On the afternoon of May 10th, at the exhibition hall on the first floor of the Haval Technology Center, Wei Jianjun, the chairman of Great Wall Motors, faced the media along with a group of senior executives.
This is another public appearance by Wei Jianjun this year, and it is also the first live broadcast of the company's shareholders' meeting by Great Wall Motors, which has been listed for over 20 years.
It seems like something has changed.
In this era of once-in-a-century great transformation, coupled with the "tornado" of traffic, is rapidly reshaping the automotive industry, such as the rapid evolution of innovative technologies, the ever-changing market landscape... and these group of chairmen.
Not long ago, Wei Jianjun admitted that his weakness is poor communication skills. Now, despite this weakness, he is innovating himself, building his personal brand, live streaming, making videos, and developing a sense for the camera. "In fact, I am setting an example for the team. If I pivot, they pivot too. I also push them to pivot."
Of course, as the champion of China's era of fuel SUVs, Great Wall Motors already possesses its own competitiveness and strength. With over 30 years of development, it has established a solid capability in research, production, supply, and marketing systems, and its market value has grown significantly to reach 200 billion yuan.
"I think in the future, live streaming will be as common as having a meal. If you want to stream, just do it," "Great Wall is a particularly simple and transparent company. There's nothing we can't talk about. Of course, there are things required for listing that we can't disclose."
The diversity of communication in the new era has made it increasingly challenging to capture attention, leading many big shots to step down.
Wei Jianjun, who hasn't appeared in the media for 3 to 4 years, has recently been frequently seen on social platforms and in the media spotlight.
During a recent interview, Wei Jianjun seemed hesitant when discussing his experience as an internet celebrity.
As we all know, he posted his first Weibo on March 30th and conducted his first live stream in April to test his own NOA technology. He mentioned, "This is what the era demands, it's the product of internet thinking. Netizens are curious about companies. Unlike before, where you couldn't even get on CCTV or have an article published in People's Daily."
Having grown up in a military compound, he has always been known for his tough and decisive approach. However, he is now rapidly adjusting his mindset, presenting a contrasting image. The implication seems to be that since the era requires it, there is nothing one cannot strive for and learn. Insiders say that Wei Jianjun has been contemplating how to build his personal brand since the end of last year.
In the era of fuel SUVs, Great Wall Motors, which often dominates the sales charts, has invested very little in marketing, relying solely on word-of-mouth promotion and was even once dubbed as not knowing how to market by the media.
Wei Jianjun's hesitant words bring to mind the joke made by Chery's chairman, Yin Tongyue, "Forcing a man in his 60s like me to do live broadcasts and explanations." However, perhaps what he is contemplating more is how to ride the wave of the era of traffic, rather than being engulfed by it.
As the car market intensifies, the entire industry seems to be evolving into one that requires more high-profile leaders at the helm.
Wei Jianjun also bluntly admits that he is not yet an internet celebrity, saying, "Our traffic is still very low, we strive to become a quality internet celebrity."
Great Wall Motors has also recently adjusted its organizational structure to version 3.0. Under the organizational structure of "small front office, large middle office, and strong back office," the latest change is the expansion of the middle office, with the most important addition being the public relations and communication middle office, which consolidates marketing resources, adjusts marketing models based on internet thinking, and shifts product marketing from unilateral operations to structured outreach. They also strengthen in-depth research on internet platforms and the implementation of their own content planning.
Wei Jianjun, who always speaks sharply as soon as he appears, remains steady, saying, "Recently, there have been too many incidents of having traffic but no quality, and we won't do that."
During the event, Wei Jianjun also raised several interesting points. He openly stated that the Wei brand's cars have never been of poor quality, but Great Wall is not particularly good at selling cars. "The quality and competitiveness of our channels are not very good. The reason we are doing direct sales is because we have no other choice, so we can directly reach the consumers."
Furthermore, he also admitted that another reason for doing direct sales is that in the past two years, there have been many dealership closures and low investment intentions. According to the China Automobile Dealers Association report, nearly 40% of dealerships in China closed in 2022, with over 50% of dealerships operating at a loss.
"From Haval to Wei, our dealers need to adapt to the situation of selling cars priced at 300,000 RMB, which is indeed a challenge."
In April of this year, Great Wall Motors internally established the "Great Wall Smart Selection" direct sales store brand. In the future, the distribution channels will follow a dual sales model, with both direct sales and dealerships. Direct sales channels are more likely to establish connections between products and potential customers. By May, the Smart Selection brand had already set up shop in 33 stores across 19 cities.
For exports, Wei Jianjun is very confident.
He said, "Great Wall Motor's product matrix is the best and most comprehensive. Whether you need off-road vehicles, pickups, new energy vehicles like PHEVs and HEVs, or gasoline and diesel options, we have it all, giving us an advantage in exports."
In 2023, Great Wall Motor achieved an annual sales volume of 316,000 vehicles. For 2024, Wei Jianjun has set a challenging export target of 500,000 vehicles, aiming to "secure 400,000 and strive for 500,000."
Since exporting pickups to the Middle East in 1997, Great Wall Motor has been deeply cultivating overseas markets for over 25 years, being among the first Chinese auto companies to venture abroad.
More importantly, he openly stated that the new energy subsidy strategy is a Chinese strategy. With the clear reduction in new energy subsidies in other countries, this also means that exporting the full product matrix holds a greater advantage.
"Our products are almost ready for export. By adapting them slightly, they are fully exportable. Chinese products, whether in emission safety standards or other aspects, are among the top globally. Our target markets are now facing tough competition."
From a small factory in Hebei to a global presence, over 30 years have swiftly passed.
Starting from grassroots, becoming the first privately-owned car company listed in Hong Kong in 2003, Great Wall Motor journeyed for 13 years before its A-share listing in 2011, adding another 8 years.
At that time, China had become the world's largest producer and seller of automobiles. Passenger cars, boosted by incentives for rural car purchases, entered a phase of "micro-growth."
Great Wall Motor's sales saw a leap in growth, from 125,000 vehicles in 2008 to 754,000 vehicles in 2013.
Three years later, Great Wall surpassed the million-unit annual sales milestone.
Reflecting on the arduous entrepreneurial journey, Wei Jianjun often mentions "luck." The reform and opening up, private sector reforms, and innovative mechanisms have propelled rapid development in the Chinese auto industry.
Wei Jianjun's love and reverence for automobiles have driven Great Wall Motor from China to the global stage. Now, he has embarked on a new journey with motorcycles.
On May 7th, the first motorcycle under Great Wall Motor was unveiled, gradually catching the public's attention.
"When it comes to motorcycles, I have to be honest, I do have a passion for them. Even before getting into motorcycles (professionally), I owned many motorcycles, including vintage ones."
"Of course, passion doesn't equate to capability," he added.
The first motorcycle under the brand, named "Soul," is positioned as a retro cruiser, featuring Great Wall's in-house developed horizontally opposed eight-cylinder engine. Wei Jianjun emphasized the goal of creating a motorcycle that represents the latest Chinese technology, is top-tier, and can make history.
"We aim to balance passion and profitability as much as possible."
In 2023, Great Wall Motor saw revenue growth but a decline in net profit. The company attributed the lower net profit compared to the previous year mainly to the impact of exchange rate gains during the same period.
Wei Jianjun stated that Great Wall Motor will adhere to a long-term perspective and a bottom-line mindset. "For products with particularly severe losses, we will moderately reduce sales, focus on strengths, and for those with no losses or minimal losses but high profits, we will vigorously promote them."
"From 2024 to 2026, the intensity of competition will not decrease, so we must adopt a long-term perspective to face the next three years."
