Author | Shen Tianxiang
Edit | Li Guozheng
Produced by | Bangning Studio (GBNGZS)
Once, it had a monthly sales volume of more than 80,000 units, and was the SUV sales champion for 103 consecutive months, with a cumulative global sales volume of more than 4 million units.
It is the Haval H6 under Great Wall Motors.
On the evening of June 19, 2024, the new Haval H6 will be launched at a price of 117,900~143,900 yuan. The new car has been greatly upgraded in four aspects, such as design, comfort, intelligence and power, and the manufacturer also provides a comprehensive cash discount of 10,000 yuan and a limited-time discount of 4,000 yuan, and the listing equity price is 103,900 yuan.
If you superimpose multiple discounts such as replacement, and buy during the pre-sale period, you can discount up to 26,901 yuan. In other words, the final entry price of the new Haval H6 is less than 100,000 yuan.
H6 is the totem of the Haval brand and even Great Wall Motors, can the new car regain its glory?
Over the years, the Haval H6, together with Changan CS75PLUS and Geely Boyue L, has staged a "Three Kingdoms" in the compact SUV market. Later, Geely Boyue L fell out of the top 10 and was replaced by Xingyue L of Geely China Star series.
In recent years, among the leaders of the compact SUV market, not only Geely's models are changing, but also the top three camps in the past have become BYD's dominance.
Judging from the data of the past six months, among the top five compact SUV sales, BYD has taken the top three, namely Song PLUS New Energy, Song PRO New Energy and Yuan PLUS, the fourth place is Changan CS75PLUS, and the fifth place is Dongfeng Honda CR-V. The Haval H6 is in eighth place.
Stretching the timeline to nearly a year, it can be seen that the rankings of the first place Song PLUS New Energy and the fourth place Changan CS75PLUS remain unchanged, Yuan PLUS ranks second, Song PRO New Energy ranks third, and the fifth place is Aion Y. At that time, the CR-V was still in eighth place, and the Haval H6 was in seventh place.
Obviously, in the past six months, Dongfeng Honda CR-V, GAC Toyota Fenglanda and FAW Toyota RAV4 Rongfang have not only squeezed out the Aion Y, but also surpassed the Haval H6.
These three cars are all from joint venture brands, and they all have significant discounts at the terminal. In particular, the CR-V, as an all-round compact SUV of the joint venture, has shown strong competitiveness after the discount.
It can be seen that one of the challenges faced by the new Haval H6 is the price drop of the joint venture compact SUV.
Let's take a look at the top three. Among the Song PLUS new energy, Song PRO new energy and Yuan PLUS models, there are both pure electric and plug-in hybrid. With the blessing of BYD's DM-i technology, the sales of the first two cars have grown rapidly, especially in the past six months, the sales of Song PLUS new energy are close to 190,000 units, about 100,000 units more than the Haval H6.
Yuan PLUS focuses on pure electric vehicles, and with its cost performance, it has killed all sides in the online car-hailing market. Also successful on the path of the online car-hailing market is the Aion Y, whose market size is comparable to that of the Haval H6.
This brings a second challenge to the new Haval H6, that is, new energy models, especially gasoline and electricity at the same price, are more lethal.
In order to cope with the competition, the new Haval H6 has confirmed that the Hi4 version will be launched in the future, but it will encounter pricing problems - if it cannot achieve the same price of gasoline and electricity, I am afraid it will be difficult to attract consumers to pay.
So, the same fuel vehicle, why did Changan CS75PLUS sell better in the past?
In contrast, Changan CS75PLUS has updated the design trendy, the dual screen in the car is more in line with consumer preferences, and the upgraded Blue Whale power has enhanced the power. The old Haval H6 suffered a loss in terms of design and car engine.
This time, Haval is determined to upgrade significantly, and although the new H6 is only a facelift, the changes are comparable to a generational change.
Not only the appearance has changed greatly, but also the car machine uses Qualcomm 8155 chip, which is silky and smooth to operate. In addition, the 2.0T engine is equipped with a 13% increase in maximum power and 18% more torque than the previous generation 4N20 engine, matched with Great Wall Motor's self-developed transverse 9-speed wet dual-clutch transmission, with a comprehensive transmission efficiency of 96% and a WLTC comprehensive fuel consumption of 7.5L/100km.
It can be seen that the new Haval H6 basically makes up for the shortcomings of the old model. It may be Chang'an CS75PLUS that will be affected by it.
In addition, in recent years, more "barbarians" have also entered the compact SUV market, and "dimensionality reduction strikes", such as Chery Tiggo 8 and Jietu X70. They are the size of a mid-size car and the price of a compact car, which not only satisfies the user's love for large space, but also fits the user's price range.
If you go to the third and fourth tier cities or small counties, you can find that there are more and more models of Chery, especially the Jietu brand. These places used to be the main markets for cost-effective compact SUVs such as the Haval H6, but now, many people there are turning to the looks, space and value for money of the shortcut.
After making up for the shortcomings, the new Haval H6 is facing a third challenge, that is, the price and market of mid-size SUVs are sinking.
Today, the new Haval H6 has formed three major advantages, one is the base of 4 million units, the second is the appearance, the vehicle, and the power are upgraded, and the third is cost-effective. These have strengthened the product strength of the new Haval H6 and enhanced its competitiveness.
It's just that times are no longer what they used to be. The compact SUV market is still there, but there have been structural changes, and the product supply and market distribution have fundamentally changed.
Although the new Haval H6 has three major swords in hand, it is still difficult to say that it is easy. If it wants to return to the rising channel, the new Haval H6 has to work hard to overcome three difficulties, such as joint ventures, the same price of oil and electricity, and the big and small.