1. Love each other and kill each other
In 2023, automobile brands in China became more and more "rolled up". In less than two months, BYD, Chery and Geely have successively launched new plans for various brands in the high-end market. Although there are different forms, the word "high-end" has been repeatedly mentioned whether it is a new car, a new series or a new brand. According to China Newsweek, Great Wall Motor is also preparing a "different" plan. In recent years, the sales volume of mainstream automobile brands in China has been growing against the trend, and new energy vehicles have quickly seized the market, largely replacing the joint venture brands that originally occupied the mid-end market. However, in the higher-end market, after a short period of excitement, China automobile brands are mostly weak. Therefore, since this year, the enterprise groups behind the major automobile brands in China have turned their attention to the new energy market.
A few days ago, Geely brand released a new high-end new energy series "Geely Galaxy", and plans to launch seven new models within two years. Geely brand has also released new energy electrification technologies such as Aegis battery safety system, Raytheon hybrid 8848 and new car operating system "Yinhe N OS". Not only that, Geely Galaxy also interacted with BYD's high-end car brand "Looking Up" in 5438+ 10, which triggered a heated discussion. It is rare for two China automobile companies that have been competing for many years to be so "in love" before another close battle.
Looking forward to the brand and technology conference held on October 5th, 65438/KLOC-0, with the theme of "Dare to Cross the Galaxy". Geely brand, which is good at "playing with stalks", frequently "interacted" with other brands before the official release of Galaxy. Not only released the slogan "Starry sky that everyone in the Galaxy looks up to", but also released the slogan "Galaxy L7 is the ideal car from the Galaxy" to interact with Li.
Later, I looked up and responded to the brand with the poster "Join hands with you and dare to cross the galaxy". The interaction between the two brands subsequently led to the "battle map" of various China automobile brands: Lan Tu Automobile's copy is "Looking up to the Milky Way just to chase the light", which means that the brand's models chase the light; Changan Deep Blue bluntly said in the poster that "looking up at the Galaxy is a touch of deep blue" and got on the @ Geely Automobile in Weibo, implying that Geely Galaxy "copied".
On February 27th, Changan Automobile perennial legal adviser law firm sent a lawyer's letter to Geely Automobile Co., Ltd. and Geely Automobile Group Co., Ltd., claiming that the prototype of Geely Yinhe "Galaxy Light" has a lot of similarities with the concept car and production car of Changan Automobile, which is suspected of infringing the intellectual property rights of Changan Automobile. In this regard, Geely responded that the "Galaxy Light" is an original design, and there is no plagiarism or infringement of other people's intellectual property rights. The accusation is unfounded.
Subsequently, Yang Xueliang, senior vice president of Geely Holding Group, forwarded this response on social media, "Be healthy in the competition, don't be guilty; To transform and develop, don't be in the same room: unite and don't split and discredit. "
It is not uncommon for automobile circles to echo each other through posters and slogans, but what is more special this time is that it happened between China automobile brands determined to attack the high end, and it also involved the "plagiarism" incident that has been difficult to determine. Therefore, this will lead to a "gentleman's war"?
Change lanes and break through
After several years of fierce market competition, China automobile brands such as BYD, Geely, Chang 'an, Great Wall and Chery Automobile have come to the fore, and they are confident to compete directly or even surpass the mainstream joint venture brands in sales volume and market.
However, in the high-end market, both cars and SUVs are still dominated by brands such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi and Tesla. China automobile brands have also made some breakthroughs in the high-end fuel automobile market, but neither Hongqi nor Tank brand finally made the bestseller list. In recent years, the number of new energy vehicles that have won sales breakthroughs for China automobile brands is still 65,438+0-200,000 yuan, and the proportion of high-end new energy vehicles above 300,000 yuan in total sales is less than 65,438+00%. Therefore, with the rapid popularization of new energy vehicles, China automobile brands choose to change their tracks and seek brand breakthroughs in the high-end new energy vehicle market.
BYD, which is riding the dust in the new energy market, is the first to release the high-end brand outlook, covering all price ranges. At present, BYD Dynasty and Ocean series vehicles cover the market range of 65438+00-300,000 yuan, aiming at the market of 300-500,000 yuan and aiming at the million-level market. "Chinese high-end brands don't just buy materials. Looking up will change the pattern of the global high-end automobile industry. " Wang Chuanfu, chairman and president of BYD, said so at the brand and technology conference.
On February 23rd, Geely brand brand new high-end new energy series-"Geely Galaxy" was officially released. Compared with looking up, Geely's choice is much more grounded: Geely Geometry focuses on the market below 6.5438+0.5 million yuan, and it focuses on the market above 300,000 yuan, while Galaxy series will fill the intermediate market of 6.5438+0.5 million -0.3 million yuan.
"We want to further label our new energy products through a high-value new energy series such as Geely Galaxy, which will give you a refreshing impression in image, products and channel services, thus strengthening the product series label of Geely Automobile in the new energy market." Lin Jie, senior vice president of Geely Automobile Group, said in an interview with China Newsweek that the reason why "Geely Galaxy" is a series rather than a brand is to stay focused, focus on a Geely, make parent brand bigger and stronger, and realize upward value.
