Don't simply regard the Fang Cheng Bao 8 as just an off-road vehicle.
Written by Han Yongchang
Edited by Zhang Bowen
The Leopard 8 can handle off-road conditions, but it is not a vehicle developed solely for off-roading.
On November 12, the Fangchengbao Leopard 8 was officially launched. This tough SUV, jointly created by BYD and Huawei, has a starting price of 379,800 yuan.
In the market, there are often comparisons between the Leopard 8 and the Tank 700. However, the highest price of the Leopard 8 is only 407,800 yuan, which is cheaper than the Tank 700 with a starting price of 428,000 yuan.
Of course, the biggest highlight of this new vehicle is that it is equipped with Huawei's Qiankun Intelligent Driving ADS 3.0, which can handle urban piloting, highway piloting, and automatic parking with ease.
Many people may ask, why does an off-road vehicle need intelligent driving? Because the usage scenarios of the Leopard 8 are more in urban travel. Even for vehicles developed specifically for off-road scenarios, more than 90% of the usage scenarios are on urban roads.
At this time, practical functions such as piloting and parking become more essential.
This year, the Fangchengbao brand has made many moves. In addition to launching the Leopard 8 in cooperation with Huawei on the eve of the Guangzhou Auto Show, before this year's Beijing Auto Show, Fangchengbao also released a series of vehicles, including the Leopard 5, Leopard 8, the concept car Leopard 3 SUPER 3, and the concept sports car SUPER 9.
The product portfolio of Fangchengbao has become the same as that of Yangwang, that is, the combination of off-road and coupe. The initial "off-road" impression that consumers had of Fangchengbao is beginning to change.
Xiong Tianbo, the general manager of Fangchengbao, clearly pointed out in an interview with 36Kr, "When the Fangchengbao brand was launched, we said that we are a professional and personalized brand, not an off-road brand. Fangchengbao should use professional technology to support the segmented vehicle models, and we ourselves have two product lines."
Now, the first product line of tough vehicle models has been fully in place, and the appearance of the Leopard 8 has also shown the industry that the Fangchengbao brand is not limited to off-roading.
「 Extreme Off-Roading, but More Compatible 」
For a new brand, expanding the scope of recognition is the key. This is the phased task that Xiong Tianbo, the brand general manager, has set for Fangchengbao. The Leopard 5 has achieved from 0 to 1, and the launch of the Leopard 8 is in need of expanding new territory.
Fangchengbao Leopard 8 (Source: Official Enterprise)
This SUV, which is 5.2 meters long, has a regular and square shape both in the front and the side, and is homologous to the Leopard 5, with a strong tough atmosphere.
The power performance is the basic strength of the Leopard 8. The new vehicle is equipped with a plug-in hybrid system composed of a 2.0T engine and front/rear dual motors, with a comprehensive maximum power of 550kW and a total torque of 760N·m. If these numbers are presented more intuitively, the acceleration time from 0 to 100 km/h is only 4.8s, which is not common in off-road vehicle models.
On the Leopard 8, BYD has also developed a "Violent Mode" based on the hybrid off-road characteristics of the DMO platform.
The Violent Mode can be fast or slow. At the launch event, Yang Dongsheng, the dean of the New Technology Institute, demonstrated the vehicle tug-of-war of the Leopard 8 in the Violent Mode and its performance on multiple popular slopes. Especially impressive is the extreme climbing ability of the Leopard 8, which successfully challenged a 100% positive slope half-slope start and a 70% slope reverse slope climb.
According to the launch event, the Violent Mode can be used on the Leopard 8 on November 30, and before December 31, the Leopard 5 will also be OTA upgraded to support this mode.
In addition to the DMO platform, Yunian-P is also one of the highlights of the Leopard 8. This technology was earlier equipped on the Yangwang U8 and the Leopard 5. Simply put, Yunian-P can actively preview the potholes on the road and automatically adjust the vehicle body height, stiffness, damping and other functions.
In this way, whether it is an off-road condition or urban commuting, the Leopard 8 has overcome the shortcomings of the traditional off-road vehicle chassis being too hard and lacking comfort. The Leopard 8 defines a new standard for intelligent tough off-road vehicles.
The positioning of Fangchengbao has always been to break the binary opposition between the city and off-roading. The Leopard 8 is still the same, it can not only handle off-road conditions, but also be suitable for family use.
The new vehicle offers six-seat and seven-seat models, which are very friendly to users who travel with their families. On the official promotional posters, the users are mainly families, and words such as "refrigerator, color TV, big sofa", "luxurious configuration for the whole family to enjoy comfortably" appear frequently.
