upward road of Wei brand, with high-quality resources and core technology, but it is not only difficult to break through in sales, but even "start reversing".
2016 is a concentrated year for independent brands to impact the high-end, and WEY brand has also become one of the first brands to impact the high-end. In the past 8 years, WEY has achieved sales of more than 100,000 units in 9 months and 139,000 units per year. I thought this was just the beginning, but I didn't think it was the pinnacle. After the peak, sales declined, and by 2023, the total annual sales of the WEY brand will only be 41,000 units.
In 2023, WEY brand will continue to launch new cars such as Blue Mountain and Gaoshan, but it has always been applauded at the terminal, although the cost performance of these two models is better, but it has not been able to boost WEY brand to take advantage of the trend, the reason is that it is inseparable from WEY brand's insufficient product power and gradually lost brand power.
Sales have once stepped on the top of the mountain, but now they have fallen to the bottom
Wei brand was established in 2016, when the brand was named Wei Pai, and later changed its name to Wei brand in 2021.
Founded in 2016, Weipai sold 86,000 units in 2017 and 139,000 units in 2018. At that time, the main models of Weipai were VV5, VV6, VV7, which changed the plagiarism of most independent models, poor workmanship and other problems, and was equipped with BorgWarner's four-wheel drive system, which guaranteed passability and space practicality.
Some VV6 owners once said that the main reason for choosing Weipai is that it has many configurations, and it is comfortable to drive and sit, which is more cost-effective than joint venture cars.
At that time, the mid-to-high-end SUV market was basically occupied by joint venture models, and Weipai seized this market with better cost performance at that time.
However, the good times were short-lived, and the VV5, VV6, and VV7 models were discontinued in 2021. Later, the Wei brand launched models named after coffee, such as Mocha and Macchiato, and the new model did not continue the previous sales. In 2021, the total sales fell to 58,300 units, and in 2022, the total sales volume will be only 36,000 units.
The Macchiato model is only available for the 2021 model, and then it was discontinued, which was also called a "limited edition" model by some netizens. Since then, WEY has gone further and further on the road of coffee, mocha, macchiato, latte, special aroma, extra strong, large cup, and super large cup. Some consumers have said that not all consumers understand coffee, and the characteristics of the model cannot be seen from the various coffee names of the Wei brand, nor can they distinguish the model level from the name.
The product power was insufficient, and the sales volume of Blue Mountain fell to 2000
Until the arrival of Blue Mountain, it seems that the chaotic product line of the Wei brand has been alleviated to a certain extent, but this model has not really let the Wei brand get out of the line of life and death.
When the WEY brand Blue Mountain was launched in 2023, Chen Siying, then CEO of the WEY brand, said that in terms of product strength and price competitiveness, the sales target of the Blue Mountain was basically 8,000 units. Orders for WEY Lanshan exceeded 10,000 units in 10 days after its launch, and from May to August 2023, the sales volume of WEY Lanshan exceeded 5,000 units, and everything seems to be fine. However, in September 2023, Blue Mountain's sales fell to 2,026 units, and in the following three months, Blue Mountain's sales have been hovering around 2,000 units.
The benchmark model of WEY brand Lanshan is the ideal L8, and the slogan was also displayed at the press conference, which is better than "the best SUV within 5 million". However, as a competitor's ideal L8, its sales volume from July to December 2023 exceeded 10,000 units.
Wei brand Blue Mountain and ideal L8 Air model configuration is the closest, as a reference, ideal L8 Air is the entry version of the car model, the guide price is 339,800 yuan, the price after the discount is about 310,000 yuan, Wei brand Blue Mountain four-wheel drive version is the top model of the car series, the guide price is 308,800 yuan. In contrast, the price of Wei brand Blue Mountain is more advantageous, but the sales volume is far less than the ideal L8.
The poor sales of Wei brand Blue Mountain have a certain relationship with the product, for example, the large 6-seater SUV pays more attention to the ride experience, and the ideal L8 can choose air suspension, but the Wei brand Blue Mountain can not be selected even if it is the top configuration, which makes the second and third rows have a certain difference in ride texture. In the early test drive stage, WEY Blue Mountain engineers had said that they would launch a CDC electromagnetic suspension version, but until now there has been no such version of the model.
In addition, at the driving level that WEY brand is proud of, there are also some problems with WEY brand Blue Mountain. Professionals revealed that the main reason for the lack of extreme output of the motor is that the steering wheel steering will become heavy after many times of rapid general direction.
The positioning is vague, and the sales volume of the mountains is barely more than 1,000
WEY continued to launch the next model shortly after the launch of the large 6-seater SUV Blue Mountain, but WEY did not continue to make efforts in the SUV market, but turned to the MPV market and launched the WEY Alpine DHT-PHEV.
At the launch conference of the Wei brand Gaoshan DHT-PHEV, Wu Hao, the brand director of the Wei brand, once said, "Regarding sales, our first step is to achieve monthly sales of Gaoshan and Blue Mountain."
Unlike the sales volume of the WEY brand Blue Mountain "roller coaster", the sales volume of the WEY brand Gaoshan DHT-PHEV barely exceeded 1,000 units three months after its launch, and then fell again to 403 units in February 2024.
As the same class model of the Wei brand Gaoshan DHT-PHEV, the monthly sales of the Denza D9 are basically maintained at about 10,000 units, and the sales volume of the VOYAH Dreamer is also more than 1,000 units, and the sales volume in December 2023 will exceed 5,000 units.
Auto analysts said that the vague positioning of the Wei brand Gaoshan DHT-PHEV has become one of the reasons for its poor sales, and the mainstream length of MPV is 5.2 meters or 5.3 meters, and the mainstream models of Buick GL8, Denza D9, Trumpchi M8 and VOYAH Dreamer are all in this range. However, the two models of the Wei brand Gaoshan are 5 meters and 5.4 meters respectively, which are not quite in line with the mainstream market. Some consumers said that the Wei brand Gaoshan ordinary version and executive extended version, 5 meters is too short, 5.4 meters too long, are not suitable for daily use.
It is worth noting that the MPV market is relatively niche, but there are more and more models in the market, such as Xpeng X9, Ideal MEGA, and Trumpchi E9, which means that the involution of the MPV market has become more serious, and it is not easy for Wei brand Gaoshan to achieve sales growth.
As the first independent brand to hit the high-end market, WEY brand now seems to be less powerful than new car-making forces such as Ideal in the eyes of consumers. There have been a number of ideal, Wenjie car owners said that when choosing a car, they mainly choose between ideal, Wenjie and BBA, and will not consider the Wei brand. The main reason is that they do not think that the WEY brand is a luxury brand, and at the same time, they are worried that the WEY brand model will be discontinued and become an "out-of-print car".
In today's fast-paced automobile market, technology is needed and consumer recognition is required, and the operation of "burying meat in rice" will eventually result in dismal sales. It is still unknown when Wei will be able to return to the top. However, what is certain is that this brand, which has been given the surname "Wei", can only go on no matter how difficult the road ahead is.