[History of independent brands in car home] In a blink of an eye, the history series of independent brands has gradually come to an end. Recently, we reviewed a series of independent brands with a weak sense of existence, such as the Yellow Sea, Cheetah, Shuanghuan and Mustang, but one has never been included in the "completed" list. It’s not that nobody cares. It’s precisely because this car company has a subtle and slightly embarrassing situation in China. People "know it but are not familiar with it" and "can’t forget it and can’t remember it". It is Zotye Automobile. Once upon a time, Zotye was deeply impressed by Jiangnan TT, which is known as the lowest-priced passenger car in the world. Today, we will break through the layers of fog covering Zotye and jointly understand the bumpy course of this independent brand along the way.
1992-2002
Ten years from hardware machinery factory to Zhongtai auto start.
People say that it is the hardware history of China for 5,000 years, which has made Yongkang, the capital of hardware, and Zotye Automobile, which we are familiar with today, originated from here. Since ancient times, Yongkang has been a thriving place of hardware industry in China. "Hardware artisans travel everywhere, and the government and counties are inseparable from Kangkang" is a true portrayal of Yongkang craftsmen’s crisscrossing. It is for this reason that this small town located in Jinhua, Zhejiang Province has long been famous.
In the 1990s, with the deepening of domestic reform and opening up, Yongkang ushered in the opportunity of rapid development. In 1992, the state made great efforts to establish China Science and Technology Hardware City in Yongkang, Zhejiang Province, which further consolidated Yongkang’s position as the "Hardware Capital" and at the same time gave many local small and medium-sized enterprises the opportunity to develop rapidly.
On July 17, 1994, Yongkang Great Wall Hardware Machinery Factory was formally established in Zhejiang Province. After the establishment of the machinery factory, it was mainly engaged in the production and manufacture of motorcycle parts, gas stove parts and small household appliances. Ying Jianren, the later chairman of Tieniu Group, was the director of this hardware machinery factory at that time. Their hardware products sell well at home and abroad, and they have accumulated a lot of original wealth and experience in manufacturing hardware accessories for the machinery factory, which played a very important role in the process of integrating resources and building Zotye Automobile in the later stage of the machinery factory.
Although Yongkang is known as the "Hardware Capital", it is the annual China Hardware Expo that really makes this hardware city prosperous. Since 1996, Yongkang has held a grand hardware fair every year, which not only broadened the distribution channels of products, but also successfully attracted investment, attracting a large number of well-known enterprises at home and abroad to join. Great Wall Hardware Machinery Factory has soared and developed rapidly with this east wind.
The explosive development made the Great Wall Hardware Machinery Factory with an initial registered capital of 70,000 yuan quickly transform into Tieniu Group with a registered capital of 101.8 million yuan and a wide range of products. Under the leadership of Chairman Ying Jianren, Tieniu Group did have a bull-like development momentum in the early days of its establishment. Due to the injection of a large amount of capital and technology, Tieniu Group gradually shifted its business focus to the development and manufacturing of higher-level automobile and tractor parts, motor products, instruments and meters, building materials, etc., and the scale of the enterprise has also changed dramatically.
Time soon entered 2000. During this period, the domestic automobile market experienced a short-term blowout development. The huge market demand, high profit of bicycles and relatively few kinds of automobile products at that time made many domestic enterprises with certain strength see opportunities. It is precisely because of this that a large number of local car companies have sprung up like mushrooms after rain. Everyone shouts to build a car, but they don’t know that there is an essential difference between producing cars and hardware machinery. Because of the foundation of hardware machinery industry, it is not difficult for Tieniu Group to produce body sheet metal parts and small electrical equipment in cars. However, the production of important parts such as automobile engine and gearbox is far beyond Tieniu Group’s own ability. If you want to build a car, you must rely on resource integration. So since 2002, Tieniu Group has embarked on its own road of acquisition and integration.
2003-2008
Acquisition and integration/borrowing chickens to lay eggs Tieniu Group strives for development in turmoil
Jinma Co., Ltd. is located at the foot of Huangshan Mountain, a world-famous scenic spot. It is a joint-stock enterprise mainly engaged in the production of key automobile parts, motors and electric vehicles. The strength of Jinma Company is exactly what Tieniu Group lacks and has been looking for. Soon, this company has become the main target of Tieniu Group’s resource integration strategy.
