Although sometimes we always say "don’t judge heroes by success or failure", countless facts of "success or failure" make us have to pay more attention to the winners. Especially under the stock competition, the "involution" of the automobile market is accelerating, and the automobile enterprises are also facing more complicated situations.
According to the retail sales data of the Federation, in July this year, the retail sales of the domestic narrow passenger car market reached 1.775 million, down 2.3% year-on-year and 6.3% quarter-on-quarter. From January to July, the cumulative sales volume was 11.299 million vehicles, only a slight increase of 1.9% year-on-year. Only three car companies that entered the TOP10 retail sales list of car companies in July achieved a year-on-year increase, which further highlighted the "pain" of the current auto market.
Therefore, when we saw that Geely Automobile rose against the trend, especially the performance of "China Star" series was eye-catching, we couldn’t help it. The data shows that Geely Automobile China Star High-end Series not only achieved sales of 700,000 vehicles in just a few years, but also continued to climb in the first seven months of this year. It is necessary to know that China Star’s models are all in the most competitive market in the domestic automobile industry at present, and they are also the "hinterland" of old joint venture brands. Under such "encirclement and suppression", China Star can still achieve such good results, and there must be something extraordinary about it.
Sales performance is only external performance, and excellent product strength is the fundamental reason.
The data can speak: According to the official sales volume of Geely Automobile, in July this year, the sales volume of passenger cars was 138,135, a year-on-year increase of 13%, and it has maintained a year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter growth for six consecutive months; China Star’s high-end series sold 29,696 vehicles, up about 9% from the previous month and over 15% year-on-year. Among them, Xingyue L, one of the flagships of China Xingshuang, reached a record high of 15,666 vehicles in July, with a year-on-year increase of over 24%. At present, the cumulative sales volume exceeds 270,000 vehicles; Since the launch of another 1.5TD model, the overall competitiveness of Xingrui has been further strengthened, which has rapidly boosted sales. In July, sales exceeded 10,204 units in Wanda, and the cumulative total sales exceeded 320,000 units.
Judging from the above data, the sales situation of China Star is good this year. Further analysis shows that the cumulative sales volume of China Star has exceeded 700,000, and it is accelerating at a high base. Taking Xingyue L as an example, the sales volume of new cars is 6000+ and the orders are 30,000+in 10 days, and the average monthly sales volume is over 10,000. In the past two months, it has repeatedly hit record highs, and it is still full of stamina after two years of listing; The same is true for Xingrui. It takes 30+ days from 0 to 10,000 vehicles, and 100+ days from 10,000 to 50,000 vehicles. After 10 months of listing, the sales volume quickly exceeded 100,000 vehicles, and after two and a half years of listing, it quickly exceeded 320,000 vehicles, with the highest market share in a single month of 3.21%. These two cars can be said to have their own traffic genes since they were born, and their debut is the representative of the peak.
From the perspective of market segments, Xingrui entered the hinterland of the sedan market with the price of 100,000-150,000, which was the most competitive and was almost monopolized by joint venture brands in the past. Now, although the "halo" of joint venture brands has weakened, their combat effectiveness is still very impressive. And Xingrui has made great strides all the way, entered the head competition, and constantly set a new record for China sedan with high-value products, becoming a new choice for sedan that can keep pace with mainstream joint ventures and even catch up with joint ventures. How difficult is it? Just think about it.
As for Xingyue L, it is also a masterpiece of hard-core joint venture, and it has entered a battleground for military strategists in the 150,000-200,000-class SUV market. In this already fierce market segment, Xingyue L not only has record sales, but also the average transaction price of all models is as high as 170,000. Facing the joint venture rivals such as CR-V, RAV4 and Tiguan L, it also won recognition with high value and high quality, and became the king of hard-core SUV of 200,000-class.
The models that can stand out in the current market environment must have the hard-core product power to kill the enemy. Two models based on CMA architecture were endowed with "high-value" genes from the very beginning and became the spokespersons of "high-value China cars". Take Xingrui as an example, its 1869mm ultra-wide body +2800mm ultra-long wheelbase, BOSE advanced audio, top-class car fragrance system, dual 12.3-inch high-definition LCD screen +7.5-inch full-color HUD head-up display, as well as the latest Galaxy OS system, a new generation of E02 high-performance chips, etc., not only meet the needs of users’ sense of technology and grade, but also bring users a smooth and easy-to-use intelligent car experience.
