When Zhao Chunlei was full of ambition to improve his new design of "Enlightenment Nature", the mass-produced new car equipped with the 6AT independently developed by Zhonghua Group officially rolled off the production line for sale.

As the trump card of Zhonghua Group, "Tang" is an invincible player in the current SUV market, and has been the No. 1 seller for 42 consecutive months, and its market benchmark position is unshakable. The last time I lost the throne position was when the first and second generations of new and old models were cleared, and I was robbed of the limelight by my fellow disciple "Song", and ranked second with a disadvantage of 800 vehicles. However, with the excellent quality of the second generation of "Tang", he quickly won back the first place the following month, and has maintained it until now.

If the old model hadn't been discontinued two months earlier to make room for the new model, it would have been a staggering horror for the "Don" to hold the top record for the first time. The first-generation "Tang" has won the SUV list since its first month, and has long occupied the top position in the monthly sales list, and has only been beaten twice by the rising star CRV.

Since the official launch of "Tang" on November 11, 2002, it has been more than 8 years (99 months), and only 3 months have lost the championship. The cumulative sales of a single model in China exceeded 1.9 million units, and more than 500,000 units in overseas markets, one step away from the 3 million mark.

With a small change every year, a facelift in three years, and a major replacement in six years, Zhonghua Group will improve and upgrade the "Tang" every year.

It can be said that "Tang" is a very successful model of Zhonghua Group, which has brought a steady stream of user base and net profit for the enterprise, and has a very good market reputation.

Therefore, the debut of the combination of 6AT+2.0T power, of course, falls on the shoulders of "Tang".

The sedan "Qin" is also the trump card of Zhonghua Group, but it is positioned as a compact car, and it cannot afford the luxury configuration of 6AT+2.0T flagship power.

As for the mid-level sedan "Han", the market performance is not sluggish, basically hovering around 4,000 units. You must know that "Han" is the first successful work that really broke the ceiling of 150,000 domestic cars, and it is enough to be called excellent in the field of independent cars. However, in the face of the sales of mid-level cars such as Accord, Camry and Passat, which often exceeded 10,000, the performance of "Han", which condensed the crystallization of the wisdom of Zhonghua Group, was slightly inferior.

In order to start the opening shot, it is more appropriate to choose "Tang" to set a benchmark after comprehensive consideration.

"Tang" also took advantage of the replacement of the new power, the interior was upgraded, the vehicle appeared more luxurious, and at the same time solved several minor mechanical problems.

Compared with the old "CVT+1.8T", the new "6AT+2.0T" combination shifts faster, and the "Tang" accelerates 100 kilometers faster by 1.5 seconds, reaching an astonishing result of 7.8 seconds, once again creating a new record for its own brand.

Known as the domestic "SUV that runs faster than a sedan", this is the market selling point of the new power "Tang".

When the "6AT+2.0T" power was installed, the "Tang" also began to officially break through the ceiling of 150,000 domestic cars. Different from the previous new energy subdivision models equipped with pure electric and hybrid vehicles, the starting price of the fuel version of the 2.0T "Tang" ranges from 152,800 to 178,800 yuan, and it is divided into three configuration models to be launched. Among them, the volume model is the elite version of 152,800 yuan, with a landing price of more than 170,000 yuan, and it is expected to sell about 500 units per month.

Small-scale mass production and listing, first, if there are problems, they can be improved in time, second, to test how the market reacts to them, and thirdly, to establish the high-end image of Zhonghua Group.

To be able to come up with the best power combination on the market today, 6AT and 2.0T alone are great selling points, and Zhonghua Group has unified the two to catch up with the world-class level.

The buyer of the world's first 6AT+2.0T mass-produced "Tang" has a great deal to do with it.

Comrade Wiggins, an international friend, a senior technical expert who has worked at DSI for 16 years, defected to Ford and was poached by Zhonghua Group to China, and is also the chief designer of Zhonghua's independent 6AT team.

In recognition of his outstanding contributions, Han Hao specially held this small delivery ceremony for him in the workshop.

"Bang-"

As soon as the champagne sounded, Wiggins took the car keys from Han Hao's hand.

Under the warm applause of the audience, Wiggins walked into the cab of the new car and slowly drove the first "Don" off the production line.

Different from the handover ceremony of ordinary consumers in 4S stores, Wiggins drove his new baby SUV "Tang" home directly from the production line by himself, which is a unique treatment.

"I'm very happy that I will consider China as my second home. If I can, I hope I can work in Jiangzhou until I retire. ”

Feeling the friendship and enthusiasm of the Chinese people, Wiggins excitedly announced.

