Seeking the red flag in time travel
"There may be many people who know the history of the Hongqi brand, but in my opinion, 63 years later, Hongqi has already been sublimated into a totem, a culture, and a quality," said Yang Jianzhong, a former deputy chief engineer of FAW Automobile Research Institute and an engine design expert.
Although he is already in his 80s, Yang Jianzhong still remembers the summer of 1958.
That year, the First Automobile Factory (hereinafter referred to as "FAW"), which had been founded for only five years, received the task of manufacturing domestic high-end cars. In that era of "even a screw needs to be imported", within 33 days, the whole FAW factory mobilized, formed a key attack team, and forced the first red flag car to be born by "touching the hammer".
At that time, the Hongqi car was more based on the reverse development of the 1955 Chrysler sedan, but the self-reliance and self-improvement spirit of FAW entrepreneurs became a spark for the development of China’s automobile industry.
Nowadays, Hongqi has gone through more than a century. In the process of marketization, Hongqi has also been questioned and experienced tremendous pain of transformation, but it is undoubtedly a deep feeling and sacred memory for generations.
"As the eldest son of New China and the cradle of the automobile industry, FAW’s 68-year history of entrepreneurship and development is a microcosm of the history of the party, the history of New China, the history of reform and opening up, and the history of socialist construction." According to Xu Liuping, secretary of the party committee and chairperson of FAW Group, the establishment of "Red Flag" and "Liberation", the two national automobile brands, has realized a major turning point in the automobile industry of New China from scratch and laid an important foundation for the development and progress of the national automobile industry in our country.
On January 8, 2018, the "Xinhongqi" brand development strategy was released. From the beginning of 2018 to the end of 2020, Xinhongqi achieved a growth miracle of 42 times in three years and three years. In the first half of this year, the cumulative sales of Hongqi vehicles 145,000 units, an increase of 107% year-on-year.
After many ups and downs in history, today, the dreamers of Hongqi are moving towards the center of the historical stage without hesitation. And from the revitalization of Hongqi, it is not difficult to see the development code of China’s automobile industry.
"Catch the temple fair" Zhang Bang Recruitment "Continuous rotation" Technical research
In 1953, FAW, as one of 156 projects aided by the Soviet Union, started the process of the national automobile industry in New China. In the early days of its establishment, entrepreneurs from all over the country started from scratch and completed the construction of the factory in just three years, realizing the first generation of Jiefang brand products off the assembly line, completely ending the history that New China could not make cars.
The history of China’s automobile industry officially began in 1953. It was also in 1953 that Yang Jianzhong, who was only 20 years old, joined FAW after graduating from the Department of Power Mechanics of Tsinghua University with a major in automobiles.
Yang Jianzhong still remembers that in July 1958, FAW took over the "military order" to manufacture domestic luxury cars. At that time, China’s auto industry was almost blank, and only about a year before the 10th anniversary of the founding of New China, making a luxury car was an almost impossible task.
"To this end, we used the method of’catching the temple fair ‘. The so-called’catching the temple fair’ is to split the parts of the reference model to the level of gears and shafts, place them, and organize the workers of the whole factory to queue up to see and claim the task," Yang Jianzhong said.
He recalled that at that time, there were more than 2,000 parts in total, filling five workshops. In just half a day, the parts were robbed by workers. Since then, the sound of hand-beating has been in a car room day and night.
On August 1 of that year, the Red Flag sedan, code-named CA72, was successfully rolled off the assembly line. On October 1, 1959, National Day, state leaders took the Red Flag high-end sedan to review the troops under review, which was the first time the Red Flag car appeared to the people of the whole country.
On March 16, 1960, the Hongqi CA72 sedan was exhibited at the Leipzig International Expo and received great attention and praise. Since then, there has been a Chinese column in the "World Automobile Yearbook", and the "Hongqi" has become a world-class famous car. In the same year, Hongqi participated in the Leipzig International Expo and the Geneva Exhibition one after another, and was also included in the "World Automobile Yearbook".
In the "temple fair", Yang Jianzhong led the most difficult hard bone in engine manufacturing and forged an indissoluble bond with engine design. He presided over the design of Hongqi 200HP and 250HP engines, as well as the 300HP V8 gasoline engine of the head of state bulletproof car, which laid a solid foundation for the development of Hongqi.
Today, Yang Jianzhong’s blue silk has turned white hair, but in his heart, the imprint of independent research and development will always be engraved. "The quality of the red flag will surely inspire generations of automakers to forge ahead to the heights of the world automobile industry."
"The spirit of the Red Flag people has been reactivated"
For the changing Chinese auto industry, youth has always been a concept independent of age. To deeply tap the potential of technological innovation and carry forward the spirit of reform and innovation, many established auto companies have launched "self-revolution". But it is undeniable that when fierce competition has become the new normal of the auto industry, it is not easy for Hongqi to regain its former glory.