Xingyue L, on the other hand, also has the full range of Drive-E 2.0TD power, 100-kilometer acceleration of 7.5s, Aisin imported 8AT gearbox, 100-kilometer fuel consumption of 6.9L, Borg Warner’s sixth-generation four-wheel drive system, as well as AR-HUD enhanced head-up display, Geely Galaxy OS, HWA high-speed driving assistance system and other rich functional configurations, achieving high value that rivals at the same level can’t match. We can see from the inside that why China Star has established a joint venture? How can it stand out in the "hot water" fuel vehicle market? You can find clues from the above points.
Breaking records is not the goal, but enhancing brand influence is the ultimate goal.
At present, China Star has become a masterpiece of Geely’s brand, and it can be regarded as a successful model. In fact, we know that there have been various cases in the high-end breakthrough of China brand, but there are not many real successes; In such a short period of time, the cumulative sales volume of China Star exceeded 700,000 vehicles, and cars and SUVs went hand in hand, realizing the transformation from phenomenal explosion models to classic models, achieving joint venture and killing, and gaining widespread recognition from consumers. Such a situation is rare. Driven by China Star, Geely has achieved the goal of brand promotion, while the high-end strategy is getting better and better.
The high-end image of China Star has brought direct brand premium to Geely and achieved its own market performance. However, high-end is not far from the masses, but should be closer to users, so that more consumers can get a higher-level value experience. For example, in the two years since the birth of China Star, there have been many examples of co-creation with users, such as joining hands with Long Zijia, a cutting-edge jewelry designer, to create the "China Star" ×CIGALONG co-branded limited jewelry "Xingmang", and to interpret the new height of rims; Join the trend fitness brand "Super Orangutan" to jointly create a "Super Player Fitness Party" and launch a series of exclusive private education courses; Jointly with Sanxingdui Museum, a joint-name model of Xingrui Space-Time Edition was launched; The launch of Xingrui only this turquoise version, etc., played a new height for users and successfully approached users.
As the saying goes: the moon comes first by being close to the water. Only by interacting with users can users fully understand that the original intention of high-end is not to be above the top, but to give users a better product experience. As the most direct bridge between brands and users, products are good or bad, which determines the final result of brand development. Only by going deep into users can we deeply understand and actively respond to users’ actual needs, and effectively avoid the embarrassment of "applauding without making a seat". From this perspective, China Star has obviously found its own doorway.
Since the listing of China Star Series, by creating an all-round and ecological "star" experience, cars are no longer cold vehicles, but travel partners who can resonate emotionally; At the same time, in line with the original intention of "fighting for the value of China automobile", China Star took the lead in adopting the strategy of "popularizing high-end products", successfully broke the inherent pattern and brand barriers of joint venture brands, led China brand cars to transform from price advantage to value advantage, gradually grasped the right to speak in China automobile market, and showed the quality and self-confidence of China automobile to the world.
China Star played an important role in helping Geely go to its own sea of stars.
Undoubtedly, the automobile development in the new era is facing all kinds of tests, but no matter how complicated and fierce the competition is, the foundation of constant change is the high-value experience brought by advanced technical strength.
Obviously, the core technology of China Star is its "high value" code. Fundamentally speaking, China Star has CMA, the world’s leading car-making architecture, which can cover the development needs of different models from A-class to B-class, and build a world-class good car.
In terms of intelligence, Geely has already made a forward-looking layout in the fields of low-orbit synchronous satellite, V2X vehicle-road coordination, high-level autonomous driving and so on, and gradually applied it to many models such as China Star, and took the lead in making smart travel in the era of 5G smart travel. Under the guidance of "Blue Geely Action Plan", GHS2．0 intelligent hybrid system, which leads the world in intelligent energy saving and new energy technology, has also been put on China Satellite for the first time.
Technology is the "foundation" of the automobile industry, and technology can only be verified by products. On the Geely China Star model, there is the most genuine technology of Geely, which is also the true embodiment of "high value", and it is also related to the future development of Geely brand. Now these have been verified on China Star products, and Geely’s upward road is stable.
Write at the end:
Why did Geely China Star stand firm with the joint venture brand in the most competitive market segment, and made quite eye-catching achievements against the trend? There is no other reason than its outstanding performance in product strength and marketing service, which shows us the rising road of Geely brand and even China brand, and also verifies its own uniqueness. We believe that China Star will show better achievements in the market in the future, which will contribute to the upward development of Geely brand. We will wait and see.
(This article was originally produced by the editorial department of [Car Industry] New Media, and the author of this article is Wei Wuxian. Please indicate the source when reprinting.)