Author: Yulu

Introduction

In the trend of rapid development of autonomous new energy brands, we believe that Chery New Energy with technological advantages can awaken and write a better tomorrow!

Many autonomous new energy brands have brought a lot of vitality to the domestic automobile market by changing their names and faces. However, objectively speaking, Chery as a conscientious autonomous brand has not kept up with the trend of the new energy industry development.

If we talk about technology, Chery is well-known among many autonomous brands. For example, the top ten engines of “Chinese Cores” and all-aluminum bodies, which are popular among everyone, are the technological masterpieces of Chery Automobile praised by many.

However, Chery New Energy is not as bright as everyone imagines. Whether it is the online discussion popularity or the actual sales of high-end models, it seems that the standards have not been met.

One netizen made a more vivid analogy, stating that Chery is a bit like a “science and engineering student”, who focuses more on technical expertise, but is not good at dealing with external affairs. For example, Chery still has room for improvement in marketing or promotion.

Of course, we also see that true car enthusiasts have always trusted brands under Chery, including Chery New Energy. Therefore, although it is deeply trapped in a transformation bottleneck, Chery New Energy still has a great breakout opportunity, depending on how Chery starts this round of transformation.

What is the intention of the top-level changes?

Going back in time to June 22, the Chery Automobile high-level suddenly made personnel adjustments. Chairman Yin Tongyue personally took the lead and became the new chairman of Chery New Energy, former chairman Li Lizhong returned to the group for employment, and General Manager Gao Lixin was replaced by Bao Siyu, with Gao Lixin serving as the general manager of Anhui New Energy Technology.

The sudden personnel changes in Chery’s high-level have caused a flurry of speculation outside. Among them, the more representative opinion of the public is the “listing discussion” of Chery, especially Chery New Energy, which is more necessary to go public first and is very beneficial to the development of Chery Group.

There are also opinions that Chery may learn from the practices of BAIC New Energy and implement “listing for separation”, taking the lead in pushing its more profitable and market-prospects business to the capital market, and then deploying other projects to go public.

As early as September 27, 2018, BAIC New Energy successfully listed on the A-share market. Judging from the series of actions taken by Chery currently, it is possible to replicate the practices of BAIC. However, this statement has not been officially confirmed and the answer needs to be revealed from specific market performance.

Regardless of the reasons for this change, the only thing that can be confirmed is that Chery has begun to attach importance to CheryNew Energy. As the mainstream trend of the new era, Chery cannot make cars in the previous “Buddhist” way anymore, otherwise, once the opportunity is missed, it will be even more difficult to regain the market situation.According to previous reports, Chery plans to list on the A-share mainboard in 2022, and Chery New Energy, which has been integrated into Chery’s commercial vehicle subsidiary “iCAR,” may be listed on the sci-tech board.

Currently, Chery is bundling new energy and commercial vehicles to make the overall assets larger and easier to pass through the listing approval process. In addition, this can give more confidence to investors, making them more willing to invest in Chery. The current new energy industry is a new trend, and Chery has many technical advantages. After making corresponding adjustments, it is very advantageous for Chery to go public.

Chery New Energy’s acceleration is imperative!

When it comes to Chery, many people will immediately associate it with the Chery QQ. As Chery’s classic model, it has created too many sales myths and has increasingly demonstrated Chery’s car-making strength.

Now, the Chery QQ is history, and Chery has launched the eQ1, a new energy vehicle model. When Chery launched this car, it also established a new energy company. Therefore, it can be seen that Chery laid out the new energy market relatively early.

As of 2020, Chery eQ1 has sold more than 100,000 units, maintaining the sales crown of A00 level new energy vehicle models. Now, the Hongguang Mini has hotly launched, taking over the sales crown of the eQ1.

In also June, the 200,000th Little Ant of Chery’s new energy was offline. Chery emphasized the youthfulness of the product, and also emphasized the high sales position of the Little Ant in the new energy market, hoping that Chery’s new energy can forge ahead.

However, behind the glory, there are Chery’s worries and self-rescue.

Besides the Little Ant series, Chery’s other car models, such as the Big Ant, have relatively mediocre sales, and even a trend of declining sales. Chery New Energy’s sales in 2020 totalled 43,000 units, a decrease of approximately 8% compared to 46,700 units in 2019. However, the overall new energy vehicle industry sales have grown by nearly 10%, which reflects Chery New Energy’s problems.

Of course, it is precisely because of this that Chery wants to reform drastically.

To truly exert brand influence in the new energy vehicle field, it is not only possible to seize the market with entry-level models like the Little Ant. To truly gain market reputation and consumer support, we must also continue to exert force in the mid-to-high-end market. Nowadays, there are more and more new brands appearing in the new energy vehicle market, which invisibly increases Chery’s competitive pressure.

Nowadays, the new energy vehicle industry is no longer the era of PPT car-making. Especially under such rich choices, consumers know how to compare. In addition to comparing cost-effectiveness and technology, they also need to compare brand advantages and reputation.In such a context, Chery’s new energy can no longer maintain a “Buddhist style” attitude towards car manufacturing, otherwise there will continue to be a downward trend in sales. This is not only detrimental to Chery’s future listing plans for new energy vehicles, but also to Chery’s long-term development.

Many traditional domestic brands have achieved some success in the new energy market, such as Changan Jieli and BYD, which have been relatively aggressive in the layout of intelligent new energy vehicles and have been focusing on the improvement of intelligent technology.

For Chery’s new energy, they also have the strength in technology, but they lack a more aggressive product layout. Especially in the mid-to-high-end market, Chery’s new energy has not yet produced distinctive and advantageous products. This is a problem that Chery’s new energy urgently needs to solve in order to stand out in the chaotic new energy market.

Chery’s management has made personnel adjustments, indicating its desire to operate Chery’s new energy independently and provide more funding and technical support, enabling Chery to launch higher-quality new energy models.

At the same time, Chery also needs to grasp the overall direction of the group’s development in order to find its own development direction in the ever-changing automotive market. For the current Chery, it should indeed abandon the advantage of “Buddhist-style” car manufacturing. After the personnel changes of the group, we may see a different Chery.

This is a correct transformation, and also indicates Chery’s determination to move forward.

Among many mainstream domestic automakers, Chery is the only one that has not yet gone public, which has brought some limitations to Chery’s long-term development. Today’s personnel changes in the group’s senior management are aimed at fully attacking the science and technology innovation board and making Chery a listed group. If successful, this could attract more capital for the group, making Chery more confident in its future development.

In any case, Chery can no longer manufacture cars in the old-fashioned way and must utilize the car manufacturing mindset of the Internet age, particularly in necessary marketing efforts that can increase brand influence. Only when the public knows about Chery’s multifaceted advantages can their achievements be reflected in the end sales figures.

Currently, Chery is moving in the right direction, and the focus is on how they will lay out their position in the market, particularly in the new energy vehicle market, which will best demonstrate Chery’s determination to reach a new level.

In conclusion, the transformation has made Chery’s new energy vehicles more anticipated than before. In the trend of many domestic new energy brands flourishing, it is believed that Chery’s new energy with technical advantages can awaken at this delicate moment, and write a brighter future.

This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.