Although Saab Motors, a subsidiary of General Motors, was the first company to apply turbocharged T technology to civilian vehicles, Volkswagen was the first company to promote quantification on a large scale.

From Audi to Bora, the 1.8T engine brought the concept of turbocharging to the Chinese. In short, when the engine is working, the exhaust gas from the engine drives the impeller inside the turbine to rotate at high speed, and more air is drawn in to force it into the engine, resulting in a greater combustion efficiency in the cylinder in the same time, so as to obtain more power. An engine with a turbo T will provide 30-40% more additional power than its naturally aspirated counterpart.

However, turbocharging, as a new technology, still has many flaws at present.

"Sure enough, after a long time, the turbine is easy to get hot and overheat!"

Looking at the red-hot turbine on the engine bench, Han Hao spoke.

"Yes, this requires a lot of quality from the turbine. The Bora 1.8T sedan we purchased back had a turbo break when the fastest was 20,000 kilometers in the harsh road test.

This is due to the fact that the Bora engine uses a mechanical water pump to cool down, as soon as the car turns off, the water pump will stop working immediately, and the turbine can not be reasonably dissipated and easily damaged.

In response to this situation, the public side later specifically required the owner to stay in place for 3-5 minutes after long-distance travel or weight-bearing driving, so that the mechanical water pump can continue to work to reduce the temperature of the turbine and prolong its service life. ”

Xue Jianbin Xue, who returned to China from Detroit to develop, was appointed by the China Automotive Research Institute as the head of the turbocharged engine research and development project, and he led the team to tackle the turbo technology research for nearly two years.

After listening to Han Hao's words, he took the initiative to say.

"In normal driving, the turbo is set to start when the engine exceeds 1,700 rpm, which can lead to a frustration in driving. At the same time, the fuel consumption will be higher than that of the self-priming engine of the same displacement, after all, after the turbine starts, the fuel injection of the fuel nozzle increases. There is also the fact that the turbine is very expensive, the oil requires high standards, and the maintenance cost is higher. ”

Xue Jianbin briefly introduced the shortcomings of turbine technology.

BorgWarner's turbocharger is now installed on top of the Pangu 1.8L engine in the bench, and the engine can reach the power level of a 2.2L engine in terms of test power.

BorgWarner is an American company, and Xue Jianbin used the company's products when he was in Detroit, and when he returned to China, he thought it was good and listed it as a supplier of Pangu engine turbines.

"With our ECU program, the turbocharging performance is okay, but the stability is not good, and the engine we made cannot be used for a long time for the time being.

In contrast, I know how powerful this set of Volkswagen's turbocharging technology is, and despite some shortcomings, at least it is no problem to drive on the road. ”

As an expert in the industry, Xue Jianbin couldn't help but sigh. Among the top ten auto giants in the world, Volkswagen is at the forefront in terms of technology this time, which he admires.

In the future, Zhonghua Group will definitely develop in the field of B-class cars, that is, medium-class cars, so the engine is very critical, and it cannot rely on a 1.8L engine to pull a large car. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a high-horsepower engine with 2.4L or equivalent power, but V6 technology has not yet been involved, and the most realistic thing at present is to follow the turbocharging technology pioneered by Volkswagen.

No matter where Chery's "Sons of the East" come from, at least their courage to enter the mid-level car stimulated Han Hao, and in the future, China Automobile will follow their pace.

"The V6 engine is more difficult to develop than turbocharging, and we have limited resources, so I'm going to put the treasure on you. When your turbine is on the road, our group's mid-level cars will be ready to hit the ground. ”

Han Hao patted Xue Jianbin on the shoulder and said.

"I understand, and I'm glad that you see turbocharging as a key technology for the next generation of engines. In the future of increasingly stringent emission requirements, turbocharging can make small displacement engines glow with surging power, and will definitely be the mainstream of the market. ”

Xue Jianbin replied with an affirmative face.

However, according to the current trend, the turbine engine of the Chunghwa Group is still far away, because there are many key problems to overcome.

Chery only has a 1.6L engine, and it is not possible to rely on it to pull the "Son of the East", so it must purchase the engine.