In 2003, Tieniu Group invested to acquire a large number of shares in Jinma, and became the largest shareholder of Jinma Co., Ltd.. Jinma Company is a joint-stock enterprise mainly engaged in the production of key automobile parts, motors and electric vehicles. The advantages of Jinma Company are exactly what Zotye Automobile lacks and has been looking for. Zotye Automobile has further improved and expanded the vehicle manufacturing platform through technical integration with Jinma Company, and settled many difficulties encountered on the road before.
On September 15th, 2003, Zotye Holding Group was formally incorporated, and Wu Jianzhong became the chairman of Zotye Holding Group. Among the investment shareholders of Zotye Holding Group, there are family members who have been engaged in auto parts for many years. After years of development and operation, most of these family enterprises engaged in the production of auto parts have become parts suppliers of such auto companies as BAIC, Changhe and Jianghuai. With the support of such an auto parts enterprise group, Zotye Group, which has just been reorganized, seems to be ready to enter the field of vehicle manufacturing.
However, the fact is far from as simple as it seems. Although the organizational structure of the enterprise has rapidly taken shape and the foundation of parts has been formed, what bothers Zotye and Wu Jianzhong is that the enterprise has almost no independent research and development ability, but it has no idea where to start if it wants to build a car. From this, Zotye chose a shortcut that most independent brands will take in the early days: directly acquire mature models or production lines and quickly produce real automobile products.
Adhering to the initial development plan of "takenism", Zotye Automobile, headed by Wu Jianzhong, began to look for available vehicle resources. By chance, Wu Jianzhong learned that a Taiwan Province car company planned to sell a Toyota TERIOS production line due to financial problems. When the car-making project was at a loss, this news undoubtedly touched Wu Jianzhong’s nerve, and he didn’t want to miss any opportunity to get the enterprise on the right track quickly.
After careful consideration and relatively extensive market research, Wu Jianzhong thought that there was a shortage of small urban SUVs such as Toyota Terui in China at that time. If this production line can be successfully introduced, the car will be welcomed by young domestic consumers. By then, not only will enterprises be able to get on the right track quickly, but consumers will also be more likely to accept Zotye, a newly established independent brand.
At the thought of this, Wu Jianzhong can’t sleep at night. He immediately led the negotiating team to Taiwan Province and had a long and arduous negotiation with the car company. In fact, before Zotye got the news, well-known domestic independent brands such as Geely and Chery had already noticed this Toyota Terui production line. However, due to the fact that the models produced on this production line are not in line with the development direction of the enterprises, and these enterprises have other choices, they have never reached a consensus on whether to buy this production line, and the long decision-making process has gradually made Taiwan Province lose confidence.
At this time, the arrival of Zotye was just right. After several rounds of negotiations, Zotye finally successfully bought this Toyota Terui production line. In order to ensure foolproof use, Zotye packed the whole set of production equipment, molds and even technical workers and managers back to Yongkang. In 2005, Zotye’s vehicle manufacturing plant was officially completed, and the production line and engineers imported from Taiwan Province were also in place as scheduled. Zotye finally cleared all obstacles and began to really implement its own vehicle manufacturing plan.
With a mature production line and a team of professional technicians, the first batch of models will soon be rolled off the assembly line from Zotye Factory. However, the smooth roll-off of the first batch of models did not make Wu Jianzhong happy, and there was a "big event" in his mind that needed to be solved urgently. Although the original car has been built, Zotye Automobile at that time did not have a "birth certificate", and it was theoretically impossible to sell it in the market.
Like many independent brands that became monks in the past, Zotye executives were anxious like ants in your pants at this time. It’s not that enterprises don’t have the qualification to build cars. In fact, at that time, the application materials of several independent car companies had been piled up in the national ministries for two or three years, and there was no news, and the date of approval was far away. In desperation, Zotye had to emulate other independent brands and started the idea of cooperating with qualified car companies to build cars by backdoor, which seemed to be the best way Zotye could think of at that time.
Finding a way, Wu Jianzhong began to solve this thorny problem. He visited several qualified state-owned automobile enterprises such as BAIC, FAW and Changhe, trying to obtain automobile production qualification through cooperation. However, due to various reasons, Wu Jianzhong’s attempts ended in failure without exception. It’s not a business trip, and the successive failures made Wu Jianzhong temporarily give up the idea of cooperation with state-owned automobile enterprises. He thought that it was better to find private enterprises that were closer to their own corporate identity, so Wu Jianzhong turned his attention to the vast number of private automobile enterprises.
