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2022/01/02
There are only a few brands that can really get rid of the "big factory" and even become the "big factory".
Reporter 丨 Cui Liwen
Responsible editor 丨 Yang Jing
Editor 丨Zhu Jinbin
The weekend stole a moment of leisure and relived the once favorite love movie "Chunjiao and Zhiming".
In the film, the most impressive bridge section is that after Yu Chunjiao and Zhang Zhiming separated, she desperately wanted to forget the latter, but in the end she suddenly found that she had become another Zhang Zhiming.
There is nothing more terrible in love than this. Even if two people choose to separate, it is determined that they can no longer live together as before, and they want to completely withdraw from each other's world, but in the day and night together, they have unconsciously been affected by each other, whether it is personality, hobbies or habits, they are contaminated with each other's shadow. And these changes may not even be aware of themselves.
"Desperately trying to get rid of you, but becoming another you." It's sad enough, it's ironic enough, and it's enough to make both sides unforgettable. And now, placing such a sentence in the new energy automobile industry, several new forces with high heat and rising voice are also inexplicably suitable.
However, they each choose to bid farewell to the object, more is the supplier giants who were once in a young stage and had to survive, especially in the smart cockpit and auxiliary driving sector. When the concept of "full-stack self-development" is mentioned all the time and is seen as the only good medicine for their own growth under the wave of electrification, similar phenomena are becoming more and more intense.
From the first Tesla, to the later Weilai, Xiaopeng, ideal, including Nezha, zero run, Weima, and then to more barbarians outside the door to build cross-border cars, get rid of the "big factory curse", out of their own characteristic development path, find the differentiated advantages that can survive, has become the trend.
For a few of the best, the other side of trying their best to break up is their ambition to become a "big factory". And this coincides with the love entanglement between Zhiming and Chunjiao at the beginning of the article, like an inevitable reincarnation.
Unwilling to be subject to others
To be fair, when the outlet and opportunities are constantly changing, with autonomous driving as the main business, especially technology companies that can provide chips and a full set of software and hardware solutions, are slowly becoming the most delicious "fragrant food" in the eyes of capital.
Next year, there is a high probability that an IPO worth more than $50 billion will be seen in the US stock market, and the protagonist is the Israeli self-driving giant Mobileye, which once dominated one side and mastered the "lifeblood" of many new forces in car manufacturing. It went public in 2014 and was subsequently acquired by Intel in 2017 and owns all of Mobileye.
After receiving Intel's endorsement, Mobileye's annual revenue rose nearly 3 times. In the latest third-quarter earnings report, Mobileye achieved a 39% year-on-year increase in revenue. In addition, compared with last year, Mobileye's revenue is expected to increase by more than 40% this year, and it has received more than 40 new project orders from more than 30 car companies around the world.
But behind the seemingly bright performance, Mobileye still has to face the continuous loss of its important customers. Recently, BMW chose to leave its camp and deeply bind Qualcomm, even if the performance parameters are still prominent, the latest autopilot chip Mobileye Q5 has been launched in the background.
Prior to this, from the Tesla Model S in 2014 using the Mobileye Q3 chip, to 2016 to 2017, the replacement of Nvidia DRIVE PX 2 and the upgraded version of the chip, and then to the comprehensive replacement of its self-developed FSD in 2019, it can be said that the new American force built a car, took the lead in completing the transformation from the supplier model to independent development, and completely got rid of the "big factory curse".
In contrast, although the process is slightly slower, NIO has also abandoned the use of self-driving chips provided by Mobileye in the upcoming latest model, and has invested in a more open and inclusive NVIDIA camp.
As for the root cause, it is still the working principle of the Mobileye Q4 chip used on the ES8, ES6 and EC6 at this stage, which is to continuously analyze the environment and give the driving area through the data transmitted back by the corresponding camera and radar, and the software required for the final decision is responsible for by Weilai itself.
At first glance, such an operation is not too much wrong, but it needs to be understood, perhaps in order to ensure the solidity of vital interests, the entire process of Mobileye chip processing data, in fact, the car company itself does not know, completely like a "black box", the degree of openness is extremely small. In other words, in the business logic of the latter, the massive data generated by the vehicle after the vehicle is turned on for assisted driving should belong to the supplier.
This in turn leads to the high cost of OEMs that want to add functions in specific scenarios. At the same time, in terms of updating iterations, most of the right to speak is also controlled by Mobileye.
Because of this, the ideal ONE that chose to use mobile Q4 chips on the old models has also switched to the horizon camp of domestic chip suppliers after the same redesign, and in the next new car "X01", it will use the same NVIDIA Orin chip as the Weilai ET7.
Obviously, "unwilling to be controlled by people" has become the key to the above-mentioned new forces building cars and deciding to "break up" with Mobileye. However, for the new domestic forces such as Weilai and Ideal, they still cannot get rid of the constraints of the supplier model in essence, and they must still face it.
Subsequently, in order to achieve a real "qualitative change" at the level of assisted driving, the self-developed chip has become beyond reproach. However, considering the actual situation, limited by the development cycle, corresponding funds, manpower and material resources, what needs to be done is still a few hands to prepare.
Trying to be a "big factory"
On the first weekend of December, as usual, Weilai President Qin Lihong chose to be located in Shanghai to communicate with some media face-to-face about the new force's car-making situation. When asked about the specific process of self-developed driver assistance chips, although he did not answer directly, he still said that as long as it is beneficial to the enterprise and the needs of users, he will spare no effort to do it. The implication is not negated.
