Shentucar original
Author | dawn
Edit | Wei Jia
Where there are blockbusters, there are cottages. Today, the cottage wind is blowing into the electric vehicle industry.
In Shandong, Henan and other places, there are a large number of humble small factories, they are producing the new "Mercedes-Benz", "BMW", "Land Rover", and it is an electric vehicle.
At first glance, the front face of these cars is very similar to luxury cars, and the logo is also similar, but if you look a little closer, you will find that there is "cat grease" - the logo is crooked, the size is several times smaller, and the configuration is 18,000 miles worse.
In the past, these cars were sent in batches to all parts of the country and appeared in the vast five- and six-line small townships. There, they have another title – "Old Man Le".
Now, the new car is hot, with the east wind of electric vehicles, the old man le began to upgrade himself. The exterior, the interior, the marketing rhetoric, are becoming more and more intimidating. And when it comes to selling cars, they no longer just rely on dealers. The manufacturer directly opened the store to the e-commerce platform and learned the "direct operation" with Tesla.
Electric cottage wind, here it comes.
Iron shell "Mercedes", only twenty-five thousand
In the impression of many people, the old man's music is equal to a scooter. The most commonly used scenes are nothing more than buying vegetables, picking up children, and going to the park. It is aimed at the mainstream population and is also "old man" level.
But when the old man Le boarded Taobao, just like the elderly met Pinduoduo, the painting style changed.
"Iron Shell Mercedes" for sale online
These are a few pictures taken by Shentu from Taobao, from the product detail page.
Just look at the shape, full of luxury car style. The family-style front face, the highly recognizable logo, and the specious shape make you wonder when Mercedes-Benz came out with such a model.
Of course, this car must have nothing to do with Mercedes-Benz. Because the length of this car is only 3 meters 5, which is a full meter shorter than the Mercedes-Benz GLB it imitates, the weight of this car is only 1.3 tons, while the Mercedes-Benz GLB has 1.6 tons, and the top speed of this car is only 60 kilometers per hour.
The only correlation between the two is that the manufacturer "copied" the appearance and logo of Mercedes-Benz. Manufacturers said bluntly to the deep way: this is "iron shell Mercedes-Benz".
Parameters of the "Iron Shell Mercedes"
Merchants introduced to Shentu that "Iron Shell Mercedes-Benz" has three versions: standard version, luxury version and local luxury version. The standard version is the lowest match, the price is 24,500 yuan, the maximum speed is 55 kilometers per hour, the maximum endurance is 110 kilometers; the local luxury version is the highest match, which increases the endurance of 20 kilometers compared with the standard version, and increases the brake boost, directional assistance, cooling and heating air conditioning, and the price is 6,000 yuan higher.
In other words, for 30,000 yuan, you can mention a "Mercedes-Benz" top model.
This price is placed in the Mercedes-Benz car series, which is an optional money, but it almost touches the price ceiling of low-speed electric vehicles. If you think it's expensive, don't worry, there are cheaper models, such as the domestic "Hongqi car".
"Hongqi model" model sold online
This "Hongqi model" model, with a body length of 2 meters 9 and a maximum speed of 60 kilometers per hour, only sells for 12,500 yuan.
Although the sparrow is small, it has achieved five doors and four seats, and there is a skylight. Although there is no trunk, as soon as the rear door is opened, the seat can be pulled down. Of course, there is no air conditioner, but the manufacturer has installed an electric fan in the car, and you can enjoy the natural wind in the summer.
If you don't like the Hongqi brand, you want Mercedes-Benz, it doesn't matter, this shape can also be made into a "Mercedes-Benz model", as shown in the following figure:
The same shape can also be customized into "Mercedes-Benz model"
On Taobao, there are many low-speed "luxury cars" being sold, in addition to Mercedes-Benz, Hongqi, BMW, Land Rover, GMC and other brands are the object of copycats.
BMW, Land Rover, GMC and other models have also been "copied"
These cars have something in common: they are all low-speed electric vehicles, and the shape design imitates luxury cars, and the price is cheap. Driving such a car, in the countryside "flaunting the market", it should still be quite windy.
Now, even the models of some new domestic car-making forces have actually become the object of imitation.
Euler Good Cat is an electric vehicle model of Great Wall Motor, which focuses on the female market and has the temperament of an Internet celebrity. On Taobao, there are a number of merchants selling models that look like Euler's good cats.
