In 1999, in a simple production workshop in Wuhu, Anhui Province, a start-up team that had just been independent from FAW Yangzi Automobile Chassis Factory finally developed its first car. In order to fit the car’s "dynamic and static" attribute, the team named the car "Fengyun". At that time, Yin Tongyue, who was only 31 years old, led this team. He also became an important man in the development of China’s automobile industry, and has served as the chairman of Chery Group for 34 years.
At that time, "Fengyun" car sold well in China, and at the same time, it also promoted Chery’s overseas export volume and gained certain recognition in the market, which gave this start-up vehicle enterprise a business reserve. Therefore, Fengyun brand can be said to bear the initial dreams and hopes of Chery Automobile, especially to incite its "global dream". Whenever this enterprise is at a major strategic node, "Fengyun" will reappear.
Nowadays, when carrying Chery to the strategy of "new energy, high-end and globalization", Fengyun’s product sequence has been reborn again, and this time Fengyun has not only upgraded and reserved products and technologies, but most importantly, it has stepped on the market environment.
"The hybrid market without Chery Automobile is an incomplete hybrid market." Zhang Guozhong, executive deputy general manager of Chery Automobile, made a high-profile announcement, which attracted a lot of discussion from outside. Nowadays, only science and engineering men can express their self-confidence so directly, but this self-confidence is not in vain.
Jianzhi high-end mixed market
On the evening of November 9, Chery’s brand-new new energy sequence was officially released. With the optimized Chery Logo, Chery’s A-shaped logo was "reversed", and at the same time it became flat and had a new energy sense.
In terms of products, Fengyun A9 and Fengyun T11 have ushered in the world’s first show, and Chery Fengyun will launch 11 new models in the next two years. At the press conference, Fengyun A9 and Fengyun T11 were the world’s first shows. At the same time, Chery Fengyun plans to launch 11 new models within two years. Chery has also built a brand-new service system for Fengyun users, built 1,500 service outlets, and provided 10,000 kilometers of maintenance and lifetime warranty benefits for the whole vehicle. In addition, Fengyun’s first users will also enjoy free charging service.
From the modelling of two concept cars pioneered by Fengyun alone, we can see that Chery’s ambition-the atmospheric design of Fengyun A9 and Fengyun T11, has revealed Chery’s purpose of making Fengyun a global model. At the same time, the sales volume has returned to the second position of China automobile enterprises, and Chery now has more spare capacity and funds to promote the replacement of product lines and technological innovation and upgrading.
For example, in the hybrid field with the fastest market growth and fierce competition, Chery, which is slightly behind BYD, Geely and Great Wall, has also begun to make up lessons and launched the Kunpeng Super Hybrid C-DM system. Among them, the fifth-generation ACTECO 1.5TGDI hybrid engine used in Kunpeng Super Hybrid C-DM system has reached 44.5% in thermal efficiency. As a comparison, the thermal efficiency of BYD DM-i series plug-in 1.5L engine is 43.04%, and that of Geely Ray Shenqing Hi·X hybrid DHE15 engine is 43.32%. It can be seen that even in the hybrid field, the engine is still Chery’s specialty.
Of course, like the transmission fuel powertrain, the gearbox is equally important in the hybrid field. Kunpeng super hybrid C-DM system adopts three-speed super hybrid DHT, and its driving motor is skillfully combined with three-speed DHT. Among them, the first speed ratio is relatively large, which is mainly used for starting acceleration. The third speed ratio is very small, mainly to ensure low engine speed, low fuel consumption and noise reduction when driving at high speed. The second speed ratio mainly takes into account the shift of first and third gears to ensure the smoothness of shift, and at the same time takes into account the fuel consumption at medium and low speeds.
In terms of specific parameters, Fengyun’s fuel consumption is not only as low as 4.2L/100km, but also can achieve a long endurance performance of up to 1400km. In contrast, the fuel consumption of Geely Raytheon Electric Hybrid is 5.23L /100km, and the longest cruising range is 1370km. More importantly, Fengyun has super-high fuel economy, and its power performance is even more leading in the industry. Its vehicle speed limit can reach 240km/h, and it takes only 4.26 seconds to complete the acceleration of 000 km.
It can be seen that in the traditional fuel vehicle market, Chery has an inherent advantage in hybrid power because of its in-depth research on engines and transmissions, so that it can catch up quickly. As Zhang Guozhong said: "Without the hybrid market of Chery Automobile, it is not a complete hybrid market." This is not only the confidence in Chery’s hybrid technology, but also the counterattack horn launched by Chery to the market after strengthening the hybrid technology.
