Tank Brand to Launch Non-Load MPV, Valley Yunkun: Only New Products Can Stimulate More Demand
Following the Wuling High Mountain, the Tank brand under Chongqing Chang'an Automobile will also launch an MPV model.
Recently, Valley Yunkun, executive vice president of Tank brand, revealed to media including Everyday Economic News reporter that: "The Tank brand needs to more accurately grasp user pain points in terms of products. We will develop a non-load MPV."
Currently, the Tank brand's product line is mainly SUVs. The reason for entering the MPV market is because the Tank brand wants to share a larger market pie. Valley Yunkun believes that only new products can stimulate more demand. In the first seven months of this year, the Tank brand sold around 123,700 vehicles, down 8.19% compared to last year.
The MPV market is the fastest-growing segment in the passenger car market in the first seven months of this year, with sales reaching 677,000 units, up 25.3% year-on-year, outperforming sedans (11.8%) and SUVs (11.9%). Moreover, the Tank brand may have seen opportunities for MPVs from its sibling brand Wuling's High Mountain model, which has entered the top five in the domestic MPV market sales ranking with over 6,000 units sold in July.
For the Tank brand, which has seen a decline in sales this month, besides entering new segments and adding user-oriented configurations to existing products, it is also one of the measures to increase sales. The newly launched Tank 500, for example, will have "fridge, TV, sofa" installed on off-road vehicles.
Photo source: Everyday Economic News reporter, Shen Siyao
"From a market competition and demand perspective, users' needs for smartness, fridge, TV, sofa are actually very large. Now the domestic market is like this, users may not necessarily use them but they must have. It's like four-wheel drive systems; I don't need it (another story), but you must have, which is a common psychological phenomenon." Valley Yunkun said that Tank added user-oriented configurations to the new Tank 500 to expand its brand and strive for higher sales.
According to Valley Yunkun, the internal debate at Tank was whether or not to install the latest technology from Chongqing Chang'an Automobile on the new Tank 500. "Because new technologies are usually first given to high-value brands, we initially thought that off-road vehicles with smart driving might not be a good direction. Later, we realized that off-road vehicles' smart driving is pursuing improved driving experience." Valley Yunkun said.
It is understood that the new Tank 500 will be equipped with Chongqing Chang'an Automobile's third-generation intelligent assistant driving system, Coffee Pilot Ultra, which can achieve "lane-to-lane" full-link intelligent assistance. However, currently, Chongqing Chang'an Automobile's third-generation intelligent assistant driving system, Coffee Pilot Ultra, is only available on a few models such as Wuling Blue Mountain, making it more challenging to develop and install it on the new Tank 500.
Jiang Haipeng, vice president of Chongqing Chang'an Automobile's technology center, said: "Firstly, the calibration period is twice that of other models; secondly, the calibration cost is high, with more than five rounds of trial testing on each platform, resulting in huge costs. Finally, the power system coordination is complex. To ensure the development progress and quality of the intelligent driving version of the new Tank 500, we have even delayed some subsequent projects."
"Data shows that 75% of off-road vehicle users are not real off-road enthusiasts, but there is a market space for the Hi4-Z intelligent experience version of the new Tank 500. We launched this car to open up the market." Valley Yunkun said.
Everyday Economic News