The last blue sea of ​​the Chinese auto market: pickup

I heard that the Jiangbei New City in the provincial capital had relaxed the restrictions on pickup trucks. In order to confirm this statement, the author deliberately rushed to the Jiangbei New District. After a morning shift in the new district, it was found that the pickup truck did have more than the old town of Jiangnan, but it was not a lot, just a little more. Due to the fact that there are more road sections in the new district and the old city, there are mainly urban management and municipal engineering vehicles. However, in the urban-rural integration department, the author actually found that not only micro-customers, micro-cards, and pickup trucks, which are used as passenger taxis and freight rentals, are mainly due to the fact that public transportation facilities are currently underway and regular taxis are less. Most of these pickup truck drivers are laid-off workers in the suburbs and factory workers. There is almost no new car, all old cars. It is reported that these cars are basically all used cars, some have operating licenses, some do not, all in the form of taxis in the passengers and pull goods. It is extremely strange that these pickup truck owners do not know why they are jealous of their business and vehicles, and they feel a little bit "not talking about state affairs."

At the end of a street where car sales are concentrated, the author found that there is a shopping mall for trucks and buses, and the sales staff seems to be more than the customers. In this commercial vehicle sales alone can not support 3S or 4S or even a franchise store, so the pickup trucks sold here are mixed with the public brand light trucks and micro-cards.

In an author's original old Dongjia company brand store, I even encountered an old colleague who went to sea to do business (originally also doing research and analysis of the commercial vehicle market). I have not seen it in the past 20 years, so I have been particularly enthusiastic about the auto market, plus There is no customer patronage on the market. The old colleague who was called "Zeng Zong" by the author's most popular fashion language is particularly extraordinarily and meticulous about the pickup truck market and product topics. Zeng Zong has represented a domestic famous brand pickup truck sales in the past few years, but the business is really difficult to do. After the contract expires, it will naturally not be done. It is really selling cars. He said that if the pickup truck is fully banned in the country, he still wants to do it. The pickup truck has become the last blue ocean in the automobile market. It is still optimistic about the future market prospects. The pickup truck can still do it, but now The timing is still immature.

Zeng always believed that there is still a set of traditional cultural rules for the use of vehicles by Chinese people. The removal of bans from the city is second, mainly whether the pickup trucks can be accepted by most people, which is the key to the problem.

Zeng’s view is that the ban is not the main reason for preventing pickups from entering the “home”. The problem is that the pickup truck market is just in short supply at this stage. At present, people who have the ability to buy cars mainly live in the main urban area, but the urban public facilities are convenient, in the home users. If there is no special demand for pickup trucks, once the pickup truck is fully removed into the city, it will be lifted. It may increase congestion again. Zeng always believed that pickup trucks are not in line with the lifestyle of Chinese urban residents. The pickup trucks are relatively large in size, and it is very inconvenient to drive and park in the city. Most car buyers don't have their own yard garage, and there aren't many big things to transport. The trunk of the car is basically enough.

Moreover, at present, the price of domestic pickup trucks is mostly concentrated in the price range of 70,000 to 150,000 yuan, and this interval happens to be the coverage area of ​​the A-class vehicles with large sales volume in the passenger vehicle market. There is a basic requirement for the family to purchase the A-class car. That is the ride comfort. This is also the reason why the joint venture brand products have long wheelbase and length for the prototype in order to adapt to the Chinese market. However, the current domestic pickup trucks are not well realized at this point, especially now that all the double-row pickup trucks are produced. Although their wheelbases are mostly between 2.6 meters and 3.4 meters, they are not even smaller than the A-class cars. The wheelbase of the B-class car is larger, but in order to increase the length of the cargo box, the space of the cab is compressed, and the second row of space is squeezed, which is definitely not a pleasure for long-distance passengers.

In addition to the comfort of the ride, the price of the automatic barrier trucks of the joint venture and self-owned brands is higher than that of the existing autos. In particular, the automatic price of the joint-venture pickup trucks is higher than the same. For the SUV automatic transmission of the joint venture car company, if the price of the automatic block truck does not come, the market may be difficult to accept. At the same time, urban congestion is already very serious. If you allow some large and large pickup trucks to enter the city center, it may increase congestion. "You see, this Jiangbei New District has only been built for a few years. Now it has been blocked. The road construction really can't keep up with the development of private cars. If the road construction can't follow up, the pickup truck can't enter the urban area for a while. Now, medium and heavy-duty mucks with urban road driving licenses are not allowed to enter the city at night, all replaced with light truck modified mucks, and also take a safer and more environmentally friendly name 'engine five cars', Moreover, the pickup truck can allow the city to enter the city during the day." Zeng always stressed.

