The hustle and bustle of the Beijing Auto Show in April allowed us to see a radical transformation of Great Wall Motors. Under the dual background of "traffic war" and "price war", Great Wall Motors once again handed over an answer sheet of "steady progress".
Great Wall Motor's sales performance in April is very good: a slight year-on-year increase, a slight month-on-month decline.
Three days ago, Great Wall Motor released its sales figures for April 2024. According to the data, in April 2024, Great Wall Motor sold 94,796 new vehicles, a slight increase of 1.81% year-on-year and a month-on-month decrease of 5.46%.
Specifically, among the new cars sold by Great Wall Motor in April, 36,141 units were sold overseas, a year-on-year increase of 65.68%, a record high; sales of new energy vehicles were 22,436 units, a year-on-year increase of 50.94%; Sales of models over 200,000 yuan were 25,625 units, up 98.18% year-on-year.
Overseas markets, new energy, and the proportion of models with more than 200,000 yuan are increasing, and Great Wall Motor's sales structure has been upgraded in a real sense. According to the rising data, it is not difficult to speculate that in the future, Great Wall Motors will focus more on these three major markets in terms of market selection.
In fact, the balance between quality, quantity and price is one thing that Great Wall Motors has always been doing.
Now, with the advent of the era of new energy vehicles, under the influence of various intelligent and electrification concepts, Wei Jianjun, chairman of Great Wall Motors, also personally went live to stand for the Great Wall intelligent driving platform. Behind these phenomena, there is only one truth -
Great Wall Motors is in the next game of "big chess".
5 major brands, who is the most eye-catching?
Great Wall Motor's five major brands, WEY brand new energy, Haval, tank, Ora and Great Wall pickup, are in their respective positions and are the key parts of Great Wall Motor's "city wall".
The long-term market accumulation and deep cultivation have given Great Wall Motors a "stable" foundation. So much so that today, Great Wall Motors still maintains the honor of No. 1 in sales of hard-core off-road models, No. 1 in off-road new energy models, and No. 1 in pickup truck sales.
But it must be admitted that in the era of new energy vehicles, the single product category is the first, and it seems that it can no longer satisfy the appetite of the majority of "spectators".
Haval sold 47,054 new vehicles in April, down from March. However, from January to April, Haval sold a total of 204,943 new vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 15.11%.
It is worth mentioning that before and after the 2024 Beijing Auto Show, not only the Haval Raptor was newly launched, but the new generation of Haval H6 and H9 also made their world debut. In particular, the strong return of the H series has brought a clear direction for Haval: the new generation H6 is a strategic model, leading the urban SUV market; The next-generation H9 is a strategic model that leads the hardcore SUV market.
Tanks sold 20,469 new cars in April, a year-on-year increase of 87.51%; From January to April, 69,653 new vehicles were sold, up 98.30% year-on-year.
Some people may think that Haval and the tank brand are seizing the market with each other, causing internal friction. As everyone knows, at this time, Haval and the tank brand have stood together and united in the united front, the purpose of which is to create a wall of Great Wall Motor's hard-core off-road, not only to resist the enemy thousands of miles away, but also to ensure the vitality and competitiveness of its own automobile products at all times.
WEY New Energy sold 4,458 new vehicles in April, up 87.71% year-on-year; From January to April, 14,066 units were sold, up 143.44% year-on-year.
As the brand and technical leader of Great Wall Motor, WEY brand new energy is the main force and pioneer of Great Wall Motors in the era of new energy vehicles. With Wei Jianjun's personal platform and the "vigorous flying bricks" of intelligent transformation, Wei brand new energy has gradually transformed from the hybrid of the whole system to the intelligence of the whole system.
It is worth looking forward to, the Wei brand Blue Mountain Intelligent Driving Edition is just an appetizer, and there will inevitably be more and bigger actions in the future.
ORA sold 4,686 new vehicles in April, a little less than in March. But for Euler, it is also a critical period of transformation.
