"North Hongqi South Shanghai" or welcome new opportunities for its own brand

The people who are over the age of 30 in the Hongqi brand and Shanghai brand cars have almost nothing to know. They have been deeply imprinted in people’s minds as a memory of the times. With the passage of time, these people have been familiar with the past. The self-owned brand has gradually faded out of sight. Recently, the news that Hongqi and Shanghai-brand cars have been re-listed in the new car catalog of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has once again aroused people's attention. Can the revival of Hongqi and Shanghai bring new opportunities for domestic brands?

Since the advent of the Shanghai brand car for 33 years, a total of 79,525 vehicles have been produced, making it the main vehicle for official vehicles in China.

Re-enter the catalog

In the announcement of a new batch of vehicle manufacturing enterprises and products (No. 233 batch) announced by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology recently, the Hongqi and Shanghai brand cars have once again entered the field of vision, and it is reported that both are aimed at the high-level official car market at the same time. .

The reason is that recently, the central government's latest instructions on boosting self-owned brands include the proposal to start with party and national senior leaders, and take the lead in riding on domestically-made self-owned brands.

It is understood that this time the FAW Group launched a new generation of red flag models based on the H platform C131 models, is expected to be launched at the end of 2012, all project investment up to 1.785 billion yuan.

In terms of Shanghai Auto, although there is news that the new Shanghai brand car will be launched together with the Roewe 750 platform, relevant personage of the SAIC Group reports to the Auto Business Daily: “At present, the Shanghai brand car project is still in the planning stage. It is unclear when the official production resumes."

However, it can be confirmed that the Shanghai brand car will be positioned as a high-end official car. Its sales channels are mainly for government agencies and not for sale in the market. The sales expansion of the Shanghai brand car will also depend on government support.

North Red Flag, South Shanghai However, many people do not understand the memory of Red Flag and Shanghai Card.

"What? There are Shanghai brand cars, never heard of it!" A "post-90s" answer to the Auto Business Daily reporter's question, "Red Flag heard that about the independent brands hear the most is Chery, Geely, BYD ..."

In fact, those who have had some experience with the “red flag sedan” and the “Shanghai sedan” will be filled with emotions. They are not only memories of an era but also the pride of the New China auto industry.

In 1958, in order to welcome the ten years of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Changchun First Automobile Manufactory made a limousine by hand with a 1955 type Chrysler limousine. On October 1, 1959, the first “Red Flag” sedan was officially unveiled at Tiananmen Square. Since then, the Hongqi Car has become a famous official car of the country's leaders and foreign guests.

The Shanghai brand car was born in 1963. It is modeled after the Mercedes-Benz 220S. Its appearance is similar to that of the Soviet Volga brand sedan that was widely present in China. Unlike the Hongqi sedan, which is a high-level official car, the Shanghai sedan is used as an intermediate official car. The following officials of the Prime Minister and ordinary foreign guests are used.

It is understood that in 1972, President Nixon of the United States visited China, the Nixon couples and other regular members took Hongqi cars, while other entourage members took the Shanghai-brand car.

As a representative of the new China automobile industry, the words “Northern Red Flag, Southern Shanghai” once rang from north to south. However, as the years passed, the Red Flag and Shanghai brand cars slowly faded out of sight.

In 1981, due to large fuel consumption, high costs, and low output, the "Laohongqi" production was discontinued. Although the Shanghai brand sedan continued to be produced until 1991, it was eventually replaced by the joint venture brand Santana.

In the mid-1990s, FAW Group launched the red flag series models such as “Little Red Flag” and “Red Flag Flagship” with Audi 100 and Ford Lincoln as prototypes. However, they did not see any other than the “red flag” sign on the front of the vehicle. The shadow of "Old Red Flag".

It is reported that at present the red flag of the Hongqi sedan series is only listed in the production of the sale of the red flag in 2008, and the remaining models have all been discontinued. However, this is a red flag flourishing in production. In 2011, sales volume was only 0.0002 million units. Compared with 0.22 million units in 2010, sales volume fell 98.96% year-on-year.

In today's official car market, Audi has replaced Hongqi and Shanghai-brand cars and become a new official car. The statement that "all officials and officials sit in four laps" also replaced the memory of "Northern Red Flag and Southern Shanghai". .

Considering Demonstration Effect In fact, in recent years, the voice calling for government procurement to support independent brands has continued. The new Hongqi and the new Shanghai brand cars will be positioned in the high-end official car market, industry sources said: "In the high-end official car market, the important thing is not sales, but the demonstration effect. Take FAW - Volkswagen Audi as an example, the official car Sales account for only about 10% of its total sales, but the demonstration effect of its 'official car' has undoubtedly led to sales in its private and commercial vehicle markets."

It is understood that in order to support the domestic auto industry in the international arena, the leaders of all countries have chosen their domestic brand cars as rides to achieve the demonstration effect. The President of the United States is Cadillac; the Japanese Emperor is the Nissan presidential brand sedan and the Japanese Prime Minister is riding Toyota. Crown; The Queen of England is only in Rolls-Royce; the German Prime Minister’s car has always been Mercedes and Audi; the French President’s car is the domestic Citroen C6; the South Korean President’s car is Ssangyong and Hyundai Equus.

The official car market in China is currently dominated by joint venture brands such as Audi, and the performance of independent brands of high-end official vehicles is even zero. In the end of November last year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the “Detailed Rules for the Selection of Models for the Selection of Official Vehicles for Party and Government Organs” by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. That is, the well-known "Double 18" standard has been widely considered by the industry as an intention to tilt toward independent brand enterprises.

In the face of the decline in the auto market for self-owned brands last year, the "autonomous plans" of the major auto groups are still in the ascendant. They have launched their own "great autonomy plans" or "joint venture independent brands". This time, FAW Group and SAIC Group have also agreed to launch new Hongqi. The positioning of the target market with New Shanghai as a high-level official car market is evident in its deep intentions. However, it remains to be seen whether the new Hongqi sedan and the new Shanghai sedan can bring new opportunities for the development of China's own-brand auto market.