From December 8 to 10, the Central Economic Work Conference was held, which summarized the economic work in 2021, analyzed the current economic situation, and anchored the direction for the next step of China's economy.
Where are the opportunities and variables for the future of China's economy? How to "stabilize" and "advance", how to "break" and "stand"? Regarding 2022, many answers are waiting to be revealed.
At the end of the year and the beginning of the year, the Beijing News Shell Finance launched "Look 2022", we talked to 16 experts in various fields, around the keywords of the Central Economic Work Conference, talk about their views and judgments on china's economy.
It has always been regarded as an important part of helping to "reach carbon peak carbon neutrality", and new energy vehicles have achieved considerable results in 2021. From January to November 2021, the production and sales of the new energy vehicle industry reached 3.023 million units and 2.990 million units, respectively, an increase of 1.7 times year-on-year, and the market penetration rate reached 12.7%. At the same time, the carbon neutrality of the whole life cycle of new energy vehicles from production to recycling has also been concerned by all walks of life.
As an automobile company, how to better contribute to the "carbon peak" and "carbon neutrality" strategy? What is the development momentum of the new energy automobile industry? What are the possibilities for the future of smart cars? Around these problems, the Beijing News Shell financial reporter interviewed He Xiaopeng, the founder of Xiaopeng Automobile.
In He Xiaopeng's view, in addition to the zero carbon emissions of electric vehicles themselves, the production end and the energy supplement are the driving force points for enterprises to help the "carbon peak" and "carbon neutrality" strategies. At the production end, enterprises can try to use photovoltaic power generation and clean energy for daily production and operation; in the future manufacturing process, the use of environmentally friendly materials and product planning, they can also try to use a more low-carbon and environmentally friendly way; in addition, in terms of energy replenishment, enterprises can also accelerate the use of new energy vehicles by promoting the construction of charging stations, thereby reducing carbon emissions caused by the use of fuel vehicles. There are many forms of corporate ends that can support "carbon peaking" and "carbon neutrality" strategies.
"It is expected that the supply chain problem will take more than half a year to be solved."
Beijing News Shell Finance: This year, the development of new energy vehicles has made rapid progress, and the penetration rate has increased significantly. How do you see the development of new energy vehicles this year?
He Xiaopeng: 2021 is the year of the rise of new energy vehicles, sweeping away the haze of two years ago, which is the overall industry getting better. And there are more and more products appearing, for the consumer market, there are more choices than before, there is an increase in penetration. At the same time, this is also the year of the collective rise of new car-making forces. Since the beginning of this year, some new car-making forces, including us, have increased significantly in terms of delivery volume year-on-year, which also means that some of the head brand of new car-making forces have gradually been recognized by the market, and the whole has entered a new stage.
Beijing News Shell Finance: What kind of strategy and layout does Xiaopeng Automobile have in response to the strategy of "carbon peaking and carbon neutrality"?
He Xiaopeng: Xiaopeng Automobile has been actively implementing the "carbon peak" and "carbon neutrality" strategies, and has rapidly carried out relevant actions in production and manufacturing, product planning and operation. In November this year, we are located in Zhaoqing Dawang Xiaopeng Automobile intelligent manufacturing base photovoltaic power generation line, the use of clean energy can provide about 30% of the daily production and operation of electricity, at the same time, in the future manufacturing process, the use of environmentally friendly materials and product planning, Xiaopeng also continues to try to achieve this goal in a more environmentally friendly and low-carbon way. In addition, the self-built brand supercharge station is also what Xiaopeng Automobile has been doing, which can popularize the use of new energy vehicles more quickly and reduce carbon emissions caused by the use of fuel vehicles.
Beijing News Shell Finance: Since the end of last year, the automotive industry chain is facing problems such as soaring raw material prices and chip shortages, how long do you expect the lack of cores and the soaring prices of raw materials to last?
He Xiaopeng: The problem of chip shortage in 2021 is a challenge that the entire industry must deal with. These supply chain issues are expected to take more than half a year to resolve.
"2023-2025 could be a key node for smart cars"
Beijing News Shell Finance: The industry believes that next year (2022) will be a watershed in the new energy automobile industry, do you agree with this? Why?
He Xiaopeng: In 2022, there will be more new smart car products on the market, which does further exacerbate the existing industry competition, on the other hand, this also means that this track is becoming more and more dynamic. I think 2023-2025 may be the key node of the entire intelligent automotive industry, on the one hand, the technology companies that announced the entry into the car this year have the first generation of products, and the new car-making forces like Xiaopeng have launched their own third-generation or even fourth-generation products, on the other hand, the entire process of automobile intelligence has entered the intermediate stage, and products with a more humane intelligent experience will be favored by the market, which is also the time node that I have been talking about from the Spring and Autumn to the Warring States before: the new car 2.0 stage.
