"In the next 2024, 2025, and 2026, the competitive pressure will definitely not be small. We need to plan for the next three years and have a long-term vision. ”
These are the original words of Wei Jianjun, chairman of Great Wall Motors, when talking about industry competition at the company's shareholders' meeting on May 10.
Usually, the shareholders' meeting of a listed company is discussed behind closed doors, and the information is strictly confidential. But the Great Wall is different this time, and directly uses the form of live broadcast, and the company's senior management is all present, which everyone appreciates. It can also be seen from here that the Great Wall is very honest, and it also shows their determination and strength in enterprise reform.
As the sales hegemon of China's auto market in the past, Great Wall has indeed encountered some difficulties in marketing in the wave of electrification and intelligence, and the voices of the outside world are also mixed. But inside the Great Wall, they have always insisted on reform and never stopped.
In the first three quarters of last year, Great Wall's profits fell slightly, but in the first quarter of this year, they delivered a very bright financial report in the fiercely competitive market of China.
According to the financial report for the first quarter of 2024, Great Wall Motor's revenue reached 42.86 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 47.6%, and its profit rose nearly 18 times to 3.228 billion yuan. Not only that, Great Wall Motors is also very strong in sales, selling 275,300 new cars in the first quarter, a year-on-year increase of 25.1%. Among them, the sales of new energy vehicles doubled to 59,200 units, and overseas sales also increased significantly, reaching 92,800 units, a year-on-year increase of 78.51%.
In just one year, Great Wall's finances and sales have returned to the peak. Wei Jianjun said at the shareholders' meeting that this is all because Great Wall adheres to long-termism, carries out internal reforms, and makes wise adjustments to its business model.
Play the long board and stick to the market
Great Wall Motor's strategy in the market is clear, they want to continue to play to their strengths in tanks, pickup trucks and SUVs. Although the competition in the electric vehicle industry is becoming more and more fierce, Great Wall hopes to achieve long-term development through compliance and its own strength.
When it comes to the strength of the Great Wall, several high-level executives, including Wei Jianjun, Shi Qingke and Li Ruifeng, are full of confidence in their own products. In particular, Li Ruifeng, he said that Great Wall has been fully rolled out in plug-in hybrid (PHEV), and has a series of technology-supported products, such as hybrid four-wheel drive Hi4 and Hi4-T technology, which have been used in brands such as Haval, Wei brand, and tank, and the market response is also good.
For Ora, a brand with a slightly weaker profitability, Great Wall intends to adhere to the "feminine" positioning, use Ola to show their strength in the field of pure electric vehicles (BEV), and attract consumers with distinctive brand characteristics. This year, ORA also plans to launch three new cars, the A0-class, A-class and C-class, and upgrade the existing models.
When it comes to tank brands, Li Ruifeng believes that although there are many similar models on the market, Great Wall is not worried about competition. They have many years of experience in the SUV and hardcore off-road market, and their technology has been verified by the market and their reputation is also very good. He also mentioned the six advantages of the tank brand, including long-term accumulation in the SUV field, taking the lead in entering the hard-core off-road market, perfect product layout, market verification of Hi4-T technology, recognition of overseas markets and user ecological verification.
Wei Jianjun also emphasized the uniqueness of the tank brand, especially the main high-strength pure off-road model, which is not something that other brands can easily imitate. He explained that these models are slow in terms of speed, but have high requirements for torque at low speeds, and the electric motor has limitations in this regard. Therefore, the tank brand has a unique advantage in this regard. At the end of the year, their flagship model, the Tank 800, will also be unveiled.
Wei Jianjun also suggested that the off-road category should be subdivided into three categories: "high-intensity pure off-road, pan-off-road, and urban four-wheel drive", and Great Wall has already laid out in these three areas. He believes that the "square box" shape cannot simply be equated with an off-road vehicle, and that a real off-road vehicle requires more technology and experience accumulation.
At the same time, Wei Jianjun also mentioned that Great Wall Motors wants to build a motorcycle that can go down in the history of the industry and represent China's top technology. The Great Wall interior requires the Great Wall motorcycle to be top-notch, and it must be made into an eight-cylinder, automatic transmission DCT, and enjoy silky smooth shifting. In addition, Wei Jianjun said that the Great Wall will try its best to balance feelings and make money when making motorcycles.
Transformation needs to be done from the inside out
Since the day of its birth, the Wei brand of the Great Wall has been looking for its own positioning and development direction. Great Wall Motors also sees it as a key pawn to hit the high-end market. However, judging from the current market feedback, compared with the other four brands of Great Wall Motors, Wei brand has indeed not been able to play its own distinctive characteristics in terms of brand influence.
Wei Jianjun also said frankly that the product strength of the WEY brand has never been weak, especially last year with hybrid and intelligent resources, the competitiveness of the WEY brand in the market is quite outstanding. The Great Wall still needs to be improved in the area of selling cars.
As a result, the Great Wall is now undergoing a complete overhaul from the inside out. According to Li Ruifeng, they are adjusting the internal model and engaging in a mechanism of "small front desk, strong middle platform, and large back office", so as to better integrate resources and quickly respond to the market.
In order to strengthen the middle office, Great Wall has also strengthened the direct communication between technical managers and the market, which is a transformation that they have been trying since last year.
In addition to the management team and technical staff communicating directly with users, Great Wall also needs to work channel communication.
Wei Jianjun said that the current cross-border car manufacturing and electrification changes have not only changed the product and management model, but also brought an impact on the marketing and channels of traditional cars.
