Self-owned brands accelerate upward

  Our reporter Yang Zhongyang

  Geely Automobile 146,000, BYD 95,000, GAC Trumpchi 36,600, Dongfeng Fengshen 19,100... Just after the Spring Festival, some independent brands can't wait to announce their January sales.

Judging from the published data, independent brands have maintained a good growth momentum as a whole.

  "Chinese brands should seize the development opportunity period in the next 3 to 5 years, seize the international market, and accelerate brand development." Zhu Huarong, the rotating chairman of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers and chairman of Changan Automobile, said, "In the next 10 years, the global automobile market will A world-class Chinese brand will definitely be born."

  Steady increase in market share

  In the Chinese auto market, there are many strong foreign brands.

Self-owned brands, especially self-owned brand passenger cars that best represent the level of car manufacturing, have been struggling and have been questioned by the society.

However, with China's auto industry surpassing the United States in size, it has become the world's largest auto producer and consumer for many years. Under the guidance of the national innovation strategy, in recent years, traditional auto companies represented by Changan, Great Wall and Geely have forged ahead. New car-making forces represented by Weilai, Ideal and Xiaopeng have emerged, and independent brands have taken off the hats of "cheap" and "backward", and replaced them with new labels such as "technological intelligence", "high-end luxury" and "fashion avant-garde". The weather is new.

  The most direct manifestation is the steady increase in market share.

According to data from the China Automobile Association, in 2021, the cumulative sales of Chinese brand passenger vehicles will be 9.543 million units, a year-on-year increase of 23.1%, accounting for 44.4% of the total passenger vehicle sales, close to the best level in the past years, and the share rate will increase by 6 percentage points over the previous year. .

If commercial vehicles are included, the market share of Chinese brand vehicles has actually exceeded 50%.

  Behind the steady increase in market share is the leap in technological level.

Huang Weida, director of the Industry Information Department of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, said that at present, most Chinese brand vehicle companies have established a relatively complete technology research and development system, including processes, standards, design and verification methods.

In the field of traditional fuel vehicle technology, almost all mainstream companies have developed their own engine products, whose performance parameters are no less than those of joint venture brand engines; Continuously variable transmission technology, the first 9-speed automatic transmission independently developed by my country last year has also been mass-produced.

  In the field of new energy vehicles, my country has not only cultivated the power battery giant CATL, but also has become the world's largest exporter of power batteries.

In addition, it also broke the technical blockade of insulated gate bipolar transistors of leading foreign companies.

In the field of intelligent network connection, based on the application of new technologies such as artificial intelligence and 5G in the automotive field, Chinese brand passenger car companies have also taken advantage of some opportunities.

  "In terms of products, some of them can already compete with or even surpass joint venture brands." Huang Weida explained as an example. For example, in the field of appearance, through the efforts of independent brands in recent years, the aesthetics of the interior and exterior of the body has been greatly improved compared to earlier models. The brand has even formed its own brand characteristics in terms of appearance.

In terms of interiors, among the products of the same level, not only are the prices more affordable, but Chinese brand passenger cars also pay more attention to texture and technology, and the related configurations have surpassed some joint venture brands, such as a large number of soft-pack materials, larger sizes or more in the car. A large number of electronic screens, the use of electronic shifting technology, and the implementation of higher-level human-computer interaction functions, etc.

In terms of driving experience, the driving experience of Chinese brand passenger cars has also undergone qualitative changes compared to earlier models, which confirms the great progress made by Chinese brand passenger car companies in terms of technology and chassis tuning.

  Insufficient brand power is still a short board

  Although the product strength of some self-owned brands can match or even surpass the joint venture brands, the current lack of brand strength is still a shortcoming.

"China has the largest number of auto brands, but the brands are not strong. The gap between the value of a single brand and the brand value of a powerful country is still large, and the ranking of the strongest brands is still far from the top ten in the world." Liu Yan, deputy secretary-general of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, said with emotion.

  The brand power gap is mainly reflected in the price.

"In the past few years, the price of self-owned brand compact cars represented by Changan, Great Wall, Geely, etc. was about 30% different from that of Volkswagen and Toyota with the same configuration." Zhu Huarong said, but after efforts to improve in recent years, 3 The product and brand recognition of the company has become higher and higher, and the price difference has narrowed to 15%.

  The automobile is an industry that expresses its value with its brand.

Without its own brand, or the brand lacks the premium ability, it is difficult to occupy the middle and high end of the industrial chain and value chain and achieve high-quality development.

Especially as the market shifts from incremental market competition to stock game, competition among enterprises will become more intense, and product profits will be further squeezed.

"At present, the price of self-owned brand passenger cars is lower than that of joint venture brands, and the profit of low-priced products is lower than that of high-priced products." Huang Weida said, "If it is further squeezed, it will be difficult for companies to have enough profits to invest in New technology and new product development.”

  From the perspective of the market, the current increase in purchase and exchange of purchases has become the main force for market growth, and the process of increase and exchange is often accompanied by consumption upgrades.

Demand creates supply. Only through brand improvement, development of higher and better products, and improvement of user needs can independent brands win the market competitive advantage.

  "Brand value enhancement, brand high-end breakthrough, and market share improvement are three important aspects of self-owned brands." Liu Yan once said that from the perspective of national policies, industrial changes, corporate innovation and consumption trends, self-owned brands are ushering in an upward trend. Break through new opportunities.

  Two ways to break up

  Brand upward has become the industry consensus, but how to improve is a problem.

At present, the industry has two ways to achieve brand upward: one is to promote the original brand to be more high-end, and the other is to re-establish a higher-end brand.

  "From a strategic point of view, independent brands must accelerate their strategic transformation or ability reshaping." Zhu Huarong said, first, from the direction, it is necessary to accelerate the transformation to the characteristics of intelligence, new energy, low carbon, travel services, and technology companies. The new trend of industry development is a strategic transformation opportunity that must be seized.

  The second is to accelerate the development of products in the direction of intelligence, electrification, networking, and lightweight, and at the same time, it should also develop in the direction of health.

Zhu Huarong said that automobiles are transforming and upgrading from hardware to software, so the capability structure should also be reshaped.

Software-defined automobiles have become a new trend. Future automobiles are called "new automobiles", that is, large-scale mobile intelligent and computing terminals, multi-functional mobile spaces, data acquisition carriers, and new energy storage units.

It can be predicted that automotive products are being transformed into "intelligent platform products", or can be called "automotive robots".

  The third is to seize new marketing changes from the brand and enter the mid-to-high-end market.

Chinese auto brands should gain accurate insight into the trend of younger consumers, more accurately understand and meet users' needs for product styling, configuration needs, vehicle use environment, marketing services, etc., and continue to launch high-tech products and high-quality services to bring users Come for a great travel experience.

Chinese auto brands should accelerate breakthroughs and innovations on new tracks, boost brands through the value of products and services, and promote healthy competition in the auto industry.

  In addition, self-owned brands must seize the general trend of intelligence and new energy development, strengthen the "going out" strategy, and accelerate market development in developed countries such as Europe and the United States, in order to occupy a better seat in the global market.