Weilai built a moat, and Li Bin broke into a new battlefield

Li Bin is a Go enthusiast, and the automobile is a strong planning industry, and you must think of three steps and take one step. Li Bin said that the most important thing is to maintain the rhythm.

Wen | Wang Xuanxuan, a reporter for China Entrepreneur

Edited | Ma Jiying

On December 18th, Suzhou Olympic Sports Center, Li Bin, founder, CEO and chairman of NIO, stood on the stage of NIO Day for the fifth year.

After the release of ET7 at the beginning of the year, Li Bin was asked the most this year when to deliver the car. Standing on the stage, he introduced the highlights of the ET7 and announced that the ET7 will begin delivery on March 28, 2022. There was a cheer in the audience. Li Bin said frankly that because some chip sensors are used for the first time in the world, it takes a certain amount of time.

Li Bin also brought another electric coupe ET5 expected to be delivered in September 2022, which will be equipped with NIO's latest autonomous driving technology NAD. In 2022, NIO will deliver three new cars, and one has yet to be unveiled.

With the unprecedented outbreak of the new energy vehicle market, Li Bin has also spent almost all of his energy on products. In the second half of this year, Li Bin appeared in public much less often, and he did not even appear at the Guangzhou Auto Show. Just half a year ago at the Shanghai Auto Show, Li Bin was also interested in visiting the two exhibition areas with He Xiaopeng at the opposite booth.

On the other hand, the news of Weilai's enterprise level continues to enter the outside world's vision: the second generation of power stations, 100,000 off the line, going to the sea in Norway... The annual NIO Day once again pushed the new car-making force and Li Bin into the spotlight. In addition to the new car, Li Bin also announced the latest overseas plan, following the entry into the Norwegian market in 2021, WEIO will enter Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark in 2022, and will enter more than 25 countries and regions in 2025.

"Immerse yourself in work" - In a recent telephone interview with China Entrepreneur, Li Bin used these four words to summarize the status of the year to China Entrepreneur. Li Bin is still busy, and the interview was conducted on the way from the high-speed rail station to the company.

Now is the strategic investment period of Weilai.

On November 19, NIO announced that it had completed the issuance of American Depositary Shares (ADS) in the market, each share equivalent to one Class A ordinary share of the company. The offering, which sold a total of 53.29 million ADS, raised US$2 billion ( approximately RMB12.8 billion ) , net of approximately US$26 million in commissions and offering expenses , and the net proceeds will be used to further strengthen its balance sheet and general corporate use.

But at the same time, due to factory shutdowns, NOP assisted driving accidents, delivery fluctuations, seat design and other issues, questions around Weilai have also appeared from time to time.

For Li Bin, there are currently many uncertainties in the automotive industry, and there will be various problems in the company's development process, which need to be solved at the first time. The most important thing is to keep the rhythm.

Li Bin is a Go enthusiast, and the automobile is a strong planning industry, and you must think of three steps and take one step.

"In such an era, we still have to do our best and be loyal to our original intentions." Look farther, think about what the future will be like, and don't lose yourself because you can't represent the essence of things. Li Bin said.

Run and keep pace

Investment is the main theme of NIO this year.

Nio will launch three new cars next year, and starting in the second quarter of this year, NIO has increased its investment in research and development, sales and service networks, and charging and replacing facilities. Related to the pace of product development, NIO's R&D staff doubled this year, with R&D spending reaching $185 million in the third quarter, up 101.9% year-on-year and 35.0% month-on-month.

Li Bin said on the third quarterly report conference call, "In 2021, we will see our determination to invest, and we will increase investment in 2022." ”

The inflection point is approaching. Li Bin regards 2024 to 2025 as the next node, when the intelligent electric vehicle system capabilities need to be fully built, including full-stack technical capabilities, product capabilities, service system improvement and emotional experience to users. "Companies with this system capability will definitely run faster and faster." If something is missing at that time, it will definitely be a little harder, basically it will be difficult. Li Bin concluded in April.

To this end, Li Bin is leading Weilai to run at full speed.

