Changan Automobile's Zhu Huarong: Domestic car companies have no bottom line in their publicity methods, and their partner Huawei is caught in the crossfire

On January 16, Changan Automobile held a global partner conference in Chongqing. Zhu Huarong, party secretary and chairman, said when talking about its partner Huawei: "How can this industry be so bad? A car worth hundreds of thousands of yuan must be said to be worth tens of millions."

This statement shocked everyone - Changan Automobile should be the first company that dares to publicly question its partner, especially Huawei.

On December 26 last year, Huawei held a press conference for the M9 in Shenzhen. At the conference, Richard Yu, Huawei's executive director, CEO of the Device BG, and chairman of the Intelligent Automotive Solutions BU, said: "The M9 is the best and most powerful SUV on land within 10 million yuan."

This is not the first time that such exaggerated promotional methods have appeared in the automotive industry.

In June 2022, Ideal Auto released the L9 large SUV. The company's founder Li Xiang said at the time that the L9 was "the best family SUV under 5 million yuan."

Faced with such endless arguments, even those made by partner Huawei, Zhu Huarong decided not to tolerate them anymore and directly called such propaganda "bottomless". He said: "I hope our partners will not mislead consumers. Leading is good, but it should be done appropriately. There is no bottom line for advertising anymore. This industry is too bad."

It can be seen that although Changan and Huawei are partners, Yu Chengdong's exaggerated publicity style is completely unacceptable to Zhu Huarong.

Zhu Huarong's opinion is actually not without reason. The current promotional methods in the automotive industry are becoming more and more exaggerated. Today it is unrivaled within 5 million yuan, and tomorrow it will be invincible within 10 million yuan. It sounds like it may not be long before Chinese automobile companies will be able to make new energy vehicles that are "the strongest on the planet, surpassing the Fuxing."

In addition, Zhu Huarong also expressed his own views on the argument that domestic new energy vehicles have already surpassed foreign brands.

He believes that foreign brands have not yet fully exerted their strength in the new energy field and there is a possibility of rapid growth in the future. He also shared the content of his exchanges with executives of joint venture brands.

Zhu Huarong said: "Many of our friends think that those foreign brands are not doing well and will definitely be finished in the future. That's not the case. They haven't taken action yet. They are waiting and looking for the best time. Just like new forces are rushing to make electric cars, why don't traditional car companies move? I know there is a pit ahead, why don't I let you go? In fact, after communicating with senior executives of Ford and Mazda, we asked a question: Why do you still do it even if you lose money? Once (joint venture brands) do it, they will rise rapidly due to their resources, global markets, etc."

At present, domestic brands do dominate the new energy market, and foreign automakers do not seem to have a strong brand except Tesla. Data shows that my country's new energy vehicle sales in 2023 will be 9.455 million, a year-on-year increase of 37.9%. Among them, BYD ranked first with a share of 35.0%, with retail sales of 2.706075 million, a year-on-year increase of 50.3%; Tesla ranked second with a share of 7.8%, with retail sales of 603,664, a year-on-year increase of 37.3%. Following BYD and Tesla are GAC Aion, Geely Auto, SAIC-GM-Wuling, Changan Automobile and Ideal Auto.

Among the companies ranked at the top in sales, except Tesla, all are domestic brands. But as Zhu Huarong said, this does not mean that foreign brands have been defeated in the new energy war. They may be waiting for the opportunity and are ready to join the game at any time.

Prior to this, companies such as Ford, General Motors and Stellantis have announced their own electrification plans. Take Ford as an example. This veteran automaker announced in 2022 that it plans to invest more than US$50 billion worldwide from 2022 to 2026 for the research and development of electrification vehicle models and power battery technology.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.