On February 2 1 day, Chery's high-end brand Xingtu launched its flagship model Eta Ursae Majoris, with a price of152,800-202,800 yuan. Yin Tongyue, Party Secretary and Chairman of Chery Holding Group, said at the press conference that "Starway is the jewel in the crown of Chery Group, and the global model Starway Eta Ursae Majoris is the representative work of Chery Group's latest technical concept and latest user concept".
Compared with BYD, Great Wall, Geely and even Chang 'an, Chery's presence has been much weaker in recent years under the background of soaring sales of automobile brands in China. This is related to the fact that most of Chery's models are still hovering around 6.5438+10,000 yuan, and there is almost no record in high-end breakthroughs. Moreover, Chery has never seen a national model like Chery QQ. This makes Chery have the same sales growth, but it is not as popular as other China automobile brands.
A few years ago, China automobile brand, which took 200,000 yuan as the "brand ceiling", finally entered a new stage, and began to really have the foundation and action to break through the high-end market collectively. This is also a new turning point for major automobile enterprises in China to lead their brands to stand on a new stage of new energy development.
3. Controversy resurfaced?
With the increasing competition, "conflicts" in the automobile circle are common. "Judging from recent events, behind the dispute is actually a struggle between technology and aspects." Some insiders said. It is understood that Geely's "Galaxy Light" designer, who was caught in the "plagiarism storm", was previously the global design director of Changan Automobile. According to public information, in March, 2022, Zheng Chen officially joined Geely Automobile as the vice president of group design. Zheng Chen had previously worked in Changan Automobile for about 20 years, serving as creative designer of Changan Automobile, global design director of Changan Automobile, chief brand operation officer, general manager of brand public relations department and executive vice president of Changan Automobile Modeling Design and Research Institute, and leading the design of Changyou Ernst & Young, Ruicheng and UNI series.
However, at present, the prototype of "Galaxy Light" is only a concept model, and it is still unknown whether it will be questioned as "plagiarism" in the future production car stage. ?
In the eyes of the above-mentioned people, the works of the same designer will inevitably have characteristics similar to DNA. Just like after Hongqi hired a former Rolls-Royce designer, the model began to have a Rolls-Royce style; After the former Porsche designer was invited, the Great Wall Euler also had the Porsche style. In recent years, the similarity of appearance has been a controversial field in .................................................................... Previously, Chery Tiggo 8 Pro was questioned that the front face was similar to Changan CS75 PLUS, and the rear shape was similar to Haval H6. From Weilai ET7 to Tucki P7, then to Zhiji L7, Weimar M7, and recently, BYD Seal, etc., this design is always controversial. In fact, China automobile brands have made great efforts in originality. At present, most domestic automobile brands have formed their own design language systems, such as Changan's "Almighty", Changan's "Symbiosis Aesthetics", BYD's "Dragon Face", Great Wall's "Xianwei Design" and Hongqi's "Shang Zhiyi".
However, due to functional reasons (wind resistance, space, ergonomics, etc.), compared with the design of other industrial products, there is not much room for free play. In addition, the public's aesthetic standards for automobile design are relatively consistent, and the design symbols of automobile appearance and interior are easy to converge. When the dispute of "plagiarism" is transferred from fuel vehicles to new energy vehicles, the situation is still getting worse and worse, and it is difficult to improve in the future. However, this kind of dispute has existed in the automobile field for more than 100 years, and will not substantially hinder the development of the industry.
4. Collective upward
China's automobile brands collectively broke through to the high end. Although it started with a poster "jigsaw puzzle", it is still a golden opportunity node for China's brand collectively to move up. ? In recent years, under the wave of industrial transformation, China automobile brands, represented by the new forces of building cars, quickly seized the new opportunities of electrification and intelligence and launched a collective offensive to the high-end. The average price of many high-end electric brands exceeds 300,000 yuan, reaching a height that China automobile brands can't reach in the era of fuel vehicles. However, this situation mostly exists in new power brands, and it is still not enough to compete with strong brands in sales volume. In 2022, China automobile brand, led by BYD, successfully challenged the position of joint venture brand in China market, and realized lane change and overtaking with new energy. In 2022, China automobile brands also achieved an annual market share of 50% for the first time in ten years, and regained half of the country. This means that the automobile product pattern and brand class formed in the era of traditional fuel vehicles have been broken.
"The real upward goal must be in the market of more than 250,000, that is, the market once occupied by foreign brands, first-line luxury and second-line luxury." A person in charge of a car company said that in the era of intelligent electrification, the opportunity of surpassing is placed in front of the China brand, which also opens up a new channel for the brand's upward movement.
"From Geely to the present, every change depends on product strength and technological innovation."
Gan Jiayue, CEO of Geely Automobile Group, said that new energy has entered a new stage of value creation. In this new stage, we must come up with new things to empower the whole product, and intelligence is an important new weapon that Geely has come up with.
Under the new historical opportunity, although there are conflicts between brands, it is more cooperation.
"China's automobile brands need the participation and joint efforts of all parties. In the next step, China Automobile Industry Association will continue to carry out more pragmatic and effective work in promoting the overall development of automobile brands in China, play a good role as a bridge and link of industry organizations, and work together with all participants to create a big brand image of' China Automobile' and help China automobile brands to' go up',' go out' and' go in', gather industry strength and jointly promote the realization of the goal of automobile power. " The relevant person in charge of China Automobile Industry Association said.