The Growth Story of Kunlun Lubricants: A Forward-Looking Strategy Wins the Market

The Growth Story of Kunlun Lubricants: A Forward-Looking Strategy Wins the Market
After more than 10 years of market reshuffling, China's lubricant industry has formed a landscape in which state-owned, foreign and private brands each hold a share. As a national brand of pure Chinese origin, Kunlun Lubricants has not only pulled far ahead in market competition with each major strategic move, but has also driven the entire industry forward.
Technology is the fundamental driving force of brand development. Since the 1990s, foreign brands such as Mobil and Shell once dominated the market with their technological advantages. Facing this situation, Kunlun started with science and technology and embarked on a 12-year path of “enhancing competitiveness through research.” By the end of 2009, the PetroChina Lanzhou Lubricant R&D Center had obtained more than 627 scientific and technological achievements, including 1 National Technology Invention Award, 29 National Science and Technology Progress Awards and 131 provincial and ministerial-level science and technology achievement awards, with an industrialization conversion rate of over 85%.
Market segmentation is a prerequisite for seizing the initiative in competition. Facing a highly homogenized market, Kunlun's products use a “main brand + product series” approach to segment the market. In 2005, the 27 chemical product brands under PetroChina were unified into the “Kunlun” brand, and a “Tian”-prefixed product echelon was formed. Today, in response to different consumer demands, Kunlun has launched a series of segmented products. Kunlun lubricant products (greases and fluids) now include 28 major categories and more than 700 grades, covering almost all vehicle types — low-, mid- and high-end commercial vehicles, eco-friendly models, buses, trucks and motorcycles — fully meeting user needs.
A forward-looking philosophy is the decisive factor in Kunlun Lubricants' continued leadership. From the “National Top Ten Good Samaritan Drivers Selection” to sponsoring the “FSC Formula Student China” competition and the “China Heart” selection, every step of Kunlun's brand development embodies the philosophy of “caring” and has successfully established a responsible corporate image for a national brand in practice.
Today, facing the proposition that the lubricant industry urgently needs green transformation, Kunlun Lubricants has again taken the lead in proposing the concepts of “rational lubrication” and “harmonious coexistence of people, vehicles and lubricants,” committed to developing lubricant products suited to Chinese road and vehicle conditions, actively advocating correct lubrication concepts and methods, and striving to find a balance among people, vehicles and lubricants, driving the entire lubricant industry toward green transformation.
From having nothing to today's brilliance, Kunlun Lubricants, with leading technology, forward-looking market strategy and brand philosophy, has climbed to the top and risen above the rest, growing into the most capable national lubricant brand. In the future, Kunlun Lubricants will continue to explore the path of brand development and contribute to the rise and takeoff of national brands.