FAW released five major brand plans, and the red flag status was raised to the highest level in history

On October 30, FAW Group released five major brand product plans at the 4th FAW Technology Conference. Including Hongqi, Besturn, Jiefang, FAW-Volkswagen, and FAW Toyota, the five major brands, there are currently 112 vehicle models on sale, 59 products under development, and 43 planned products.

At the same time, China FAW continues to accelerate technological breakthroughs in seven areas: forward-looking new charm, original experience, electric drive energy saving, intelligent network connection, safety and health, ecological integration, and enabling digitalization. achieve technological breakthroughs in the field.

Previously, FAW Group conducted a new round of personnel changes for the senior management of the sales company of its joint ventures. Tian Qingjiu, the former party secretary and general manager of FAW Toyota Auto Sales Co., Ltd., will be transferred to FAW Mazda as the general manager of the business unit; Hu Shaohang, the former general manager of the brand public relations department of FAW Group, will succeed Tian Qingjiu as the new party committee secretary and general manager of FAW Toyota Auto Sales Co., Ltd. General Manager; at the same time, Zhao Yingru, former Director of Jetta Brand Sales Division, will serve as Deputy General Manager of FAW-Volkswagen Sales Co., Ltd.

In addition to frequent personnel adjustments. This year, FAW Group has also made many moves in capital operations. In March, FAW Xiali transferred all its production qualifications to a joint venture led by Bojun, completing the "cleanup" work. Subsequently, the main body of the listed company of FAW Cars has become FAW Jiefang Commercial Vehicles, and FAW Pentium has returned to FAW Co., Ltd. In May, FAW also adjusted its management relationship with FAW-Mazda, thus enhancing the status of the joint venture brand.

The historical high of Hongqi’s status

Since the beginning of the year, FAW Group has been non-stop sorting out the relationship between the various brands under the group. The technology conference at the end of October was more like a summary of the group's work in the past period and pointed out the future development direction of FAW Group.

Among the many brands of FAW Group, the Hongqi brand has once again been established as a top priority for future development. With FAW's size and resources, it is not difficult to support Hongqi, but Hongqi still has a long way to go before it can become a competitive luxury brand in the market.

From a sales perspective, Hongqi’s cumulative sales from January to October this year exceeded 153,000 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 103. Among them, sales in October reached 23,000 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 93%, achieving sales of more than 20,000 vehicles for three consecutive months. At present, Hongqi has completed 76.5% of this year's sales target of 200,000 vehicles. In the next two months, if it can develop at the current growth rate, it is very hopeful to achieve the annual sales plan.

From a product perspective, Hongqi H5 and Hongqi HS5 are still the mainstays of sales. According to previous data, Hongqi HS5 sales reached 10,186 units in September, exceeding 10,000 units for two consecutive months, with sales of 68,646 units in the first nine months; Hongqi H5 sales in September were 7,399 units, and cumulative sales from January to September were 44,067 units. In addition, after the launch of the 2.0T model of Hongqi HS7, the starting price dropped to 270,000 yuan, which will also boost the sales of the entire car series.

In terms of new products, Hongqi E-HS9 will be launched within the year, with the current pre-sale price range of 550,000-750,000 yuan. The new car is positioned as a full-size SUV, offering high and low power options, with corresponding cruising ranges of 460km and 510km respectively. The launch of the new car will bring new growth points to the brand's sales.

According to FAW Hongqi’s product planning, in the next 10 years, Hongqi will build four series of products: L (extreme car), S (coupe), H (mainstream car), and Q (business car). According to the above plan, by 2025 and 2030, Hongqi's products will increase from 8 in 2020 to 23 and 28 respectively. It can be seen that 2021-2025 is the peak period for Hongqi's product launch.

The top priority is still to launch new cars

It is not difficult for FAW Group to support Hongqi to take the lead. The only difficulty is that the current product matrix of Hongqi is not rich enough. This cannot be achieved by one shot. It can be decided by the thigh. Expanding the depth and breadth of the product line not only takes time, but also requires financial and technical support.

From the perspective of single model planning, among the H series models, the Hongqi H6 is a brand-new model. It is positioned as a luxury mid-size car, and judging from its planned slogan, this car will It has become one of Hongqi's mainstream models, and together with the new generation of Hongqi H5, it has become the sales pillar of the Hongqi sedan market.