In the end, Chengdu Xindadi Automobile Co., Ltd. entered Wu Jianzhong’s field of vision. This enterprise has the qualifications of developing, producing and selling Class II and III vehicle chassis, passenger cars, medium and large buses, light, medium and heavy trucks with 1.5-25 tons and special-purpose automobile products. Moreover, the company has no similar passenger car products, which meets the cooperation needs of Zotye in all aspects, and Zotye has also offered quite sincere cooperation conditions to Xindadi, and finally.
In this way, Zotye Automobile was able to "borrow the belly to have children", and obtained the automobile production catalogue through cooperation with the new land, and was allowed to sell the automobile in the market under the name of "Zotye". On January 10th, 2006, Zotye’s first automobile product was listed in 2008 under the name of "Zotye on the Earth". Because it came from Toyota production line, this car has a very high similarity in appearance with TERIOS produced in the late 1990s.
Zotye 2008, located in a small SUV in the city, looks very small, and its tall and narrow body makes it look like a van. Although the body size is only 3900mm×1555mm×1670mm, in order to ensure greater practicability, Zotye 2008 still adopts a four-door design, and the styling style of the front of the car is biased towards simplification. The irregular headlights with quite pocket size reveal a little cute temperament to the front face. The rear side door+external spare tire is also the usual design of Japanese SUV models in the early 21st century.
In terms of power, Zotye 2008 didn’t use Toyota engine. In the early stage, it was equipped with a 1.6L naturally aspirated engine from Mitsubishi, with a maximum power of 100 HP and a maximum torque of 133 Nm. In the later stage, Zotye also added a 1.3L version equipped with Mitsubishi 4G13 engine, with a maximum power of 93 HP and a maximum torque of 108 Nm.
Although the products were successfully marketed, Zotye 2008 at that time could only be produced and sold as a "new earth car" in the national motor vehicle catalogue, and the first batch of Zotye 2008 listed had a lot of minor defects, which often caused such quality problems. However, even so, this car successfully sold more than 11,000 units in 2006. Judging from the enterprise situation and bicycle sales at that time, Zotye can be regarded as a success in the first battle.
This good momentum continued until 2007. Zotye sold more than 2,000 units in the first two months of 2008. If this momentum continues, it is only a matter of time before reaching the goal of annual sales of 30,000 units. However, the better the sales volume, the more anxious Wu Jianzhong felt. Of course, the reason was that Zotye 2008′ s identity was "not justified" at that time, and it could only appear as a "land car" in the national motor vehicle catalogue. It is still a big problem for Zotye to continue to find a suitable "shell".
To this end, Ying Jianren, chairman of Tieniu Group, once again raised the banner of acquisition. Since the end of 2006, Tieniu Group has been eyeing Jiangnan Automobile, which is about to face restructuring. This self-owned brand automobile enterprise in Hunan once flourished due to the production of Jiangnan Alto. In March 2007, Tieniu Group successfully acquired 70% of the shares of Jiangnan Automobile Manufacturing Co., Ltd., thus taking Jiangnan Alto to its subsidiary and "buying" a car "birth certificate" of its own, and they also got the opportunity to enter the domestic car market. With the full support of Tieniu Group, Zotye Automobile seems to have a brighter future, and their cooperation with Jiangnan Automobile is quite smooth.
Both Zotye and Jiangnan are obviously sincere about this merger. At the Shanghai Auto Show in 2007, Zotye, who just completed the acquisition, joined hands with Jiangnan Automobile to appear at the auto show. In addition to the new Zotye 2008 with 1.3L and 1.5L power versions, five models of Jiangnan Alto were exhibited at the booth, which undoubtedly announced the marriage of the two. However, it was soon discovered that the merger between Zotye and Jiangnan was just the beginning, and Tieniu Group wanted to play a bigger game.
In May of the same year, the production of Jiangnan Alto, which had been suspended for more than half a year, resumed. The slogan "Zotye Jiangnan, a grand event of Hunan" was hung in the Jiangnan automobile assembly workshop in Hunan, and the cooperation between them was harmonious. At the same time, Zotye did not waste its hard-won car production qualification. Also in May, the media frequently revealed that Zotye Automobile had already started to contact Fiat Group and had signed some cooperation agreements. The news was later confirmed by Zotye and Fiat, and Zotye said that they would produce a Fiat car in China in a special form of buyout.
