Independent automakers enter mid-to-high-end car market

This year, 2009 is a flourishing year for mid and high-grade vehicle types made by China's independent brand motorcar enterprises.

Since earlier this year, all motorcar enterprises with independent brands have been launching their new brands and products. The Shanghai International Automobile Exhibition held in this April is even more a stage for those independent brands shaving off their former low-grade images and striding forward mid and high-grade auto market.

With the release of Emgrand, a mid and high-grade auto brand of Geely Company and the EC718, the first Class B car under Emgrand, going off the production line on July 28, the competition in mid and high-grade auto market would also be conducted gradually.

It is understood that Emgrand is designed to be included in a series of mid and high-grade products of Geely Company and the company is intended to build a brand-new image by means of introducing such a brand.

At the same time, the release of this brand means that the three new brands confirmed after Geely's strategic transformation have been released and put into operation completely.

The reason why independent brand cars have entered into mid and high-grade market one by one is, on the one hand, for the consideration of profits, which means that with the white-hot competition in low-grade market, profits of enterprises have been being diluted continually, while profits earned in mid and high-grade market are more rich and generous obviously; on the other hand, because enterprises had been targeting on lower market for a long time, which has made most of its product brands considered as an image of low price with low quality.

It is an obstacle that must be broken through for the sake of either the brand value-added of products or the long-term development of enterprises.

Each enterprise has different thought for the plan on entering into mid and high-grade market.

For SAIC Chery Automobile Co., LTD, the launch of its two mid and high-grade brands Riich and Rely and the offline of its first high-grade sedan G6 aim at building its products into the preferred auto types for business people.

Chery has also expressed that it will never sell its products at cheap prices. Additionally, Chery's confidence also comes from its consideration that most of joint venture enterprises have not yet been able to product really suitable products to China's market promptly at present.

By contrast, Geely's positioning seemed some different. Its target consumption group is in a more wide extent and Geely Embrand EC718 was even more priced in a range from RMB80 thousand yuan to RMB120 thousand yuan, and the company expressed that half of the total output are expected to be exported, so as to make this kind of car the No.1 of Geely's automobiles striding forward developed countries.

Therefore, Embrand EC718 was designed and manufactured according to the European standard from the very beginning.

Facing the question why it didn't price its new issued mid and high-grade auto type in a "high-grade" level, Geely expressed that the it had nothing to do with any quality problems or any strategies of further competition with low price and just because the corporation had mastered core technologies and key parts and components on engine and gear-box, which guarantees a higher cost performance.