In 2024, more and more car companies are joining the battle of the king of volumes. In terms of sales, the most surprising thing in February was not BYD, but Chery, the "technical science and engineering man". Perhaps, as Yin Tongyue, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of Chery Holding Group, said before: the situation of involution in the automotive industry is severe, and we must not be swept to death by others.
According to official data, Chery Holding Group sold a total of 143155 vehicles in February, a year-on-year increase of 37.8%; From January to February, a total of 348019 cars were sold, up 69.5% year-on-year.
On March 8, data released by passenger cars showed that the retail sales in the market in February were 1.095 million units, down 21% year-on-year and 46.2% month-on-month; This year, the cumulative retail sales were 3.133 million units, a year-on-year increase of 17%. This also shows that in the context of negative growth in the industry, Chery Group is directly growing against the trend.
Behind the sharp rise in sales at the beginning of the year, of course, it is inseparable from Chery's previous layout of amplifying advantages and narrowing shortcomings. Moreover, judging from Chery's "sprint at the start" posture this year, Chery's way of survival this year is not defense, but absolute offense. Just like the way to win, the road is simple. ”
In 2024, Chery's way of survival is to attack.
Chery Group currently has four major brands. From the perspective of the sales structure in February, Chery brand sales were 97,562 units, a year-on-year increase of 41%; Xingtu brand sales were 7,910 units, a year-on-year increase of 56.4%; The sales volume of the Jietu brand was 29,017 units, a year-on-year increase of 76.6%.
In addition, Chery's new power iCAR brand, the first product iCAR 03, received orders of 16,728 units during the pre-sale period, and ushered in the global launch on February 28, with an official guide price of 109,800-169,800 yuan, which is the first time that a pure electric A-class SUV model has entered the 100,000 range.
It can be seen that behind the overall upward sales of Chery Group, it is the optimization of the brand product structure, and Chery's four major passenger car brands, Chery, Xingtu, Jietu and iCAR, have provided strong support for sales and have achieved substantial growth.
Judging from the sales results, Chery has maintained steady growth in recent years and ranked among the top camps.
In 2023, Chery Automobile's annual sales will reach 1.881 million units, a year-on-year increase of 52.6%, far exceeding the overall market growth rate of passenger cars in the industry, and truly entering an upward cycle that has not been seen for many years. In terms of operating performance, Chery Group's revenue in 2023 will reach 315.1 billion yuan for the first time, a year-on-year increase of 50.4%, achieving a "big leap" of 100 billion yuan in one year. Last year, the Group's annual exports of automobiles reached 937148, a year-on-year increase of 101.1%, ranking first in the export of Chinese brand passenger cars for 21 consecutive years.
A number of achievements have reached record highs, indicating that Chery has formed a strong growth potential in 2023 and is entering the fast lane of rapid development. At the same time, it also shows that the market and users recognize Chery's hard work.
Behind the continuous sales to new highs, it also benefits from the strong empowerment of Chery's innovative "technology treasure box".
In terms of R&D investment, Chery relies on the "Yaoguang 2025" technology system and invests 20 billion yuan in R&D every year. According to the information released by Chery Technology Day 2023, the R&D investment in the next five years will be no less than 100 billion yuan, and the number of R&D personnel will reach 25,000, of which more than 50% will be software talents. By the end of 2023, Chery has applied for more than 29,000 patents and obtained more than 18,000 authorized patents.
As Yin Tongyue, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of Chery Holding Group, said on March 5 on the representative channel of the second session of the 14th National People's Congress: "We want to become a world automobile power, we must master the key core technology in our own hands, and we must develop the national automobile brand." ”
Chery's core technology lies not only in the large-scale fuel vehicle market, but also in the technological breakthroughs in the field of new energy and intelligence.
With the further advancement of Yaoguang's 2025 strategy, based on the Mars architecture - super hybrid platform and E0X high-performance electric platform, Chery has continuously implemented various new technologies in the five core technology areas of Mars architecture, Kunpeng Power, Lion Intelligent Cabin, Dazhuo Intelligent Driving and Galaxy Ecology, and continues to provide technical support for the new products of the four major brands by gathering global high-end talents and building a world-class R&D system.
This is also why Yin Tongyue, chairman of Chery, was able to shout: "In the field of new energy, Chery is not welcome in 2024." ”
"You're welcome" to the new energy market is not a bluff
According to Chery Group's goal, it will sprint at the beginning of 2024, accelerate its big moves, speed up the whole process, and quickly enter China's "first camp of new energy".
Chery's new energy strategy is based on value innovation. At present, Chery Group's new energy family has formed three new energy sequences: Chery Fengyun, Xingtu Xingji, and Jietu Shanhai, as well as an independent iCAR new energy brand.
From the end of 2023 to the beginning of 2024, Chery has successively launched or unveiled a series of hybrid and pure electric models such as Epoch ES, Fengyun A8, Jietu Shanhai L9, Fengyun T9, Jietu Shanhai T2, and Epoch ET.