Fangchengbao Leopard 8 (Source: Official Enterprise)
Chinese people have always liked to buy cars with large space. The successful positioning of Ideal has proved that "family use" is an inevitable scenario for the majority of people. Whether it is an off-road vehicle or a sedan, they are all starting to move closer to "family use".
The second-generation Haval H9 positions the new car as "an off-road vehicle for the whole family". Even when the refreshed Model 3 was launched last year, in the official promotion, it was also called a "mobile home".
Off-road vehicles with larger body size and more interior design space can of course perfectly adapt to the "family use" attribute. This is also shown in the Fangchengbao Leopard 8. It is also worth mentioning that in terms of fuel consumption, the fuel consumption of the Leopard 8 in 100 kilometers with a low battery is only 8.5L.
In the cockpit, the new vehicle is equipped with a suspended central control screen and a co-pilot entertainment screen, which support linkage functions. The vehicle is equipped with the DiLink 150 system with an AI large model. The function of recognizing surrounding vehicles and buildings that made the Xiaomi SU7 popular can also be supported by the Leopard 8.
Of course, the most unique feature of the Leopard 8 is the intelligent driving function. After all, this is the first vehicle jointly created by BYD and Huawei.
「 Cooperating with Huawei, Huawei Completes Intelligent Driving 」
Traditional off-road vehicle models such as Prado, Land Cruiser, Patrol, and Wrangler seem to be too far away from intelligent driving. Therefore, whether an off-road vehicle needs intelligent driving is also a question for many people. But the answer is obviously yes.
First of all, the consumer group of off-road vehicles is not necessarily professional off-road enthusiasts.
Earlier, a relevant person in charge of Great Wall publicly stated that when the Tank 300 started pre-sale, the proportion of female users was nearly 30%. Coupled with some male users who simply like tough SUVs, the user group of off-road vehicle models is very diverse.
Secondly, even for professional off-road enthusiasts, before reaching the off-road section, they also need to travel more than 90% of urban roads and highways.
The long-distance travel on these sections is very energy-consuming. If there is intelligent driving assistance, whether it is highway piloting or urban piloting, it can make driving more relaxed and safe, and also save enough energy for the final off-road section.
Off-roading and intelligent driving are not in conflict. Consumers always prefer that a car has more functions to be prepared for unexpected needs. A vehicle with a strong comprehensive quality that can intelligently drive in the urban area and off-road in the suburbs will certainly have a demand in the market. The Leopard 8 is such a vehicle model.
The Qiankun Intelligent Driving ADS 3.0 equipped in the Leopard 8 is Huawei's high-level intelligent driving product, which has been equipped in many vehicle models such as the Wenjie series, Zhijie series, Xiangjie S9, AITO M5/M7, and the new Voyah Dreamer, and has been fully tested in the market.
Chi Linchun, the vice president of Huawei's Vehicle BU, said at the launch event that the two sides began to discuss the possibility of cooperation in January this year, and it has been mass-produced in less than a year, with a very fast speed.
The functions that Qiankun ADS 3.0 can achieve in other vehicle models can also be achieved in the Leopard 8.
For example, the "from parking space to parking space" full-scene connection. The intelligent driving piloting assistance can be enabled at the departure parking space, and the vehicle can independently handle scenes such as gates, roundabouts, and narrow-road U-turns throughout the journey. And functions such as automatic parking. After the owner leaves the vehicle, the vehicle can automatically park into the parking space.
These functions are not necessary for off-road scenarios. But for the driving scenarios of more than 90% of the urban and highway sections of off-road vehicles, they are very necessary.
In the era of new energy vehicles, if the traditional thinking is still used to manufacture vehicles, it is difficult to impact the stable market pattern, especially in the off-road, a niche track, where it is even more difficult to break through.
BYD uses electric and intelligent technology to make off-road vehicle models more urbanized, meeting the more practical intelligent driving needs of users. This may be a path that future Chinese off-road vehicle models will take, using intelligence to make up for the capabilities that traditional off-road vehicle models lack, in order to stand out.
The Fangchengbao brand currently has only two vehicles. The first vehicle, the Leopard 5, has achieved remarkable results. Since its launch in November last year, the cumulative sales of the Leopard 5 in the past 12 months have reached 42,161 units, and the latest sales in October were 6,026 units. As a tough vehicle model market that BYD is not good at, such sales are already worthy of recognition.
In terms of sales outlets, the total number of Fangchengbao stores has reached 300, with layouts in 133 cities across the country. In just one year since its establishment, Fangchengbao is expanding rapidly. It should be noted that the number of Jiyue stores, which have been established for several years, has just exceeded 100.
This time, the launch of the Leopard 8 with a price of 379,800 yuan makes the Leopard 5 no longer alone. The joint movement of the two vehicles also injects a new vitality into the off-road track.