Technology companies are building cars and double-clicking!
On December 15, Li Yinan, the founder of Xiaoniu Electric Vehicle, officially announced the construction of cars, Niu Innovative Energy Technology released the English brand "NIUTRON", Chinese automobile brand "Ziyoujia", and its first product, Ziyoujia NV, will be booked in the first half of 2022 and can be delivered in September of the same year.
Unlike The Maverick Electric Vehicle, which focuses on the "two-wheeled electric vehicle" market, NIUTRON is a new energy vehicle brand, focusing on pure electric models and extended range models. So, what is the development prospect of Niu Innovative Energy?
To answer this question, we must first understand Li Yinan, because he has always been regarded as a "genius" by the outside world, and his life experience can be called "legendary".
Born in Hunan in 1970, Li Yinan was admitted to the junior class of Huazhong University of Science and Technology (now Huazhong University of Science and Technology) at the age of 15, graduated with a master's degree at the age of 23 and became the executive vice president of Huawei at the age of 26, and was once regarded as a successor. In 2000, Li Yinan took the equipment worth 10 million yuan from Huawei to the north to create a harbor network.
Li Yinan's departure made Ren Zhengfei sad, and after the rapid development of Harbor Network Company, it became a rival of Huawei. In 2006, Huawei formally acquired Harbor Network. Subsequently, Li Yinan successively served as the chief technology officer of Baidu and the CEO of China Mobile 12580, and joined GSR Ventures as a partner in 2011.
For the development trend of technology and the trend of products, Li Yinan has amazing sensitivity and accurate grasp ability. In April 2015, Li Yinan started a business again and launched a smart calf electric vehicle. From 2018 to 2021, the number of global users of Maverick Electric has expanded from 500,000 to more than 2 million, and the global cumulative cycling mileage has entered the era of "10 billion kilometers".
Driven by the "double carbon" goal, two-wheeled electric vehicles have become a new choice to replace fuel motorcycles, and Maverick Electric is the first entrant to smell the "future" and become the beneficiary of the first wave of industry transformation dividends in the global two-wheeled travel market. Facing the future, Li Yinan chose new energy vehicles as the next entrepreneurial direction.
It is reported that Niu Innovative Energy Technology is headquartered in Beijing, set up a research and development center in Shanghai, with nearly 1,000 core R & D personnel, all from mainstream first-line automobile companies at home and abroad, with an average working life of more than 10 years.
Niu Chuangxin Energy Technology, a manufacturing base that is crucial to the new car-making forces, did not choose to "build its own factory", but adopted the acquisition model and won the Mahayana Automobile Factory in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, covering an area of 770,000 square meters and an overall design capacity of 180,000 vehicles per year.
In October 2020, Changzhou Niuchuang Technology Co., Ltd. completed its registration, and the acquisition plan has actually surfaced. Although self-built factories can control vehicles in all directions, they are time-consuming and costly, and the acquisition of existing factories, retrofitting them and reusing them can save time and investment costs.
It is worth mentioning that the plant is only 40 kilometers away from the Changzhou production base of Ideal Automobile, and NIUTRON's first product will also adopt the range extender technology route, and also provide pure electric models, which is quite similar to Dongfeng's Lantu brand. So, what is the strength of the self-touring NV?
Self-touring NV is expected to be a medium-sized SUV, the appearance is very close to the ideal ONE, using urban Exploring design concept, to create an urban-off-road fusion wind, providing two power options, so that everyone can commute in the city, the family weekend excursion, explore the nature of the cross-intercity long-distance journey, to achieve the driving experience of the easy switch.
At present, the first round of winter and summer tests since Youjia NV has been completed, the first round of winter and summer tests has been completed, and the second round of winter tests is currently being carried out, and it is expected to be produced in small batches in March next year and officially listed in September. Friends who are interested in this car will be able to take it home in September next year.
From two-wheeled electric bicycles to four-wheeled electric vehicles, Li Yinan started a business again. In the case that the new energy vehicle track is already very crowded, what is the prospect of the self-touring brand?
From the perspective of the market environment, since the beginning of this year, the performance of the domestic new energy vehicle market has been particularly eye-catching, with the cumulative output exceeding 3 million in the first 11 months, the sales volume approaching 3 million, and the annual sales volume is expected to reach 3.4 million, an increase of 1.6 times year-on-year. The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers predicts that domestic new energy vehicle sales are expected to exceed 5 million in 2022.
Moreover, the degree to which Chinese consumers are embracing new EV brands is very high. In the past month, the three major new car-making forces have collectively sold out of 10,000 yuan every month. This is both a positive signal and a pressure for Niu Innovative Energy.
Compared with Weilai, Xiaopeng, Ideal, etc., Niu Innovative Energy belongs to the new forces of car manufacturing in the second or even third round. To compete with the new car-making forces and many traditional car companies, it is a test of niu's "family foundation" and "strength" of innovative energy.
There is no doubt that although Niu Innovative Energy operates independently with Maverick electric bicycles, the technical resources and brand reputation accumulated by Niu Electric Bicycles will help Ziyoujia expand in the automotive field.
In terms of financing, at present, Ziyoujia has obtained $500 million in Series A financing, and the main investors are IDG, COATUE and other well-known institutions. However, compared with the huge investment of Weilai and Xiaomi, ziyoujia is still relatively thin, and it is expected that the B round and C round can get more financing in order to quickly launch mass production products and more new models.
Say a thousand ways and ten thousand, in order to stand out in the new energy vehicle market, there are still many problems that self-travelers have to face, after all, the market does not believe in feelings, and ultimately it is necessary to speak of products and technologies. So, do you think Li Yinan's "gamble" can be successful?