Author | Wang Xiaojuan

Edited by Zhou Zhiyu.

After failing to break through 3,000 units for several consecutive months, BYD's high-end brand, Fengchepao, launched a "price-for-volume" strategy.

On July 29th, Fengchepao announced a brand renewal strategy for its one-year anniversary, with the price of its only model, Leopard 5, lowered by 50,000 yuan to 2.398-3.028 million yuan.

Fengchepao, as BYD's high-end brand, was officially launched a year ago.

At that time, BYD was flying high, with Tengshi brand depending on Tengshi D9 to obtain good orders, and Fengchepao was also regarded as an important help for BYD to break through high-end market.

However, the story did not develop so smoothly.

In November, Leopard 5, the first model of Fengchepao, was launched. In the first two months, the model delivered more than 5,000 new cars every month. However, this sales data could not climb to the next level. Instead, it has recently been able to deliver only more than 2,000 vehicles per month.

At the time of its launch, this car was considered a key car for BYD to achieve sales volume, and was a personality branding model. At that time, BYD had already shown its technological prowess, and Fengchepao was thought to occupy the hardcore off-road race track.

Last year, the hardcore off-road race track saw a burst of activity. One after another, models of the "fanghezi" type appeared, occupying markets ranging from 0.1 million yuan to million-level markets. However, tank still firmly occupies the head in both voice volume and sales volume.

Last year, Tank brand sold around 10,000 units per month, and now it has exceeded 20,000 units per month. In the context of intensifying competition, Fengchepao needs greater courage to occupy the market.

The story of high-end independent brands is not easy to tell. Even BYD, as powerful as it is, has not been able to open up the high-end market as it wishes.

Last year, Tengshi brand was brought back to life by a Tengshi D9 MPV, selling more than 10,000 units in the long term. Since then, Tengshi has launched two SUV models, Tengshi N7 and Tengshi N8, but these two models have not replicated the success of D9, with sales of only a few thousand units.

This situation once again shows that the success of D9 is mainly due to its capture of the hybrid MPV market suitable for commercial and house use. For SUVs, Tengshi has not yet formed its own brand competitiveness.

Recently, Zhao Changjiang, general manager of Tengshi division, asked netizens on Weibo how to improve Tengshi's popularity. One enthusiastic netizen replied, "Jump in the Yangtze River." Interestingly, Zhao Changjiang also replied to the netizen, "Okay."

BYD is still anxious about high-end accessibility.

Last year, Yangan, at a million-level price point, accumulated nearly a year's worth of orders and, upon delivery, achieved a monthly high delivery of more than 1,000 units, making it a hot commodity in the new energy market at that price point. Recently, it has returned to the sales volume most common at this price point of around 500 units.

Now, BYD's high-end accessibility has three brands and nearly 10 models, but it still relies on Tengshi D9 for sales. This situation has forced BYD to take further action.

Since the beginning of this year, BYD has been actively pursuing sales in the high-end market and adjusting sales channels.

In June, Fengchepao announced an increased dealership joining channel model. The first batch of business channels planned 22 provinces, 4 municipalities directly under the central government, and 5 autonomous regions throughout the country.

Now, with the price-for-volume strategy launched by Fengchepao, and under the support of various channels, Fengchepao is expected to further expand in scale.

However, with the changes in the consumer environment and the increased external competitive pressure this year, many old luxury brands have fallen one by one. BYD's plan to hit the high-end market also needs to make adjustments to deal with the situation.

Moving from mainstream cars to the high-end market is not an easy task. Previously, brands like Tank and the Tengshi D9 model aimed at a segment of user needs from the perspective of niche markets before they became successful.

Currently, BYD's ability in the mainstream market has been proven. However, in the high-end market, BYD's systematic capabilities still need to be further improved in order to win in the intense competition.