At present, many pickup truck companies have installed closed enclosures on their cargo boxes, so they are called "back-style", just like SUV models. Is it still restricted to do this?

For the author's question, Zeng always replied: If it is seized by the traffic police, the road administration or the transportation management, it will be punished by the "prohibited entry" 150-300 yuan and 3 points. Therefore, pickup trucks are difficult to reinvent in Chinese society and the market because some people in China are not as inclusive, open and welcoming to pickup trucks as other countries in the world.

However, Mr. Zeng is still full of hope and optimism about the future pickup truck market, and has been optimistic again and again. He said that when he first entered the factory, he was engaged in the research work on the pickup truck market. He also worked with the author to carry out a wide range of market research work across the country. Therefore, there is still some feelings about the pickup truck, but now it is In business negotiations, selling cars must be profitable. Once the time is right, he will also distribute the pickup truck and firmly believe that:

First, the entry of pickup trucks into the family must first complete the change from production materials to daily necessities. The transition from “production materials” to “living goods” requires a long process. In this process, the market needs to cultivate the pickup culture. Culture and automobile civilization must also be carried out at the same time, which requires the participation of manufacturers, distributors and news media to achieve;

Second, with the accelerated development of urban logistics, freight distribution and maintenance activities not only have more and more demand for pickup trucks, but also pickup trucks can be used for commuting to urban residents, business activities, shopping on the streets, etc. The advantages are in line with the trend of composite vehicles with deep integration of the world's automotive products;

Third, with the Chinese family going out to travel, the situation has increased significantly year by year, especially the caravan modified by pickup truck has great application prospects. Those who hold C photos will also be able to drive RVs. There is still much room for improvement and development of pickup trucks. The demand for pickup trucks will increase.

Fourth, government procurement and industry users are increasingly demanding pickup trucks and special-purpose vehicles modified by pickup trucks. As a subdivided multi-functional vehicle, the pickup truck has the unique advantages of adaptability, practicability, easy modification, passenger and cargo, etc. It is especially suitable for departments that need to go out to work and need to load goods. Such as urban road greening, aquatic products and fishery administration, highway management section, biological quarantine inspection station, military armed police, city management, sanitation cleaning, environmental monitoring station, road hydropower repair and rescue, health supervision, meteorological bureau, entry and exit inspection and quarantine, quality Special vehicles for dozens of different industries and departments, such as technical supervision, environmental sanitation management, solid waste treatment and disposal management, and highway management office. Moreover, it is also the main life and work vehicle of different industries such as power, telecommunications, petroleum, transportation, public security, municipal, water conservancy projects, mines, and pastures;

Fifth, with the continuous development and upgrading of modern science and technology, today's pickup trucks have changed their image of high noise, high fuel consumption, rough shape and poor performance. The appearance of the model tends to SUV, and the functional configuration is gradually sedan. The main purpose of the pickup truck is to realize the functions of micro-customer and micro-cargo, and to take into account the speed, comfort and safety of the car in terms of performance. Compared with the load performance of the light truck, the cargo is characterized by light weight, small volume and convenient and quick transportation effect. In terms of the use of vehicles, it is further divided into commercial service vehicles and commercial vehicles with auxiliary production vehicles. At the same time, the comfort and versatility of pickup trucks are destined to be a very suitable model for urban and rural residents in China, and to become the main vehicle for China's large-scale export of automobiles, while earning more foreign exchange for the country. It can create more overseas space for the various pickup trucks.

Conclusion: The author and Zeng are both from the automobile factory and engaged in pickup research and market research. They always have deep feelings and hopes for the pickup truck. We all agree that the current pickup truck has become the last blue sea in the Chinese automobile market. And expect and affirm that Chinese society will one day become the country on the pickup truck wheel like the United States! And this time must not be far off, perhaps within 10 years.