In the realm of foresight lies assuredness.
In 2018, SAIC Maxus set its sights on the realm of recreational vehicles, venturing down an untrodden path. As Vice President of SAIC Group, Lan Qingsong, had earlier remarked, the development of the RV business relies on a fortuitous alignment of "right timing, favorable conditions, and human ingenuity."
Vice President of SAIC Group, Lan Qingsong, has been dedicated to and deeply involved in the real estate market for six years. Despite its current vigor, he remains steadfast in his long-term vision and is clear about what to do and what not to do.
This commitment has been instrumental in SAIC Maxus becoming the first domestic enterprise with integrated research and development capabilities for complete vehicles and full product platform production capabilities in the field of recreational vehicles (RVs).
Just last month, SAIC Maxus RVs celebrated the delivery of 10,000 units, making it the first RV enterprise in China to achieve such a milestone in sales volume.
At this new starting point of 10,000 deliveries, Lan Qingsong unveiled the future plan and introduced RV 2.0. "The rise of the RV market will happen overseas and will definitely happen in China," he said.
Compared to Europe and the United States, the RV industry in China started relatively late, only starting to explore in 2001.
Lan Qingsong has repeatedly mentioned in public that in the field of self-propelled RVs, the Chinese market has enormous potential and is likely to become the largest market in the world in the future.
"My opinion is that as long as the product supply is good, the annual sales volume of the Chinese RV market will quickly surpass 100,000 units and 200,000 units," Lan Qingsong said.
With firm conviction, based on his years of industry insights.
In the "dumbbell-shaped" RV market landscape, compared to towable RVs, Chinese motorhome sales have always had an "overwhelming" advantage. "Because for towables, you need a large SUV, pickup truck, or at least a towing capacity of over 3.5 tons, but we don't have many of these vehicles in our country."
Therefore, Lan Qingsong emphasizes, "I believe that in the Chinese market, in the next ten or twenty years, motorhomes will dominate, with over 70% being motorhomes."
During the 1.0 era, SAIC Maxus RVs went "from zero to one", building hardware strength from scratch. From 1,000 units in 2018 to 5,000 in 2021, and then to 10,000 units, it has consistently maintained the top market share for several years.
In the 2.0 era, SAIC Maxus RVs will continue to grasp the "wrench" of differentiation. While enhancing personalized customization services, it will upgrade product layout, original factory technology, original factory quality, and service systems.
According to its previous strategy, SAIC Maxus RV has always focused on producing high-end products, emphasizing value rather than simply cutting prices. In the eyes of Lan Qingsong, "In any industry, when you can offer something different from your competitors, you can define product differentiation." In the once-in-a-century upheaval of the automotive industry, this cannot be achieved without electrification and intelligence.
Following Lan Qingsong's grand plan, SAIC Maxus RV will launch 15 new products within three years, including the elevated roof camper of the Traveler series and the rear extension of the Explorer series. What's more, SAIC Maxus RV has already entered the field of new energy RVs and will introduce hybrid RV products next year.
At the same time, SAIC Maxus RV is also strengthening its research and development in intelligence. Based on years of planning in original RV research and development, its products are equipped with integrated intelligent configurations, such as intelligent control terminals and centralized control.
Furthermore, in a market that has yet to expand on a large scale, differentiated competition barriers also require differentiated services. In the era of 2.0, SAIC Maxus RV, through direct channels, understands user service needs and extends its services from single RV sales to covering the entire lifecycle, including vehicle selection, purchase, use, travel, leasing, after-sales, and upgrade services, enhancing user experience.
In the "value-added" of SAIC Maxus, C2B customization is an important part of it.
As the first domestic automaker to achieve large-scale intelligent customization in the C2B model, Lan Qingsong boldly states, "Our goal is to achieve personalized services for thousands of people."
It's worth mentioning that as the C2B user-co-creation customization model develops, SAIC Maxus RV can incorporate about 80% of user needs into standard models during the product development process, with an additional 10% of user needs offered as optional features.
In other words, batch personalization can encompass 90% of user needs for SAIC Maxus RV, which means that even with personalized customization, the delivery cycle can be greatly shortened, with the fastest currently being just 35 days.
"Our user option ratio is very high, with approximately 70% of users opting for additional features," Lan Qingsong noted.
Blue Pine Motors has set clear sales targets as well. "In approximately 3 to 5 years, we aim to achieve annual sales of over ten thousand units for our RVs both domestically and globally." Overseas, SAIC Maxus RVs already have a clear path, starting with Australia and New Zealand as the breakthrough point and gradually expanding into the North American market. "The globalization of RVs is an inevitable trend and outcome. This is the path SAIC Maxus RVs must take and will certainly happen," he stated.
Closing Statement:
Regarding the concept of "volume", SAIC Maxus maintains the value of "volume" while not compromising on pricing. In the era of "volume" value 2.0, SAIC Maxus' business philosophy for RVs is to provide personalized RV products and services tailored to the needs of each customer, aiming to achieve an annual sales volume of over ten thousand units. They firmly believe that the RV industry will rise in China.