Later, it was revealed that Zotye was going to buy Lancia Lybra, a mid-level car owned by Fiat, which was discontinued in 2005. Because of the buyout, once this car is produced in China, it will directly hang the Zotye brand logo. For the future, Zotye has also planned a quite grand blueprint. They plan to continue to cooperate with Fiat Group in the future and purchase 7-8 more models. In 2008, they will realize the annual production and sales of 20,000 cars, and in 2010, they will realize the annual production and sales of 50,000 cars. In the next few years, they plan to increase the overall production capacity of Zotye cars to 300,000 cars.
Buying a production line is not something that can be completed overnight. Zotye Automobile first cooperated with Fiat Group on automobile engine projects. Also in May 2007, Tieniu Group, the parent company of Zotye Automobile, signed an agreement with Tongling City, Anhui Province to start construction of an engine factory with an annual output of 150,000 units in the local area through the acquisition of Tongfeng Electronics Co., Ltd.
On the one hand, Zotye has flourished in the capital market, on the other hand, it has not relaxed the development of the product side. At the end of 2007, Zotye launched an improved 2008 model, and the front face of the new car became more concise and generous. The lower part of the fender added a "game flavor" to the whole car, which also added some cross-border elements to Zotye 2008. Obviously, Zotye wanted to bring the image of 2008 closer to Jimny and strive to build a small city SUV with special driving pleasure. It is for this reason that Zotye 2008 has always had good sales in domestic and foreign markets.
In November of the same year, several Algerian foreign businessmen came to Zotye Automobile Group not far from Wan Li to discuss the export business of new Zotye 2008. In fact, Zotye 2008 had been exported to North Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Russia and other countries or regions long before this negotiation, and it was still very popular in these countries. And "domestic export" is also a road that domestic independent brand car companies often have to take.
"As long as 18,000 yuan, Alto will drive home", Zotye shouted such a promotion slogan in 2008, and in that year, Jiangnan Alto became the lowest-priced passenger car in the world because of its starting price of 18,000 yuan. There is no ABS, no electric windows, no front fog lights, and even no air conditioning. It is completely a scooter for third-and fourth-tier cities.
In terms of power, Zotye Jiangnan Alto uses JN368QA 0.8L three-cylinder EFI gasoline engine with a maximum of 36 horsepower. In addition, there is JNJ7112 with JN465QA four-cylinder EFI gasoline engine. Equipped with a four-speed manual transmission, the maximum speed is 120km/h, which meets the national III emission standard and can be extended to the national IV standard. It is such a car that its sales volume actually reached an astonishing 30,000 units in the first year of its resumption of production, and the name of "the cheapest scooter in history" was thus well known to consumers.
2008-present
All-round efforts are made in the field of passenger cars, and Zhongtai Automobile is on the right track.
With the successful convening of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, "energy saving and emission reduction" has become the future development direction advocated by the whole society, and domestic independent brand car companies are focusing on new energy vehicles. Zotye is also unwilling to lag behind in this new energy wave. In the second half of 2008, Zotye decided to develop an electronic control system on its own car platform, and strive to make every model of Zotye have a pure electric version in the future.
Just as Zotye was determined to make great efforts to develop new energy vehicles, they made a "big move" at the first auto show after the Beijing Olympic Games. On September 19th, 2008, Zotye launched a modified 2008 model. In the early stage, it launched four models with 1.3L and 1.5L engines, with the price range of 55,900-64,900 yuan, but at this time its name has changed to Zotye 5008. Regarding the change of the model name from "2008" to "5008", the manufacturer said that this actually shows Zotye’s idea of "leapfrog" improvement of this car.
So is the fact really as Zhongtai said? The overall shape of the 5008 has not changed much from the previous model, and it still maintains the positioning of a small SUV with Cross crossover style. The redesigned headlights and front bumper add a bit of fashion to it, but this change in details has not added too many points to its appearance. Although the shape is more beautiful than before, it is still not outstanding.
In terms of power, Zotye 5008 is still equipped with 4G13 from Mitsubishi and two small-displacement naturally aspirated 4G15 engines, of which the maximum power of the 1.3L engine is increased to 93 horsepower, and that of the 1.5L model is increased to 106 horsepower. Although this performance can meet the needs of transportation in the city, it does not have the performance of "skipping" as Zotye said. However, it is quite surprising that Zotye 5008 still maintains a good sales performance in the shrinking domestic automobile market.