If two years ago, the main pressure on Weilai came from funds, then this year, like other players in the automotive industry, the stability of the supply chain has become one of the biggest variables affecting Weilai's speed.

In March this year, Weilai Hefei Jianghuai Automobile Factory stopped production for five days due to chip shortages. In August, the epidemic in Nanjing and Malaysia affected some of NIO's single suppliers, and sales fell month-on-month.

In fact, NIO formed a mechanism to deal with this uncertainty earlier than other industry players. In 2019, because of financial problems, the team needed to ensure that suppliers would not run out of stock, and Weilai set up a separate "guarantee of supply" to deal with the situation that supply may be cut off at any time.

The supply chain, like research and development and user service, has become the focus of Li Bin's attention. Li Bin will participate in the discussion of the guarantee meeting every week, and once there is a high-risk point, he will visit his partners himself.

In the early days of Weilai's establishment, some investors commented that Li Bin "does not seem to be a technical expert", and now Li Bin is trying to take off this hat.

At present, 10 R& D departments of Weilai report directly to Li Bin, who said in the second quarterly report conference call that the team related to AD (Autonomous Driving, autonomous driving) has four vice president-level managers who report directly to themselves.

While responding to the challenges facing NIO, Li Bin is still expanding its investment territory. Bin Li is the managing partner of NIO Capital, which has invested in a number of companies around mobility reform and smart industries, including Momenta and Xiaoma Zhixing. Before NIO makes the final investment decision, Li Bin must communicate with the CEO of the invested company.

The invested company will also cooperate with NIO. On NIO Day, Li Bin specially introduced an exclusive AR glasses jointly developed by NREAL and NIO, which can project a visual distance of 6 meters and be used in ET5. Li Bin said that the next NIO Day may be able to wear it in his car to experience the live atmosphere.

"I see investing as a learning process, new companies have the latest technology, ideas, business models, and the team is young and has a lot of passion." Li Bin said.

Settle the big picture

In April this year, Niolai's 100,000th mass production car rolled off the production line at the Jacque Weilai factory, and Li Bin said that he had some waves in his heart, but there was not much fluctuation: "We have endured a lot of doubts. 3 years ago, everyone said that NIO did not have a factory and wanted to sell cars? Or to cooperate with Jianghuai, but also want to sell four or five hundred thousand, is not crazy? Together, we proved ourselves for more than 3 years. ”

With 100,000 production vehicles rolling off the production line, NIO has already gone through the first stage, but there are still many challenges on the road ahead.

During the Shanghai Auto Show in April, Qin Lihong, president of WEILAI, told the media such as China Entrepreneur that one of the challenges facing NIO this year is that the current automotive industry is standing at a crossroads, the technology wave superimposes the international situation, business model, and several major changes overlap together. "The pressure of strategic uncertainty has greatly 'destroyed' business leaders, and they don't know what the consequences will be, so they will all be studded."

"What's the biggest stud?"

"Change the battery, there is no one." Qin Lihong said.

According to China Entrepreneur, the construction of the Weilai replacement power station is accelerating. As of December 17, NIO has completed 732 substations, more than half of which were completed in the second half of this year. Next year, NIO plans to have more than 1,300 substations, 6,000 overcharge stations, and 10,000 destination charging piles. In addition to Weilai, the launch of the power exchange model is also BAIC New Energy, Geely Automobile, etc., and the high construction and operating costs and long profit cycle are also the main problems faced by this model. Weilai's losses in the second and third quarters of this year narrowed year-on-year, but they expanded month-on-month, which is related to accelerating investment in the construction and research and development of power stations this year.

Li Bin regards the power exchange mode as one of the keys to a good user experience. He often said to the team, "To calculate small accounts, but also to calculate large accounts, the replacement power station is a typical example of big accounts." ”

All along, Li Bin's attitude is to do a good job in user experience more than anything, as long as there is still a breath, to improve the user's experience. Especially after the test of life and death in 2019, Li Bin has always emphasized that it is the user who saved Weilai. In the fourth quarter of 2019, when the world questioned Weilai, Weilai delivered more than 8,000 vehicles, and Li Bin said that if there were less than 1,000 Weilai, it might not be able to pay wages and fall.

