AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)05/26 Report--

The Great Wall and BYD fell out.

"on April 11, 2023, official account submitted reporting materials to the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the State Administration of Market Supervision and Administration, and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on suspicion of substandard evaporative pollutants emissions from entire vehicles due to the use of atmospheric fuel tanks by Biadiqin PLUS DM-i and Song PLUS DM-i," Great Wall Motor said in a statement on May 25. "

Great Wall's statement has two major details that deserve attention.

One is the time. Great Wall Motor submitted the report material to the relevant departments as early as April 11, but there has been no clear response in the past month or so. Great Wall Motor decided to make this report public in order to create market public opinion, or is it exerting pressure on the relevant departments?

The second is the question: do BYD Qin PLUS DM-i and Song PLUS DM-i use atmospheric fuel tanks to meet the sixth national emission standards? According to the Tramway report, because the engine is working all the time, the carbon canister keeps running, and the excess fuel steam can be absorbed and then introduced into the engine to avoid volatilization to the atmosphere, but the PHEV model leaks into the atmosphere because the engine runs for a short period of time and the carbon tank is absorbed and saturated, thus leaking into the atmosphere. The PHEV model uses a high-pressure fuel tank because the internal pressure of the high-pressure fuel tank can be as high as 35 to 40kPa, which is more than 4 times that of the atmospheric fuel tank, allowing fuel steam to remain in the fuel tank under high pressure.

So will the use of atmospheric fuel tanks in PHEV models lead to substandard emissions? Not necessarily. Due to the volatility of gasoline, the gasoline in the fuel tank will produce steam due to volatilization, thus increasing the pressure in the fuel tank. If the fuel steam in the fuel tank is not treated, the PHEV does need to be equipped with a high-pressure fuel tank to meet the emission requirements. As a result, BYD applied for an oil and gas management system in March 2021, where it installed a liquid supply device outside the fuel tank to provide a cooling medium. When fuel steam is produced in the fuel tank, the cooling medium can cool the fuel steam in a timely manner and fall back into the fuel tank after liquefaction, so as to avoid the increase of fuel tank pressure caused by the increase of fuel steam and achieve the purpose of cost saving. Of course, having a patent does not necessarily mean that it will be adopted. As to whether BYD Qin PLUS DM-i and Song PLUS DM-i meet the emission standards, it remains to be investigated by the relevant departments.

Of course, having a patent does not necessarily mean it will be adopted. Whether BYD's oil and gas management system patent has been installed on its existing models and whether its specific use meets the sixth national emission standards all need to be further determined by the relevant departments, but in line with the principle of who claims who provides evidence, Great Wall needs clearer and more convincing evidence to prove that BYD does violate vehicle emission requirements.

BYD officials also quickly responded to Great Wall's statement: "We firmly oppose any form of unfair competition and reserve the right of legal action!" BYD believes that the test report of the Great Wall is invalid and cannot be used as a basis. Its products and related tests meet national standards and have been certified by national authorities. BYD said, "as the first company in the world to launch plug-in products, it has more than 20 years of accumulation and iteration in plug-in technology, which is not as simple as some peers think. I hope everyone will do more things that are beneficial to the industry and Chinese brands." In this statement, BYD used seven "exclamation points" in a row!

BYD's statement also has two major details that are worth deliberating.

First, BYD believes that Great Wall Motor reporting unqualified products to relevant departments is an act of unfair competition, which is firmly opposed.

Second, BYD believes that the inspection report of Great Wall is invalid and cannot be used as a basis, on the grounds that the inspection by the China Automotive Center (Tianjin) is authoritative and whether the models submitted for inspection by Great Wall are up to standard. Of course, in its official statement, BYD did not respond directly to whether the relevant models met the emission requirements.

The ranks of giants and leaders who also belong to domestic private automobile enterprises are now facing each other strongly.

Great Wall Motor was founded in 1984, headquartered in Baoding, Hebei Province, with Harvard, Euler, Tank, Wei Brand, Great Wall pickup truck five major brands. Founded in 1995, BYD, headquartered in Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province, acquired Qinchuan Automobile in 2003 to build cars, with uncertain, momentum and look up to the three major brands.

Before 2022, the Great Wall relied on Harvard H6 to dominate the SUV for many years in a row, giving Chinese car companies the opportunity to arm wrestle with joint ventures. After entering 2022, the sales of Harvard, Euler and Wei continued to slump, which eventually led to a 17.12% drop in sales of Great Wall cars, while BYD's sales continued to soar after it announced that it had stopped production of fuel cars, making it the best-selling car company in China. It also ended the history of joint ventures monopolizing the Chinese market for more than 20 years.

Friction between car companies is also normal, but this is the first time that a direct real-name report has been made, especially when the Great Wall announced the content of the report against BYD.

At 3 p.m., more than four hours after Great Wall issued the announcement, BYD announced the price of the Song Pro DM-i championship version, which ranges from 13.58 yuan to 159800 yuan. As a champion version, it is mainly aimed at upgrading the front face, while upgrading the entry-level pure electric battery life to 71KM. Compared with the lower price range of Harvard Owl Dragon (13.97-156700 yuan), the Song Pro DM-i champion version is larger in size and has a longer battery life.

As for the final outcome of this incident, there may be four major directions:

First, Great Wall Automobile report is true, confirming that the relevant models of BYD do not meet the emission standards, then BYD will recall and rectify the relevant models, which is theoretically similar to the Volkswagen emission door incident in 2014. Qin PLUS DM-i and Song PLUS DM-i are the two best-selling models of BYD, and if the two models are recalled, in addition to large additional expenses, they may also lead to a sharp drop in sales.

Second, BYD's application of relevant patents can also meet the emission standards in the case of the use of atmospheric fuel tanks, then there is a high probability that Qin PLUS DM-i and Song PLUS DM-i will not be recalled, while Great Wall reports BYD's brand impact and capital market turmoil, which may only be resolved through litigation.

Third, the two car companies let bygones be bygones and get back together. Some time ago, Geely and Changan also argued over whether the Galaxy design was plagiarized, but in the end, the two sides shook hands and signed strategic cooperation.

Fourth, there are no results. It has been more than a month since the Great Wall reported BYD, and there has been no progress, and the follow-up may not come to an end, and will eventually be replaced by other hot news.

"it is not easy for the new energy industry to grow, and it is not easy for Chinese brands to grow so far," BYD said in a statement. "We hope to do more things that are beneficial to the industry and Chinese brands." This sentence is highly controversial. The Tramway report holds that any industry is developing in the midst of competition and competition in development, but what we hope is a healthy and orderly market development. We hope that with the development of the new energy industry and the development of Chinese brands, we will be able to go to the global market in unison, instead of fighting openly and secretly and exposing each other's shortcomings. Of course, all this should be established within the scope of the law, brand counterfeiting is absolutely not allowed!

As of press time, BYD's shares fell 4% and Great Wall fell 5%.

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