Long read | Lily

Having followed new energy vehicles for so many years, it’s the first time that I’ve seen a new car, like the Changan BLUECORE SL03, which just hit the market and has accurately stepped on the rhythm in terms of technology, product strength, product positioning, production capacity, sales, and other aspects.

In the first month of 2023, Changan BLUECORE SL03 delivered 6137 vehicles. Looking at this performance alone, it doesn’t seem very outstanding. However, compared to other new energy vehicle brands, Changan BLUECORE’s delivery volume in the sedan category in January led far ahead, ranking second on the list, behind only NIO.

As a newly launched vehicle with only 4 months on the market, the success of the SL03 could be regarded as a small miracle, and further investigation reveals that the success of the SL03 goes beyond sales performance.

Behind sales performance are three important breakthroughs

The sales peak of the SL03 is not in January but in December of last year, with a delivery volume of 11,650 vehicles. It achieved the milestone of exceeding 10,000 deliveries in the third month since delivery began in September. Judging from the above data, the slight decline in January does not seem to be much cause for celebration.

However, when evaluating individual vehicle sales, we should not forget the overall environment. Judging from the above data, the total sales volume of new energy vehicles nationwide in January dropped sharply from 708,000 vehicles in December last year to 294,000 vehicles, a decrease of 58.5% on a month-on-month basis. Against this background, many popular new energy vehicles experienced a decline of over 50% on a month-on-month basis. In comparison, SL03 has remained in the first tier of the same category of vehicles among new brands, outperforming the overall market.

In addition to sales, the breakthroughs achieved by SL03 in other areas are also worth noting.

Firstly, the distribution of sales across the country. At present, many new energy vehicles, especially new start-up brands that promote high-end markets with a price tag of over 200,000 to 300,000 yuan, have a high dependence on cities with quota and traffic restrictions. Some brands concentrate close to half of their sales volume in a few developed cities, with lower sales and influence in other regions around the country.“`

The five cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hangzhou are domestic cities with relatively stringent restrictions on license plate quotas and traffic control measures. XPeng, Ideal and Tesla each have more than 30% of their sales concentrated in these five cities, while NIO’s proportion is over 40%. This means that without the “assistance” of license plate quotas and traffic control measures, the sales volume of these brands may be significantly affected.

In contrast, Changan Shenlan’s sales in these five cities accounted for only 15.96% of the total national sales, less than half of that of NIO, XPeng, and Tesla. This reflects a very important piece of information: Shenlan SL03 has a low dependence on the license plate and traffic control policies, and its product strength is widely welcomed by consumers nationwide.

In fact, even BYD, which covers a wider price range and has a richer product category, has a sales proportion of more than 20% in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, which is higher than that of Changan Shenlan. Therefore, the first important breakthrough made by Shenlan SL03 is that it is loved by consumers across the country.

The second important breakthrough is the price range that Shenlan SL03 is committed to.

In recent years, new energy vehicles have grown rapidly, putting immense pressure on fuel vehicles. However, this is mainly reflected in the low-end market below 100,000 yuan and the high-end market above 250,000 yuan. New energy vehicles still have a much lower overall proportion in the price range of 100,000-200,000 yuan, which is the largest and most stable market for fuel vehicles.

The reason is simple. Electric vehicles priced below 100,000 yuan mainly meet the demand for urban commuting. There are many popular models such as Hongguang MINI, Changan Lumin, and Chery QQ ice cream priced at around 50,000 yuan. In the price range above 250,000 yuan, with the support of intelligence, brand and service, and the performance advantages of electric vehicles themselves, it can meet the demand for high-end models of high-budget consumers.

In the price range of 100,000-200,000 yuan, what people need is a product that can serve as the main force for daily household use, and can meet various usage scenarios with high requirements for space, configuration, performance, and endurance, without obvious shortcomings. So far, new energy vehicles that can meet these requirements are still very rare.
“`# Chang’an Shenlan SL03, has successfully filled the gap in this category. Its main price range is between 170,000 and 220,000 yuan, which is much lower than the positioning of brands such as NIO, IDEAL, Tesla, and Ji-ke. However, this price range happens to be the most difficult for consumers to accept new energy vehicles, winning customers in this segment is actually more meaningful than winning customers with higher budgets of more than 300,000 yuan.