At the Beijing Auto Show, ORA not only opened a new era of brand globalization 2.0, but also officially announced: in the next three years, in terms of global product layout, ORA will develop from the models on sale to full coverage of A0-C-class, and all the dual product lines of sedans and SUVs will go to sea.
Great Wall Pickup sold 18,069 new vehicles in April and 61,564 units from January to April. Great Wall Cannon sold 14,231 new vehicles in April, up 10.55% year-on-year.
A "Great Wall Cannon" made the Great Wall pickup stand out among the five major brands and take the lead in the circle, and then became a traffic model for Great Wall Motors.
In the entire pickup market, the performance of Great Wall Motors is even better, especially with the blessing of new energy buffs, Great Wall pickups have more room for imagination.
All in all, as far as April is concerned, the sales of the five major brands of Great Wall Motors have increased and decreased, and the major brands also have their own shining points. But it is worth noting that behind these data and traffic, there is the same thing hidden - Great Wall Motors, which is really going to change.
Seek change in stability and play "big chess"
Compared with other friends, Great Wall Motor's approach to the new energy vehicle market is indeed different, simply put, it is a "stable" word. At the recent closed-door meeting, Wei Jianjun, chairman of Great Wall Motors, said:
"In the future, we will definitely thank ourselves for choosing today."
That's right, the strategic policy of seeking change while maintaining stability has brought more operational space to Great Wall Motors. In the first quarter of this year, Great Wall Motor's net profit was 3.2 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 1752%, which is the most powerful proof. At this moment, the opportunity for Great Wall Motors' "big change" has arrived.
First of all, it is the continuous innovation of model products.
Hi4 hybrid technology is the key to Great Wall Motor's new energy transformation, it is not difficult to see that from the Haval brand, which is responsible for sales, to the tank of the first brand of China's off-road SUV, and then to the "vanguard" Wei brand new energy, Great Wall Motors has gradually allocated models equipped with Hi4 hybrid technology.
It is worth mentioning that on this basis, Great Wall Motors is transforming to the whole system of intelligence. In the near future, not only Wei brand new energy, but also tanks, Ora, and even the entire Haval brand will be equipped with high-end intelligent models.
With food and guns in his hands, he does not panic when he fights. Technology, blessing Great Wall Motor's long-termism in the era of new energy vehicles.
Secondly, it is the in-depth layout of overseas markets.
From "product" to "ecology", Great Wall Motors has taken a solid step forward in its global development. Rather than transporting cars overseas to sell, Great Wall Motors is more inclined to "move" the ecology to the past, which Great Wall Motors calls "high-quality going to sea".
Localization of production capacity, localization of operation, cross-cultural brand and supply chain security are the slogans of "International New Four Modernizations" shouted by Great Wall Motor. Up to now, the five major brands of Great Wall Motors have all gone overseas.
Although Great Wall Motor's approach has certain shortcomings, such as slow progress and very asset-heavy, for Great Wall Motors, it is a stable and only way to achieve the "Global Great Wall".
Last, but not least, put down your grip and chase traffic.
Traffic is a double-edged sword, if you don't have the power to go home, it is likely that you will hurt yourself before you hurt anyone. In the era of new energy vehicles, the appearance is the pursuit of traffic, but its interior is a new iteration of the underlying logic of the market.
Therefore, chasing traffic is chasing market changes.
Although I don't want to admit it, in this era when the aroma of wine is also afraid of deep alleys, traffic is indeed the best way to promote. Only with the help of traffic can we better promote the product, and then reach the intended consumers more extensively, and realize the closed loop of the entire marketing.
Entering the game by himself, Wei Jianjun gambled all his previous reputations, personally led Great Wall Motors, and took traffic and public opinion into his own hands, which was undoubtedly a great determination.
In the future chess game, there are still doubts about whether Great Wall Motors can use this overwhelming traffic as a guide to do a good job in new energy, intelligence, and going to sea, and then take every step of the chess game.
New and old friends at home and abroad, Tesla, Huawei, Xiaomi, etc., are not vegetarians. If Great Wall Motors wants to break out of the encirclement, it may need to hurry.