Author: Dazhao

On April 14th, Chery New Energy announced its delivery data for March, reaching 22,963 units. The cumulative sales volume in the first quarter also reached 50,013 units, a year-on-year increase of 255.4%, far exceeding the average growth rate of the new energy industry by 1.4 times.

The sales volume of Chery New Energy is mainly contributed by two “star” mini electric vehicles: the eQ1 and QQ Ice Cream. The former has been the first in the sub-segment market for five consecutive years as the best-selling pure electric small car for women. Although the latter was only launched at the end of last year, the pre-sale orders exceeded 70,000 units, making it one of the best-selling mini pure electric vehicle models in the sub-segment market.

The data shows that the cumulative sales volume of eQ1 and QQ Ice Cream has reached 300,000 units, making Chery New Energy the second king of mini electric vehicles after Wuling.

Although the first quarter had a remarkable overall performance, the situation where Chery New Energy overly depends on mini electric vehicles has not been broken. The sales volume and proportion of eQ1 and QQ Ice Cream reached 99%, while the monthly sales volume of the flagship model, the Big Ant, targeting the mid-to-high-end market, is only tens of units, far from the new power brand models such as GAC Aion and Geely Geometry.

Why can’t the Big Ant sell?

From the continuous hot sales of mini electric vehicles eQ1 and QQ Ice Cream, it can be seen that consumers’ brand recognition of Chery New Energy is not low. The fact that the Big Ant is not popular indicates that there is no intersection between its product power and user group, which also reminds Chery New Energy of how to attract other consumer groups into the store or improve their inherent impression of Chery New Energy’s mini cars.

In fact, compared with another new power brand, GAC Aion V, the Big Ant has more cost performance advantages with a difference of about 20-30 thousand yuan. Coupled with Chery New Energy’s solid product development capabilities, the Big Ant should be one of the best-performing new power vehicle models in this sub-segment market.

Therefore, ultimately, the Big Ant is still losing in Chery New Energy’s lack of marketing. Of course, now there are not many traditional car companies that have mastered the marketing of new energy. Even giants such as Volkswagen and Honda are trying to revolutionize themselves. The turnaround is never easy.

Recently, both Honda and Changan have released new energy brands. If it was just to test the waters before, now they are officially sounding the horn of attack towards new energy. Because behind the new brand, there is a set of business mechanisms that include enterprise nature, marketing layout methods, and incentive systems.

Entering the third decade of the 21st century, new energy has become an absolute trend in the development of the automotive industry. Such an era-borne opportunity is a rare opportunity for any brand, especially for Chinese auto brands like Chery, who do not know that this is where the biggest opportunity for the brand to break through lies, and it is also Chery’s dream for many years.

Therefore, how can it not be taken seriously?

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.