Instead of calling for a thousand things, try to reinvent the mind. A healthy and mature market competition ecology requires a healthy and mature "opponent view". On the road to "rushing to the world together", this "opponent view" is even more important.
The industry has been suffering from "involution" for a long time. The mood of disgust with all kinds of unrighteous "wars" is spreading throughout the industry. The industry is looking forward to a benign market competition environment for a long time. The central document criticized the vicious competition of "involution" by name, which made all parties suddenly see the light of day like people who have been in the dark for a long time. When enterprises call for a good competitive ecology, should they first cultivate their own healthy and mature "rival view"? Wu Xiaobo, a well-known financial writer in China, once wrote in his book The Great Defeat (published in 2001): "Ruthless blows, resolute elimination"...... This "rival view" is a major obstacle to the Chinese market's inability to enter a healthy period. Learning to respect opponents is a lesson that Chinese entrepreneurs urgently need to make up. Recently, at the press conference of some Chinese car companies, the germ of a healthy "opponent view" has been faintly visible. Although it is only a few sentences, and although the same sentence has thousands of purposes on different occasions, it is still possible to evolve and become the beginning of a good atmosphere and a good trend in the future.
The new car is released without looking at the car,
The "opponent's view" is even more thought-provoking
If you don't blow it, why bother releasing it, pulling and stepping on it, this is called marketing? In late July, there were two new car launches in the industry, and in the current situation, it seems that there is some "style of talk" that is not vulgar...... One is from BYD. "From 2013 to 2021, Haval H6 has won the sales championship in the SUV market for nine consecutive years, and it can be said that Great Wall has single-handedly defended the Great Wall of China's SUV market!" Recently, at the launch of BYD's "Double Song" new car, the Great Wall's "Fengshen" record was praised by He Zhiqi, executive vice president of BYD and COO of passenger cars, vividly reproducing and sublimating the scene of "one husband is a pass, ten thousand people are not open". Many viewers on the scene and online almost couldn't believe their ears, and even thought that they had gone to the wrong scene and watched the channel: "I've seen a tribute, but I've never seen a tribute to this one", "Have you praised yourself like this at the press conference of the Great Wall", ......"China Youth Daily" and other central media and many mainstream media in the industry also issued articles to praise BYD's praise for its opponents. Enterprises that have made significant achievements naturally deserve and should be paid tribute to by the whole industry, especially peer enterprises. But from the content of BYD's speech this time, at least it can be seen that for any reason or purpose, it is carefully studying the industry, carefully studying the "opponents" of its peers, and in the public occasion of the press conference, all parties have seen the story of the struggle of Chinese brands to break into a new world together. BYD saw in the numbers the efforts of all the "opponents" in the past. He Zhiqi recalled: "In the past, China's A-class car sales list has been occupied by joint ventures, and it was not until the Chinese brands represented by Geely, Changan, GAC and BYD entered the market that the market pattern was gradually rewritten. On the PPT behind him, it is the A-class sedan sales list collected over the years, and the Chinese brands that have contributed to seizing a place are highlighted. The real data year after year, in the preliminary research process, made BYD really feel the contribution of the "friends" or "opponents" of the same Chinese brand.
In the field of SUVs, BYD has seen the pioneering work of "opponents" and the power to turn things around.
He Zhiqi was full of respect and even excitedly said, "More than ten years ago, Chinese brand SUVs were not the mainstream of the market, and the emergence of Haval has changed this situation...... At the same time, with the addition of Changan, GAC, Chery, Geely and our BYD, the share of Chinese brand SUVs has risen. From 2011 to 2020, the market share of Chinese brand SUVs increased from 28% to 47%. At the top of the sales list of SUVs at all levels, more and more Chinese brand SUVs have appeared, and everyone has held the SUV market together! ”
According to the data, in 2023, the market share of Chinese brands in SUVs will be as high as 55.4%; Among the top five SUV sales models, four are Chinese brands. The various segments of SUVs are currently blooming, with the Great Wall taking the lead in the hard-core off-road, and the Wuling outperforming in the small SUV, and in terms of exports, Chery and SAIC are undoubtedly in the leading position......
He Zhiqi's pride is not only given by BYD, but also by Chinese brands. Even in the field of new energy vehicles, BYD's performance is particularly eye-catching, He Zhiqi and his team are well aware that in recent years, many Chinese auto brands have begun to make efforts and launched a series of new energy products. We have made great progress in technology, design, quality and service, and our market share has increased year by year. However, the joint venture brand has not kept up with the rhythm of new energy products, and its market share has declined year by year.