In addition to the language barriers, high-income international friends like Wiggins enjoy first-class treatment when they live in China. With good public security, abundant commodities, convenient transportation and prosperous culture, Jiangzhou, located in the Yangtze River Delta, is a very livable big city.

With the 6AT already on the ground and challenges like the 8AT and 10AT waiting for him, Wiggins feels he can reach his full potential in China.

As soon as the "Tang" of the new power combination was launched, it was recognized by consumers, and many people were willing to increase their budget by 20,000 to 30,000 yuan to experience this "SUV that runs faster than a sedan".

Many of them are old users of Zhonghua Group, and they have purchased the group's old products before, such as customers who come from Huaxia motorcycles and Huaxia vans to upgrade their needs, and believe that Zhonghua Group has always had a good reputation.

The original forecast of monthly sales of 500 units of the new power was quickly broken, and the number directly tripled.

The rise of the new "Tang" even jeopardizes the market position of the hard-core flagship SUV "Tiefutu", another fist product of the Zhonghua Group.

You must know that during the period when the "Iron Float" stood firm at the price of 200,000 yuan, its competitors were market powerhouses such as Toyota Overlord, Land Cruiser and Mitsubishi Pajero, which maintained the advantage of more than 3,000 units per month by virtue of its cost-effective advantage.

However, due to the fact that the "Iron Float" was launched more than a year ahead of schedule, it uses the power combination of "CVT+1.8T", which is a big difference in performance compared with the new power of the current "6AT+2.0T". As a result, some customers who were originally hesitant chose the cheaper and more powerful "Tang" and gave up the "Tiefutu".

Although the positioning of "Tang" as an urban SUV is different from that of a hard-core off-road SUV, compared with the concept of Chinese thinking that SUVs are off-road vehicles, it has indeed grabbed a lot of market share from brother brands.

For this reason, Zhang Fan, the designer of "Iron Floating Tu", has been striving for Han Hao, asking for the top power combination to be installed on the company's flagship SUV, so as to set off the identity.

The new impetus is not that it cannot be given to the "Iron Float", but that all factors must be comprehensively considered.

The first thing is that the stability of 6AT still needs to be tested by the market, and Han Hao does not dare to promote it on a large scale at once. The second is that the "Iron Floating Massacre" has just been on the market for more than a year, and if it rushes to a new power, it will hurt the feelings of the old car owners too much. If possible, it should be a better choice to replace and add new models when the facelift is carried out in the middle of the three years. At that time, the 6AT+2.0T power combination will also be further improved to solve many small hidden dangers that have not been discovered.

Therefore, if you want to buy a new car, it is the most cost-effective to buy it after one year of launch. Not to mention the price concessions, the facelifted model will improve many of the minor problems of the new model and become a true finish.

After learning from Han Hao that it would take a year to replace the motivation, Zhang Fan returned to the office a little sullenly. However, he did not get nothing, and obtained a plan to reduce the size of the "Iron Float" and develop a market to enter the compact and hard-core SUV market.

Thanks to the huge investment of 4 trillion yuan, the whole of China has now become a huge construction site.

In addition to off-road enthusiasts, the vast number of construction sites are a good place for hardcore SUVs to show their talents, supporting the survival of this market segment.

Now on the construction site, imported cars such as Toyota Overlord and Land Patrol occupy a high-end position, while the mid-range is grabbed by the new "Iron Float", and the low-end is a pickup truck running all over the ground. One of the bad things about pickup trucks is that they are banned from many cities, giving market space for compact hard SUVs.

In addition, the huge project of connecting villages and villages with highways is progressing in an orderly manner, and for the vast countryside, hard-core SUVs are more realistic than urban SUVs.

10-150,000 yuan, thick skin, can walk freely in the mud and wild, and has to have a certain brand bonus, this is the subdivided blank market obtained by Zhonghua Group's research, which is enough for Zhang Fan to lead his team to occupy.

In order to support the annual sales of millions of vehicles, in addition to the ace products, it is necessary to break into the market segment, so as to eat more meat.

In Han Hao's heart, a compact hard-core SUV can carry more responsibilities. Given the strong pickup sales in the North American auto market, perhaps the compact SUV of the future will play a similar role, making its way to a wide range of urban and rural areas in China.

Last year, the Chunghwa Group sold a total of 6.18 million units worldwide, and the largest contributor was the Huaxia Light.

Starting at 20,000 yuan and capping at 40,000 yuan, Huaxia Light has become a super tool car for IKEA and IKEA on 9.6 million square kilometers of land with its strong and cheap super cost performance.