Why does Chery need a new "Fengyun"?
From the outside world, the return of the new sequence of "Fengyun" is only the territory of Chery Automobile to complete the new energy track of Chery brand. But in Chery’s view, this product sequence actually has a more ambitious and arduous task of accelerating the global market.
Yin Tongyue has mentioned on many occasions that if China wants to become a real automobile power in the world, it should not only be the first in production and sales, but also the first in market. In his view, China automobile brands must go abroad and go overseas. Not only based on the domestic market, but also competing with foreign brands overseas to grab their "rice bowls".
In fact, in overseas markets, in September this year, Chery Automobile exported more than 130,000 vehicles, accounting for more than 68% of the sales volume, ranking first in China brand sales for many years. However, this is not enough, not to mention that compared with Toyota and Volkswagen, even compared with Korean and legal brands such as Hyundai and Citroen, Chery is still far from the world-class brand expected by Yin Tongyue.
How can we quickly move towards a global brand? Running on two legs is definitely faster than limping on one leg. So, Chery, we saw that Chery began to launch a new energy track in the past two years. In the past two years, on the one hand, overseas sales increased and revenue recovered steadily, on the other hand, Chery has completed the layout of four brands: Chery, Xingtu, Jietu and iCar. The question now is how Chery Group can step on the rhythm of new energy transformation on the basis of the existing four brands.
Previously, Chery’s strategy was similar to brands such as Geely and Changan. They all launched new energy vehicles under Chery and Xingtu brands, adding plug-in hybrids to existing fuel vehicles, and at the same time, they had a proprietary sequence focusing on pure electricity. However, the effect is obvious, which cannot support the strategic goal of Chery’s new energy transformation.
It has been reported before that Chery will set up a brand-new sub-brand to transform new energy, and there are rumors that the new brand code is "O&J", which is the benchmark. At that time, many people thought that Chery’s move was another "smelly chess", which further increased the complexity under the already bloated brand.
But now it seems that Chery is not making a brand new, but making a brand new energy sequence under the Chery brand-that is, restarting the "Fengyun". Judging from the information released by Chery, Chery will still have four brands, but under the Chery brand, the new energy sequence of "Chery Fengyun" will be extended, and under the Star Road brand, the pure electric sequence of "Star Age" will be extended, and then Jetway and iCar will be established.
The arrival of Fengyun is not only a new round of reinforcement for Chery Automobile in the field of hybrid technology, but also according to the plan, Chery Fengyun will launch 11 brand-new models in the next two years, and will expand to 24 models including Super Hybrid 3.0 and 15 E0X high-end electric new products in two years, and launch a total of 39 new models.
It can be seen that Chery will not only return to the mainstream position in the new energy market with the IP of Fengyun, but also accelerate its layout in the global market with the help of electrification wave and Chery’s rapid growth advantage in the global market.
Does Chery’s globalization have the opportunity?
At the Shanghai Auto Show in April this year, some car critics were so excited that they burst into tears when they saw more than 200 foreign dealers crowded Chery’s booth! Because China’s automobile market has been developing for more than 30 years, from the time when the outside world always questioned "market for technology" to the time when foreign friends came to China to learn from China’s automobile enterprises, it was extremely bitter all the way. Now, China car companies are finally going to be proud.
According to the data, in the first half of this year, the number of cars in China reached 2.341 million, of which Chery Automobile exported a total of 398,500, ranking second in the list. Especially in the South American market and the Russian market, Chery’s brand power has even become comparable to Volkswagen and Toyota, and Starway has become synonymous with local luxury brands.
There is no doubt that Chery has made a name for itself in some overseas markets around the world, and then, as long as Chery relies on the global wave of electrification, insists on global development and builds world-class brands and products, it will be just around the corner.
We always say that in order to achieve something, we must occupy "the right time, the right place and the right people". Through so many years of exploration and efforts, Chery has always adhered to the initial intention of being a "science man" and regarded building a good car as the always concept of enterprise development. It is this persistence that makes today’s Chery achieve today’s sales at home and abroad. If Chery’s management team and Fengyun car series are the "human and geographical advantages" of Chery’s globalization, then under the general environment of encouraging China brands and China enterprises to go to sea, Chery’s globalization development has the advantage of "good weather".
