Guangzhou Auto Show 2019 was officially opened on November 22. As a bellwether auto show at the end of the year, Guangzhou Auto Show becomes a window for us to observe the annual development and future directions of major auto makers. At the auto show, BAIC’s high-end brand ARCFOX announced the “boundless ecology” business model; BAIC also displayed the all-new passenger vehicle brand BEIJING for the first time at a large auto show, unveiled future-looking technologies and upgraded Smart Housekeeper APP, and showcased Beijing ORV, BAIC Changhe, Beijing Benz and Beijing Hyundai.

In 2019, BAIC that has a history of more than 60 years ushers into a new era characterized by the development of high-tech, novel and distinctive products. Xu Heyi, Party Committee Secretary and Board Chairman of BAIC Group, said, standing at the turning point of the century-old auto industry, BAIC aims to help realize the dream of building China into a country with a strong auto industry, and works to take the century-old enterprise onto a path of sustainable development through the strategy of offering high-tech, novel and distinctive products.Guangzhou Auto Show sees the lineup of BAIC following the adjustment of its self-owned brand system in 2019, which shows the comprehensive implementation of BAIC’s strategy of offering high-tech, novel and distinctive products and the continued advance of the strategy of powering growth with new energy vehicles and intelligent and connected vehicles. The achievements will lay a solid foundation for building BAIC into a century-old brand.  

Interpretation of BAIC High-end Brand ARCFOX“Boundless Ecology” Business Model

ARCFOX is a high-end brand released by BAIC at Geneva International Auto Show in March 2019, at which ARCFOX displayed two high-end pure electric vehicles, i.e. GT and ECF, on independent booths, and announced the “boundless ecology” business model.

The “boundless ecology” of ARCFOX is reflected in its capability to integrate resources. ARCFOX makes use of the resources of BAIC in fields including R&D, traveling, battery charging and swapping and the echelon use of batteries to lay the foundation for the sustainable development of the innovative ecology mode, and joins hands with globally competitive companies like Daimler, Magna and Huawei to establish a brand-new industrial landscape that meets the trend of transformation, breaks traditional boundaries and embraces opening-up and integration in an all-round way. ARCFOX shares the battery test lab with Daimler, and test the battery system of its products in strict accordance with Daimler’s test standards; relying on abundant technical resources, such as the National New Energy Vehicle Technology Innovation Center, a R&D team with over 6,000 members distributed in eight places of six countries, the world’s top test and certification center with an investment of RMB2 billion, the experience of producing 470,000 pure electric vehicles and the driving data of 470,000 vehicles, ARCFOX provides solid technical guarantee for the implementation of the “boundless ecology” strategy of ARCFOX.

The “boundless ecology” of ARCFOX is reflected in worry-free traveling enabled by technologies. Characterized by ultra-low energy consumption and fast charging, ARCFOX will really eliminate the range anxiety among users as the 2.2C super-fast charging capability allows a range of 200 km after ten minutes of charging; ARCFOX creates an self-driving system in cooperation with Huawei, enabling ARCFOX products to really drive autonomously; it collaborates with Magna and builds a high-end intelligent new energy vehicle manufacturing base to introduce the high-end manufacturing process of Magna to whole vehicle solutions; More than 200 ARCFOX vehicles are undergoing road tests in conditions like high temperature and extreme coldness.   

The “boundless ecology” of ARCFOX is reflected in users’ direct access to services. ARCFOX uses online APP as the front-end digital touchpoint to improve customer insight, precision marketing and service experience; meanwhile, it has set up more than 100 highly digitalized offline stores together with dealers over the past two years, including dealer stores classified by functions and factory outlets focused on brands and experience, with the aim to establish close relations with users, break the boundaries of time and space and achieve a high degree of user viscosity. As for user service, ARCFOX efficiently integrates the competitive resources of BAIC like BAIC Mobility, Qingxiangchuxing, Jingju New Energy, Teld, BAIC Wisdom and Blue Valley Energy, and has built service systems for six scenarios including traveling, electricity consumption, connectivity, car purchase, maintenance and daily life, breaking the boundaries between industry and business and providing users with concrete solutions.  

