The early show of the 2020 Chengdu International Auto Show came to a close on Sunday.As the first international auto show since the outbreak this year, this year's Chengdu Auto Show has achieved zero suspected cases and zero infection through multiple epidemic prevention measures.More surprisingly, the chengdu Auto Show "generated orders for 38,907 cars, with the turnover exceeding 6.806 billion yuan," according to media reports.

    In the face of the sudden COVID-19 outbreak, thanks to the joint efforts of the upstream and downstream industry chains, the automobile industry has shown a steady trend of improvement and a significant rebound.According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, the profit of the domestic auto industry rose 26.0% in the second quarter of this year.In June, China's automobile production and sales reached 2.325 million and 2.3 million respectively, up by 6.3% and 4.8% month-on-month, and up 22.5% and 11.6% year-on-year.

    Although both production and sales reached a record high in June, the auto market, which is still in the recovery stage, still faces considerable pressure and challenges.Data showed that in the first half of this year, domestic automobile production and sales were 10.112,000 and 10.257,000 respectively, down 16.8 percent and 16.9 percent year-on-year."If the market recovers well in the second half of the year, the full-year decline may recover to less than 10 per cent."China Automobile Association executive vice President and secretary General Fu Bingfeng said in an interview with the media recently.

    What is particularly alarming is that the market uncertainty combined with the impact of the epidemic has reduced the overall market share of self-owned brands, and some self-owned car companies are even facing a crisis of survival.Sales of own-brand passenger cars fell 11.6 per cent in June from a year earlier to 590,000 units, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, and their market share fell to 33.5 per cent, below the 40 per cent "market red line" and the lowest in nearly a decade.

    "The meaning of living to die is that it is only when you are close to death that you can truly appreciate the meaning of life."The German philosopher Martin Heidegger once said, "We should never let fear or the expectations of others define the boundaries of our destiny.You can't change your destiny, but you can challenge it.In this way, Heidegger inspires the world that the threat of "death" is enough to make the weak lose the courage to live;But for the strong, but can stimulate their "living" desire and vitality.

    The Great Wall automobile, which claims its life hangs by a thread, is able to forge today's toughness and strength by virtue of its courage to die and live.In its early stage, Great Wall Motor was faced with the test of life and death when its engine was cut off due to conflicts with competing models.Far from getting Great Wall by the neck, this threat has created an incentive to tackle core technologies at their root.

    In the past three decades, China's and the world's auto industries have gone through many changes. However, Great Wall Motor is not disturbed by the outside world. It only wants to do one thing well, that is, adhering to the principle of "excessive investment in RESEARCH and development" and focusing on building its core technological competitiveness.In the words of Wei Jianjun, founder and chairman of Great Wall Motor, "we don't have any special ability. We just insist and focus on making cars clearly."

Wei Jianjun, founder and chairman of Great Wall Motor

    Relying on the continuous accumulation of core technologies, Great Wall Motor has not only ushered in the harvest period of new products, but also ushered in the outbreak period of new platforms and new technologies.Last month, Great Wall Motor released three technology brands, namely "lemon", "tank" and "coffee smart", which cover the whole industrial chain value innovation technology system of automobile research and development, design, production and automobile life.Among them, the two "lemon and tank" platforms, which have lasted five years and invested more than 20 billion yuan in research and development, are intelligent and modular vehicle platforms for the global market of Great Wall Automobile."Coffee intelligence", an intelligent system for future travel, is the digital engine driving Great Wall's transformation into a global technology travel company.

    In contrast, the self-owned brands that lack core technologies in the past two years, along with the decline of the dividend of China's automobile industry, their performance and living space in the market have gradually declined.In 2020, under the pressure of the outbreak of the epidemic, self-owned brands have entered the downward range, and their market decline has been further intensified. Some marginal brands have been hovering on the edge of life and death.

    Under the special circumstances, Great Wall could have celebrated its birthday with such success, but Instead, Wei and his company have launched a life-changing debate: "Will Great Wall survive next year?"In Wei Jianjun's opinion, in the face of the automobile industry pattern that is undergoing profound and complex changes, "There is no way out if we don't come up with a car that can surpass others";"If we can't subvert ourselves, we must be subverted by others."Obviously, this should not just be a question for Great Wall, but a question for the entire own-brand.