the first battle of the "fathead fish" in the car circle: using the "ceiling" of the a-class coupe to support the mg market
2024-09-03
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when it became the "political correctness" of the automotive media to predict the future of this chengdu auto show, automakers no longer had to face a sea of familiar yet unfamiliar faces. instead, they had more energy to focus on the expressiveness of the booths themselves.
besides byd, which has its own pavilion, the most attractive brand at this year's auto show is probably saic. whether it is saic volkswagen, saic gm, saic mg or zhiji, they all shine on this southwest stage with their highly competitive new car lineups and very sincere prices.
for example, saic mg not only brought its core products, the new generation mg5 and cyberster art car, but also used a battery soaked in water as the "energy source" of the refrigerator at the booth to provide iced drinks for passers-by. this not only promoted the safety of the battery, but also won the favor of the visitors. the creativity is excellent.
it can be said that mg's booth design has returned to what a car show should look like.
also returning is yu jingmin, executive vice general manager of saic passenger vehicle.
40 months after leaving saic passenger cars and moving to saic volkswagen, he returned to saic passenger cars again. the "fathead fish in the car circle" who returned to anting from anting hardly needed time to adapt this time. when being interviewed on the same stage with shao jingfeng, vice president and chief designer of saic innovation research and development institute, and lu jiajun, general manager of saic mg brand, yu jingmin even took the initiative to act as the "host" and took the lead in "challenging" shao jingfeng - mr. shao, what do you think of users saying that mg5 is a "martha substitute"?
this question is certainly not groundless. in the first week after yu jingmin returned to saic passenger vehicle, when he was communicating with users in the mg shanghai showroom, a user expressed this view to him. the fact that he was able to "self-criticize" the design of the heavyweight model mg5 in the first question shows his full confidence in the design level and product strength of this car.
in response to this question, yu jingmin said: "how can this rear end look like a maserati? can it make such a beautiful rear end? how am i a replacement for maserati?"
as for the straight waterfall-style front end that is similar to maserati's, shao jingfeng explained that the mg brand has used a straight waterfall-style air intake grille since its establishment in 1924, but maserati's iconic design language is also the straight waterfall-style front end, so there is no question of "copying".
in the words of shao jingfeng, the future design direction of mg will be to find a design language that can cause emotional fluctuations. the appearance of the new generation mg5 is indeed eye-catching. it adheres to the design concept of sensual aesthetics and introduces the "hunting eye" design language of the saic mg family. the headlights echo the guide grooves on both sides of the front of the car, and the leopard-like shoulder line is full of power. the fastback shape extends the slender and smooth outer contour to the rear of the car, and the slightly upturned ducktail flashes a smart atmosphere, conveying a low-resistance and dynamic visual effect.
as electric cars and fuel cars start to compete with each other, the next issue is whether different types of cars need to be designed differently. "unlike the early days of electric cars, today's electric car consumers no longer pursue a distinctive front face, but rather a similarity to the brand value." therefore, for mg, what should be paid attention to is what kind of appearance the consumer market prefers the mg brand to have.
in fact, styling is not an area where designers can let loose. as a major brand exported overseas, mg's design must not only meet domestic aesthetics, but also be oriented to overseas markets. shao jingfeng said: "this process also creates a lot of contradictions. overseas customers want short-axle, small, and compact cars, while domestic customers want big cars that beat small cars, etc., which creates a lot of contradictions in the layout of the car models."
moreover, yu jingmin said that the same mg model sells for 10,000 to 20,000 euros in china and more than 30,000 euros overseas. from this perspective, domestic competitors, users, and price ranges are different. but even so, "mg has found our unique secret weapon, which is still in the secret stage." shao jingfeng said.
in addition to design, handling and performance are also mg's family genes. "whether it is a new energy vehicle or a fuel vehicle, the direction of family cars is to move towards a more sporty direction," said yu jingmin. what the new generation of mg can do is to have higher quality, higher performance and higher appearance in the same price range.
at present, the market share of a-class cars has reached 47.7% (sedans + suvs + mpvs), which means that a-class family cars are still the sales base of a car company. as yu jingmin said, "without the foundation of a-class cars, there is no pricing power for b-class cars. a car company must rely on a-class cars to support the market and b-class cars to make profits." this indirectly reflects the important strategic position of the new generation mg 5 in the mg brand.
in this blue ocean market, with strong old joint ventures occupying the front and new forces with excellent intelligence catching up in the back, how can the new generation of mg 5 stand out? in this regard, lu jiajun, general manager of mg brand, said: "the entire a-class fuel vehicle market may be around 500,000 vehicles at present, and the top family sedans are basically the "three aunties" on the road, which are relatively mediocre." the vision of the mg brand is that consumers should not wait until they are old to consider themselves, but be loyal to their choices when buying their first car of about 100,000 yuan in their lives. "we hope to provide more services to those users with surging hearts... we hope that more users can choose what they love and drive a coupe from the first car in their lives, instead of being wronged and getting a means of transportation." lu jiajun said.
regarding the market forecast for this car, lu jiajun said that it will “strive to become the top 3 in the market segment.” yu jingmin was more daring, predicting that “the normal level will exceed 10,000 yuan. this car will be the ceiling of the a-class coupe, and we welcome civic to challenge it.”
the core questions and answers of the entire interview revolved around the design and market strategy of the new generation mg5.
it can be said that this car not only carries the hope of saic mg to conquer the mainstream a-class market, but also carries the honor of the first battle after the return of the "fathead fish". it seems that mg5 is bound to win.
the paper reporter zhou chunlin
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