Can’t escape mediocrity in the dazzling world？

Recently, a car named "Hyun Jie" has attracted people’s attention in the automobile industry. It is understood that this is the first new model after Kaiyi Automobile, which has been silent for a period of time, is about to launch a new shareholder. The new shareholder behind this is Wuliangye. In 2018, Sichuan Yibin Pushi Group Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Wuliangye, took a stake in Kaiyi Automobile, so Kaiyi was considered to have carried Wuliangye’s dream of building a car for many years and dubbed it "Wuliangye Automobile".

Past lives of Kaiyi

Speaking of Kaiyi Automobile, this is a car brand that was born in 2014. Its establishment time is a few years earlier than that of Chery, another successful brand of Chery, and it is regarded as a big brother.

However, several family cars launched by Kaiyi in the early years, such as Kaiyi X3, Kaiyi X5 and Kaiyi V3, are not sold with much sense of existence. In 2019, the annual sales volume hovered around 22,000, which is about equal to the monthly sales volume of Haval H6.

In 2018, Kaiyi Automobile changed hands. Yibin Automobile Industry Development Investment and Wuliangye Co., Ltd., controlled by Sichuan Yibin State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, acquired 51% of Kaiyi’s shares, and Chery lost its position as a major shareholder. Its base camp was also relocated from Wuhu, Anhui Province to Yibin, Sichuan Province. After more than a year of intensive construction, Kaiyi Automobile Yibin Smart Factory was completed and the new model was unveiled on December 24, 2019.

It is understood that Kaiyi Automobile has formulated the "four innovations" plan of "new brand, new factory, new marketing and new products" after the change of ownership. At the brand level, Kaiyi Automobile designated last year as the year of brand re-image; At the factory level, Yibin factory was officially completed and put into production; At the channel level, 100 first-class 4S dealers were added; At the product level, seven new cars will be launched in 2020, including three pure electric vehicles.

However, at present, the annual sales of only over 10,000 obviously do not match the output. If it is an extremely expensive super brand such as Bentley, Rolls-Royce, or Koenigsegg, the sales volume of over 10,000 yuan a year is justified. However, for Kaiyi, which is located in an economical position, it is indeed a very realistic problem how to ensure that there is enough income to support the continued operation of the factory with a sales volume of less than 15,000 vehicles a year.

How big a storm can dazzle the world?

After experiencing the overall decline of the domestic auto market in 2018 and 2019, it entered the hell mode under the attack of the epidemic in 2020. It is very difficult for Kaiyi Automobile to expect Hyun Jie to become an instant hit.

From the point of view of product strength, Xuanjie has obviously had a young and intelligent shadow, which is basically cut with the products of Laokaiyi. As an A0-class SUV, Hyun Jie seems to have been armed to the teeth in terms of configuration. In other words, some configurations that we can think of now, especially smart interconnection, seem to be experienced in Kaiyi Hyun.

However, this does not seem to be unexpected. Since Zotye, autonomous vehicles have now learned to work hard on configuration. Of course, with the support of Chery technology, the technical content of Kaiyi Xuanjie’s high configuration seems to be beyond doubt. In terms of shape design, Kaiyi can clearly see the shadow of Tiggo. In this sense, Yan value is also mainstream online.

From the perspective of product strength and positioning, Hyun-Jie is benchmarking Haval F series. Previously, Hyun-Jie predicted the price range of 60,000-100,000, which is expected to become another product leading the younger revolution in the independent camp after Haval F series.

However, can the dazzling world sell well, that is, can the so-called sales be hot? At present, there is another factor, that is, the awareness and influence of Kaiyi brand seems to lack a little bit. In other words, Hyun Jie went public and Kaiyi had a good product. However, to increase sales, we need to tell the story of Kaiyi brand well.

However, Wuliangye is still a winery after all, and you still need to rely on Chery to provide technical assistance if you want to start new business. In the short term, the "dazzling people" can’t get rid of the influence brought by Chery. However, different from the past, Chery is no longer the largest shareholder of Kaiyi, and naturally it will not "do its best", and the technology it provides is relatively "old", so it is not difficult to understand that the products it creates are relatively "moderate".

On the whole, the dazzling world created by Kaiyi brand really meets the needs of consumers in the current SUV market, but it is only a "simple" patchwork of consumer needs, and it is difficult to see the unique highlights of Kaiyi brand from the new dazzling world. In addition, the brand influence of today’s "new" Kaiyi may not be as good as that of the previous Kaiyi with 100% Chery Holdings. The previous Kaiyi has not received too much attention from consumers in the market, and the current "new" Kaiyi is probably more difficult. It may not be easy to change it with a brand-new model.

Jian Chen circuitous Kay wing again.

In July last year, Jian Chen, the former deputy general manager of Chery Holding ·JETOUR Marketing Center, officially joined Kaiyi Automobile and served as the deputy general manager of Kaiyi Automobile Sales Co., Ltd., in charge of Kaiyi’s market, product and brand public relations communication and sales in the central theater. In other words, starting from this month, Jian Chen will officially carry the banner of reviving Kaiyi brand.

Judging from his resume, Jian Chen has held many important positions in R&D, general manager office and marketing company during his 20 years working for Chery Automobile. In the later stage of development, he participated in the start-up of Chery brand, Kaiyi brand and Xingtu brand, and has quite rich experience in management and marketing in the industry.

Anyone familiar with Jian Chen knows that he started to participate in the formation of Kaiyi marketing team in 2013. Leading the strategic planning, enterprise naming, LOGO release and product system construction of Kaiyi Automobile Company. And break through the traditional formula of "building cars behind closed doors" in the automobile industry, launch the "Kaiyi Crowdsourcing" project, and take the Internet thinking as the starting point for innovation to detonate the national car-building movement. It has made a good start for the rapid development of Kaiyi and a model of marketing management.

However, with the rapid development of his work in Jetway, Jian Chen seems to have lost contact with Kaiyi after Yibin Automobile Industry Development Investment Co., Ltd. and Pushi Group, a subsidiary of Wuliangye, completed the equity transaction with Chery Automobile, and both parties jointly won 51% equity of Kaiyi Automobile. Nowadays, with the change of work, Jian Chen is equivalent to moving from Wuhu in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River to Yibin in the upper reaches, and returning to the most familiar Kaiyi.

At this stage, the most important thing for Kaiyi Automobile is to strengthen its marketing and dissemination, so that more people can understand Kaiyi’s brand image. As an "old man" of Chery, Jian Chen’s understanding of Chery’s brand is naturally different from others. This "return", he will better play the role of "bearing" and escort the coordinated development between Chery and Kaiyi.

Baixing pingche

With the support of local government, well-known liquor group and automobile manufacturing group, can Kaiyi, which once again launched a charge on the market, kill a bloody road? This will be the answer given by the new management team led by Jian Chen after his return to Kaiyi.