Beijing News Shell Finance: Now that the position of autonomous driving companies and technology companies in the automotive field is becoming more and more important, and the status of OEMs and suppliers has gradually changed, how do you view the relationship between enterprises in the automotive industry in the future?
He Xiaopeng: In my opinion, on the intelligent car track, competitive companies will eventually become their own Tier 1 in intelligence, in order to form their own differentiated moat. Like Xiaopeng Motors, we have established a full-stack self-development model since the beginning of our inception, if we want to do a good job in software, we must need to do our own hardware, ensure the integration of software and hardware, and completely open up the closed loop at the data and operational levels, which is an essential foundation for a future technology travel company.
Beijing News Shell Finance: Recently, the commercialization of autonomous driving landed for the first time in Beijing, and the market is very concerned about the prospects of Robo-taxi. Now, you also announced that Xiaopeng Motors plans to deploy Robo-taxi in the second half of 2022, why did you propose this strategy?
He Xiaopeng: Robo-taxi can make Xiaopeng's car run more on the road, better collect road conditions and scene data, and feedback to assist us in improving and developing at the intelligent (intelligent cockpit & intelligent assisted driving) level.
Beijing News Shell Finance: At present, some listed new car-making companies are still in a state of loss, when do you expect Xiaopeng Automobile to achieve profitability?
He Xiaopeng: Xiaopeng's current loss is mainly due to our large investment in research and development, store outlets and charging infrastructure construction and brand, 2021 is the brand of Xiaopeng Automobile, we have renewed the brand, and taken a key step towards brand internationalization. Xiaopeng has always positioned itself as a global technology manufacturing enterprise, and the existing investment is to lay a solid foundation for the overall development of the enterprise after that.
"In the face of the electrification of international auto giants, independent brands are first of all quality assurance"
Beijing News Shell Finance: Since the beginning of this year, international auto giants such as BBA have increased their investment and strategic layout in new energy vehicles, what opportunities and challenges will new car-making forces and independent brands face?
He Xiaopeng: New car-making forces and independent brands in the face of the electrification of international auto giants, first of all to ensure the high quality of products, I believe that we have our own advantages in new energy technology, but how to make their cars more trusted by consumers in quality, is the first thing that every entrant on this track must realize; secondly, at the brand level, it is necessary to deepen the effective link with consumers and enhance their brand value, although we have exchanged technology through the market, Let the automobile products have been popularized to a certain extent, but also produced a lot of independent brands, but in the eyes of consumers, independent brands seem to be worse than joint venture brands and imported brands. Today is different, consumers in the new era have a new concept of consumption and brand, I believe that in terms of brand value, whether it is a new force, or an independent brand, everyone will have a new cognition.
Beijing News Shell Finance: Since October this year, Xiaopeng's monthly sales have grown rapidly and exceeded 10,000 for many consecutive months, and the traditional "Wei Xiaoli" has changed into "Xiao Weili", in this regard, do you have confidence in Xiaopeng's long-term sales lead? How do you see this change?
He Xiaopeng: Car building is a long-distance run, will not be because of a temporary lead will also remain ahead in the last line, but I believe that Xiaopeng has such a potential to maintain the existing position: first, we are mainly focusing on the high-end market, in the smart electric vehicle, Xiaopeng currently seems to have occupied a certain brand and product recognition; second, we have a rich product matrix and leading intelligent self-research technology, which help Xiaopeng Automobile achieve differentiation and richness in product experience.
Beijing News Shell Finance: You and Li Bin and Li Xiang are friends and peers, you have also spent a difficult 2019 together, how to evaluate their significance to you and Xiaopeng Motors?
He Xiaopeng: Whether it is Weilai and Li Bin, ideal or Li Xiang, we are all insisting on the same goal, stationed in the same camp, and constantly making the smart car cake bigger through our own strength.
Everyone doesn't want the industry to be looked down upon, just like in 2019: the more downturn there is, the more you need to cheer each other up and cheer each other up. I hope that Weilai and Ideal do a good job, so that Xiaopeng will develop faster and better on this track.
Beijing News Shell Finance: You revealed in the CCTV "Dialogue" column that "Lei Jun made cars that you instigated", why did you encourage Lei Jun to build cars? Are you worried that Xiaomi cars will become a formidable rival in the future? Now that the window period for technology companies to build cars is also narrowing, how big is the opportunity for Lei Jun to build cars?
He Xiaopeng: 2024 is the final window period for this round of car-making, after which the competition will enter a white-hot situation. I believe in Xiaomi's understanding of car intelligence, and I also believe that Lei Jun can come up with enough excellent products to enter this arena. On the track of smart cars, there is a good brother who becomes a friend, jointly develops the future territory of smart cars, and makes progress together, in fact, I am still looking forward to it.
Written | Beijing News shell financial reporter Bai Haotian
Edited by | Chen Li
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