The left is the genuine "Euler good cat", and the right is the cottage "Euler cat"
It is clear that the car highly mimics the front face design of Euler's good cat. The merchant said to Shentu: "What we do is the same as Euler's good cat." ”
The genuine Euler good cat is priced at 100,000 yuan, and the high imitation version on Taobao is priced at 20,000 yuan. The slogans played by merchants on the webpage are: "urban upstart" and "fashion and luxury". Merchants are very clear that Euler is the car of the new force of car manufacturing, the brand influence is not as good as BBA, but the shape is fashionable, then play the fashion card on the publicity, and can also rub a wave of traffic.
Li Sheng, director of Beijing Zhipu Law Firm, analyzed Shentu that intellectual property rights in the automotive field are also protected by China's Patent Law. If the automobile manufacturer applies for a design patent in advance, and the car model produced by the electric vehicle manufacturer is the same and similar to the appearance design of the automobile manufacturer, the general consumer believes that the two cars are similar through direct sensory reflection, or through indirect other comparisons and associations, the two are similar, which can be found to be infringing.
In addition, "if an electric vehicle manufacturer uses a trademark identical or similar to the registered trademark of the automobile manufacturer on similar goods without the permission of the trademark registrant, resulting in confusion, it constitutes trademark infringement and shall bear the liability for infringement." Li Sheng said.
However, these cottage-shaped electric vehicles look somewhat random, and I am afraid that no one will really treat them as "Mercedes-Benz" and "BMW".
Alternative "light of domestic goods"?
If you think that these cars are just "superficial", then you may underestimate the strength of Chinese manufacturing. Leaving aside the appearance of cottages, they are almost comparable in practicality to the new forces of car-making.
China's new car-making forces have a dispute over routes, the most typical is "Wei Xiaoli", Weilai and Xiaopeng take the pure electric route, and the ideal choice is the extended range route. In the face of low-speed electric vehicles, the route dispute has lost its meaning, because they have achieved "multi-line integration".
"Oil, electricity and light triple use" is the slogan played by many Taobao merchants. In short, the car can burn oil, use electricity, and even use light to generate electricity. Gasoline, electricity, photovoltaics, these three major sources of energy, all for my use.
Some models claim to be able to "use oil, electricity and light"
A businessman introduced to the deep way, the vehicle normally driven by pure electricity, if lithium batteries, the maximum endurance can be 150 kilometers, and then install a fuel range extender, with a six-liter capacity fuel tank, can increase 60 kilometers of endurance, in addition, you can also install solar panels on the roof of the car, play an auxiliary power generation role.
Some models have solar panels on the roof
So calculated, a low-speed electric vehicle, the maximum endurance of more than 200 kilometers. The sales champion of China's new energy vehicles last year, which is believed to be the "light of domestic goods" of the old man, Hongguang MINIEV, initially had an endurance of only 120 kilometers and 170 kilometers.
In theory, the endurance of the "Mercedes-Benz version" of the old man is unlimited, because it can increase the range by refueling. Many merchants have played the slogan of "unlimited endurance". In addition, it does not need to install a charging pile, and it can be charged directly by pulling the plug board from the home.
The diversity of endurance methods is only one aspect of this type of car.
In the past, the new car-making forces have been advocating a word - "C2M", also called the customized production model. Typical such as WM Motors, the first mass production model EX5 once used the C2M model. When booking a car, users can freely choose the combination of seats, sunroofs, speakers and other components, realize thousands of combinations, and customize their own cars completely according to personal preferences.
However, there is a problem with this production method, which will cause a great burden on the supply chain, so it has not been promoted. However, Old Man Le took the lead in implementing C2M.
A number of Taobao merchants told Shentu that vehicles accept customization. The range of customizations includes body colours, interiors, drive methods, engine displacement, air conditioning and much more. For example, the installation of a range extender to achieve dual use of oil and electricity 1000 yuan, the installation of solar panels 1000 yuan, the installation of cold and heating air conditioning 2000 yuan, the installation of navigation 300 yuan, the installation of front and rear bumpers 200 yuan ...
Low-speed electric vehicles accept customization
It's like LEGO bricks, you can combine them any way you want. Even the front of the car can also be selected, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Hongqi; the number of cylinders of the engine can also be changed, the two-cylinder can choose Chery 272, the three-cylinder has Suzuki 368; you have to think that the Mercedes-Benz logo is too correct, let it be crooked 45 degrees.
Some people joked: in terms of customer-centricity and serving users, WEILAI Auto has encountered a real opponent.
