Nowadays, domestically produced cars are getting bigger and bigger, so why are they only lengthened but not widened?

When it comes to the most difficult audience to serve, Chinese consumers are even more difficult to serve. Take the automobile market as an example. Chinese consumers are extremely picky. Price is the first priority, and fuel economy is second. At the same time, they must have the advantages of large space and comfortable seats. It is best to have a "big belly" in the trunk. ", I wish I could buy an economical model with a five-box length and the price of a sedan. This has caused German, Japanese, American, Korean and other car models to start a "lengthening" trend in China. It seems that if they are not a few tens of millimeters longer, they will be embarrassed to enter the Chinese market.

The pursuit of "longer" is in line with our country's national conditions, and foreign brands are trying to stop it.

That's the end of the joke. According to expert analysis, in fact, domestic consumers are blindly pursuing wider cars. Bigger makes sense too. First of all, our country has a large population base, and most families live with their parents, and it is common for a family to only have one car. This requires a car that can not only meet daily transportation requirements, but also have functions such as holiday travel, picking up and dropping off family members, and shopping. All of these functions require the vehicle to have larger seating or storage space.

Furthermore, attention to face and style are also major characteristics of Chinese consumers. Nothing can compare with the exhilaration of driving a bigger car than others at a gathering of family and friends ( Except for vans) attended. It is precisely because of this shopping mentality that car brands from various countries have no choice but to show their magical powers and design models that meet the needs of the Chinese people. For example, Japanese cars are favored by Chinese people for their fuel economy. The visual expansion of the interior space is their opportunistic advantage. Even if they are criticized by others, the comfort level of the interior is more than enough to make up for it. The original design of German cars is relatively compact, so naturally it needs to be lengthened to increase sales in the Chinese market.

You can make it longer if you want, but why is it so difficult to make it wider?

Since lengthening is already a skillful technique used by car models from various countries when they enter the Chinese market, why don’t manufacturers spend more time on widening? This starts with how the car's wheelbase is lengthened. If the wheelbase of the car is to be increased, the entire vehicle needs to be moved backward after the B-pillar position. At the same time, the parameters of the entire vehicle, such as the position of the center of mass and the minimum turning radius, will be affected. It is understood that lengthening and widening can be achieved on a mature car chassis, but the impact of the two on control is vastly different.

According to industry insiders, vehicle lengthening will have minimal impact on handling, but widening will cause more changes, such as wheel width, tire width, body height, shock absorber preload stroke, etc. The data will all change accordingly. Moreover, widening the wheelbase requires modifications to the cantilevers, half shafts, tie rods, etc., and even the sheet metal lining and overall body contours need to be redesigned. In addition, wider tires should be replaced after the wheelbase is widened, which may increase tire noise, tire wear, fuel consumption, and weaken acceleration capabilities. The only advantage is that the vehicle will be more stable when traveling at high speeds.

One move can affect the whole body, which is enough to describe the widening of car models. Taking a step back, even if the widening of the car body is a trivial matter, but with the width of domestic highway lanes and multiple curves and tunnels, Considering the road conditions, it cannot accommodate a car that is too wide. After all, it is easy to build a new car, but it is difficult to transform the national road network. It is better to think about widening the body.