In order to improve the corporate image in an all-round way, Zotye launched a brand-new logo in the same period of listing in 5008. The new logo takes the initials "Z" of Zotye Automobile as the main element, which has high recognition and modern and fashionable style. The new LOGO also seems to bring good luck to Zotye. In the first year of its listing, 5008 sold nearly 50,000 vehicles, with an average monthly sales of more than 4,000 vehicles, ranking fifth in the domestic SUV hot-selling list that year. After the success of the first battle, the redesigned Zotye 5008 also brought surprises. Zotye Auto is also gradually familiar with domestic consumers from this time and has become a brand that people can’t forget.
In December, 2008, Zotye bought out the first model of Fiat Group-Mengdi Braun. With the smooth production of this MPV model, the cooperation between Zotye and Fiat seems to have been very deep. At the same time, it was even reported that Zotye had bought out four production platforms of M/P/D/L from Fiat, and Palio, which was once produced in Nanjing Fiat, will also be produced in Zotye Factory, renamed Padi and hung with Zotye logo.
However, just before the news was confirmed, Fiat jumped out to clarify the facts, saying that it was only a normal business transaction with Zotye. Fiat sold a batch of production equipment and technology to Zotye, and allowed Zotye to use these technologies to produce Zotye’s products, but it never included Fiat’s brand use rights, that’s all. The rumors of "takeover", "deep cooperation" and even "joint venture" exposed by the media have been exaggerated, and Fiat will find another partner in China.
Fiat’s face-to-face denial is a temporary ending to this cooperation storm. Time quickly came to the 2009 Shanghai Auto Show. At this auto show, Zotye launched a 2008EV pure electric vehicle with a price of 119,800 yuan. The new car uses lithium-ion batteries, which are compatible with household power supply and fast charging mode. The maximum power of the motor is 37 horsepower, the maximum speed is 110km/h, and the maximum driving range is 300 kilometers, which can meet the needs of people in the city. In August of that year, Zotye 2008EV electric vehicle and BYD F3DM were successfully listed in the first batch of new energy vehicles in China, and they can enjoy the state subsidy policy.
After successfully boarding the new energy vehicle subsidy catalogue, Zotye began to rapidly promote the mass production and listing of 2008EV. At the beginning of 2010, the first batch of Zotye 2008EV electric vehicles were officially put on the market. However, unlike ordinary models, Zotye will promote this pure electric vehicle by leasing in the early stage, and the sales method will be decided according to the market situation in the later stage.
At this time, Zotye is actually planning a rather grand plan. After experiencing the storm of cooperation with Fiat, Zotye finally chose to change the previous "KD" production mode, digest and integrate the acquired Fiat model platform and technology, and comprehensively make several new cars in China. Domestic models will use a large number of local spare parts and reduce the price. Not only that, the new car will also be rebranded with Zotye’s brand-new "Z" letter logo and use a brand-new name.
With the new hatchback car "Lang Lang" rolled off the production line in June, 2010, Zotye’s plan for the new car series "Lang Lang" has surfaced in an all-round way. Counting Lang Yue and Lang Jun, which just rolled off the production line, Zotye has built a brand-new "Lang Series" product line consisting of three new cars. Combined with previous reports, it is not difficult to find that these three new cars are actually built on the Fiat 178 platform acquired by Zotye, and the prototypes corresponding to Langlang, Langjun and Langyue are Fiat Palio, Siena and Dream Braun respectively. It seems that the development and production of new cars with the help of overseas platforms has become the only way for the development of domestic independent automobile brands.
With the listing of Lang Yue, Lang Jun and Lang Lang, Zotye has completed the phased layout in the domestic market. Counting the "008" series, Jiangnan series and "Lang series" models, Zotye has formed a complete product line covering the A-class, B-class and SUV markets. It took Zotye only seven or eight years from the beginning of the enterprise to the powerful product camp today.
In 2011, Shanghai Auto Show became a stage for Zotye to show the world the development achievements of these years. At this year’s auto show, Zotye brought a variety of concept cars to the show, and its products covered mini-cars, compact cars and SUVs. Such a huge lineup not only surprised consumers, but also made Zotye a highlight of its own brand camp at that auto show. That is, at that auto show, we were surprised to find that all the exhibition cars of Zotye began to be named by letters+three digits.