Fortunately, Mitsubishi Motors came to China as a joint venture, and Shenhang Mitsubishi's 4G engine 2.0L and 2.4L are open to the supply of domestic brand cars. Of course, the strategy of buying engines and selling MT and AT transmissions is indispensable, and Mitsubishi has found that selling engines is more profitable than cars since the Pajero was banned. Because China's independent car brands have placed orders with it, such as Brilliance Car, Chery's "Son of the East" is also the power heart of Mitsubishi's purchase.

"Although the cost has increased a lot, at least the power system is much smoother and more reliable, and Mitsubishi's power is still very good. Taking advantage of the small market competition, the "Son of the East" should be ready to be launched to the market as soon as possible!"

After signing an engine supply agreement with Mitsubishi, Chery boss Zhan Xiaqiu ordered.

Next year, foreign joint venture brand cars will be listed on a large scale, taking advantage of this blank period in the market, "Oriental Son" to occupy the market as soon as possible, and reproduce the glory of Fengyun sedan.

"The domestic independent car brand originates from FAW Hongqi, they are the good memories of many people, including me, Hongqi has created the glory of domestic cars. However, after the establishment of Zhonghua Group, it turned from FAW to Zhonghua, and they have been leading the market in recent years. Now it's time for us Chery people to take over this honor, blow the horn of domestic brand attack in the most difficult market of intermediate cars, and let the banner of Chery fly high among many joint venture brands!"

Before going public, Zhan Xiaqiu made a mobilization order to all employees of Chery.

Under the guidance of such a rapid listing policy, the "Oriental Son" announced the listing price, and the 2.4L 4AT version of the pioneer is priced at 166,600 yuan.

The 2.4L version of the Brilliance Sedan 4AT, which is also made in China, is priced at 210,000 yuan, but Chery only sells 160,000 yuan this time!

It is 60,000 yuan lower than the automatic transmission version of the Hyundai Sonata and Nissan New Bluebird, which are selling well in the market, and it can be said that Chery Automobile has set a price that makes many people excited.

The reason why the 2.4L version of the 4AT was launched first was because Chery's "Son of the East" rushed to complete the test of this model and rushed to the market.

If the price of a self-owned brand car exceeds 150,000 yuan, it will begin to compete with the joint venture brand on the same starting line.

At present, there are only three domestically produced self-owned brand cars that can have more than 150,000 mid-level cars.

The first is the domestic big brother Hongqi, the "Century Star" that focuses on the government bus market, as a complex of Audi 200 shell change and Nissan engine heart change, the price is more than 200,000 yuan. The "Mingshi" aimed at business people is an Audi 100 replacement shell and old 2.4L engine, with a starting price of 170,000 yuan.

Hongqi sedan, which is accustomed to eating state-supported bus meals, has gradually shrunk in sales under the attack of joint venture brands, from 30,000 to more than 15,000, facing a shortage of food.

The second is the Brilliance car, which became popular for a while with its elegant and atmospheric appearance, and many Chinese people wanted to support domestic brands, but as a result, quality problems led to the collapse of reputation. Now the monthly sales are less than 1,000 vehicles, which is still achieved under the premise of opening the official price reduction of 10,000 yuan.

The sales of Brilliance cars have declined very sharply, and this quality gate incident has caused great damage to the brand, and consumers are afraid to buy cars produced by Brilliance overnight.

At the beginning, Brilliance invested nearly 3 billion yuan for the car, and it was sold in less than half a year before it was snubbed, which will face huge losses for Brilliance.

In order to ensure that the production line moves, Su Xiaoqiang, president of Brilliance, made an official decision to reduce the price by 10,000 yuan.

The first is to make up for the negative impact of the quality gate and stimulate sales through price reduction, and the second is that the market has changed, and the launch of Hyundai Sonata has put huge pressure on the price of its own brand. The joint venture brand only sold 170,000, and your domestic brand sold 200,000, and consumers did not admit it.

The official price cut by 10,000 yuan in half a year after the listing, which made the first batch of consumers very dissatisfied, and Brilliance could only provide 10,000 yuan of after-sales service coupons to calm the anger.

According to Brilliance's investment, not counting fixed depreciation, Brilliance cars must have annual sales of at least 30,000 units to maintain revenue balance, and only when this amount is exceeded can it be profitable. Now it seems that the investment of nearly three billion dollars does not know when it will be recovered.

The third is Chery's "Son of the East", as a local state-owned enterprise that has just stepped into the automotive field, with Chery's hot aftermath, it has started the journey of mid-level cars.

