The long-awaited Zhonghua "Tang" was finally officially launched on November 11, 2002, as the first SUV in China, and also a new model independently built by Zhonghua Group, its appearance attracted the attention of the whole industry.

In the end, what is the quality performance of Zhonghua "Tang"? In the end, in the Chinese market, can SUVs open up new segments, and how popular are they? These will affect the judgment and development direction of many peers, especially domestic independent brand counterparts.

Under the premise that the car is firmly controlled by the state, the SUV is a multi-functional vehicle that can not be controlled by the 7-prefix catalogue of the sedan, and it is an automobile product that many domestic manufacturers can use the 6-prefix catalogue to play the edge ball. If the Chinese "Tang" succeeds, it is foreseeable that a large number of domestic manufacturers will follow up in this field.

Therefore, the Zhonghua "Tang" has become the most concerned new car launch ceremony in recent years, whether it is a joint venture car brand or an independent brand, they are waiting for this new opponent to come.

In order to show that the Chinese "Tang" is an original product, co-designers Zhao Chunlei and George shared the source of design inspiration and the unique design features of the vehicle on stage.

The shape of "water droplet ripples" and jade ruyi quickly made the audience feel the charm of Chinese culture, and the body shape derived from the cheetah run also made everyone experience the abstraction of Western culture.

After the big red flag car caused Chinese elements in the 60s, the voice from China was missing in the field of automobile design, and now with the birth of the Chinese "Tang", it is announced to the world peers: Chinese are back!

"The actual car looks better than the pictures, especially when you know that there are so many Chinese imprints on the body, which is really pleasing to the eye the more you look at it. ”

"Yes, when I saw the familiar Chinese elements, I immediately felt a sense of closeness in my heart, and I really wanted to drive it home. ”

......

The audience at the scene exchanged ear canals.

However, everyone is most concerned about the price and specific configuration, which are the biggest highlights of tonight.

"111,100!"

When the first price was displayed on the big screen, all the spectators, including reporters, burst into exclamations.

It seems that the Chinese "Tang" has indeed implemented the pro-people line, and the pre-sale price of 15-180,000 yuan released before is a full smoke bomb.

"1.6L Urban Pioneer Edition. ”

This is the lowest price of the Zhonghua Tang, and it is equipped with a 1.6-liter engine.

"116,800, 1.6L Urban Aggressive Edition.

121,800, 1.8L urban pilot version.

126,800, 1.8L Urban Elite Edition.

138,800, 1.8L Urban Premium Edition. ”

The highest-priced premium variant is equipped with an Aisin 4-speed automatic transmission, while the rest are all 5-speed manual transmissions, which are distributed according to the interior and equipment.

The landing price is controlled within 150,000 yuan, and the pricing of Zhonghua "Tang" follows the psychological price of consumers.

"Bang Bang—"

There were spontaneous bursts of applause at the press conference, and many of the well-informed media reporters present welcomed the affordable price.

As soon as the official price came out, the automobile forum was full of jubilation, this "most beautiful Chinese car" lived up to everyone's expectations, and waited for customers to visit at a very sincere price.

"It seems that my prediction is very accurate, compared with other domestic auto manufacturers, Zhonghua Group is closest to our consumers and understands the voice of our consumers. Tomorrow morning, I will go to the 4S store to order the 1.8L urban elite version, and strive to marry the 'most beautiful Chinese car' home as soon as possible!"

A netizen who once posted on the forum that the price of the Chinese "Tang" would not exceed 150,000 yuan updated his statement again, intending to support a domestic conscientious enterprise with practical actions.

"It is estimated that it will trigger a rush to buy and increase the price again, and it is estimated that it will take a long time to pick up the car if it is late. ”

"I'm also going to make a deposit, and when I see such a beautiful car, I'm willing to be a guinea pig. ”

......

Different from the joyful atmosphere of consumers, many representatives of domestic manufacturers lamented that the price of Zhonghua "Tang" was 20,000 to 30,000 yuan lower than they expected, which means that the strength of this opponent is really too strong.

"If our factory can design and produce such a beautiful domestic car, then the price must be more than 130,000 yuan, I have roughly calculated the cost, less than this price we will inevitably lose money. But now that the Zhonghua Group has hit the price to 110,000, I really don't understand how they control the cost.

