As the year-end grand event in the automobile industry, Guangzhou Auto Show has always gathered numerous blockbuster models and been hailed as the “barometer of the automobile market”. Despite the unfavorable situation of the COVID-19 pandemic and chip shortage, the 2021 Guangzhou Auto Show carries high expectations and ambitions for automakers.
If there is one automaker that can ignite the enthusiasm of the audience the most at the 2021 Guangzhou Auto Show, it is undoubtedly Great Wall Motors (GWM). On November 19th, GWM stunned the audience with its five major brands, Haval, WEY, ORA, Tank, and Great Wall Pickup, and the brand-new independent automobile technology company Salon Smartech, showcasing its first luxury pure electric product, the high-performance Jiayu Run. With the theme of heavyweight new cars and trendy play creating new events, GWM brought consumers new achievements in the transformation of GWM from a “global intelligent technology company” in the new ecology.
Behind the explosive popularity of GWM’s booth is its precise grasp of the pulse of the times and a future-oriented value orientation of keeping up with the times. “We must undergo a thorough self-revolution to be able to go further in the fierce competition of the future,” said Wei Jianjun, Chairman of GWM. Since then, GWM has launched innovation of the organization mechanism 3.0, starting with internal mechanisms and completing a comprehensive transformation from the strategic level of thinking to the level of corporate culture.
After the transformation, GWM established “one car, one brand, one company” centered around the automobile life cycle of users, and adjusted the organizational structure around models, accelerating the implementation of rotational mechanisms and establishing selection criteria and standards for cadre.
GWM boldly utilized an internal name called “decentralization” measures, which seemed insignificant but turned out to be a crucial step in unveiling the prelude to the innovation of the organization mechanism 3.0. The rekindling of the vitality of the company also became a source of inspiration for the innovation of GWM and injected a new essence into the brand. The three major technical brands, “Lemon”, “Tank”, and “Coffee Intelligence,” respectively catered to the different consumer groups’ vehicle needs, laying a solid foundation.
Moreover, GWM made full use of internet thinking, deeply practiced the brand concept of “customer-centric,” and reshaped the relationship between automakers and consumers. Starting from the customers to co-create products, whether it’s the global naming of “Haval Dagou”, the breaking-boundary design of Salon Smartech’s “High-performance Jiayu Run,” or the trendy play carnival of the Great Wall Pao chasing dreams on the desert road, GWM’s popular models are gradually becoming the Bible of the new generation of automobiles. The corporate spirit of “Green, Intelligent, Trendy, and Fun” is also becoming increasingly enriched.Under the leadership of a new mechanism, Great Wall Motors has established deep communication and interaction with consumers, continuously increasing reserves in various aspects such as funds, technology, and talents to cope with multidimensional market competition in products, brands, and channels. As of now, the research and development investment of only three major technology platforms, Lemon, Tank, and Coffee Intelligence, has exceeded CNY 20 billion, covering the entire automotive industry chain, including automotive research and development, design, production, and automotive ecology. In the next five years, Great Wall Motors’ accumulated research and development investment will reach CNY 100 billion. By 2023, the research and development team of Great Wall Motors worldwide will expand to 30,000 people from the existing 15,000, including 10,000 software development talents.
“New Energy + Intelligence + Digital” Evolution
Transformation means thorough internal and external changes. In addition to the acceleration and renewal of the product matrix, the continuous breakthrough of core technology, and the deepening development of overseas markets, Great Wall Motors is also accelerating towards new energy and intelligent cars.
In terms of new energy, in addition to the continuous deep cultivation in the fields of pure electric and hybrid, Great Wall Motors has also increased investment in the fuel cell power field. Based on the newly launched Lemon platform, the Group is developing vehicle-level hydrogen power platform according to different hierarchical requirements of the vehicle, powertrain, system, parts, materials, etc., and conducts in-depth exploration in safety, cost, durability, and key research and development technologies.
In terms of intelligence, Great Wall Motors also realizes the importance of chips to the automotive industry. In early 2021, Great Wall Motors strategically invested in Beijing Horizon Robotics Technology Development Co., Ltd. and officially entered the chip industry. With its technical accumulation in the intelligence field, Great Wall Motors and Horizon have formed a strong partnership to further accelerate the strategic pace of transformation into a “global intelligent technology company” by conducting in-depth exploration in building an intelligent networked ecosystem and industrialized development goals.