Just as we were puzzled by such naming rules, Zotye gave the answer shortly after the auto show. In May 2011, Zotye announced that the previously listed Langyue was officially renamed as Zotye M300, and took this opportunity to explain the latest naming rules of its products. Zotye will use the naming method of "letters+numbers" in the future, with "Z", "T", "M", "E" and "ZR" representing cars, SUVs, MPVs, new energy vehicles and sports cars respectively. The numbers "100", "200", "300", "600" and "800" after the letters represent the corresponding vehicle platform, and "HB" represents the hatchback vehicle of the same platform. According to such naming rules, it is not surprising that Langyue, which was previously positioned as an MPV model, was renamed M300.
In July of the same year, Zotye exposed the product planning of "three SUVs+one car", in which T200 is a small SUV developed on the basis of the previous 5008, and T300 and T600 will be newly developed compact and medium-sized SUVs. As for the remaining car product named Z300, Zotye said it would be a brand-new model developed on the Fiat platform, and many people had been looking forward to this car at that time.
In addition, several other models of Zotye have also started to be named by "letters+numbers". Among them, Langjun/Langlang based on Siena and Palio models were renamed Zotye Z200 and Z200HB. These two models were listed on May 20, 2011, and the price ranges were 43,600-68,600 yuan and 49,600-76,600 yuan respectively.
The renamed Zotye Z200 has also undergone a makeover in terms of design. The new car has a strong "German flavor", and the design is not amazing but it is still attractive. Zotye designers obviously chose the safest design method, which is undoubtedly in line with the aesthetics of most domestic consumers.
Configuration is a big advantage of Z200. Except for the 1.3L entry-level model, the other nine versions are equipped with ABS+EBD system, engine electronic anti-theft system, headlight height adjustable, electric heating rear window, four-door electric window, perforated leather seat, height adjustable steering wheel, automatic driving lock and many other safety and comfort configurations. However, the Z200 has not changed much in terms of power. It is still equipped with 1.3L and 1.5L engines from Mitsubishi, with maximum power of 97 HP and 120 HP respectively. Such comprehensive strength in the domestic automobile market at the end of 2011 obviously does not account for the slightest cheapness, and just at this time, the domestic automobile market also ushered in the cold winter.
In 2011, the growth rate of passenger car production and sales in China was only 2.8%, which was the lowest increase in the domestic automobile market in 12 years. The blowout development trend in the past was no longer there, and the China automobile market entered an adjustment period. The sharp decline in growth rate will inevitably bring more fierce competition. For auto brands such as Zotye, which are still in the stage of rising accumulation, 2011 was particularly difficult. According to statistics, in 2011, Zotye’s annual passenger car production and sales volume was only over 90,000 units, which fell to the 35th position in the sales ranking. A major management change concerning Zotye and most domestic independent brand car companies is imperative.
Sure enough, the 2012 New Year bell was accompanied by a major personnel change in the domestic automobile industry, and this change happened to be closely related to Zotye Automobile. In 2011, the departure of Xia Zhibing, general manager of BYD Auto Sales Company, caused widespread concern in the industry, and the first heavy news of Zotye Auto in 2012 was that Xia Zhibing had joined and would be the president of Zotye Auto, fully responsible for the management of production, technology and sales. For Zotye at that time, the addition of Xia Zhibing rekindled hope for the enterprise.
In May of the same year, Zotye’s first compact car, Z300, was launched. The three models launched in advance were all equipped with 1.5L naturally aspirated engines, and the price range was 5.8999-69.999 million yuan. This new car created by Zotye has really brought surprises to consumers. Although there are still traces of imitation and reference, the full and smooth body lines and generous front face design have left people with a pretty good first impression. The body size of 4565mm×1766mm×1493mm and the wheelbase of 2700mm make it maintain an advantage in the same level of competition.
In addition to the refreshing design, the progress of Zotye Z300 interior is also a leap forward. The simple and layered design highlights its orientation towards home use, while the relatively exquisite workmanship materials make it also at a higher level in this level. Configuration has always been Zotye’s strong point. The Z300 comes standard with front and rear fog lights, automatic headlights, remote control keys, driving computer, headlight delay closing system and car body anti-theft system, etc. The high-equipped models are equipped with aluminum alloy wheels, leather seats, electric sunroof, multi-function steering wheel, DVD entertainment system, GPS navigation system and parking image system.