To be honest, empathizing with myself as an ordinary consumer, I am really interested in buying a Zhonghua 'Tang' to try it back, after all, the cost performance is too high.

Now that the price is out, I know that no one can stop the Chunghwa Group from galloping in the SUV field. Fortunately, the target customers and price ranges of the two of us are staggered, otherwise the Seifer will definitely be the loser. ”

Great Wall Motor's Wei Dajun said.

In fact, he still hasn't said a word, that is, Zhonghua Group has created the ideal model in his mind, which is the multi-purpose car he dreamed of.

Compared with the Chinese "Tang" SUV, the Saifu CUV is a village girl, whether it is the design concept or the quality and appearance, it can't catch up.

"Now you can see the gap!

Our Fengyun car was lucky to win the other party for a while, but soon the Chinese 'Qin' caught up and came back, and now there is another powerful helper, the Chinese 'Tang'. It can be said that the current vehicle design and manufacturing capabilities of Zhonghua Group are far ahead of us.

The failure of the listing of the son of the East is not a temporary negligence, but we still have many deficiencies in internal strength.

As a pilot of Chery's SUV, the T11 project must be benchmarked against the Zhonghua Tang in the future, and we must create cheaper, durable and better-looking models to beat them!"

Zhan Xiaqiu, CEO of Chery Automobile, said at an internal meeting of cadres after the listing of Zhonghua "Tang".

However, some people are not impressed by this, thinking that SUVs are not popular in the Chinese market, and sedans are the key to survival.

"SUVs sell tens of thousands of units in China, while sedans are at least one million. Therefore, FAW will continue to adhere to the development of cars as the main line, and strive to make a breakthrough in the sales of Xiaohongqi.

Compared with a ragtag army like Zhonghua Group, FAW is a key state-owned support enterprise, and we should take the road in a dignified manner, rather than just hoping that the sword will take the wrong side and take the small road to win. An enterprise as big as FAW should now learn from foreign auto brands, take advantage of the good opportunity of joint ventures, and earnestly strive to learn from each other's strengths and make up for their own shortcomings.

We should not always think about being in the limelight and engaging in new concepts, but should do a good job of the joint venture in a down-to-earth manner. We have joint ventures with Volkswagen, Toyota, and Mazda, and as long as we do a good job in these joint ventures, the domestic leader will always belong to us.

As for the self-owned brand Xiaohongqi, despite the poor market response, sales are declining. But Toyota will soon send engineers to assist and even transfer model technology to help us grow. In the near future, Xiaohongqi will soon be reborn and become the new leader of domestic independent cars.

Only by enduring loneliness can we keep the country and win a new world. ”

When many cadres asked FAW to keep up with the times and start the research and development of SUVs, Zhu Tianfeng held a conference to veto this possibility on the spot.

He didn't have much affection for the SUV novelty, and now his mind was full of matters related to the joint venture with Toyota and Japan's aid to Xiaohongqi.

After preliminary negotiations, FAW Toyota decided to launch its first new car, Vios, which is expected to be launched in China by the end of 2003. Originally, it wanted to directly introduce the Corolla, but Toyota insisted on testing the waters with Vios first, and FAW had no choice but to agree.

Whether the Chinese "Tang" is good or not, and whether there is a market for SUVs in China, everything will be decided by the market, and the majority of consumers will vote with their feet to draw conclusions.

24 hours after the price was announced, 216 Zhonghua 4S stores across the country received more than 1,500 orders for Zhonghua "Tang" in just one day, and they were all customers who placed orders as soon as they saw the listing ceremony through various channels.

In the following week, the 4S store received more than 8,000 orders, and 18 days later, the orders exceeded 20,000 vehicles.

"It feels very cost-effective to be able to drive an off-road vehicle home for the money of a sedan! And the reputation of Zhonghua Group has always been good, and the interior and appearance of this car are really beautiful, I liked it at first sight." ”

When asked a customer who ordered a car, someone replied.

When consumers see an SUV with a sedan interior as fine, they begin to accept the statement that the SUV is a sedan with a heightened chassis, and regard it as a major variant of the sedan. When SUVs first appeared in the Chinese market, they began to seize the original sedan market, and many people valued the sense of safety brought by their wide body.

In the first month, the sales volume of Zhonghua "Tang" exceeded 5,000 units, setting a record for the sales of domestic independent brand cars in the month of listing.