According to the statistics made by Forbes magazine, the global sales of the humble Huaxia Light exceeded 879,000 units last year, second only to the 980,000 units of Toyota's classic Corolla, and ranked second on the list of best-selling models in the world. Because of its advantages in transporting people and goods, Huaxia Light has been called "the most important tool car on the earth" by Forbes, and is also known as "the worker ant that holds up China's economy".

In a developed country like the United States, the light of China may not be of much use, but in the two largest developing countries in the world, China and India, it is a good battlefield for it to show its talents.

With China's economic development, consumer demand will also increase, and the glory of the light of China will inevitably be replaced. The compact hard-core SUV that is still in its infancy is the main successor to replace the light of China in the future, and is expected to become a new generation of "worker ant car" in China.

The city returns to the city, and the countryside returns to the countryside, and Han Hao is already making a strategic layout for the future.

In the face of the sudden rise of the Chunghwa Group, which has jumped to the ranks of the world's fourth largest car companies, it is impossible to say that other international giants have not reacted.

Because in addition to the killer feature of Huaxia Light, the Zhonghua "Qin" has also squeezed into the 10th place in the global sedan list with an annual sales volume of 560,000 units, and is fortunate to be accompanied by classic models such as Corolla, Focus, Elantra and Golf. As for the other trump card, "Tang", with a good score of 410,000 units, ranked fourth in the world after CRV (550,000), RAV4 (490,000), and Tucson (440,000).

If the rise of tool cars like Huaxia Light is not a big threat to traditional international car companies, but the rapid expansion of "Qin" and "Tang" in the field of sedans and SUVs is enough to make them feel imminent danger.

Volkswagen was the first to do so, and they have already sued Chunghwa Group in the United States, accusing it of infringing on the intellectual property rights of turbocharged engines.

Now it is the turn of Toyota, which has just emerged from the American whirlpool, and since China has become the world's largest car market, they have set up an internal research group specifically for the Zhonghua Group, putting its threat in the Chinese market to the forefront of Volkswagen, and Akio Toyoda has elevated the Chinese company to a position on a par with the American company.

All the moves show that Toyota is not satisfied with being a spectator in China and being satisfied with 10% of the market demand. Of course, in 2010, they sold 846,000 vehicles in the Chinese market, accounting for only 4.5% of the market share, which is still very far from 10%.

Akio Toyoda hopes that the Chinese market can become Toyota's main base like the American market, and at least 15% of the market share will be won, and it will win the championship in the subdivision of models.

In the past year, Toyota has beaten out Honda to take the top spot in the Chinese market, thanks to the acceleration of the launch of new models. Compared with Honda's old three-board axe, Toyota's product line is more abundant, and there are also Lexus additions.

How exactly to deal with the aggressive China Group?

In addition to proposing to further introduce Toyota's global models to China, the Chinese research team also proposed a strategy of "using China to make China".

In order to maintain its image and maintain high profits, it is impossible for the Toyota brand to end up in a price war with the Chunghwa Group. However, in order to stifle the Zhonghua Group, it can support China's own brands, that is, the independent brands of FAW and GAC, through joint ventures to suppress the Zhonghua Group.

"The Chinese automotive market is still in the incremental stage, and many areas are beyond the reach of our product line. For example, the light of China from 20,000 to 40,000 yuan, and the 'Tang' SUV with 150,000 yuan, we can support Chinese partners to seize this market.

In addition to obtaining technology transfer fees and profit sharing, it can further reduce the market share of Zhonghua Group's own models, thereby squeezing their living space.

Of course, based on the consistent performance of China's two major joint venture partners, we do not believe that the transfer of technology to support them poses a real threat to Toyota.

If the leader of the China Group can be defeated, it is completely worth the price to give up some interests, and China's independent brands will continue to be reduced to a scattered pattern. ”

In an internal top-secret report to Akio Toyoda, they put forward the strategy of "using China to contain China", and they could no longer allow the Zhonghua Group to continue to rise without interference.

Soon, Toyota announced that it attaches great importance to its Chinese partners and will make great efforts to support them in developing their own brands.

Perhaps due to the influence of Japanese group factors, the two giants Honda and Nissan have also expressed the same willingness to support the joint venture partners in the development of their own models.

This is a conspiracy, and it is also a conspiracy.

Just's support for China's joint venture partners is enough to win their gratitude, and it has also responded to the Chinese government's call to reverse the criticism that the market cannot exchange technology, which has been greatly praised.

On the other hand, in the midst of the trade-off, the self-owned brand giant China Group will face a group of wolves and be suppressed either explicitly or covertly.

As long as the Chinese market is unstable, the Zhonghua Group will lose the ability to continue to climb upwards and gradually lose the qualification to compete for international giants.