Like the cottage mobile phone a decade ago, China's low-speed electric vehicles have the appearance of cottages, but they have to admit their practicality. The most typical features of the cottage machine, such as affordable price, big speaker, dual card dual standby, the function is touching; the cottage electric vehicle is the same, oil and electricity dual-use, ultra-long endurance, exquisite and small, gimmick is very strong.
And they are also "consumption upgrades". The manager of a traditional car company said to Shentu that with the outbreak of this round of new energy vehicles, China's automobile manufacturing industry chain has been very perfect, and the technology and design elements of many new car-making forces have been directly used by low-speed electric vehicle companies.
For example, new forces are talking about "smart cockpits", low-speed electric vehicles are called "multi-functional intelligent cabs"; new forces are popular "through-screen", and low-speed electric vehicles are called "multimedia through-screen LCD screens". With the blessing of technology and concepts, the old man is also crazy.
Who is producing copycat electric vehicles?
Behind the price touching and powerful are the two major issues of security and compliance.
Low-speed electric cars, or old men, are not cars in the strict sense of the word. These cars have the appearance of four-wheeled cars, but they do not meet the standards of cars, and the vehicles cannot be licensed. For many years, they had no technical standards and lacked production practices. Most manufacturers do not have automobile production qualifications, but their products are used like cars.
From the standard of the car, the body hardness of the low-speed electric vehicle is not up to standard, and the "one-piece iron shell", although it realizes the one-piece body, is essentially an iron shell. The crash test certainly doesn't pass because there are no airbags.
Benefiting from the increasing maturity of the electric vehicle industry chain, these manufacturers can directly handle parts and technologies that are already very rich, and they have more confidence to manufacture gimmicks. They will pat their chests and say that the car uses a lithium battery, which is much more durable than the lead-acid battery used in the past, and there is a large-screen reversing image in the car, a disc brake system is installed, and four-wheel shock absorption is installed. These terms, which used to apply to cars, are now used by them for old man music.
It has the basic functions of the car, but it does not have to pay the purchase tax, the car and boat tax, and there is no insurance expenditure like buying a car, it does not even need a license, does not need a driver's license, and does not limit the number of the line. This is the most practical for those who don't have a driver's license and drive as unlearned as playing mahjong.
Such products very accurately meet the travel needs of many fourth- and fifth-tier small towns and rural markets, just like the rise of Pinduoduo, although it looks a bit "soil", but there are really people who pay for it.
The rise of Hongguang MINI also confirms the huge market demand corresponding to cheap and practical. A 30,000-piece Hongguang MINI, in the sinking market competitiveness, is definitely stronger than more than 200,000 Tesla, even if it has no automatic driving, or even no air conditioning.
Most of the factories producing low-speed electric vehicles are in Shandong, Henan, Hebei and other places, especially in Shandong. In addition to regular brands such as Reading, Bidwen, Licci, and Baoluda, there are also a large number of unknown small brands or small workshops, they have factories, workshops, mass production capabilities, and the products are decent, but there is no brand.
A manufacturer in Tai'an, Shandong Province, introduced the deep way: "We are a ten-year-old factory, self-produced and self-sold, hundreds of cars a day, if you are not at ease, you can visit the factory by video." ”
On Taobao, most of these manufacturers have opened live broadcasts, and the live broadcast scenes are basically in the production workshop, explaining the factory situation on the spot, and some models that are being produced. They try to increase consumer trust in this way.
Low-speed electric vehicle manufacturers opened live broadcast sales
"Factory direct sales", "one is also a wholesale price", many manufacturers have used similar expressions on e-commerce platforms. "In the past two years, I have only started to do e-commerce, and I used to ship by agents." A Shandong manufacturer said to Shentu.
The video sent by the manufacturer shows that more than a dozen vehicles off the production line are loading onto a large truck about 20 meters long and are about to be sent to other places. Most of these manufacturers do not have offline stores and do not provide test drives. The user pays a deposit of 5,000 yuan, the manufacturer produces and ships, and can directly run on the ground after arriving.
However, in the future, whether these old scooters can still be legally on the road is a problem.
In June this year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology 'Technical Conditions for Pure Electric Passenger Cars' was publicly solicited for comments and officially included low-speed electric vehicles in the scope of pure electric passenger cars, which means that Lao Lao Le has regulatory norms. There are very few low-speed electric vehicle manufacturers in China that can meet the above automotive safety standards, and many small factories will face compliance problems in the future.
The car labels of the cottages are easy to replace, but there is still a lot of work to be done in these factories to make the vehicles fully compliant.
*The caption is derived from the screenshot of the Taobao merchant. The pictures in this article are from Taobao screenshots and pictures provided by merchants.