In the latest sales figures, Wuling's sales in July were outstanding, up 20 per cent year on year. The overall sales of new energy vehicles reached 10,764, up 70% year-on-year.

Flowers and cake ready, August 6, Wuling new energy vehicles in July sales of more than 10,000 celebration ceremony began.

Against a backdrop of widespread industry hardship, a celebration is rare.

The data showed that the cumulative sales volume of the domestic auto industry fell 12.7 percent year on year in the january-July period. Forty-one of the more than 70 automakers reported declines in July, with 15 of them down more than 50 percent, according to the Association.

In the latest sales data released by Wuling, the sales volume in July is outstanding, with a year-on-year growth of 20%, achieving a positive sales growth for four consecutive months. Among them, the overall sales of new energy vehicles reached 10,764, with a year-on-year growth of 70%.

This is a victory that Wuling has been longing for.

Wuling has been surrounded by the halo of "god car". With wuling Hongguang, SAIC-GM-Wuling has topped the MPV list for 73 consecutive months. In 2015, Wuling became the first domestic auto company with annual sales of over 2 million yuan, setting an industrial precedent.

With the transformation of China's automobile market from an incremental market to an inventory market, and the improvement of national consumption level, the automobile companies that mainly focus on the low-end market are declining.

In 2019, SAIC-GM-Wuling's passenger vehicle sales fell to 1.34 million units, down 19 percent from a year earlier. Financial results showed that wuling's annual revenue last year was 826.53 billion yuan, down 6.88% from the same period last year, and its basic earnings per share fell 28.91% from the same period last year.

"Sinking"

Facing the crisis of times transformation, Wuling takes a different approach.

Unlike most car companies that want to go "up", Wuling has chosen to go down and focus on small new energy vehicles. Since 2017, Wuling has successively launched four small electric vehicles: Baojun E100, E200, E300 and Hongguang MINI EV. Among them, Hongguang MINI EV, which came into the market on July 24, performed well, and sold 7,348 cars within a week, showing the appearance of "God car".

It is worth mentioning that the Hongguang MINI EV is priced between 28,800 and 38,800. According to calculations, the down-payment for the Hongguang MINI EV is as low as 5,700 yuan, and the monthly payment is only 532 yuan.

"The biggest market of Hongguang MINI is in Central China, which is the most essential place in the school of old mobility vehicles," said Zhou Xing, marketing director of SAIC-GM-Wuling Sales Company, during the media communication meeting. First of all, elderly mobility vehicles create a good charging environment for new energy vehicles. Coupled with the national policy of upgrading, phasing out and supporting one group after another, the Hongguang MINI is a replacement for the elderly mobility vehicle that meets the national standard."

"In Shanghai, I saw customers driving Porsches to buy the Hongguang MINI." In Zhou's view, the Hongguang MINI is an 'uber car' that satisfies the needs of short-distance commuting, procurement and employee borrowing the vehicle. "In the words of President Shen, the future sales of hongguang MINI will be of the cosmic class."

Around small new energy vehicles, Wuling created a complete set of "Liuzhou model". Cheap cars naturally match the genes of small and medium-sized cities, and Baojun E series can be seen everywhere in the streets and lanes of Liuzhou.

With the support of the municipal government, liuzhou has set aside 8,000 "small E exclusive parking Spaces", and major shopping malls have implemented a two-hour free parking fee policy for new-energy vehicles. More than 12,000 charging piles have been set up, and preferential charging subsidies have been provided to Wuling owners.

"The core of Liuzhou model is government support, the key is to create a good new energy vehicle service environment. The next step is to promote the liuzhou model to the whole country." Zhou Island oil signal.

"Go up"

At the other end, Wuling continues to "push up" in terms of brand and technology.

Since 2020, Wuling has created a series of marketing events, from "Wuling face mask" and "street stalls" to cross-boundary joint names of "snail noodle" and "Xi cha", all of which reveal wuling's determination to aspire for brand "upward".

"Brand building is the company's priority this year," Zhou said in a previous interview. "The Wuling brand is going to create a new brand recognition that is diverse, young and global, targeting a broader and younger consumer audience."

In the field of technology, Wuling focus on intelligent network. Dai Weirui, Executive deputy general manager of Wuling, reiterated the importance of smart Internet connection: "Every new Baojun we sell is equipped with smart Internet connection. "

"The new Baojun pioneered the concept of networked motorcycles, with a response speed 20 times faster than that of traditional networked cars. At present, Wuling has built the largest unmanned logistics fleet in China, and this technology will also be applied to future models." Saic-gm-wuling electric director Shao Jie said.

The outlook is good, but not to be overlooked. The core of the realization of "Liuzhou model" lies in the full support of local governments, which incline to purchase license plates, drive the right of way, parking convenience, charging facilities, preferential electricity prices and other policies. More evidence is needed to see if the model can be successfully replicated without home-field advantage.

The "people's scooter" needs to be bought by the people. Whether the small new energy vehicle can support the "giant ship" of Wuling with a scale of 100 billion yuan will be decided by time.