In addition, in terms of channel construction, Great Wall Motors is also using digital empowerment to achieve the goal of user, brand, and terminal co-creation. It not only establishes zero-distance communication channels with users but also truly realizes the co-construction of diverse ecological cultures based on consumers’ car use needs. At this Guangzhou Auto Show, Great Wall Motors also created a brand and user multi-scene immersive interactive experience, and brand construction is moving towards full-scale development from fulfilling functionalities to emotional identity and spiritual resonance.
“Green Intelligence and Tide Play” Leading Value OrientationIn June this year, Great Wall Motors officially released its “2025 Strategy”. By 2025, the company aims to achieve a global annual sales volume of 4 million vehicles, with 80% being new energy vehicles, and a total revenue exceeding 600 billion yuan. The company’s cumulative R&D investment in the next five years is expected to reach 100 billion yuan. Behind this ambitious goal is the core value of the enterprise’s “Green Intelligence Trend”, which will guide the company’s four major strategic directions: “Carbon Neutralization, Cognition Intelligence, Global Trendy Brand and Shared Wisdom and Creativity”, with the goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2045, and accelerating the transformation and upgrading of the company into a global intelligent technology company.
The color green represents Great Wall Motors’ firm determination to bet on the three major new energy technology routes of pure electric, hydrogen, and hybrid. In the field of pure electric vehicles, the company has planned three solutions for economical, long-range, and high-performance batteries, which means that Great Wall Motors’ all-round solution will be able to meet the travel demands of more consumers in the context of diversified and younger development trends. In the field of hybrid vehicles, the Lemon Intelligent Hybrid DHT system adopts dual-motor hybrid technology, which can balance high performance and high efficiency under full-speed and full-scene. As for hydrogen energy, Great Wall Motors will launch its first full-size hydrogen fuel cell vehicle in 2023, and expects to achieve a top three global market share in hydrogen energy by 2025.
The concept of “intelligence” embodies Great Wall Motors’ strong competitive advantage in forward-looking layout and overall planning. The Coffee Intelligence Technology brand pioneered the “Three Intelligence Integration” product concept, including “Intelligent Cockpit, Intelligent Driving, and Intelligent Service”. Through nearly a year of technological iteration, the Coffee Intelligence Technology brand is continuously improving and has defined the three core elements of “Interaction, Ecology, and AI”. The first product, Mocha, has already achieved the main functions of intelligent cockpit, including a 14.6-inch suspended central control screen, large-sized AR-HUD head-up display, and full LCD instrument panel. Basic functions such as gesture parking, intelligent driving assistant, and right-lane assistance cover the entire travel scene, bringing consumers a more convenient and efficient driving experience.
Chic, not only attracting users to imagine a stylish lifestyle but also through brand collaboration, unleashing young consumers’ daring thinking and translating user thinking into mass production possibilities. Based on sharp insights into the new generation of young people, Haval brand takes the lead in launching the “Chic Play” tag, and the “Big Dog +” plan to create a user interactive ecosystem; Tank is positioned as a trendy off-road SUV, and globally creates a high-end off-road vehicle trendy venue focusing on tanks; Under the fierce impact of tech-enabled lifestyle, Salon Zhixing is taking on and playing the role of a luxury intelligent pure electric new player, pushing “chic play” to the fullest…
Play is driving Great Wall Motors’ ecological transformation to new heights once again. “Crowd wisdom, co-creation” not only dissolves the sense of unfamiliarity and distance between the company and consumers but is also conducive to the company building a diversified product ecosystem. “Young”, “easy-going”, “daring” – every characteristic is the “play” culture that Great Wall Motors wants to convey to the outside world. Playing together will help Great Wall Motors accurately meet the purchasing needs of different consumer groups through personalized and differentiated product matrix, and complete the brand positioning and user targeting in an all-around and multi-dimensional way.
In Conclusion
Under the theme of “Intelligent technology, creating a new ecology,” Great Wall Motors’ appearance at the Guangzhou Auto Show has received high praise and once again staged a “Great Wall phenomenon.” It is fully accelerating the implementation of the 2025 strategy. After thirty years of ups and downs, the “Upgraded” Great Wall Motors is now revitalized, and through innovation and sharing, they have precisely positioned green energy revolution and intelligent travel, redefining the method of thinking about the development trends of the automotive industry and user thinking. In the era of intelligence, Great Wall Motors is striding confidently on the road of transforming into a global intelligent technology company.
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.