BYD will show the outstanding performance of Chery, Changan, Geely and its own market share growth in recent years on the big screen behind it, and confidently said, "As more Chinese auto brands continue to invest and exert force in the new energy business, coupled with the increasing recognition of Chinese brand products, we have reason to believe that the entire Chinese auto brand will continue to rise!" "Another press conference came from Jietu. Although it did not use a considerable amount of space and time to tell and praise the "opponents" like BYD's press conference, Jietu still performed a "fist salute" before releasing the price, and paid a solemn tribute to Haval H6, Changan CS75, Chery Tiggo 8 and other predecessors in the same field before entering the venue. Prior to this, Li Xueyong, deputy general manager of Chery Automobile Co., Ltd., had already said passionately at another press conference that we salute the champion BYD and we want to learn from BYD. Chery has become the second largest in the domestic autonomous passenger car market, and is steadily moving forward step by step, working with BYD to build Chinese cars. One before and one after, one north and one south, appreciate each other and call for "together". Regardless of the reason and purpose, putting the tribute to the opponent on the table and announcing it in the mouth is a step forward after all to form a good "opponent view".
Develop a good "opponent view",
Go to "preschool" first
The champions and runners-up of China's independent passenger car market, which praised and learned from their "rivals", continued to maintain rapid growth in the first half of this year, and achieved good results in both domestic and overseas markets. Among them, BYD will continue to lead in the first half of 2024, with cumulative sales reaching 1.613 million units, a year-on-year increase of 28.46%. Chery Holding Group's cumulative sales of automobiles in the first half of the year reached 1.1 million, a year-on-year increase of 48.4%, and its sales exceeded one million units for the first time in the first half of the year. In terms of technical products, the two sides also have huge technical fish ponds and extremely wide and deep technical moats to face competition. More and more enterprises realize that having a healthy "competitor view" is one of the basic prerequisites for forming a good competitive ecology in the industry. Recently, many mainstream media have commented on the vicious competition of "involution" named in the central document, pointing out that the essential reason for the intensification of this phenomenon is that the cake is limited. Even in the highly competitive market environment, a healthy "opponent view" will prompt enterprises to compete fairly, have a wonderful showdown, and make more high-level moves, so as not to make bad moves and negative moves. What's more, in terms of the automotive industry, under the current great changes in the global automotive industry unseen in a century, China is at the forefront of technological change in the global automotive industry for the first time, and the whole industry chain is accelerating transformation and upgrading, and a large number of new technologies, new products and new opportunities are emerging. The development of new fields, the expansion of new markets, and the popularization of new products all require the joint efforts of groups of peer enterprises. On the road to the "new" of China's auto brands, there are too many things that need to be promoted by various companies in competition with each other and healthy competition. For example, technology, "good products and technologies are born with traffic, our technology is the biggest Internet celebrity, and our parameters are the best golden sentences...... Technology should not only become the top stream of the car rim, but also the top stream of society, so that more people can understand technology, love science, and enjoy the changes brought by science and technology to life. The vision that BYD said should be the common expectation of all enterprises. For example, the brand, "unswervingly follow the principle of long-termism, is the awe of the market, respect for the user", Chang'an put forward this brand building principle, in the current slightly impetuous, so-called "traffic is king" era, is a wake-up call and guide for all Chinese auto brands. For example, the real competitiveness of a product is to solve practical problems, to bring the user experience to a new level, and to let users "can't do without you", rather than "no winner" after the tragic price war. At this time, the right way is to focus on the user, not to scramble for the "opponent...... From the perspective of the competitive ecology, cultivating "opponents" is sometimes even more important than eliminating. The table tennis tournament at this year's Paris Olympics is in full swing. A little-known history is that the long-standing Chinese team faced a major crisis: the world table tennis was almost removed from the Olympic family due to serious uneven development. It is understood that since 2009, China has taken the initiative to cultivate talents for other countries, "to help our opponents improve, and we will become stronger." The book "The Great Defeat" once sharply pointed out: in a sense, never try to destroy your opponent, and sometimes you should be happy to see your opponent strong. For an industry and entrepreneur, the most dangerous thing is not to see the growing strength of the rivals, but to witness the decline of the rivals – to a large extent, this is a sign that an industry is heading for the sunset, or the aging of the way the market competes. Let the respect for the "opponent" go from words and hands to the heart, and make ourselves an enterprise that makes the "opponent" truly respected; To win beautifully, not to win without force...... With the current situation of the competitive ecology faced by the industry, it is far from the realm of "cultivating opponents". Respecting opponents on the premise of abiding by the rules, this compulsory pre-school course of "opponent view" is enough for some companies to learn and digest first. After all, the "cold arrow" that shoots at the opponent in the dark will eventually hit the center of his own eyebrows at some point in the future.
"Rushing to the world together"
At the 2024 China Auto Forum's "Chinese Auto Brand Building in the Era of Globalization", Li Yunfei, general manager of BYD's brand and public relations department, delivered a speech on the theme of "building a respectable world-class brand". Therefore, Chinese brands should work together to meet the challenges, work together to tell our brand story, and work together to build a group of respectable world-class brands. During the speech, he also played a short video of the brand produced for the "BYD Thailand Plant Completion and the 8 Million New Energy Vehicle Rolling Off the Production Ceremony" - "Rushing to the World Together".
On the road of "rushing to the world together", Chinese auto brands are rivals and teammates. In a sense, the "opponent view" will determine how far Chinese brands can rush together.
Image: From the enterprise
Article: Car Vertical
Typesetting: Car vertical