The Evolution of the Automotive Industry Chain Focuses on the Media of Bai Ren Hui

Author: Zhou Pei

Since its birth in 2011, the global cumulative sales of more than 3.5 million vehicles, has become the monthly sales champion of the domestic SUV market for 98 consecutive months, and has set the highest record of monthly sales of more than 80,000 units of domestic SUVs…

These titles can only belong to one model, which is the Haval H6.

However, in today’s situation, these honors can only be a record. After ten years of ups and downs and magnificence, what Haval H6 needs to do is to stand on top and not lie flat.

“We are our own heroes”

When Haval H6 was launched in 2011, the SUV chassis independently developed by Great Wall and the Mitsubishi 2.0L naturally aspirated engine and the Great Wall’s self-developed 2.0T green diesel engine were all used in the Haval H6.

It can be said that this was all the assets of Great Wall at that time, all given to Haval H6. Wei Jianjun’s idea at that time may have been a bit of a last-ditch effort, carrying the mood of making a Chinese brand SUV model that China’s auto market could also own.

But at that time, the market’s public opinion was not tolerated. Looking back at comments from many years ago, there were even comments such as “Wei Jianjun’s chances of winning are not high”. Perhaps it was the market’s lack of confidence in domestic brands, or perhaps the barriers of joint ventures were too heavy.

However, since 1990, when Wei Jianjun, at the age of 26, took over the struggling Great Wall Motor, he has integrated his inherent introversion and toughness into this “last-ditch effort” vehicle.

In order to resist unknown risks, Wei Jianjun formulated the strategy of “focusing on the SUV market” to develop Great Wall, which also became the most direct evidence for media criticism that Great Wall was too reliant on SUVs. However, no one knew that Haval H6 was brewing a ten-year glory, and no one thought that such a model could make Great Wall shine.

Of course, the market’s vacancies also gave Wei Jianjun the opportunity to succeed in this last-ditch effort. At that time, the SUV market was dominated by joint venture brands. Or to put it more directly, the lonely Dongfeng Honda CR-V finally ushered in its biggest rival in the past decade, the Volkswagen Tiguan.After a long time, the Haval H6 arrived. In 2011, the first generation Haval H6 was launched at a price range of 95,800 to 141,800 yuan ($14,826 to $22,031), opening up a gap in the difficult environment of the independent brand survival and under the barriers of joint venture brands by selling at a price around 100,000 yuan ($15,471). From its launch in August 2011 until the 1 millionth vehicle rolled off the assembly line at the Tianjin factory in November 2015, it took four years for the Haval H6 to complete its first milestone, stunning consumers. It then broke through the 3 million sales mark in just four more years.

In 2013, the Haval brand officially became independent, and with the independence of the brand came an upgrade for the Haval H6. Just two years after its release, the Haval H6 defeated the Volkswagen Tiguan and the Honda CR-V, marking the beginning of its rivalry with joint venture SUVs. From 2013 to 2020, the Haval H6 has won the SUV sales crown for eight consecutive years.

Thereafter, the Haval H6 became the car model that every SUV wanted to surpass, from the Roewe RX5 to the GAC Trumpchi GS4… To this day, the Haval H6 still occupies the market, watching its old rivals and new competitors come and go.

“Chinese brand vehicles that have exceeded 3.5 million sales,” “Chinese brand vehicles that have reached 3 million in eight years,” “Chinese brand vehicles that have entered the top 10 global annual SUV sales list for five consecutive years,” “Chinese brand vehicles that have won the sales champion for 98 months in a row for eight consecutive years”. Every title attests to the glory of the Haval H6 in the past decade. The growth of the Haval H6 mirrors that of independent Chinese car companies over the last ten years. As it accumulates more and more accolades, the challenges facing the Haval H6 become increasingly acute.

There’s the impact of users’ shifting mindsets, the competition’s innovations, and the march of the times towards intelligent electrification from traditional fuel vehicles. But for the Haval H6 itself, standing at a high point, the most difficult thing is still how to break through itself in the torrent of the times.

“Break through oneself” sounds like a motivational slogan, but saying it is easy while doing it requires a heroic spirit of “no destruction, no establishment”. This spirit peaked in 2020, which was an extremely challenging year. The people from that year often long for the stirring times of the past. At that time, Wei Jianjun, the Chairman of the Board of Directors at Great Wall Motor, chose not to conceal his ambition. He was dedicated to making the Haval H6 a global car model and Great Wall Motor the “world’s largest professional SUV manufacturer”, which became the mission of the third-generation Haval H6.This year marks the 30th anniversary of Great Wall, and behind the no-longer-concealed ambition lies Wei Jianjun’s choice of a “self-revolution”. Going from 0 to 1 is a great and difficult step, but going from 1 to 10 requires even more patience and belief, and self-revolution is his belief. In the 30th anniversary micro-movie released by Great Wall Motors, Wei Jianjun asked himself, “Can Great Wall Motors survive next year if it relies too much on the past 30 years?” With the launch of the third generation Haval H6, the market also began to ask Wei Jianjun, “Can the road paved by the previous two generations of models enable the third generation Haval H6 to have a new era?”

All the beautiful imagination has not yet begun to take shape, and the third generation Haval H6 encountered much skepticism immediately after its launch. As the monthly sales champion, it has been challenged by Honda CR-V and Geely Boyue, and even the SUV bonus and Haval H6 are gradually feeling overwhelmed.

At the time of the launch of the third generation Haval H6, Great Wall was undergoing tough and difficult transformation, and the situation was mixed with the determination and belief to revolutionize comprehensively. Coupled with the F-series models developed by Great Wall falling short of expectations and the high-end brand WEY in trouble, it seems that all the chips for transformation and market promotion are pinned on the Haval H6.

