A live broadcast revealed the sales "password", and Chongqing car companies collectively increased investment in research and development

Source/Upstream Journalist Yan Wei

Editor/Xiang Jiaqing

Chongqing car companies make efforts

Under the impact of unfavorable factors such as "core shortage" and rising raw material prices, the performance of many car companies has been under pressure. According to data from the All-China Federation of Passenger Vehicles, the domestic narrow passenger car market sales reached 1.816 million units in November, down 12.7% year-on-year. Chongqing's narrow passenger car sales reached 33,200 units in November, down 25.7% year-on-year and up 2.3% month-on-month. In this context, intelligence, new energy, brand upward is still a breakthrough. Recently, upstream journalists visited a number of car companies and learned that major car companies have increased investment in research and development and strive to occupy a place in the fierce market competition.

Recently, Changan Automobile released its November sales report, and the sales of Changan Automobile's "Blue Whale Family" model equipped with Blue Whale NE series engine exceeded the 900,000 mark from January to November. The "Blue Whale Family" has sold 2.42 million units.

"Behind the eye-catching sales results, Changan Automobile insists on increasing investment in research and development and making efforts to make high-end efforts." The relevant person in charge of Changan Automobile said that 5% of the annual sales revenue is invested in research and development, and the cumulative investment exceeds 110 billion yuan. In the past three years, the average price of Changan Automobile brand products has increased by 34%.

According to the person in charge, today, Changan Automobile broadcast the whole process of challenging the extreme project, and successfully passed the projects of "tearing off the tablecloth in an instant" and "pulling away the truck". Among them, a second-generation CS55PLUS of less than 1.5 tons directly towed away three trucks with a total weight of more than 96 tons, demonstrating the performance of the "Blue Whale Family".

Similarly, Xilis and Huawei launched a new mid-to-high-end electric vehicle brand AITO, and its first mid-size luxury electric extender SUV "AITO Q&A M5" was also launched on December 23. Xiaokang co., Ltd. has invested a lot of money in research and development, and its R&D investment accounted for more than 12% of revenue in 2019, while in the first three quarters of 2021, R&D investment reached 680 million yuan, accounting for 5.9% of revenue.

The former "motorcycle king" Lifan Technology has returned from the reorganization and re-sought to "change electricity" in the field. On December 13, Lifan Technology announced that it intends to establish a joint venture with Geely Automobile Holdings Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Geely Automobile") in the directly administered area of Liangjiang New District, Chongqing, which will integrate the resources of both parties and jointly build cars.

With the opening of a new track characterized by software, new energy and intelligence, Chongqing's automobile industry has become a microcosm of the accelerated transformation and upgrading of the national automobile industry under the new situation.

According to the statistics of iFind, in the first half of this year, 23 A-share auto listed companies invested a total of about 20.8 billion yuan in research and development expenses. Among them, in addition to the reduction of R&D expenses of 5 companies, the remaining 18 companies have increased their R& D investment in a large way, and the highest R & D expenses have increased by 174% year-on-year.

At present, the proportion of vehicle products priced at more than 100,000 yuan in Chongqing has increased from 30% in 2017 to more than 40%. The intensive launch of models such as the Lincoln Adventurer and Changan Ford EVOS is considered to be a landmark event that Chongqing has gradually become a leading region in China's auto industry, especially the high-end development of its own brands.

Chongqing's "14th Five-Year Plan" points out that a 500-billion-yuan automobile industry cluster will be built, and new energy and intelligent networked vehicles will become key areas.