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from 470,000 units sold in 2018 to just over 150,000 units sold in 2023, and then to just over 70,000 units sold in the first seven months of this year, saic roewe's sales have been declining. the sharp decline in sales and the sharp shrinkage of market share have made roewe's voice in the auto market increasingly weak. consumers' impression of the saic roewe brand has also gradually become blurred.

recently, yu jingmin, executive vice president of saic passenger vehicle, who has been in office for less than a month, revealed some information about roewe and feifan at the chengdu auto show, which has once again attracted people's attention to the roewe brand. yu jingmin said that saic roewe's sales target this year is 200,000 vehicles. at the same time, he also said: "we focus our work on the integration of roewe and feifan's marketing and service organizations."

consumers who are familiar with yu jingmin may know that yu jingmin served as the deputy general manager of saic passenger vehicle from 2014 to 2021. he is good at marketing, live broadcasting, and talk shows. according to insiders, "fat head yu" is the personal image ip he created during his tenure at saic passenger vehicle.

after more than three years, yu jingmin returned to saic passenger vehicle. can he lead saic roewe to a comeback?

although yu jingmin is good at marketing, saic roewe's current problems are mainly in products and technology, not marketing. no matter how good the marketing is, without strong products and strong technical support, it will be difficult for saic roewe to return to its glory days.

you know, saic roewe's success is due to "internet technology", and its failure is also due to "internet technology". previously, the roewe rx5, which was the first to promote the concept of the internet, had monthly sales of more than 40,000 units for five consecutive months, ranking among the top five in suv sales. the roewe rx8 is even regarded as the representative of the flagship model of the independent brand. however, as internet technology gradually became popular among car companies, saic roewe's internet technology advantage was no longer there, coupled with its frequent product quality problems and slow product updates, which led to a continuous decline in its sales. in other words, saic roewe did not persevere in technological updates, which led to it being overtaken by its competitors and now seriously lagging behind.

in addition, the car market has gradually entered the new energy era from the fuel car era. saic roewe does not have a strong presence in the new energy vehicle market. although it has several new energy models such as roewe d7, d5x dmh, roewe ei5, and roewe erx5, the total monthly sales of new energy models are only more than 3,000 units, which is less than the performance of some single models of new car manufacturers.

moreover, in the new energy era, there are many marketing experts among the senior leaders of car companies. for example, li auto's li xiang, hongmeng zhixing's yu chengdong, and xiaomi's lei jun are better at marketing than each other. their personal charm has made these brands highly talked about in the new energy market, thus successfully promoting their brands. whether yu jingmin's marketing methods are more sophisticated and distinctive remains to be further observed.

as for the technical issues, yu jingmin said that saic roewe does not lack technology, but needs to "polish the technical brand". he also emphasized that roewe has the foundation in dmh super hybrid technology. but in fact, roewe's technology has not been recognized by consumers, and sales are a good proof of this.

moreover, the new energy technology that roewe boasts of has not passed the test of the market. it is understood that in the second half of this year, saic passenger vehicle launched the "super safety chip commitment" related rights and interests, benefiting a number of main best-selling models of roewe and mg brands, promising "zero fuel guarantee". not long after the policy was announced, the roewe d5 xdmh, which had been on the market for less than two months, caught fire. the official has not announced the cause of the incident.

regarding roewe's positioning and future development direction, yu jingmin said: "roewe is the new volkswagen, reliable and not showy." whether in terms of market position or brand power, volkswagen and roewe are like heaven and earth, with a huge difference. will roewe be able to rise again in the future? in the short term, the possibility is very small.

final thoughts

whether in terms of brand power or product quality, roewe is currently at a disadvantage. marketing alone is not enough to help saic roewe get out of the sales trough. moreover, roewe is too slow in product updates and currently does not have a "competitive" model. roewe urgently needs to launch a hit model to boost sales and thus increase brand awareness. can yu jingmin lead roewe to a comeback? it remains to be seen.