In September 2017, with the implementation of a series of actions such as brand layout, system restructuring, and personnel reform, the "fast-paced and high-efficiency" atmosphere became popular within FAW, and the Hongqi brand showed a vitality that had not been seen for a long time.
Then, in January 2018, FAW released a new Hongqi brand strategy, systematically explaining the development plan of Hongqi, and the new Hongqi brand entered a new stage of rapid development.
"In recent years, the spirit of Hongqi people has been reactivated!" Qi Songyu, a senior mechanic at FAW’s Hongqi factory, said in an interview with reporters.
After graduating in 1994, Qi Songyu entered the Hongqi factory. In more than 20 years of experience, his career is closely tied to Hongqi.
So far, Qi Songyu has obtained a total of 33 invention patents, 28 of which have won the National Science and Technology Innovation Award. He has also grown from an ordinary worker to a winner of the National Science and Technology Progress Award and a national model worker. He is called "an inventor on the production line" by his colleagues.
"Quality is not checked, but guaranteed by the process." Qi Songyu bluntly said that behind the innovation again and again, it is Hongqi’s requirement for 100% quality assurance.
"It is this kind of guarantee requirement that prompts me to constantly observe the factors that may cause quality defects in production in my work, and constantly optimize and improve the production process. ‘Extreme standard, extreme requirements’, this is the spirit of craftsmanship, and it is also the quality of the red flag." Qi Songyu said.
Perhaps everyone has a different interpretation of the quality of the red flag. Some people say that it represents the national spirit of hard work and innovation. Others say that it represents the spirit of the times to keep pace with the times and dare to be the first. But there is no doubt that the quality of the red flag is driving the red flag brand to accelerate.
In the opinion of Zhao Xuesong, senior director of transmission development at the Institute of Motor and Electric Drive of the New Energy Development Institute of FAW Group, since FAW released the brand concept of "Chinese-style new noble delicacy" in 2018 and set the development goal of becoming "China’s first and world-famous" new noble brand, the new generation of Hongqi people are practicing and passing on the fighting spirit of the old generation of Hongqi people, who are united, dare to take responsibility, and full of energy.
As the head of Hongqi’s independent DCT transmission development, Zhao Xuesong led the team to explore the first line of DCT core technology, and successively broke through a number of core technologies such as low-noise gears, large-capacity carbon synchronizers, and lightweight shells, obtaining 65 patents.
At the same time, he led the team to establish a DCT configuration analysis method, which was successfully applied to the development of multiple DCTs on horizontal and vertical platforms, achieving industry-leading technical indicators.
It is worth mentioning that after years of unremitting efforts, DCT220, DCT270, DCT400 three heavy independent products have been put into production in 2018-2020, and the cumulative output has reached 200,000 units. Among them, DCT400 won the title of "World’s Top Ten Transmissions" and was mounted on the Hongqi H9.
"When the new Hongqi brand was launched in 2018, it reminded me of the scene when FAW built the first Hongqi in 1958," said Zhao Xuesong. "The courage and courage of the older generation of Hongqi people to challenge the unknown also inspired us to attack difficulties."
In this regard, Wang Zhi, the operator of the processing center of the FAW R & D General Institute, also agreed. In the 22 years of his career, Wang Zhi has never taken annual leave. As a party member, in the project-setting and research activities initiated by the party branch, he takes the lead in declaring research projects every year to break through technical difficulties.
In the past year, his numerical control crankshaft polishing and transformation debugging technology has won the "National Excellent Innovation Achievement Award", and won the silver award in three projects including "Automatic Setting Method of Multi-angle Machining Coordinate System" at the 24th National Invention Exhibition. At the same time, he led the numerical control team to complete 6 projects, solve more than 20 technical problems, and apply for 12 new national patents.
Therefore, Wang Zhi was hired as the chief skill master of FAW Group, won the "China Skills Award", the highest government award for high-skilled talents in our country, and was named "Outstanding Communist Party Member of Central Enterprise".
"The key to the development of an independent brand lies in its core technology. In the future competition, it cannot be’choked ‘by technology, but should firmly grasp the core technology in its own hands." Wang Zhi said bluntly that in recent years, the Hongqi brand has become more market-oriented and younger, and cannot be separated from the technological innovation that can be seen everywhere, which is also the meaning of Hongqi’s quality.
From borrowing and imitating to positive research and development, from "encouraging cars to enter the family" to continuously ranking first in global automobile production and sales, from following the global automobile giants to leading the world trend of "new four modernizations" of automobiles, over the past few decades, Chinese automakers have actively participated in this great wave of change with unprecedented courage and action, making the "dream of an automobile power" the strongest voice of the times.
With technology as the cornerstone and market-oriented, Hongqi’s revolutionary actions are being rolled out and deepened in an all-round way. In the opinion of industry insiders, on China’s journey to the world’s automotive industry highland, the quality of Hongqi will never fade, and will bloom in the inheritance of generations of automakers.
China Youth Daily · China Youth Network reporter, Cheng Honghe, Source: China Youth Daily