In the era of "bloody war" in the auto market, the excitement not only belongs to the mainstream market segment, but also the "non-mainstream" is also in the battle, such as pickup trucks.
According to incomplete statistics, in the first half of 2024, nearly 10 domestic pickup truck brands have released nearly 15 new cars, and in the second half of the year, at least 5 new cars will be launched one after another.
On June 28, the pickup truck market officially ushered in a new army - China National Heavy Duty Truck Bolden, a pickup truck brand created by the leader of the heavy truck industry, announced that it will be positioned as an "international all-field pickup truck", facing domestic and international global users, providing pickup solutions to meet different needs.
"Bosheng pickup truck is not the opportunity to cut into the pickup truck market, but an important piece of the puzzle of Sinotruk's goal of building a world-class full-range commercial vehicle group, we have been planning for a long time, and now it is just 'ripe for the melon'", Ge Hao, general manager of Sinotruk Light Vehicle Division, introduced to the "Automobile Grand View".
Along with the release of the Bosheng pickup brand, there are also three models on the market: the commercial S6, the passenger S7, and the off-road S9. As the first model to break into the pickup truck market, Bosheng Pickup brought the official price of the commercial S6 (110,800-146,800 yuan), the passenger S7 (138,800-161,800 yuan), and the off-road S9 (181,800-191,800 yuan), as well as six car purchase surprises and service commitments.
China National Heavy Duty Truck makes pickup trucks, in the eyes of many people, in addition to the question of "why do it", there is a greater doubt, that is, "can it be done well". Bosheng pickup truck is born with the "golden spoon" of China National Heavy Duty Truck, Weichai Power Chain, and even Shandong Heavy Industry background resources, will its addition change the existing pattern of the pickup truck market?
Opportunities and challenges
If there is any unimaginable growth space for Chinese automobiles (passenger cars and commercial vehicles) in the stock competition environment, pickup trucks are definitely one.
Over the years, subject to policy requirements, the domestic demand for pickup trucks has been suppressed, with the gradual relaxation of policies, the market capacity of pickup trucks has been greatly improved, but the industry generally believes that the future growth potential will be more attractive.
In addition to the original commercial use in the fields of engineering construction, municipal power, agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery, wholesale and retail, pickup trucks are also becoming more and more favored by new customers such as high-end, passenger and off-road vehicles.
Perhaps it is precisely because of this that in recent years, the domestic pickup market has been lively, in addition to the traditional fuel pickup, pure electric, plug-in hybrid, extended range and other new energy pickup trucks are also emerging in an endless stream, competing on the same stage. The continuous addition of new brands and new models not only enriches the choices of users, but also impacts the original market pattern.
Take the listed China National Heavy Duty Truck Bosheng pickup truck as an example, the multi-directional development trend of commercialization, high-end and passenger use of pickup trucks has brought more opportunities and favorable conditions for its long-planned entry into the pickup truck market.
Therefore, Bosheng pickup truck is not only limited to making up a piece of the puzzle of Sinotruk's full range of commercial vehicles, but also gets the ticket to attack the passenger pickup truck and off-road circle with a strip of water. However, the opportunities are great and the challenges are not small. In the domestic pickup truck market, the Great Wall pickup truck has a long history of dominating and occupying nearly 50% of the market share, and the market head effect is obvious.
In addition, Jiangling, Jiangxi Isuzu, Zhengzhou Nissan, these veteran players in the pickup market have also been in the forefront of the market for a long time. Not only the "new force" such as Bosheng pickup, but every brand that enters the pickup market must accept the baptism of cruel competition. "Chairman Tan Xuguang told us, 'You just let it go', and did not set specific requirements for us, my goal is to start to see results in the second half of next year", Ge Hao replied to the question of "Automobile Grand View" on "whether Chairman Tan Xuguang asked to win the pickup 'military order'".
The advantages of the "golden spoon".
Although the pickup market is good, the "stable state" it shows also puts a lot of pressure on latecomers, and it is difficult to break into this market without a little "unique activity" or differentiated advantages. So the question is: what kind of advantages does the completely new-faced Bosheng pickup take to fight?
At present, it seems that the biggest advantage of Bosheng pickup truck is that it is born with the background resources of China National Heavy Duty Truck, Weichai Power Chain, and even Shandong Heavy Industry.
Thanks to this, whether in terms of product strength, supporting capabilities, scene definition, sales channels, or service network, Bosheng pickup can get great help from the "family". First of all, the product strength, backed by China National Heavy Duty Truck, "China's No. 1 heavy truck brand", "global heavy truck sales champion", and Weichai specially built for it WP2H 2.0T diesel engine, the power and reliability performance of the pickup truck will stand out in the pickup truck market.
Because the current situation of the domestic pickup truck market is "going to the city rather than going to the countryside", the main market for pickup trucks is still in the northwest, southwest, central region, and northeast of various commercial fields, and the passenger sales of pickup trucks into the city are still not performing well.
