Inheritance and Innovation, 60 Years of BAIC Off-Road： From Battlefield to Life

Article source: Snow Leopard Finance Agency

Abstract: Through the Gobi Desert, but also through several epochs

Author | Ye Zengwen

Off-road is driving where there is no road. You have to use two wheels to cross rugged, mud and desert. And on the original road-free Chinese off-road road, BAIC Group has been climbing mountains and mountains for more than 60 years.

"Use wheels to record the course of life" is a synopsis of the off-road spirit in the off-road circle. BAIC, known as the "off-road family", also left countless imprints on the history of Chinese off-road with wheels.

From the birth of China’s first off-road vehicle in the 1960s, to the first independent civilian off-road vehicle that won more than a quarter of the market share in the off-road market, and then to the current era of electric off-road, BAIC Group has used its own wheels to cross the battlefield, track and road, and has also witnessed and written the changes of China’s off-road from scratch to excellence.

"Because the princes founded the country, their descendants inherited it from generation to generation, so they are called aristocratic families."

In 2019, BAIC Off-Road, which has been independently operated for 61 years, shouted the vision of "building the first off-road brand in China".

From the first car to the first brand, how will BAIC win on this track that tests technology, quality and heritage?

60 years on the battlefield, roads and tracks

Off-road vehicles have traveled through various terrains, while BAIC has traveled through various eras.

Song Wei, president of Beijing Automobile, once divided China’s off-road into three eras, from the 1.0 era of nothing to the 2.0 era of independent brands breaking the monopoly of imports and joint ventures on the off-road market. At present, it is the 3.0 era of off-road entering new energy.

BAIC is the only car company among its own brands that has fully experienced three eras.

In the 1960s, the first off-road vehicle was driven in the workshop of BAIC, achieving a breakthrough from 0 to 1. This car is also regarded as the originator of Chinese off-road vehicles, and it is widely used in important tasks such as military. This is also a popular 60-year-old explosion. According to the official website of BAIC, the originator of off-road vehicles and its modified models have produced more than 1.20 million vehicles.

More than a decade ago, the off-road market was monopolized by foreign and joint venture automakers for many years, but independent brands such as BAIC, Great Wall, and BYD broke this situation a decade ago. Since then, China’s off-road has developed rapidly from 1 to 10, ushering in the 2.0 era.

BAIC is also a major competitor in China’s off-road breakout competition. In 2013, BAIC Group’s first civilian off-road vehicle, the BJ40, was launched. This model is the starting point for BAIC to bring military-quality off-road vehicles to civilian use, and it also bears the heavy responsibility of carrying the name of BAIC’s off-road family. At that time, BAIC Group said: "With the listing of the BJ40 as the starting point, the curtain of BAIC’s revival of the’off-road family ‘will also be officially opened."

The BJ40 lived up to expectations and made up for the shortcomings of China’s hard-line off-road market.

Since mid-2017, the BJ40 series has maintained the No. 1 sales volume in the Chinese brand off-road vehicle segment for more than 30 consecutive months. In the overall off-road market, facing strong competitors such as Pajero and Prado, BJ40 still holds more than 25% of the market share. For a long time, for every four off-road vehicles sold in China, one is from BAIC.

BAIC’s first civilian off-road BJ40 has occupied the top position in the market segment for many years

After defining China’s first off-road vehicle, BAIC also redefined off-road in the civilian market. In 2019, BAIC released "off-road new grading criteria", which found a balance between military quality and the comfort needs of ordinary consumers. At the same time, it also segmented and expanded the off-road market for the first time to meet the different needs from off-road hardcore players to enthusiasts to urban roads.

In the same year, BJ40 grew by 34.5% year-on-year despite the decline in sales of 70% of automakers, and its market share in the market segment exceeded 74%.

More than 60 years of experience has also given BAIC the confidence to travel through more environments through different eras. BAIC has left its mark on previous battlefields, later roads, and even the rally track known as the "Purgatory Tour".

To cross thousands of kilometers, the tower rally, which has been tested by the Gobi, high temperature and wind and sand, is the first and largest off-road international car race in Asia. BAIC has also won the tower race championship four times while engraving countless ruts in the vast Taklamakan Desert.

At the just-concluded 20th China Tower International Rally, BAIC won six of the nine stages, and the new BJ40 became the first automatic transmission model to complete the race in the history of the Tower.

In 2023, BAIC won the first stage of the FIA Off-Road Rally World Championship in Chinese history at the Dakar Rally, which was hailed as the "toughest rally in the world". In the 2019 Asian Baja event, BAIC achieved three consecutive championships.

For more than 60 years, BAIC has conquered various scenes in various eras, and this accumulation and inheritance is known as the "off-road family".

Background + Technology = Family

The accumulation of time alone is not enough to be named a family, and BAIC can bear this title. In addition to years of off-road experience, it also has high requirements for technology, innovation and quality.

In the past three eras, BAIC has been conducting technological innovation and seeking the best solution according to the requirements of different eras and scenarios.

When the first off-road vehicle came out of the workshop, BAIC had to solve the problem of starting from scratch. It took BAIC 5 years to complete the first self-developed off-road vehicle from no drawings.