In the H-series SUV family, Hongqi will launch three new SUV models, including the traditional fuel version of the large SUV model HS9, the medium-sized SUV HS6 and the compact SUV HS3. Among them, the mid-sized SUV HS6 is positioned between HS7 and HS5, serving as a connecting point for market segmentation models.

Four new models will be launched in the L series products positioned as high-end luxury series. Among them, the L series models will launch two sedans, the Hongqi L3 and the Hongqi L1. This sedan will be the entry-level model among Hongqi's high-end luxury products, and the purchase price will not be as strict as the Hongqi L5.

The Q series products have been positioned as commercial vehicles for a long time.

In terms of electrification, Hongqi plans to electrify all brand models in 2023 and launch 15 electric models in 2025. To this end, the "532" three electric platforms officially released by Hongqi include five electric drive system platforms, three power battery platforms and two vehicle control platforms. The "422" small three electric platform is composed of 4 charger platforms, 2 DC/DC platforms and 2 electric air-conditioning platforms.

In the future, in addition to the Hongqi E-HS3, the first pure electric SUV that has been released, more new energy models will be built based on these platforms, thereby further enriching the Hongqi brand's product lineup and improving brand competitiveness.

Insert the "red flag" into the new energy market

As can be seen from the above, Hongqi has very specific plans for its own positioning and future development. As for whether it can follow the " The test of "script" is still the execution ability of the Hongqi brand.

In the past three years, the sales volume of the Hongqi brand has increased 42 times; it is expected that in 2021, the sales volume of the Hongqi brand will hit the target of 400,000 units, entering the first camp of China's luxury market; and winning the title of China's luxury car in 2025 The number one target in the market.

Obviously, Hongqi’s goal is to be a Chinese version of Lexus. FAW is not the only major automobile group that has this wish. Many major Chinese automobile groups are almost in unison, focusing on the field of high-end electric vehicles, hoping to take a long-term view in an era when automobile intelligence and electrification are advancing hand in hand.

However, unlike FAW Group, which has entered the practical stage, SAIC's L project, which focuses on high-end intelligent new energy vehicles, is still half-hidden. The timeline is further pushed forward to the Beijing Auto Show, where BAIC New Energy ARCFOX and Dongfeng Lantu both appeared. In contrast, BAIC's new energy high-end project is advancing faster. The first mass-produced ARCFOX? Eight thousand miles.

On the other hand, Geely, Great Wall, and Changan have gained a lot in terms of high-end brands. The annual production and sales of FAW Hongqi and Great Wall WEY have exceeded 100,000 units. In the mid-to-high-end market segment, Hongqi H7, WEY?VV7, Lynk & Co 01 both have a good market share. After Changan launched UNI-T, the second model UNI-K is about to be unveiled.

It is a very correct decision for FAW Group to place its hopes of high-end on Hongqi. Firstly, it is because the Hongqi brand is born with aristocratic genes. In terms of storytelling, FAW hardly needs to add characters to the Hongqi brand. Secondly, since Hongqi started selling to the mass market in 2018, it has great advantages over other large groups in terms of brand implementation. Moreover, FAW has the right to speak within the group and can mobilize resources within the group at will. Objectively speaking, It is conducive to the rapid formation of the Hongqi brand product matrix.

Finally, in terms of technical reserves, Hongqi is also ahead of the curve. In addition to the “532” plan mentioned above, the Hongqi brand will launch the R.Flag technology innovation strategy.

This strategy will comprehensively guide FAW Group's technological innovation work and accelerate the transformation, upgrading and high-quality development of the company through the layout of seven major technology sub-brands: "Qi Yi, Qi Si, Qi Shang, Qi Yi, Qi Lin, Qi Yuan and Qi Shu" . In the future, FAW Group will use this strategy as a guide to continue to promote China FAW's technological innovation work, bravely climb technological peaks, and promote the continuous development of brands and enterprises.

People review cars

Xu Liuping, chairman of FAW Group, once set a flag: "Our goal is to build the new Hongqi into a new noble brand that is 'China's first and world-famous'. Now, Hongqi’s small sales target of 200,000 in 2020 is just around the corner. All the things Xu Liuping once “bragged about” have been achieved one by one. Hongqi will surely move forward on the road to revival with great strength.

Source of this article. The author of Autohome Chejiahao does not represent the views and positions of Autohome