How do 1.7 million Chang ‘an Yidong stay competitive in 12 years？

On April 18, 2024, a message caught my attention-"Changan ushered in the 1.7 millionth production car off the assembly line".

To tell the truth, my first reaction when I saw this news was: Have you sold so many? However, when I carefully recalled it, I immediately affirmed the truth of the news.

There are three reasons: First, from its release in 2012 to the present, Changan Yidong, as one of the earliest companies to enter the home market, has gone through nearly 12 years, and has been constantly updated and iterated. This year, it has been updated to the third-generation model, and at the same time, it has joined the general trend of AI intelligence.

Secondly, in the car sales ranking, except for the early ranking, Changan Yidong is almost stable in the top ten. Especially in 2023, Chang ‘an Yidong also topped the sales champion of China’s self-owned fuel cars with a sales volume of 157,000.

Third, the development of Changan Automobile in these years has advanced by leaps and bounds, even defending its own brand sales number one for many times. What’s more worth mentioning is that Chang ‘an’s three pioneering projects, namely Shangri-La Plan, Beidou Tian Shu and All Rivers Run into the Sea, have not only made steady progress, but also achieved fruitful results. Therefore, it is conceivable that it is almost reasonable for Changan Yidong to achieve such results.

However, the key to the success of Chang ‘an Yidong is only two words: quality. From design to driving to safety, almost every link reached the average level of the industry at that time.

For example, in terms of design, Chang ‘an was one of the first enterprises to set up design centers overseas, and the first generation of Chang ‘an Yidong was designed by Chang ‘an Italian Design Center, which gathered overseas designers from all over the world, and its ability was evident. The actual effect of the first generation of Changan Yidong really surprised everyone, especially in that era when it was not divorced from imitation, the international modeling of the first generation of Changan Yidong attracted many consumers.

The next second-generation models and today’s third-generation models still take the international route. In particular, the newly launched third-generation car has a sense of fashion and technology from the inside out, which is almost comparable to a pure electric car.

In terms of driving, what impressed me most was the China Rally Championship (CRC) in 2016, with a retirement rate of 66.2%. As a domestic and joint-venture competition on the same stage, Chang ‘an, who participated in the competition for the first time, is not optimistic, and even whether it can complete the competition is unknown. However, even under such pressure, Changan Yidong XT not only finished the race, but also became a dark horse, winning the first race in S2 group.

In the same year, it is also worth mentioning that Changan Yidong also won the first place in the China automobile industry customer satisfaction (CACSI) evaluation market segment, which once again promoted the popularity of products to another dimension.

In terms of security. It can be said that Changan Yidong is a product highlight that can impress consumers most. In the first year of listing (2012), it won the first prize of China Automobile Industry Association’s scientific and technological progress and the achievement of "C-NCAP’s new five-star safety". You know, at that time, together with many joint venture brands, it was only a 4-star level.

Of course, in the next few years, including the second-generation and third-generation models and the middle-sized and redesigned models, Changan Yidong still maintained a multi-dimensional high standard. For example, in 2021 CTCC (China Automobile Yard Professional League), Yidong PLUS won the drivers’ cup and manufacturers’ cup in the first round, and created the fastest lap in this field with excellent results. In the same year, Yidong won the first place in China Automobile Customer Satisfaction Evaluation (CACSI) for its own brand car, which was also a double harvest of track performance and user reputation.

The third generation of Yidong has evolved in an all-round way again. In addition to joining the AI ? ? intelligent army, it has once again achieved the same level of leadership in safety, power, size, configuration and intelligent configuration, and many things that used to cost a lot of money have become standard, such as driving recorder, 540-degree panoramic image, cage-type high-strength energy-absorbing body, induction tailgate, AI assistant, etc., all of which have appeared on the lowest-equipped models with a floor area of about 80,000 yuan.

Write it at the end

I have to admit that although Chang ‘an Yidong is not the only domestic sedan in the same period, the story belonging to it is really wonderful enough, especially its quality as always, which really makes people proud. Of course, I hope that 1.7 million units are just a small node in the story of Changan Yidong Automobile, and I hope that Changan Automobile can continue to contribute to it and achieve the next 1.7 million units.