However, Wei Jianjun has always believed that as the first SUV of an independent brand to sell over 3 million units, Haval H6 can withstand the test of generations. Wei Jianjun’s determination represents the determination of Great Wall Motors.

Although the monthly champion title of Haval H6 has been taken away in some months, it still shatters the voices of doubt with its strong performance and becomes the sharp sword to eliminate Wei Jianjun’s worries about the future of Great Wall Motors. Recent data shows that in the first seven months, Haval H6 sold 222,431 new cars, accounting for 49.57% of the sales volume and still being the backbone of Great Wall Motors.

Therefore, at the tenth anniversary of the Haval H6, with 3.5 million users in hand and three generations of models, Li Xiaorui, the general manager of the Haval brand, confidently said at the “Ten Years with You” ceremony, “We are our own heroes, and we have trodden our way forward step by step.”

A younger Haval H6 is needed

It is said that the times make heroes, but if heroes do not have the ability to grasp the times, they may also be swept into the dustbin of history in the great changes of the times. Great Wall knows this very well. Even with 3.5 million users and a decade of glory, the third-generation model of Haval H6 still needs to progress. As mentioned earlier, breaking through oneself and never flattening out is the biggest opponent on the way to brilliance.# On the Ten-Year Journey of Haval H6

Old Haval H6 users at the scene mostly use “persistency” and “development” to describe the ten-year journey of Haval H6. In their view, from the humble beginning to growing into a leading Chinese SUV automaker, the path has been difficult, filled with ups and downs, and many choices, but the toughness ingrained in the Haval brand has never been changed.

“With such achievements, we feel ready, and the time is ripe,” said a third-generation Haval H6 user, who was generous in praising the car. However, they also made a request, hoping that Haval H6, as the sales pillar of Great Wall Motors, could continue to contribute to the company and the Chinese auto market through new models and strategies.

Therefore, after expressing gratitude to customers and fans, Haval H6 chose to put its achievements on the line and continue to raise the bar. It proposed three key development words for the next ten years: technology, upward brand, and user ecology.

Previously, at the Great Wall Motors Technology Festival, Wei Jianjun said that Chinese auto brands would only be able to truly surpass others if they could rapidly enlarge their advantages in the next three to five years, in order to take the lead in the new field of new energy and intelligence.

Meng Xiangjun, President of Great Wall Motors, also pointed out some directions, stating that “the advantage of Chinese auto brands competing with foreign counterparts lies in intelligence.” These two sentences from Wei Jianjun and Meng Xiangjun clearly demonstrate the obstinacy of Great Wall Motors’ transformation, and also the heavy responsibility placed on Haval H6.

As the sales pillar of Great Wall Motors, Haval H6 must shoulder the burden of intelligent transformation, which is an unavoidable responsibility. Therefore, Haval introduced two new models as a tenth-anniversary gift for Haval H6.

Haval H6 Supreme+ and Haval H6S were officially released. Haval H6S has a total of five models with a pre-sale price ranging from RMB 138,900 to RMB 164,900. Haval H6 Supreme+ has two models with a price range of RMB 137,000 to RMB 157,000.

As the first sedan SUV in the H6 family, Haval H6S is built on the Great Wall Lemon+ Coffee Intelligent Dual Platform, with sports performance as the core label and offers two power choices – 2.0T fuel + Lemon DHT.

Intelligence is the highlight of Haval H6S, using the highly efficient Qualcomm 8155 chip, combined with its application scenarios, to cultivate the ability of AI self-learning in the cockpit and to create a “one-person-one-identity-one-exclusive ID” private cabin. In terms of assisted driving, H6S has 2 millimeter-wave radars, 12 ultrasonic radars, and 8 cameras, which can achieve L2+ intelligent assisted driving.

The Haval H6 Supreme+ version keeps the three main components consistent with the third-generation Haval H6, and adds more configurations. It is equipped with the same Sensational Future Intelligent Cockpit as the third-generation Haval H6, with advanced technology such as full-vehicle FOTA upgrade and all-scenario intelligent interaction.

The highlights of these two tribute models are both in “intelligence.” Previously, due to various factors, the industry still had a “haze” feeling about Great Wall Motors’ reserves in electrification and intelligence.

However, since July last year, Great Wall Motors has released three major technology brands: “Lemon”, “Tank”, and “Coffee Wisdom”. It officially announced its goal of becoming a global technology travel company. Since then, the intelligentization strategy has begun to be reflected in every specific model. From Haval, WEY, Euler and other brands, the imprint of Great Wall’s strategic transformation has become increasingly evident.

Haval H6S and Haval H6 Supreme+, inherited from the third-generation Haval H6’s “leading not only one generation ahead” car-making genes. Of course, with the launch of these two models, Haval H6 still continues the path that the previous two generations of models are good at, “multiple models, occupying the market.”

There are pros and cons.

On the one hand, Haval H6 is constantly completing a more youthful and intelligent product new system. On the other hand, with numerous models and a densely-laid product line, it will inevitably cause self-squeezing in a limited market space. In addition, the differentiation between consumers across channels and the realization of consumption are all problems to be solved.

There is a traceable history. Since March 2016, when Haval H6 first used price cuts to maintain its championship position, the price system began to loosen and the numerous models formed a squeeze, which was one of the factors. With the changes in market consumption concepts and times, Haval H6 must be more cautious about this, which is also a concern for many old users.

However, the ten-year covenant has been reached, and the beginning of the next ten-year path is what Haval H6 urgently needs to do, which is to “become more personalized”. After all, for young car owners, Haval H6 needs more youthful and intelligent personalized labels.

Breaking through the average age of over 30 for car owners is something that Haval H6 Supreme+ and Haval H6S need to work hard to achieve because managing a younger model series is not what Haval was good at before.

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.