After the Spring Festival, on February 26, the Xingtu Yaoguang C-DM, the "ultra-comfortable electric hybrid flagship SUV" of the Xingtu brand, opened pre-sales, which is also the first model of the Xingtu M3X super-hybrid platform, using three-speed super hybrid DHT technology.
On February 28, Chery Group's new energy electric brand iCAR, the first product of the "all-aluminum electric four-wheel drive" SUV, the trend-setter iCAR 03, was launched. The new car is also the first pure electric A-class SUV model to enter the 100,000 yuan range, and it received 16,728 large orders during the pre-sale period.
On February 29, the Jietu brand ushered in the launch of the "wide-body large 7-seater super-hybrid SUV" Jietu X70 C-DM. The new car has core advantages such as Kunpeng super hybrid C-DM technology, extremely changeable space scene capabilities, and travel + ecological platform.
From the perspective of Chery Group's successive new energy product lineups, it focuses on a rich matrix of high-performance hybrid + pure electric products. In particular, the strong performance of the iCAR 03 after its launch also shows Chery's confidence and confidence in "not being polite".
At the beginning of this year, Chery stated that as the first new energy electric brand of Chery Group, iCAR will adhere to the main line of creating explosive products, and develop a differentiated new market of 100,000-300,000 yuan with the rhythm of two new products per year, and rapidly grow into a "new force" of car manufacturing with both Internet thinking and traditional heritage.
Among the plans of the other three major brands, Chery brand, as the preferred brand for value-added households, will launch 8 upgraded and iterative fuel models and 5 new hybrid models in 2024, covering various market segments; In 2024, the Xingtu brand will fully transform into new energy, relying on the M3X super-hybrid platform and E0X ultra-comfortable high-performance electric platform, and plans to launch a global product matrix of 3 fuel iterations, 3 C-DM hybrids, 2 pure electric vehicles, and 2 range extensions, with an annual sales target of 300,000 units.
Positioned as a global hybrid off-road brand, Jietu will continue to promote the product strategy of fuel + hybrid two-wheel drive, and will launch a total of 15 new products with 7 fuel models and 8 hybrid models in 2024, and hit the annual sales of 500,000 units.
In the past year, Chery has actually achieved the leading position from fuel vehicles to new energy. Chery has a clear and meticulous plan for its fuel, hybrid and electric products, a clear understanding of the current and future market pattern and competitive situation, and a long-term thinking about the international market.
Amplifying advantages, Chery's tug-of-war in overseas markets
In 2023, China's auto exports reached a new high, reaching 4.91 million units, up 57.9% year-on-year. Automobile exports contributed 55.7% to the growth of total automobile sales, which is an important force driving the growth of automobile production and sales.
Chery also has its own thinking about the international market.
As we all know, the export sector is also Chery's strong point. The Group's annual exports of automobiles reached 937148, a year-on-year increase of 101.1%, ranking first in the export of Chinese brand passenger cars for 21 consecutive years. Last year, the country's automobile exports were about 5 million units, of which Chery's exports were close to 1 million, and Chery's performance in overseas markets is indeed strong.
In the game of overseas markets, Chery Group has been accelerating the layout of vehicle products overseas and the construction of vehicle systems.
Last year, a number of blockbuster products such as the Epoch ES and Epoch ET under Chery Group were unveiled at the 2023 Geneva International Motor Show. At the same time, more than 2,000 overseas distributors, overseas media and overseas customers from more than 50 countries and regions around the world also visited Chery's headquarters to further deepen mutual understanding.
On March 5, Yin Tongyue, chairman of Chery, also mentioned at the two sessions, "We believe that in order to become a world automobile power, it is not enough to rely on sales and scale, but also to have our own world brand that is recognized by others." ”
For the next decade, Yin Tongyue believes that it is not only necessary to pursue the world's first place in sales and scale, but also to strive to be a global leader in terms of technological innovation capabilities, quality reputation, and social responsibility.
For the tug-of-war of the major "volume kings" in 2024, Chery's new goal is to continue to maintain high-quality development, and the sales growth rate is planned to exceed the industry by 10-20 percentage points. At the beginning of March, Chery Group also launched a subsidy replacement season of 10 billion yuan, with subsidies ranging from 3,000 to 40,000 yuan according to different models, involving many models including Chery, Xingtu, Jietu and iCAR.
In general, in the face of the complex market situation, Chery aims to fully blossom in the domestic and foreign markets. But at the same time, Chery is also very clear that the future of the company will not only compete in terms of sales volume and scale, but also the ecological system capabilities such as R&D, technology, supply chain, products and even management behind it. As Yin Tongyue, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of Chery Holding Group, said: "Today's Chery is constantly creating a new history of sales and setting a new milestone in quality, and we must continue to polish the golden sign of "Quality Chery", so that it will become the sharpest knife and the hardest shield to help Chery continue to win the next new victory!"