According to data from the China Automobile Association, in the first 11 months of this year, china's new energy vehicle sales reached 2.99 million, an increase of 1.7 times year-on-year. There are currently about 200 electric vehicle companies in the market, of which 150 have been incorporated in the past three years. When most of the new car-making forces are targeting the C-end market, some new players have taken a fancy to the B-end market such as taxis, online ride-hailing cars, and rental cars.
In December 2021, Box Auto held its first brand launch in Beijing, and its BM-400 and BM-600 models were unveiled. The former mainly focuses on the chauffeur-drive, e-hailing and taxi markets and is scheduled to be listed in the fourth quarter of 2023; the latter is expected to be mass-produced and listed in the third quarter of 2024, targeting the mid-to-high-end rental market. Both products use MPV configuration and have a cruising range of 420 km to 600 km. This car company is not small, the goal is to "become the king of the B-end track" and "do the Tesla of the B-end track".
First of all, a brief introduction, Box Car has been established for eight years, is a collection of enterprise training, automobile research and development, platform development, sales and operation in one of the integrated platform technology company. Its predecessor, "Beijing Broad & Bright Apocalypse Industrial Equipment Co., Ltd.", has provided design and development of complete vehicles and parts for China FAW R&D Institute, China FAW Besturn Research Institute, FAW-Volkswagen, BAIC Group, Jianghuai Automobile and other enterprises.
The two founders, Zhang Shuguang and Wang Zhe, both have deep industry backgrounds, the former has been deeply engaged in the automotive field for nearly 20 years and has served Beijing Hyundai, and the latter has more than 100 national invention and utility model patents. In addition, the company also has hundreds of professional automotive design engineers at home and abroad.
After some market research, Zhang Shuguang found that many car companies did not pay attention to the needs of the B-end market and the changes in demand in recent years. Taxis and ride-hailing cars have a huge market in China, but they are no different from ordinary passenger cars. When leasing or travel companies purchase products, for cost considerations, the vast majority of them use low-end or reduced-end family cars for C-end. The car needs of different groups of people and different scenes are obviously different, which leads to many pain points, including luggage, pet placement inconvenience, travel obstacles for special groups, high vacancy rate of co-pilots, lack of entertainment experience and diversified services.
The box car takes this as the starting point, from product positioning, interior layout to vehicle additional attributes and business models. The core point is the "sales space", the first "1 + 1 + 3" three-row 5-seat seat layout, the abolition of the co-pilot seat and the rear seat, the overall seat layout is L-shaped, the space is handed over to the passengers.
In this way, not only ordinary large luggage, but also wheelchairs and pets can be easily placed in the box car, and beds can be set up for the driver to take a nap. It can also load vending machines, massage seats, car KTV and other services to open up a more flexible profit model for the operation side.
According to the data, the total number of active cruise taxis in the country has reached 1.38 million, and the number of online ride-hailing cars is even greater, and the B-end business of box cars seems to be a correct choice. As of December 10, the BM-400 had received orders for 42,000 units from multiple mobility operators, "completely without competitors."
Of course, this is only an intention order, and does not mean that it can eventually be completely converted into sales. Some industry insiders pointed out that the brands in the All in B-end market are still a minority, and whether the innovation of box cars can withstand the test of drivers and passengers remains to be further observed. In November last year, BYD and Didi Chuxing jointly launched the D1, a customized model for online ride-hailing, many of which are designed for the "just needs" of passengers. However, after handing over 5,000 vehicles in the first quarter of this year, sales gradually declined, accumulating only more than 8,000 vehicles from January to October.