For example, many traditional 4S dealers have closed their doors because of their high costs and risks. In recent years, the Great Wall has taken the high-end route, and some dealers who originally only sold Haval were unable to face the 300,000-yuan market. This has also led to a setback in the sales of Great Wall in first-tier cities.
Therefore, Great Wall now plans to build a comprehensive direct sales system to provide better service and after-sales service for high-end brands such as Weipai. Wei Jianjun said that during the May Day period, Wei brand laid out 33 stores in 19 cities, and the effect was not bad.
The direct sales model allows the technical team to communicate directly with users, understand needs, and at the same time show users the value of Great Wall's brands.
Recently, Wei Jianjun has also been active on social media and has become the focus of investors. In February, he began to personally settle on social platforms, interacting with other car company executives through videos, live broadcasts and other means, gradually changing the image of the previous immersion in technology.
Although Wei Jianjun feels that he is still a novice in live broadcasting, he hopes that the management team can also communicate more with users. Now Wei Jianjun not only speaks easily and interestingly, but also often ridicules himself, becoming more and more like an "Internet celebrity executive".
However, Wei Jianjun also stressed that at the Great Wall, live streaming and social platforms are tools to establish direct communication with the public, and he hopes that the team can become "quality influencers".
Adhere to the self-development of the whole link of technology
In terms of technology, Mu Feng, President of Great Wall Motors, Wang Yuanli, CTO of Great Wall Motors, Wu Huixiao, Vice President of Great Wall Motors Product Intelligence, and Liu Bao, Deputy General Manager of Great Wall Motors Technology Center, shared their progress at the conference.
Wang Yuanli said that the Great Wall has the top domestic automobile manufacturing capacity, and is also preparing to build a pneumatic-acoustic wind tunnel laboratory, which is the first of our Chinese brands, which can simulate a wind speed nearly three times faster than a 12-level wind, which is absolutely unique in China.
When it comes to design, there are more than 70 stylists in the Great Wall Technology Center, of which more than 40 are from international manufacturers such as Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen. They also have a set of scientific styling process, which can do the design of 15 products at the same time. Each design is rigorously reviewed to ensure it is optimal. In the future, Great Wall also plans to build a second design center in Europe.
Liu Bao talked about new energy technology, and the Great Wall has made great efforts in the new energy industry chain, from battery cell modules to semiconductor core components, to hybrid configurations and three-electric technologies, all of which are self-developed. In terms of fast charging, 4C has been done, 6C supercharging cells are being experimented, and solid-state batteries are also under development. In terms of electric drive, Great Wall immediately launched an 800V electric drive all-in-one product and a self-developed silicon carbide module, which is the world's leading level.
Hi4 technology is a major breakthrough for Great Wall in the field of hybrid vehicles, it is specially designed for SUVs, pickup trucks and off-road vehicles, fuel-efficient, powerful, safe, and first-class driving experience. This technology is combined with the chassis to form an intelligent electric hybrid drive system, making four-wheel drive safer. At present, this technology has been sold to overseas markets such as Thailand.
In terms of intelligence, Wu Huixiao showed the research and development achievements of the Great Wall intelligent cockpit, including panoramic sound and 3D surround sound, as well as an open applet ecology and "driver" interconnection function. Great Wall's Coffee OS cockpit system has also been awarded the Intelligent Cockpit Smooth Performance Certificate by the Theil Certification Center and has been rated as Excellent.
Mu Feng said that the intelligence of the Great Wall is based on the self-research ability of the whole industry chain in the five major domains of the vehicle. They are working on the next generation of smart chassis, including brake-by-wire, steer-by-wire, suspension by wire, and power-by-wire. This is not only a complete intelligent driving module, but also a completely self-developed architecture of Great Wall.
Great Wall is also very strong in informatization and digitalization, with more than 210 sets of simulation software systems, and AI is also used to empower research and development.
Challenging 500,000, new energy is the incision to go to sea
Regarding the export plan, Wei Jianjun was blunt, saying that Great Wall Motor's goal in 2024 is to guarantee 400,000 units and strive for 500,000 units. In order to achieve this 500,000 overseas sales, we will have to export 58% more than last year's 316,000 units this year, which means that we will have to export more than 50,000 units per month for the next eight months.
In terms of brand, the Haval brand is the main force, with a target sales of more than 300,000 units; The target sales volume of pickup trucks is 60,000 units; The tank brand is aiming for sales of 50,000 to 60,000 units. Moreover, in 2024, Great Wall also intends to launch the ORA brand in key overseas markets.
Speaking of the advantages of exports, Wei Jianjun specifically mentioned new energy. He said that new energy is China's strong point, and it is not comparable to other countries. Foreign countries are not as supportive of new energy as China, so our new energy products have a great advantage when they go abroad.
Let's talk about the competition in overseas markets, Shi Qingke, vice president of Great Wall Motors, said that Great Wall Motors' main competitors overseas are Japanese and Korean brands. Therefore, we need to focus our efforts on implementing the ONE GWM strategy to enter new markets quickly, while understanding that the long-term value of the layout is more important than the short-term operation.
Write at the end
Judging from the shareholders' meeting of Great Wall Motors, it is obvious that they have made a lot of efforts in technology and products in recent years, and the market performance is also quite good. It can be said that Great Wall Motors is ready to show its strengths. We just have to be patient and trust that they will come up with a satisfactory report card soon.