After driving from the battlefield to the highway, BAIC has to solve the problem of how to balance the comfort of military and ordinary consumers. To this end, BAIC has improved and innovated in power, frame, etc., so that consumers with different needs can find off-road vehicles that suit them.

Entering the era of electricity and intelligence, BAIC continues to innovate in power, intelligence and battery life, in order to solve the biggest pain points in off-road in terms of battery life and energy consumption. In addition, BAIC also has a R & D team of nearly 1,000 people, "Off-Road Vehicle Research Institute", which is used to expand the innovation technology arsenal for BAIC. In 2017, with 11 invention patents and a number of innovative technologies, BAIC won the first prize of the "China Automotive Industry Science and Technology Award", which is known as the Automotive Nobel. BAIC is also the only car company in China that has won the first prize of China Automotive Industry Science and Technology Progress Award twice for its off-road expertise.

Automobiles are an industry that pays attention to the accumulation of heritage, and the blood of off-road vehicles from the battlefield is even more so. The world’s first mass-produced off-road model, MB, originated in World War II, so from the birth of off-road vehicles, quality is its soul.

Similarly, BAIC, which has many years of military experience, has stricter quality requirements for its models than ordinary civilian car companies. Each off-road vehicle has to pass the last five kilometers of "devil stages" composed of steps, wading, and deep pit sections before leaving the factory.

Wang Zhang, chief scientist of BAIC, once said: "We have never treated civilian and military products as two skins. In terms of process arrangement and material procurement, in fact, military vehicles have brought up the standard of civilian vehicles." At BAIC’s off-road vehicle production base, BAIC’s BJ40 and BJ80 are produced in parallel with military vehicles. In 2022, the BJ40 model won the first place in the hard-line SUV segment in the China Quality Association CACSI 2022 annual award competition.

The reason why BAIC frequently participates in top-level events is not for various awards, but to provide consumers with more professional, reliable and safe off-road products and experiences by collecting data that far exceeds the needs of ordinary consumers in the extreme road conditions of the track.

It is precisely because of the off-road pedigree originating from the battlefield, coupled with years of technological innovation and quality assurance, BAIC can be called the off-road family. The original intention of off-road is to challenge people and nature, so reverence is a word engraved in the depths of the off-road soul.

Focusing on hard-line off-road for more than 60 years, BAIC has experienced the baptism of battlefields and competitions, and knows more about awe and off-road than ordinary car companies.

Defining off-road, not just off-road

Off-road is a way of life and a spirit, which leads people through difficult environments. BAIC’s off-road spirit is not only reflected in off-road models, but also runs through other categories of products and the new energy era.

BAIC’s requirements for technological innovation and quality are consistent in off-road and other products.

BAIC has seen firsts in Chinese automotive history: China’s first car makers dominated the country’s first joint venture. In 1983, BAIC and American car companies jointly established Beijing Jeep Automobile Company, which opened the door for Chinese cars to communicate with the world. Beijing Benz is also a leading joint venture company, and has maintained the top three sales of luxury brand cars for many years.

While crossing the mountains and seas, BAIC’s off-road spirit also entered the new energy era. In 2009, BAIC established BAIC New Energy Company, becoming the first new energy vehicle joint-stock company in China. It then launched new energy brands such as BAIC Polar Fox and cooperated with Huawei to launch the Enjoy S9.

BAIC, which has achieved good results in both the off-road 1.0 and 2.0 eras, how can it gain a foothold in the new energy era?

BAIC’s answer remains heritage, innovation and quality.

BAIC has said that it needs to "clarify off-road and forget off-road" to break down the distinction between niche and mass markets.

Clear off-road refers to making potential consumers think of BAIC’s off-road attributes as soon as they mention off-road. This confidence comes from the brand accumulation that has been passed down for more than 60 years. And "forget off-road" means that in the future, consumers will not only think of off-road when they mention BAIC, but also the product spirit totem of reliable quality, hard-edged fashion and personality.

When off-road "electric shock", at the Beijing Auto Show in April this year, BAIC released three new energy vehicles in one go, and equipped the magic nuclear power drive platform, while maintaining the spirit of off-road, to achieve the electrification of power innovation. Taking the BJ60 magic nuclear power drive version as an example, the battery life exceeded 1200 kilometers with full fuel and full power, and the fuel consumption was only 1.3L/100km. From Beijing to Lhasa, it only takes 3 tanks of fuel to run the whole distance.

In terms of quality, the "electric shock" BAIC still maintains the military quality. Song Wei, president of BAIC, uses the keywords of reliability and simplicity to summarize the underlying technical logic of the magic nuclear power drive platform. Even in the most severe off-road scenarios, the battery can still be kept safe.

BJ60 magic nuclear power drive version, which can achieve a battery life of 1200 kilometers with full oil and full power

When off-road meets electric, BAIC expands the use of vehicles through technological innovation, allowing the once niche off-road culture to break through the circle with the spread of new energy, and also making the off-road cake even bigger.

With the heritage of more than 60 years of off-road family and the pursuit of technology and quality, BAIC has also traveled through and led several eras while roaring through the Gobi, mountains and deserts.

The environment and times in which the wheel passes have changed, but the awe, responsibility, and leadership have never changed.

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