The third breakthrough of Shenlan SL03 is mainly for Chang’an. Compared with brands like Geely and Great Wall, Chang’an’s impact on the high-end price and market has not been successful in the past. However, after the first model of Shenlan was launched, it quickly established its presence in the market at around 200,000 yuan, which has enabled Chang’an to find an increasingly suitable path towards high-end development.

Now that the success of Shenlan SL03 has been largely explained, the next question is why it is Shenlan SL03 that achieved these breakthroughs?

What are the reasons for such rapid success?

The foundation of any successful car model is excellent product quality. However, excellent product quality alone is still far from achieving success.

There is no need to say much about the product quality of Shenlan SL03, it combines an appearance that feels futuristic, sporty and luxurious while creating a simple, technological, and warm atmosphere for its interior. The car has a medium-sized body, makes good use of its internal space that is enabled by the new energy platform. At entry-level, it covers various types of functional configurations for safety, intelligence, convenience, and comfort, showcasing a power performance not less than the traditional fuel car 2.0T engine. Finally, it has a very practical price advantage. This model, which has obvious advantages and no shortcomings, is already attractive enough to become a hot-selling product.

Compared with excellent product quality, what other manufacturers should pay more attention to in Shenlan SL03 is its product definition. It has taken a very unique route – range-extender + pure electric.

Of course, range-extender and pure electric products are not uncommon in the market, but abandoning the pure fuel line from the beginning of the development of the vehicle platform, balancing and considering the benefits of range-extender and pure electric models, there has been nothing like this before. This is precisely the reason why Shenlan SL03 range-extender version has the advantage of power layout and space utilization efficiency of a pure electric platform. The pure electric version did not compromise because of the range-extender power consideration.

Previously Successful Extended-Range Models Were Mainly Dominated by AITO Led by IdeAuto and Huawei, Both Positioning Themselves as High-End Models. However, the Deep Blue SL03 Extended-Range Version Has Entered the CNY 170,000 Price Range, Which Was a Big Gamble Because Joint Venture Brands Have Not Been Successful with Models Priced Around CNY 200,000.

The Deep Blue SL03 Proves That Consumers with Budgets Below CNY 200,000 Are Willing to Accept Extended-Range Power if the Product Is Strong Enough. After Deep Blue’s Success, More and More Car Manufacturers Will Consider Extended-Range as One of the Main Progress Routes.

Another Key Foundation for Deep Blue SL03, Which Achieved Over 10,000 Monthly Sales Shortly After Delivery and Sold Throughout the Country, Is the Rapid Construction of Its Sales and Service Network.

As a New Brand, by the End of Last Year, Deep Blue Had 570 Order Centers Covering 218 Cities Nationwide. This Achievement Would Take Other New Brands Several Years to Gradually Achieve, and Actually, Even Today, Many New Brands Still Have Not Reached the Level of Sales and Service Network of the Deep Blue Brand by Changan.

Conclusion

In the First Half of the Development of New Energy Vehicles, People’s Attention Was Mainly Focused on the New Brands Created by Non-Traditional Automotive Forces. They Do Have Their Own Characteristics and Achievements in Brand Marketing, Service, and Intelligence.

However, The Development of the New Energy Market Has Just Begun. In the Past Two Years, The Most Rapid Progress and Impact in the New Energy Field Is No Longer from the So-Called New Forces. Some Conventional Car Manufacturers That Have Technological Strength and Reform Power Have Gradually Developed Their Own New Energy Brands Based on Their Own Characteristics and Foundations After Adapting to the New Energy Market.

Although Deep Blue Originates from Conventional Car Manufacturers, Its Product Definition Goes Beyond Our Expectations for New Forces. Meanwhile, Deep Blue Has Also Fully Utilized Its Advantages in Technology, Production, Sales, and Other Aspects, Creating Its Own Unique “Deep Blue Route” That New Forces Cannot Replicate.

Changan Deep Blue Has Just Begun, and Its Second Model, the S7, Will Be on the Market Soon. Its Fast-Paced Product Strategy Will Make Changan Deep Blue Rapidly Become an Important Role in the New Energy Market.### 中文标题

这是一段加粗和斜体的文字，还有一个链接。
下面是一个图片：

上面的代码使用了 HTML 标签，下面我们来一个用 Markdown 语法写的表格。

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.