Whip bull on August 2, the automobile circle in 2024 has become the focus of the war of words in the Chinese business community.
In recent years, the smell of gunpowder at domestic car conferences has become stronger and stronger, in addition to talking about products, technology, and brands, some car companies have also begun to sarcastically and criticize friends by name or without names. The new product launch has become a place to output emotions and negative energy.
But there are also car companies that do the opposite. BYD, which shouted "together is a Chinese car" a year ago, has recently been praised by netizens for "opening the pattern" because of a sentence from an executive.
At the launch conference of BYD Song L DM-i and the new Song PLUS DM-i on July 25, BYD executive He Zhiqi publicly "praised" the Great Wall of its friends: "It can be said that the Great Wall has single-handedly defended the Great Wall of Chinese SUVs. As soon as the words ended, the audience burst into cheers.
Ho sees Great Wall's Haval brand as the biggest driver of the SUV market shifting from a joint venture brand to an independent brand:
"In the past, China's A-class sedan sales list has been occupied by joint ventures, and it was not until the Chinese brands represented by Geely, Changan, GAC and BYD entered the market that the market pattern was gradually rewritten. Similarly, China's SUV market has been monopolized by joint venture brands for a long time.
More than ten years ago, Chinese brand SUVs were not the mainstream of the market, and the emergence of Haval has changed this situation. From 2013 to 2021, the Haval H6 won the sales championship in the SUV market for nine consecutive years. It can be said that the Great Wall has single-handedly defended the Great Wall of Chinese SUVs. ”
According to public information, He Zhiqi is currently the executive vice president of BYD Group and the chief operating officer of the passenger car business group, and is the head of BYD's passenger car business segment. He Zhiqi's public praise of the Great Wall quickly sparked heated discussions and received unanimous praise from netizens.
(Photo: BYD Double Song press conference live barrage)
As we all know, the relationship between Great Wall and BYD, two Chinese car brands, has been very "delicate" in the past year or so. Great Wall repeatedly criticized "certain brands" and "certain car companies" at press conferences, and was interpreted by the outside world as ridiculing competitors such as BYD.
In fact, in the past two years, BYD has become the focus of benchmarking and even attacks by some car companies. At the press conference, BYD's products, technical routes and even business philosophy were tested by friends with a magnifying glass; In terms of sales channels, BYD's product parameters were displayed and benchmarked by friends on large-scale posters; At industry forums, BYD's business model has also been criticized by executives from its friends.
The reason why these car companies "set fire" to BYD is actually not complicated. BYD is the fastest-growing car company in China and the world in recent years, and its rapid rise has put some peers under pressure. At the same time, BYD has also become a traffic highland, which can rub off on BYD's popularity and bring traffic to itself.
But in the face of these phenomena, BYD did not fight-for-tat, and even chose to repay grievances with virtue and took the initiative to cool down the war of words. In 2023, BYD shouted the slogan "Together is China's Motor" at the ceremony of its 5 million new energy vehicles off the assembly line, and exhibited a number of popular new energy models of its own brands at the event, including Great Wall's Haval Thunder MAX.
(Photo: BYD's 5,000,000th new energy vehicle off the assembly line)
Under the logo of BYD's official website is a line of small words - leader of new energy vehicles. In the era when new energy vehicles have not yet been popularized, BYD's slogan has aroused doubts - BYD can't make fuel vehicles, but runs to make new energy vehicles. However, as the penetration rate of new energy vehicles is getting higher and higher, and even becoming the mainstream of the industry, BYD's positioning as a "leader in new energy vehicles" is well deserved. Some brands that once led BYD have instead become BYD's chasers in the process.
And BYD has not abandoned its responsibility as a "leader in new energy vehicles". Perhaps this is also the reason why BYD chose to repay its grievances with virtue and took the initiative to cool down the war of words in the car circle.
At the 2024 China Auto Forum a few days ago, Li Yunfei, general manager of BYD Group's brand and public relations department, pointed out in his speech that new energy vehicles are a whole, and Chinese automobiles overseas are also a whole:
In the past, automobile consumers had doubts about new energy vehicles, and did not think that it was a specific brand's problem, but a new energy vehicle problem; In the future, Chinese auto brands will go overseas, and overseas consumers will also see Chinese auto brands as a whole.
It is not difficult to see that BYD hopes to become the "leader" of the new energy vehicle industry and even the entire Chinese auto brand. As a "leading brother", participating in the war of words will only reduce the image of the brand itself, which is not beneficial to the industry and the public. In this regard, Li Yunfei also called on Chinese automobiles to work together to build a number of respectable world-class brands.
In fact, whether it is the war of words in the industry or the praise of netizens for BYD's "big pattern", it is just the appearance of the current great changes in China's automobile and even the global automotive industry.
Nowadays, China's automobile is ushering in a very important choice - to unite all the way forward and work together in multiple dimensions such as technology, products, and brands; Or are they fighting on their own, beggar-thy-neighbor, and falling into endless quarrels and anxieties.
Obviously, this is not an issue that needs to be thought through.