In terms of power, Zotye Z300 is equipped with a 1.5L 4A9 series engine from Mitsubishi, with a maximum power of 113 HP and a maximum torque of 141N·m, which is matched with a 5-speed manual transmission. Although the performance of low-priced models in terms of cost performance is not satisfactory, Zotye Z300 still shows a certain comprehensive strength in general. Combined with its highest price of only 70,000 yuan, this car has considerable sales in the majority of second-and third-tier cities, and Zotye Automobile has also stopped falling and rebounded since the second half of 2012.
With the launch and release of new models Z300, T200 and Z100 at the 2013 Shanghai Auto Show, Zotye Auto, which had been dormant for two years, ushered in spring in 2013. According to statistics, in 2013, the annual sales volume of Zotye Automobile exceeded 134,000 units, an increase of more than 40% compared with 2012, and the domestic market share of Zotye brand also slowly climbed up driven by sales volume.
At the 2013 Shanghai Auto Show, we once again saw the T600, the first medium-sized SUV under Zotye. The front face of this concept car has been readjusted, and all aspects are closer to mass production. In addition, news about the redesigned Z300 and the brand-new high-end car Z500 has been exposed one after another. At this time, Zotye has a more in-depth and detailed idea of the future market, and the Z100 will be mainly put into third-and fourth-tier cities. In order to enhance the overall brand image, Zotye must launch a high-end model with a price of more than 250,000 yuan in the next two or three years.
At the end of 2013, the T600, the first medium-sized SUV of Zotye, was officially launched. There were three models equipped with 1.5L turbocharged engine in the early stage, and the price range was 798-99800 yuan. In the later period, Zotye also added two T600 models with 2.0T engines, and the price was correspondingly increased to 113,800 yuan and 115,800 yuan.
"Imitation and reference" is often the "killer" of the design of self-owned brand car companies, and this method is tried and tested. Zotye T600 also failed to escape the fate of imitation. Its front design is highly similar to that of Touareg, and its rounded and full body is obviously suspected of drawing lessons from the shape of Audi Q5. After "copying" for more than ten years, Zotye still doesn’t have a car that is a product of completely independent design. For a company with an annual output of more than 100,000 cars, this dilemma has nothing to do with ability, but cares about the attitude and courage of independent innovation.
The interior continues the high standard of Zotye. The simple design highlights the stable atmosphere, and the large LCD screen is very eye-catching. The piano lacquer decorative board and the silver plastic decorative board have excellent matching effect, which reveals a sense of fashion and technology. The overall design of the interior is calm and not outdated, and the texture is outstanding. In terms of safety configuration, Zotye T600 is also sincere, and the appearance of front side airbags, front and rear head airbags and engine electronic anti-theft adds competitiveness to it.
In terms of power, Zotye T600 has two supercharged engines of 1.5T and 2.0T to choose from. The maximum power of 1.5T model is 162 HP and the maximum torque is 215 Nm. The maximum power of 2.0T model is 190 HP and the maximum torque is 250 Nm. Different versions of models are equipped with 5-speed manual or 6-speed dual-clutch gearbox. After the T600 goes on the market, it will face the strong challenge of its own brand SUV. Haval H6, BYD S6 and Chery Tiggo 5, which have gained a firm foothold in this market segment, will never give up their sales. It is not easy for Zotye T600 to break through.
Perhaps it is precisely because of realizing the cruelty of market competition that Zotye launched an overwhelming publicity campaign from the beginning of T600′ s listing, so that this model has always maintained a fairly high exposure in the market. Such frequent exposure has indeed promoted the sales of Zotye T600 to a certain extent. The monthly sales volume of Zotye T600 has remained at around 5,000 units in one year, and it has quickly become another main vehicle of Zotye.
Zotye’s offensive is obviously still going on. They brought a newly designed medium-sized car at the 2014 Beijing Auto Show. This new car named Z500 continues Zotye’s latest family-style design style, but the most exciting thing is that at least we can’t see obvious imitation and reference traces from the appearance design of this car. In November 2014, Zotye’s first medium-sized car Z500 went on the market. In the early stage, five models with 1.5T engines were listed, and the price range was locked at 76,800-101,800 yuan.