The price is 166,600, super cost-effective, and the "Son of the East" began to accept the test of the market.

In the Chery 4S store, next to the hot-selling Fengyun sedan, there is a prototype car of the "Son of the East" that has just come off the production line.

"The Oriental Son is a new generation of Chery's mid-level luxury sedan, equipped with a multimedia system, sunroof and leather seats...... The price is only 166,600 yuan, which is an ultra-low price specially formulated by Chery to give back to Chinese consumers and support domestic cars. Compared with the joint venture brand, it is 100,000 yuan cheaper, but the configuration that should be there is not less. ”

The sales are enthusiastically introduced to customers who are interested in purchasing.

The dry mouth has said a lot, but there are very few customers who are interested in buying, and everyone is in a wait-and-see attitude towards Chery's mid-level cars.

"I'm not very confident about the quality and stability of the car, Chery doesn't have much experience in car manufacturing, and the first batch of owners can easily act as guinea pigs for experiments. This was the case with the previous Brilliance car, where there were too many minor problems with the engine stalling. ”

Customers who came to see the car whispered in private.

"You're right, this car looks good as a whole, but a closer look at the workmanship is still not good, I just looked at the tailgate door, the size of the left and right sides are inconsistent. In the interior, the decorative strip of the passenger seat fell off with a slight button. To be honest, if it is a new car of Zhonghua Group, I would dare to give it a try, but Chery should wait and see!"

Another fellow customer continued.

In the front-end time, the shadow of the quality problem of Brilliance car is still hovering in the sky, and the mid-level car that has landed close to 200,000 makes many people cautious. And at this price, you can already buy joint venture brand sedans such as Hyundai Sonata, Nissan New Bluebird, and Volkswagen Bora. Compared with them, domestic brands are not very competitive.

"The cheapest automatic mid-level sedan on the market!"

No matter how Chery Automobile's marketing is positioned, the sales of "Son of the East" are still very unsatisfactory, with less than 300 effective orders in half a month, which is a huge gap compared with Chery Fengyun.

Thinking that it may be because the single model is too expensive, Chery Automobile immediately launched a 2.0L MT version with a price of 146,600 yuan.

Although the 2.0-liter "Son of the East" did not take on the important task of saving the market, it at least drove sales up, and monthly sales began to exceed 800 units.

"Why don't consumers buy such a good car?"

Chery's internal manager in charge of marketing was so anxious that the method of cutting prices was useless, and other tricks were used, but the sales of "Son of the East" were not sluggish, maintaining about 1,000 vehicles.

This is the same as the Brilliance car after the official announcement of a price cut of 10,000, and if it continues to develop like this, the annual sales of "Oriental Son" will not exceed 15,000, and it will face a loss.

Compared with Brilliance, Chery's cost pressure is relatively small, and at this price, as long as the annual sales of 15,000 units can pay off, after all, imitating the Daewoo model is much cheaper than developing Brilliance from scratch.

However, the means of price reduction can not be used casually, one is that consumers are not satisfied, the other is that dealers are not satisfied, three will seriously damage the brand image, and four will greatly reduce the level of profitability.

In the face of the sales status of "Son of the East", all Chery can do for the time being is to wait and hope for good luck.

"Judging from market research, many consumers are waiting for the word of mouth of our Oriental Son. In the future, if the reputation is good, sales will rise immediately. On the other hand, the market is none of our business. ”

As the helmsman, Chery boss Zhan Xiaqiu's words to cheer for his subordinates are quite reasonable.

"It seems that the mid-level car market is really not mixed, and the quality requirements of domestic consumers for vehicles are obviously higher than that of the 100,000 yuan market. Our domestic cars are still at a significant disadvantage in direct confrontation with joint venture brands. In the future, if our group wants to enter the mid-class car market, I am afraid it will also be a fierce battle. ”

Han Hao saw that Brilliance and Chery failed to make waves in the mid-level car market, and was glad that he had always been sober-minded and avoided the field of direct competition with joint venture brands. Whether it is a product or a market, it is required to avoid its edge and turn to the development of places that joint venture brands cannot look down on or take into account.

Therefore, in terms of mini cars, compact cars and SUVs, Chung Hwa Group can only make a difference by implementing the above policies.