The second half of Teng Shi’s life
Text | Karakush
Wang Chuanfu’s biggest loss is Tengshi.
From the official launch of the first product in 2014 to last year, more than 20,000 vehicles were sold, with a total loss of more than 5.22 billion yuan.
Although some enterprises can lose this amount in one year, no one can lose this desperate level. Fortunately, the Shenzhen Stock Exchange once sent an inquiry letter to BYD. What the hell is this? The bigger the loss, is there a risk of impairment?
Daimler, another shareholder of Tengshi, felt that it could not be further reduced. At the end of last year, Daimler transferred its large shares to BYD, and the share ratio of the two parties was changed from 50% to 10% for Daimler and 90% for BYD. The equity adjustment plan was completed in the first half of this year.
Byd thinks it can still kill. Tengshi comprehensive Dihua, Zhao Changjiang, the former general manager of BYD Sales Company, became the general manager of Tengshi Sales Division and concurrently served as the speaker of Weibo Pinxuan. He has been flirting with big V frequently around new products for half a year.
The first bomb to make a comeback is a high-end new energy MPV, which was officially named Tengshi D9 last week. If it weren’t for the epidemic, Tengshi originally planned to debut the new car at the Beijing Auto Show in April, and it was no longer placed in the corner of Mercedes-Benz as a gold-plated product, but was ready to participate as an independent brand.

The only familiar old smell in the new identity is that it is rumored that the price range of D9 may be higher than 450,000. The coquettish pricing marks the third time Tengshi has stepped into the same high-end river. Many friends are greatly impressed by Wuhu: Can you afford to help this time, or how long will Lao Wang lose money?
Take failure as a mirror.
For a brand that has been established for 12 years, the future should be found in the past failures.
All aspects of Tengshi have been mercilessly criticized. It is not easy for products, brands, marketing, channels … to fail in an all-round way like this, and it is not easy to get several things right when choosing all C. So the problem is more likely to point to the mistake of strategy.
The first is the mismatch between positioning and demand. Tengshi has a total of two generations of products: one is Tengshi 300 launched in 2014, and then it will be changed every two years, and Tengshi 400 in 2016 and Tengshi 500 in 2018 will be launched; The second is Tengshi X launched in 2019. Two generations are irrelevant.
There is a misunderstanding in Tengshi. Undeniably, they were one of the first doers who realized the policy opportunities and acted quickly. In 2010, they signed a joint venture, released their brands in 2012, and in 2014, they came across a series of favorable policies such as the exemption of new energy vehicles from purchase tax. Lian Yubo, then CEO of Tengshi, believes that "Tengshi has caught up with the best environment, and it is not the best time to be early or late."
However, what was stimulated at that time was actually the small car market with A00 terminal below 70,000 yuan, that is, a large number of low-end cheap electric vehicles owned by Jianghuai, Lifan, Zotye, Zhidou and BAIC. The rapid growth lasted for three years and reached its peak in 2017, accounting for more than 53.3% of the new energy market share.

Tengshi is an oil-to-electricity conversion from Daimler to Mercedes-Benz B-class body and BYD to Sandian. The official price is 369,000 yuan, and the subsidized price is 255,000 yuan. Many comments denounced it as more expensive than Mercedes-Benz blindly, which was very hasty. At that time, the official prices were all fat, and the true feelings were only told after subsidies. For example, the official selling price of the A00-class electric vehicle Zhongtaiyun 100 listed in the same year reached 158,900 yuan, and the subsidized selling price was 48,900 yuan.
255,000 yuan is just right for a class B joint venture car. Compared with the above-mentioned iron sheet, Tengshi 300 has a battery life of 300 kilometers, which is very decent in 2014, when it generally has a battery life of 60-100 kilometers. It won 25 awards in the following year’s auto media selection (even if it doesn’t mean that the product is hard-core, it means that it has been seriously oversold).
However, in 2014-2018 when this series is active, the share of B-class electric vehicles will not exceed 1% of the new energy market. This segment began to take off in 2019-2020, and its share quickly climbed to 3.6% and 18.7% within two years. Especially in 2020, the domestic production of Tesla, the explosion of BYD Han and Tucki P7 will jointly drive the market expansion. At this point, more than 200,000 electric vehicles have living space. However, Tengshi series has been discontinued.
Tengshi was born six years prematurely, and the biggest misjudgment was that he chose to cut into the mainstream market prematurely, without considering the development process of consumer acceptance, and completely stepped on a product cycle.
Is it possible to gain a foothold on your own without relying on the general trend? Just like Tesla and BMW i3, they both entered China in 2014, with high prices and low prices, but they all found a foothold: the former became a new toy for technology giants; The latter became a scooter for the upper class to ration the little babysitter. In contrast, Tengshi lacks both product charm and brand appeal.