The Z500 maintains a high degree of originality in appearance. Chrome-plated double transverse spokes run through the front grille, and the bottom lines of the front face are sunken, which gives a layered visual effect. Sharp long headlights perfectly blend with the front grille lines to create a handsome look. The wheelbase of 2750mm is also at the mainstream level in the same level.
The appearance is bright, and the interior is also refreshing. The Z500 continues the interior design style that appeared on the Z300 before. By adjusting the shape and area of some areas, it further enhances the sense of grade and advanced interior of the whole vehicle. For this level of independent brand competitors, Z500 interior has certain advantages in terms of design and working materials. At present, the Z500 on sale only has a power version of 1.5T, but according to different configurations, the Z500 has two different models of engines, but the maximum output power of these two engines is 150 horsepower, which is matched with a 5-speed manual or CVT gearbox.
Also in 2014, Zotye also cooperated with New Ocean Group to launch a pure electric vehicle called Zhidou, and specially established the brand of Zhidou. This cute electric car has a curb weight of only 670kg, uses a permanent magnet DC brushless motor, and has a maximum power of 24 HP, a maximum torque of 82 Nm and a maximum driving range of about 120 km. It is also an electric car used for commuting and transportation in cities. Zotye’s exploration and development in the field of new energy vehicles will also be more and more in-depth.
In recent years, Zotye has made full efforts in the passenger car market, especially after Xia Zhibing became the president of the company, Zotye’s combination boxing in products has become more fierce. The appearance of Z300, T600, Z500 and other models has improved the product camp, which also marks the planning and determination of Zotye brand to enter the medium-sized car field. However, in today’s fierce domestic auto market, it is not so easy to get a share. Although the company achieved continuous growth in 2013 and 14, and broke through the production and sales of 160,000 units, the sales volume of Z500 was less than 3,000 in the first month of listing, and the problems of independent research and development and weak innovation ability of enterprises are still firmly in front of Zotye Automobile. Zotye obviously has a long way to go before it wants to turn over.
Summary:
From the local hardware machinery factory to today’s large-scale group enterprise, Zotye has both joy and disappointment, laughter and tears along the way. The explosive growth and rapid accumulation of wealth once made Zotye hold high the banner of "acquisition" and once thought that "what you bought is your own". However, cruel market competition makes Zotye see clearly that its progress is still too slow, too slow, and blindly learning from imitation may make it possible for him to live a good life for the time being. It was not until he was about to sit on the mountain, that Zotye suddenly found that independent brands such as Great Wall, Changan, BYD and Chery had already left themselves far behind, and wanted to catch up, only to find that every step he had to take was so difficult.
Fortunately, Zotye has finally realized the importance of enhancing its independent research and development capability and cultivating its core competitiveness. From Z500, we have seen Zotye’s determination to abandon the "imitation" mentality and start to really embark on the road of independent research and development. With the development of independent brands today, independent innovation is no longer a "forbidden zone" limited by ability, but a proof of whether an independent car company has the courage to take the first step and whether it can shoulder the pride of "China brand".
When we review the history of Zotye brand, the whole series of articles on independent brands will soon come to an end. In the past two years, we have taken stock of the development process of 25 domestic independent brands, and also reviewed several independent car companies that have disappeared but are familiar to people, some of whom have suffered from policies; Some suffer from the lack of core technology; Others stand still and push themselves to the edge of the market. However, we should also see that no matter what type of independent brands, their development process is not smooth sailing, and they all have endless hardships and endless difficulties. "State-owned enterprises are lazy and private enterprises are difficult" is a joke describing the current situation of domestic automobile enterprises, but it also deeply hurts domestic automobile consumers.
It is people’s helplessness to domestic car companies to "mourn their misfortunes and be angry with them". However, the love of our country that we can’t give up makes us have infinite expectations and aspirations for our own brands. Even if it is any bit of progress, everyone will see it in their eyes and be warm in their hearts. Because we clearly know that the foundation of China’s automobile industry is very weak, it is difficult for independent brands to develop and go to the sky. It is precisely for this reason that we do not exclude learning from it and are willing to give independent brands more time to precipitate and digest. Let’s applaud our own brands more and boo less, because we believe that one day those independent brands with one heart and one mind will become what others call "China brands" that can make us proud!
Facing the coming brand-new era, China brands, build up! (Text/Figure car home Chen Lei)