This provides a natural advantage for the heavy truck company to provide a natural advantage, as a commercial vehicle heavy truck for vehicle power and reliability has always been the highest requirements, China National Heavy Duty Truck's heavy truck dominates the market, the first reason is its power and reliability performance. When the excellent power and reliability are inherited to the pickup products, there is a reason for the Bosheng pickup truck to be concerned by the pickup truck market, which is still mainly commercial.
Taking the three models on the market this time as an example, the power is equipped with the WP2H 2.0T diesel engine specially built by Weichai for pickup trucks, which integrates six core technologies: high reliability, silence, low friction loss, efficient and clean combustion, low emission and lightweight design. In addition, such as 162mm high-strength large-section longitudinal beam, cab torsional rigidity of 32000Nm/deg, key material strength of 1500Mpa, galvanized sheet accounting for >50% and other high-strength, high-reliability materials such as high-strength cage lightweight body structure, and more than 3 million kilometers of vehicle road reliability verification, all of which have strengthened the power and reliability performance of Bosheng pickup from all aspects.
In terms of supporting capacity, other key parts and assemblies of Bosheng pickup trucks are also used such as BogWarner timely four-wheel drive system, Eaton differential lock, Boshi ESP9.3 high-performance body stability system, K-MAN nitrogen shock absorber and other first-class supplier brand parts at home and abroad. In terms of intelligent configuration, Bosheng pickup is also equipped with L2+ intelligent assisted driving system, integrating 14 ADAS functions, as well as voice recognition, 360° panoramic image + 180° transparent chassis and other perception functions.
There are also several advantages that are worth mentioning for Bosheng pickup, that is, the unique scene definition advantages of the "family" for commercial vehicles, as well as the advantages of sales channels and service networks, which are of great benefit to the promotion of Bosheng pickup trucks in the commercial field.
The use scenarios of commercial vehicles are complex and the user needs are diverse, which is not only obvious in the heavy-duty truck market, but also applicable in the pickup truck market. Ge Hao said that not only the user needs of pickup trucks for commercial use in different regions are different, but even in the same region, the user needs of different use scenarios are also different, and even the user needs of the same use scenario are different.
The complexity and diversity of user needs is undoubtedly a plus for Bosheng pickup, which has a good scene-defining gene.
In addition, the sales channels and service network of China National Heavy Duty Truck will also be beneficial to Bosheng pickup, and even the resources of Weichai Power and the entire Shandong Heavy Industry can also boost Bosheng pickup if necessary. Although Ge Hao said that there is no plan and need to borrow the group's resources at present, the advantages of Bosheng Pickup have these resources, but they really exist.
Exit or the fastest breakthrough
"Flowers bloom in the wall and fragrance outside the wall", "weak domestic growth rate, strong overseas exports", this is the current market status quo of China's pickup trucks.
Unlike the stable competition pattern of the domestic pickup truck market and the sluggish market growth this year, China's pickup trucks, especially their own brands, are making great progress in overseas markets by taking advantage of the east wind of Chinese cars going overseas, and their sales and brand reputation are bullish across the board.
According to the data of the China Passenger Car Association, in May 2024, China exported 22,000 pickup trucks, accounting for 45% of all pickup truck sales, making it the strongest export proportion among commercial vehicles. And unlike the Great Wall pickup truck in the domestic market, many brands such as Changan, JAC, SAIC Maxus, etc., have performed well in overseas markets, even surpassing the Great Wall.
The rise of pickup truck exports and the reshaping of the pattern have undoubtedly brought a good "time" to the Bosheng pickup truck that has entered at this time. At the same time, Bosheng pickup truck has an innate "geographical advantage", which also comes from the global network advantages of China National Heavy Duty Truck and Weichai Power. Those who are familiar with Tan Xuguang know that his first appearance in Weichai was to take Weichai to sea and achieved excellent results.
Over the years, Tan Xuguang's eyes have been facing the global market, and Weichai Power has become a pivotal national power brand in the global market. SINOTRUK also has nearly 40 years of global network layout experience, especially after Tan Xuguang took the helm, SINOTRUK's globalization process has developed unprecedentedly, and it has rapidly built a highly competitive global marketing network in a few years, ranking first in export sales of heavy trucks for a long time.
"Today, on average, one SINOTRUK product is successfully sold overseas every three minutes, and such a global network is a strong support for our pickup products to go overseas," said Ge Hao. Its own strong global marketing and service network, the overall wave of Chinese pickup trucks going overseas, these "time" and "location" blessings, for Bosheng pickup to open up overseas markets to provide favorable conditions. Next, Bosheng pickup only needs to fully demonstrate the advantages of the product, and then it can have another key factor for success, "people", and calmly enter the global market.
In recent years, China's pickup trucks have continuously consolidated their international competitiveness and enhanced their international market share and status by virtue of the improvement of their overall product strength. In the field of fuel pickup trucks, Chinese brands of medium and large pickup trucks have outstanding performance, quality and function, obvious advantages in personalization and diversification, showing strong applicability and practicability, and are more and more popular with users around the world; In the field of new energy pickups, Chinese brands are in a leading position in an all-round way.
The curtain of globalization of China's pickup truck has been opened, and the opportunities of the times are open to every brand, as a "new force" of Bosheng pickup, the next most important step may be to call the name of "Bolden" in the global market as soon as possible.