As early as October 2020, it has been rumored that Li Bin may personally promote Wei's self-research driver assistance chip. According to people familiar with the matter, although the project has not yet been discussed by the board of directors, Li Bin's personal intentions have been very clear and he is thinking about the final organizational structure.
To be sure, in order to avoid the embarrassment of Huawei being "stuck in the neck" in the field of smartphones, and chasing Tesla with all its might, Weilai took the necessary step.
Judging from the news that continues to break out, the capital investment required for self-developed driver assistance chips can range from 1 billion yuan to 1 billion US dollars, depending on the degree of self-research. Due to the large investment, the specific matters of the project will be discussed at the 2021 annual budget meeting.
In fact, it is no secret that the software and hardware sector of Weilai's power to assist driving is trying to quickly make up for the shortcomings that are always criticized by the outside world and its own users.
In August last year, Ren Shaoqing, the former R&D director of Momenta, joined WEILAI as an assistant vice president, reporting directly to Li Bin. At the same time, Bai Jian, the former general manager of Xiaomi's chip and forward-looking research department, has also joined WEI TOIL as vice president of intelligent hardware.
During the Chengdu Auto Show, Li Bin also revealed to the outside world: "In the long run, ADAS is to improve capabilities around four aspects: chips, systems, algorithms and data, and we must now establish full-stack capabilities." In October this year, Hu Chengchen, former director of TheXilinx Asia Pacific Laboratory, was also recruited by Weilai.
The introduction of strong reinforcements, in addition to accelerating the process of self-developed chips, as Li Bin said, also exposed that Weilai wants to completely establish a closed loop of software and hardware capabilities for assisted driving like Tesla. In the end, it will become a "big factory" with full authority and leadership in all aspects.
With the same state of mind, when the resources in his hands became more and more abundant, Xiaopeng began the process of developing driver assistance chips in China and the United States. As for the ideal, I believe that as long as there are conditions, we will not miss such an opportunity to grasp the right to speak and take the initiative.
Of course, the self-developed driver assistance chip does not mean that the main engine factory and the supplier must be cut off immediately. In fact, the two technical routes do not conflict. Chip suppliers need road condition data to optimize their own chip design, and car companies need road condition data to optimize their own systems and algorithms, so both sides want more cars with driver assistance functions to drive on the road. This cooperation model, which can be called "win-win", is believed to be difficult to break in a short period of time.
In addition, it should be noted that car companies need to invest huge manpower, material resources and financial resources in self-developed auxiliary driving chips, which is understandable, and the benefits brought by it are also obvious. On the one hand, it can consolidate the brand loyalty of old users. On the one hand, attract more "hot money" from investors. On the way to trying to become a "big factory", there are always people who are desperate to move forward.
Helpless and unable to escape
I would like to ask, what is the fundamental purpose of the state to vigorously promote the pure electrification transformation of the new energy market? Get rid of the monopoly of the traditional fuel vehicle sector for a long time, with Germany and Japan as the representative of the monopoly of joint venture car companies, and achieve a real all-round anti-overtaking and counterattack, or the most profound answer.
At present, the concept of "overtaking in curves", which has been questioned and criticized, seems to be slowly landing and becoming a reality.
With this as a background, the text mentions that the fundamental reason for making every effort to get rid of the "big factory" and even become a "big factory" is to firmly grasp the lifeblood of survival in their own hands. In the era of the internal combustion engine, the so-called "three major pieces" engine, gearbox, and chassis have long been completely replaced by the three-electric system, intelligent cockpit, and auxiliary driving.
The criteria for judging the quality of a product have also changed dramatically. Therefore, in the new track, in the face of the innovation of rules and gameplay, the head echelon members who take Tesla, Weilai, Xiaopeng, Ideal and other brands as an example, in their strategic planning, the full-stack self-research of the above plates has been elevated to a very high position. Even if at some times, it is necessary to rely on the solutions provided by the supplier, the initiative to continue to develop in depth must be obtained.
In contrast, for the new forces in the second-tier echelon and slightly weaker to build cars, in the game with the "big factory", the right to speak is relatively weak, which has become a dilemma they have to face. When the resources currently possessed cannot support it to get rid of the "big factory", then the only thing that can be done is helpless compromise.
Landing on the product side, especially at the intelligent level, the increasingly serious "homogenization" has gradually become a sequelae of the above practice. At the same time, the lack of enough memorable "labels" is also constantly regurgitating the brand's image in the minds of consumers.
However, from the perspective of such as Mobileye, NVIDIA, Qualcomm and even Ningde, these so-called "big factories" to look at the entire industry, such a phenomenon may be willing to see. Indeed, with the wings of strong car companies such as Tesla, Weilai, Xiaopeng, and Ideal, getting rid of them and getting rid of shelter is inevitable sooner or later.
But in the process of "feeding back", the above-mentioned "big factories" have established enough prestige in the entire industry, and at the same time have many models that can be boasted. You know, the attractive prospects brought about by electrification will always attract more entrants, and this is precisely the new source of business.
Therefore, there are only a few brands that can really get rid of the "big factory" and even become the "big factory". Most car companies still can't escape the top players, and take the lead in formulating rules and regulations. "Desperately trying to get rid of you, but becoming another you." In their eyes, it has become a long-cherished wish that cannot be achieved.
This article is excerpted from the cover story of the November and December issues of Automobile Commune magazine
| Cui Liwen |
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