The Brand-New Passenger Vehicle Brand BEIJING To Have “Temperature” and “Soul”

BEIJING is a brand-new passenger vehicle brand created by integrating the resources of BAIC and BAIC BJEV. At Guangzhou Auto Show, eight models under the BEIJING brand were displayed, including four pure electric vehicles of BAIC BJEV like BEIJING-EU5, BEIJING-EX3 and BEIJING-EX5 and four fuel vehicles of BAIC like BEIJING-U5, BEIJING-X3 and BEIJING-X5. It's learnt that the BEIJING brand will input RMB20 billion in R&D in the next five years to build the BMFA platform for hybrid products and the BE22 high-end platform exclusive to pure electric vehicles. The brand presently covers eight fuel and electric products, and will launch more medium and high-end pure electric and hybrid products in the future.

The philosophy of the BEIJING brand, known as “technologies with temperature and products with souls”, is further interpreted at Guangzhou Auto Show. The temperature and soul of the brand at the technical level is first reflected in the evolution of vehicle intelligence. With the next generation intelligent E/E structure, the brand integrates intelligent driving and intelligent connectivity with intelligent cockpits and becomes something that connects humans and machines with a soul. The C-V2X panoramic recognition technology, 5G-based high concurrency vehicle connectivity mechanism as well as technical innovation based on driving habits and life identification make each vehicle wise and unique.

The temperature and soul of the BEIJING brand at the technical level is also reflected in the evolution of driving safety and experience. The intelligent all-dimension driving assistance, multiple-distance detection decision-making warning, reliable passive safety configuration and reasonable energy-absorbing structure give the new products the potential of meeting five-star impact standards. With complete facilities, the globally leading new energy battery, electric motor and electric control test center is capable of guaranteeing the safety of every consumer. Meanwhile, the brand will also bring users smart health experience through onboard biological sensors, infrared cameras, AI algorithm and some other technologies, and create smart, comprehensive and comfortable experience for users through the CDC active obstacle avoidance technology, human-oriented and intelligent air-conditioners and zero-gravity aeronautical seats.  

BEIJING also released the “55° Service” customer care program, with the first “5” representing the width, depth, height, speed and temperature of the brand in its efforts to expand customer services, and the second “5” indicating the brand’s dedication to offering five-star housekeeper-like services. The program includes the setup of an open service platform that covers vehicle sales and services and spans across clothing, food, accommodation, transportation, consumption, traveling and entertainment, the launch of customized services targeted at the private market and operational market, the provision of full-cycle services throughout the day, the establishment of service networks involving 550 service networks and above and the realization of full network coverage across the country. Besides, BEIJING has also upgraded its Smart Housekeeper APP in user interface, onboard air-conditioner functions and community interactions, which is now highly functional, interactive and ecological and can provide users with full-cycle online services from browsing, purchase, use and replacement to recommendation and sharing, meet user demand in daily life, shopping and community interactions and offer users personalized and customized services

The Off-road Vehicle Brand BEIJING Gives Full Play to Differentiation

The off-road vehicle brand BEIJING, which represents the differentiation advantage of BAIC, exhibited BJ80 Splendor, BJ40 Urban Hunter, BJ40 Championship, BJ40 PLUS and BJ40 Rock Climbing at the auto show.

The BEIJING brand inherits the military quality and technological DNA that BAIC has developed over the past five decades. As a leader of off-road vehicles in China, it has carried forward the reputation as an “long-standing off-road vehicle manufacturer” through superb craftsmanship, and upheld the vision of building itself into the No.1 off-road vehicle brand in China. Since early 2019 when the brand integrated operation was realized, the brand has initiated the new rating standards for off-road vehicles, and named the four product lines respectively as S, P, C and SE. In the future, it will further improve the product series of “2-4-6-8/3-5-7-9” to serve military, special, modification and urban pan-off-road purposes, launch BJ20 and BJ60 with strong off-road performance for off-road lovers, and successively put into market BJ30, BJ50, BJ70 and BJ90 urban products to meet the demand of off-road lovers for comfort and cost-effectiveness.

2019 is a critical year for BAIC to take its brands, products and technologies to a higher level. As the year is drawing to a close, BAIC is increasingly steady and confident in moving towards high-quality development based on the strategy of offering high-tech, novel and distinctive products. On the path to building century-old BAIC and realizing the Chinese dream of developing into a country with a strong auto industry, BAIC will march forward with an indomitable spirit. Goodbye, 2019! Cheer for you, BAIC!