"A lot of people say that Weilai has a little over-service. What we do is what should be done, others are negative points, we have to do a little positive point, we feel that we have done too much. I'm going to rate myself, and I still fail. Li Bin believes that the infrastructure of Weilai's charging and replacing can be better laid, the construction of after-sales service centers should also be accelerated, and the improvement of services is "endless."

In such a culture, the relationship between Weilai and users is getting closer and closer, and sometimes it is also wrapped up in the behavior of some users. After the ES8 accident, 500 car owners issued a joint statement to "support" Weilai, and more than 10,000 users participated in the discussion of this topic. Users are placed in a more important position by the brand, and the greater the impact of their behavior on the brand.

Companies like Starbucks, Apple and Disney have inspired Li a lot. He often mentions Howard Schultz's autobiography, Infusing the Heart. "Putting the interests of employees, customers, and users together is called injecting the heart, which is to do it with the heart." Li Bin told China Entrepreneur.

However, Li Bin also admitted, "It is a more challenging thing to let everyone know you well." "While building a user enterprise, making Weilai's technical capabilities better known and recognized by the outside world is one of the directions of Li Bin's efforts."

New battlefield

"In the high-end market, we have not yet seen a brand that can fully compete with NIO. This includes products, service systems, technologies, overall user experience, and user communities. On the first quarter earnings call of this year, Li Bin said when asked about "competition".

But since the beginning of this year, the war in the high-end electric vehicle market has been fully opened. There are more and more high-end brands of independent car companies, and the sales figures of pure electric vehicles of BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi in China do not look so eye-catching, but they are also accelerating the transformation in an all-round way.

While increasing investment and widening the moat, WEILAI is also laying out new battlefields.

In September this year, Weilai's first overseas stop, Norway, began delivery, and Li Bin shared a data in a conference call in early November: In the Norwegian market, more than a quarter of users who have tested NIO will order cars, and all aspects of work have met expectations.

NIO has built a global team since its inception, and Li Bin has been learning how to build a global brand, but design and research and development are one thing, and it is a new challenge to truly provide services. How to adapt to different cultures, open up service processes, and overcome the impact of the epidemic requires Li Bin to give answers one by one.

At the same time, NIO will also enter the mass market next year through a new brand. Li Bin's goal is to "provide better products and services at a lower price than Tesla." ”

Li Bin approached Ai Tiecheng, general manager of WeWork Greater China, to take charge of the new brand. Ai Tiecheng has served as vice president of marketing at Shanghai Disney Resort, vice president of Greater China at InterContinental Hotels Group, and owner of the 107 owner of the NIO ES8. Li Bin told "Chinese Entrepreneurs" that Ai Tiecheng has entrepreneurial enthusiasm; has a heartfelt recognition of the concept of Weilai model and user enterprises; has strong management and coordination skills and can grasp the key points.

After Lei Jun announced the construction of the car, he also had some exchanges with Li Bin. Li Bin believes that "the automotive industry has its own laws, not any individual industry can simply be compared, not a winner-take-all industry." ”

At present, compared with competition, Li Bin is more willing to talk about R&D, user services, supply chain and other issues. In addition, in terms of organizational management, Li Bin said that Weilai has entered the stage of refined management, and with the increase of Weilai users, Weilai also has more data, which can be managed more according to data.

"If it was more about trust management before, at this time it's like students need exams, they have to come up with grades." Li Bin said.

Two years ago, on NIO Day, Li Bin said in an interview with the media, "Some people say that as soon as traditional car companies come in, we have no resistance." But Wei Lai was beaten to the ground, immediately got up, and when he was beaten again, he got up again", "We stood." A company with this tenacity is something to look forward to."

For the fifth NIO Day, Li Bin feels that users have higher expectations for them. How can we live up to user expectations? "To ensure the competitiveness of products and the leading position of technology." Li Bin said.