When did Chinese brand cars become so expensive?

Have you all seen the Zunjie S800 that was launched a few days ago? Million level domestic luxury cars! Do you know the most eye-catching celebrity of the past - Xiaomi SU7 Ultra? 814900! It seems to be different from the Xiaomi we remember. Once upon a time, domestic cars were synonymous with cheapness, but now they are often tens or millions of dollars in size?

 

The production of high-end cars in New China began in the 1950s. The Dongfeng Golden Dragon, CA72, and CA770 from Changchun FAW are all top-notch luxury cars, with countless levels higher than today's SU7 and Zunjie Hao.

But as we all know, those cars are beyond the reach of ordinary people even if they have money. Later on, Santana, Jetta Fukang, and others were also produced through joint ventures. The truly large-scale independent car manufacturing began in the late 1990s with the emergence of brands such as Geely and Chery.

 

But when Hitler said he wanted to build a national car, that was in 1933, and we were more than 60 years behind them! Therefore, in the situation where technology was blocked and funds were limited, it is not taboo to say that at that time, these domestically produced cars only looked like cars, but were actually industrial waste.

Even in the following twenty years, there was actually no way to crack it, because internal combustion engine technology had been thoroughly played with by others, and some core things could not be copied even if you bought a car and dismantled it.

Until 2008, I think something completely changed the path of China's automotive development, which was BYD starting to research its battery technology into cars and launching F3DM. Chinese cars began to overtake in corners.

 Internal combustion engines can't play with you, so let's not play! Since then, BYD has been unstoppable on the tram road, and of course, the country has made every effort to provide policy support in various ways.

When you see that parents support other brands, don't be too cautious yourself! Everyone went off to build electric cars. This also includes some brands that originally did not make cars, such as Xiaomi.

All of a sudden, the related industrial chain has also been brought up, including batteries, charging, recycling, as well as body manufacturing, semiconductor technology, and so on that were previously used in fuel vehicles, collectively forming a virtuous cycle.

The more cars are sold, the lower the cost, the more manufacturers earn, the more research and development costs they invest, the better the cars are made, and the more they sell, forming a perfect closed loop. It's better to have the national policy booster injected when it comes to reunification.

 

After making a lot of money and the supporting industry chain has matured, Chinese brands have started researching high-end cars. In 2017, NIO launched the ES8 Founder Edition with a release price of 548000 yuan, which can be considered as a pioneer in the high-end transformation of Chinese brands.

In 2018, another EP9 was launched, which was clearly designed to enhance the brand. In order to meet the international requirements for mass-produced cars, it produced 50 units at the bottom line, and then ran a lap on the New York North to become the fastest mass-produced car, with a price tag of 1.48 million US dollars. China also has supercars in the tens of millions!

At first glance, some small workshops realize that we are good at hand cranking supercars! So in 2018, Great Wall Huaguan launched its own electric supercar - the Future K50, priced at 754300 yuan. In 2020, a retro sports car SS DOLPHIN was built using the foundation of BYD Qin, and it was sold for 700000 yuan.

 

At present, China's new energy market has become so hot that it has exploded. Some capital has started companies to produce cars, such as Gaohe Automobile from Huaren Yuntong, without thinking about producing cheap goods, all for six or seven hundred thousand yuan. Of course, most of these companies that don't have much foundation to join in the fun and make quick money haven't lived long.

 

It has to be said that they are the old brands that have struggled all the way, but these brands have already given people the impression of being cheap, so they have launched high terminal brands one after another. Looking up at BYD, U8 sold for 1.098 million and U9 sold for 1.68 million. Guangqi's Haobo SSR costs 1.286-1.686 million yuan. 

Even without mentioning these top tier sports cars, there are still too many mid to high end products to be found in those mid to high end vehicles. Almost every Chinese brand has over 300000 models, compared to more than a decade ago. This is something I can't even imagine, a domestic car costs 100000 yuan!

 

You said inflation?

Why are joint venture cars and imported cars getting cheaper and cheaper?

 

What has been said above is that electrification has changed the fate of Chinese cars, but is there still a way to make internal combustion engines expensive? There really is! The most typical example is the Great Wall.

After years of deep cultivation in the SUV industry, I finally turned the tide with a tank 300. Afterwards, this series skyrocketed to 400, 500, 700, and 800. At present, the most expensive Tank 700 plug-in hybrid first release version is priced at 700000 yuan, and it is expected that the "Baoding Kurinan" Tank 800, which will be launched this year, will sell for how much money. You can guess.

Another option is Geely's Lynk&Co 03+TCR Cyan, with a suggested retail price of 420300 yuan. This should also be the only Chinese brand still researching fuel performance cars, and in the video, the pioneer of Chinese luxury cars - FAW Hongqi - mentioned at the beginning, the 7.18 million yuan national gift is equivalent to the number one luxury national car front! However, over 50 years have passed. Just having money is not enough to buy it!