This stems from the second question, that is, the concept of joint venture car-making is outdated.
Tengshi is a subtle joint venture, an attempt to upgrade BYD and electrify Mercedes-Benz. Lao Wang said that it "stood on the shoulders of giants". In fact, BYD, which is endorsed by Mercedes-Benz’s century-old experience and standards in building cars, is almost meaningless as a Mercedes-Benz replacement.
Reflected in the product, the advantage of car reviews is that they last for a long time (in fact, they are valuable qualities) … Just like you are ugly, but ugly is real, and there is no more hurtful praise than this. Mediocrity is not a problem, and mediocrity is fatal without a standard. Tengshi does not hang the Mercedes-Benz standard. Similarly, the new energy brand also has the promise of joint venture between BMW and Brilliance. It is normal for you not to remember.
In order to correct the problem of insufficient Mercedes-Benz, until Tengshi X in 2019, more Mercedes-Benz designs were incorporated into BYD Tang EV600, and even the body nameplate was labeled with "Mercedes-Benz Design" and included in the sales network of Mercedes-Benz. This "masterpiece" only increased Tengshi’s annual sales from more than 2,000 vehicles to more than 4,000 vehicles.

The reality is that the joint venture will no longer be a gold-lettered signboard by then, let alone a joint venture. Especially in the field of new energy, it is not as convincing and follow-up as the "independent high-end". If nothing else, BYD itself has been able to achieve the original range. In the early stage, Tengshi failed to catch up with the final brand advantage of "joint venture", and in the later stage, "joint venture" became a negative asset that Tengshi quickly adjusted.
Therefore, Dihua, no matter from the management or market acceptance, is an improvement.
Is "Tenger Method" the antidote?
Let’s see if Tengshi D9 can solve the dilemma of Tengshi.
MPV is not a traditional explosion plate, but coincidentally, every family is going to be fierce this year. We have combed in the article "There are always so many people who care more about whether you want to have children than your mother". According to Tengshi’s forecast, this year is the first year of the mid-to-high-end MPV market, and then the mainstream family vehicle configuration is a large-space new energy MPV+SUV/ car configuration.

Judging from the information disclosed at present, as a family MPV (or at least suitable for IKEA), D9 has the following advantages:
First, it provides pure electric and DM versions, which are divided into four-wheel drive and two-wheel drive, so the price band will be wider.On the technical level, the most advanced treatment of Di Factory is arranged. For example, the wide-range heat pump is used in the pure electric version, which can solve the problem of battery life attenuation of electric vehicles in winter. Super Hybrid provides EV and DM modes, with a comprehensive cruising range of over 1000km to meet the demand of long-distance travel.
Second, a large space with a length of 5.2 meters and a wheelbase of more than 3 meters. Seven-seat layout, "avoid the embarrassment that one person can’t sit on the six-seat model".The second and third rows all have very long slide rails, which can be manually used to realize four seats.
Third, the design is more particular.For example, the split design of the side of the car body and the sliding door realizes the continuity of five surfaces, and a straight line has different curvatures, "completing several world-class engineering designs and process quality".
Fourth, the standard is rich, including double skylight, with double electric sunshade and one-button switch; Double-sided electric sliding door; Four-door double-layer silent glass; And high-end brand tires.
In Zhao Changjiang’s words, he concluded: "No one in this world can remember the second, then we will be the first;" According to the recent user feedback, the preparation of various tasks and the final comparison of products! I am confident to make Tengshi high-end MPV. "
Although the periphery, like me, can’t infer where the "number one" is from the above information, we can see the ambition of products, the introspection of learning from the strategy, and the more grounded response ability.
Another example is pricing. 450,000 interval visual inspection for pure electric four-wheel drive; Mixing should be able to reduce the "wider price band" to 350 thousand or even 300 thousand, which will be more fragrant. The left hand holds high and the right hand seriously engages in money, recognizing the underlying logic of independent high-end new brands. In fact, destructive innovation is far greater than brand premium, and the correct posture is to penetrate competing products with cost performance.
In addition to D9, Tengshi plans to release another medium-sized SUV and a medium-sized SUV this year. It is reported that the information of SUVs will be released in May, which is believed to be the same. And this year’s product line alone has enriched the previous eight years.

At the level of brand marketing, Tengshi is no longer waiting for empowerment as before. Fit the fashion, re-establish the direct channel system, develop APP, and shout "users create together" to create a high and improper fan economy. The first creation was the fan name in March. The exclusive name of Tengshi Powder is "Tengjiao" … It is not new, but it seems to be a low-cost attempt to the password of contemporary wealth.
Tengshi has not yet launched a large-scale campaign. However, Zhao Changjiang said that the voice of Tengshi brand is growing rapidly, and many enthusiastic car owners have sent him a lot of advice or suggestions, which is estimated to be tens of thousands. Although this volume is only reflected in his personal Huang V Weibo, it is still hopeful that the first batch of self-dried peppers can be circled by words, pictures and a small amount of videos without any cost; And it has a diligent executive.
These are all good beginnings.
Tengshi is far from the end of BYD’s high-end. This year will be BYD’s high-end pioneering year. In its automobile business sector, there will be Haiyang.com, Wangchao.com, Tengshi and another high-end brand from bottom to bottom. The price range of the latter is expected to be 500-100 million yuan. Tengshi and new brands are probably equivalent to the relationship between Audi and Porsche to the public.
So if you think Tengshi is expensive to die, it’s no good.




















