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It seems that overnight, independent brands began to collectively enter the era of architecture-based cars, and different brands, different named architectures or modular platforms came out at once. Although the names are different and the specific connotations are different, all enterprises claim that their architecture has reached the level of "global leadership".
Such a scene has caused many doubts among consumers and people who eat melons. Is it true that independent brands have collectively entered a new stage? Has China really reached the world leading level? Are architecture-based products necessarily leading? Are enterprises without architecture destined to be eliminated in the future?
Based on the above questions, Cheyi interviewed many people in the industry and got different answers, but it is certain that it is likely to be a "false proposition" for independent brands to collectively enter the era of structured automobiles. Among the independent brands that publish the architecture, some people really go up, and more people just "follow the trend".
When talking about whether building cars with buildings is a false proposition, we need to first determine the meaning and meaning of building cars with buildings.
In fact, building a car by building is not a new topic. From the well-known Volkswagen MQB modular platform, to the Toyota TNGA architecture, and then to the CMA architecture of Geely Automobile, consumers have long heard of building cars with architecture. Many people think that the architecture seems to be more "powerful" than the platform, but it is not necessarily.
On the whole, both the architecture and the platform describe a modular production mode, which is not much different from the popular MQB platform that consumers are relatively familiar with. In layman's terms, it is to turn a car into a "building block". Common parts are like building blocks, and different models are spelled out according to different needs. The benefits of doing this are obvious, which can improve efficiency and reduce R&D and production costs.
For enterprises, modular production mode can not only improve the efficiency of enterprises, reduce costs, but also better ensure the consistency of product quality, which is why enterprises are working hard in this direction. Ren Wanfu, an auto industry analyst, said that the architecture and modular platform are equivalent to independent brands entering the era of aircraft cannons from the era of millet plus rifles.
It is no problem to build your own architecture or platform, which is good for enterprises, but the "architecture" that independent brands are talking about at present is not equivalent to the real modular production mode. Cui Dongshu, deputy secretary general of the National Passenger Car Market Information Association, said that the "architecture" that independent brands are focusing on at present is actually a mixed concept. Different enterprises have different architecture concepts, and many of them cannot be regarded as modular platforms for building cars.
Modular platform has existed for a long time, and architecture is not a new topic. Why do independent brands suddenly start to collectively talk about architecture overnight?
For this problem, Ren Wanfu and Yang Zhao, an industry veteran who has long been concerned about the automobile industry, said that this is related to the growth of independent brands and the current automobile market environment. Ren Wanfu believes that after these years of development, his strength and vision have obviously increased, and independent research and development and forward research and development have become * * * knowledge.
"At present, it is in the period of adjustment and transformation of the automobile industry. The auto market has been adjusted back for two consecutive years, and some car companies have gone bankrupt, which has made many car companies feel the pressure. The enthusiasm of independent brand architecture means that the threshold for building a car has begun to increase. For some weak enterprises, they will face greater elimination pressure. " Ren Wanfu stressed.
Yang Zhao bluntly said that the market is less and less "buying" products with poor product strength. "The market for shell-changing cars has been denied. Car companies must come up with better products, but without good infrastructure, they can't produce valuable products, and the success of Geely CMA architecture has also played a good role in the market. Demonstration effect."
Geely's CMA architecture was launched on a large scale with the birth of the Lectra brand. The performance of lectra brand since its birth can indeed prove the success of CMA architecture. At present, the cumulative sales volume of Lectra has reached 400,000 vehicles, and the terminal price and user reputation have remained at a good level. This year has shown a trend of rising against the trend, and the landing of CMA architecture on Geely brand has also attracted widespread attention in the industry.
Such excellent performance has made more car companies realize the importance of building cars with architecture. Therefore, on the one hand, car companies began to increase investment in research and development to build their own structure, on the other hand, they also began to change their product marketing strategies through this heat.
Since everyone knows the importance of building a car with architecture, there is no lack of determination to persist in active research and development and build their own architecture. Why do you say that most people are actually "following the trend"?
It is precisely because of the importance of building a car with architecture that it is easy to deduce how difficult it is to build an excellent infrastructure. This can't be done overnight, nor can any enterprise do it if it wants to.
Take Geely CMA, SEA and Great Wall Motor Lemon and Tank as examples. According to public information, CMA took four years, with R&D investment exceeding 654.38+0 billion yuan, while SEA also took four years, with investment exceeding 654.38+0.8 billion yuan. In addition, we must also consider that Geely relies on Volvo's technological R&D advantages. According to official disclosure, the lemon and tank platform of Great Wall Motor took five years to build, with a total investment of 20 billion R&D..
No matter whether the enterprise has such determination or not, such a huge R&D investment is not affordable for every car company. Yang Zhao said that if a listed car company claims to have built a structure and its R&D expenditure does not reach 654.38+0.5 billion in 3-5 years, then their so-called high probability of infrastructure construction is a "hot spot".
Ren Wanfu also said that building an infrastructure not only requires huge capital investment, but also car companies have to face the question of whether such a structure can bring enough production and sales scale to dilute costs. If a company's own production and sales are small, it is difficult to build an infrastructure with a high probability.
"The architecture needs to match a certain amount of production and sales. At least several models must enter the leading position in their respective market segments at the same time. At present, the first-line independent brands such as Geely and Great Wall are enough, but the second-line independent brands are definitely not enough. Therefore, the so-called architecture of some brands is actually a' practical' concept, which is gradual and needs to be gradually improved. " Cui Dongshu said.
Yang Zhao emphasized that this is also the reason why Geely wants to open CMA and SEA architecture. "Without the scale of Toyota and Volkswagen, establishing an excellent architecture may lose money, so Geely should not only use it for all its brands, but also authorize it to other brands."
Architecture is so important, does it mean that independent brands that have not entered the era of structured cars can only be eliminated? Do consumers have to consider building a car when buying a car?
Overnight, independent brands began to strengthen the concept of building cars with architecture, giving everyone an illusion that people without architecture will be eliminated, and products based on a certain architecture must be better than those without architecture, but this is not the case.
For enterprises, building a car with a structure does have various advantages, which can be said that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. However, building a car with architecture is not the only factor that affects the performance of the enterprise terminal market. For the simplest example, everyone has seen many products that are "praised but not sold". These products are considered as good products by people in the industry and consumers, but consumers are just unmoved.
This is very similar to the relationship between architecture and enterprise terminal market performance. Yang Zhao said that architecture is the basis for enterprises to build excellent products, but the definition of products is "superstructure". Whether it can occupy consumers' minds determines whether the product sells well or not, but the foundation is not solid, even if the product sells well for a while, it will be silent.
Cui Dongshu emphasized that from the current market, whether there is a structure will not affect the life and death of an enterprise. According to the overall scale of China market, an independent brand can survive by several hot-selling models.
In other words, whether there is an architecture or not will not determine the life and death of a brand, but because the architecture represents the technical strength of the enterprise to a certain extent, it will inevitably have an impact on the long-term development of the enterprise. Head enterprises have entered a structural era of building cars, and the market competition is becoming increasingly fierce. Enterprises without structure or strong independent research and development strength will eventually be eliminated.
From the consumer's point of view, there is no need to think too much about whether a model is based on a certain architecture. Many industry experts have said that consumers can choose products that meet their own needs when purchasing products, and do not have to be superstitious about "architecture".
Write it at the end
After all, architecture is just a noun. What determines whether an independent brand can survive or forge ahead is its research and development strength, product definition ability and forward-looking planning ability. Although the story can be told and the hot spots can be rubbed, the winner is the one who can finish the story.
This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.