Many people learned about the concept of SUV from seeing the Chinese "Tang" in media advertisements, so in 2002, the Chinese "Tang" also became synonymous with SUVs, just like Jeep equals off-road vehicles.

"I'm going to sell an SUV and come back. ”

As soon as these words came out, everyone knew that the person who spoke was going to buy the Chinese "Tang".

After accumulating steadily, Zhonghua "Tang" was quickly recognized and favored by consumers with its stable quality. Judging from the influx of orders, with the increase in production capacity, Zhonghua "Tang" is also expected to become a best-selling car with monthly sales of more than 10,000.

I expected that the Chinese "Tang" might succeed, but I didn't expect it to be so successful, and its sales soared, directly towards monthly sales of 10,000 units.

The annual sales volume is set at 50,000 units, which is already a very optimistic estimate of Han Hao, but he did not expect that according to such a situation, the annual sales may exceed 100,000!

In addition to a set of internationally accepted test prototype methods, the Zhonghua Group has postponed the launch date to modify the details several times, only requiring it to create an ace model that exceeds the imagination of consumers.

A good ingredient must not be wasted in stir-frying, but should be cooked by the best chef to leave a good taste that will not be forgotten by the taster. In the field of automobiles, the Chinese "Tang" finally has a good design, so the quality must be guaranteed in place, and good works cannot be smashed.

"Penny is not enough, at least to surprise the people who bought our cars, and at least two cents for a penny!"

This is the Chinese way.

In the end, what is the magic of SUV so many consumers are flocking to it, such a successful SUV market makes many domestic manufacturers ready to move, so many manufacturers began to quietly launch their own SUV products, especially many pickup truck manufacturers in the rear of the car with a cover on the claim that SUV is ready to go on the market to rub hot money.

It is foreseeable that 2003 will usher in the first year of SUVs in China.

When the Zhonghua Group officially announced that the sales volume of Zhonghua "Tang" exceeded 5,000 vehicles in the first month of listing, in a high-end hotel box on the street of the Ministry of Information Industry in the capital, there were several bigwigs from the electronic information industry.

"It is estimated that Zhonghua Group can earn one billion yuan with the 'Tang' SUV alone, and the automobile is the real profiteering industry in China. As long as a model is hot, then the investment capital will be all back. ”

On the main seat, a director of the Ministry of Information Industry talked eloquently.

"You just asked me what other industries in China are worth investing in, and in my opinion, the automotive industry is definitely hot. Internationally, the average profit of the automobile industry is 5%, but in the Chinese automobile industry, you earn 10% of the profit, and you are embarrassed to say hello when you go out. Far away such as Guangqi Honda, close like Shouqi Hyundai, are all profitable in the year of production, and it is said that their profit is above the 30% level.

Compared with developed countries, China owns less than a fraction of the number of cars per 10,000 people, which means that there is a huge market potential. As long as China's economy continues to grow, sooner or later automobiles will become one of the most popular consumer goods among Chinese. Therefore, if you have money to gamble in the automotive industry, you will definitely not regret it. ”

After a few drinks, his face was a little red, and under the alcohol score, the director shared his conclusions through internal reference.

"The mobile phone industry is becoming more and more difficult to do, there are too many domestic and foreign brands, and no one can make money if there are too many price wars. To be honest, I really intend to take advantage of the capital to change careers and enter other industries that are less competitive. ”

Speaking is Xu Hua, the boss of Bird Mobile Phones, which has sprung up in recent years and has become one of the representatives of domestic mobile phones with the advertising of "fighter in mobile phones".

"Is the profit of this industry really that big? Compared with the mobile phone industry, is it the fierce competition in automobiles, or is the mobile phone more miserable?"

The questioner was a middle-aged man with glasses, who was none other than Wang Chuanfu, the CEO of BYD, who was known as the battery king.

BYD has just been successfully listed on the Hong Kong stock market in the middle of the year, and with its excellent cost control ability, BYD from China has beaten South Korean, Japanese and Taiwan manufacturers to become the world's largest supplier of mobile phone batteries.

In the mobile phone battery industry, it has achieved the world's first, and then there is a large amount of money in the account of the listed company, Wang Chuanfu is also thinking about the company's next strategic development direction.

"Just look at the car and mobile phone industries, which companies are playing to know who is more competitive!"

The director's words made China's automotive industry have a few more knockers.