Range of more than 1,000 kilometers: Can AION LX Plus help the AEAN brand soar?

21st Century Business Herald reporter Song Doudou reported that the AION LX Plus, a medium-sized pure electric SUV under GAC Aean, was launched a few days ago, launching a total of four models, with a price range of 286,660-459,600 yuan after subsidies, and the starting price was 57,000 yuan higher than the previous AION LX starting price.

As a modified model, the new car has more changes in terms of intelligent configuration and endurance than the old model. In terms of intelligence, AION LX Plus is equipped with 35 intelligent hardware including 3 zoom lidar, 6 millimeter wave radars, 12 ultrasonic radars, etc., and with Huawei's 200TOPS intelligent driving calculation platform, it can realize the urban NDA pilot assistance function and achieve high-speed and urban full-scene coverage.

In terms of endurance, according to different configurations, the comprehensive working conditions of the new car have a cruising range of 600km, 650km and 1008km respectively. It is worth mentioning that the AION LX Plus top model is equipped with sponge silicon anode chip battery technology, and the CLTC comprehensive working range reaches 1008km, but the price is also as high as 459,600 yuan.

To a certain extent, the longer endurance of electric vehicles is indeed an important reason for attracting consumers to buy. This has also stimulated car companies to further pursue longer mileage, thereby further enhancing product competitiveness and brand power. In addition to GAC Aean, Weilai and SAIC Zhiji have previously announced that they will launch pure electric vehicles with a range of more than 1,000 kilometers, and the high mileage arms race has been staged.

It is worth noting that both Weilai and SAIC Zhiji will position themselves as high-end electric vehicles, so the sales price of their models is higher, and to a certain extent, they can bear the cost increase under the leap in battery technology. However, the price of GAC Aeon's products is mainly concentrated in about 100,000 yuan, and its sensitivity to cost is high. In addition, there are also views that behind the release of this technology that is currently difficult to promote, one of the important purposes is to increase valuations.

Some insiders said that although a thousand kilometers of endurance is not the main goal to be pursued, the energy demand for electric vehicles will definitely rise. For example, the problem of shrinking the mileage in the low temperature in winter is actually an energy problem, and if there is a long-lasting car, the discount is not afraid. But more importantly, it is to improve the technical level of vehicle integration, that is, the energy-saving level of electric vehicles.

In fact, GAC Aeon, which has been independent for more than a year, has now become the mainstay of the autonomous sector of GAC Group. Recently, GAC Group released the 2021 production and sales express, from January to December 2021, GAC Group's cumulative sales volume was 2,144,387 units, an increase of 4.92% year-on-year, of which GAC Aean New Energy sales in January-December were 120,200 units, an increase of 101.8% year-on-year, and achieved the annual sales target one month ahead of schedule. However, the main support for GAC Aean's sales is the AION S and AION Y, two power models, which are priced at 150,000 and 100,000 respectively.

The AION LX Plus released this time aims at the price range of 28.66-45.96 million, which is a high-end pure electricity market that is particularly competitive at present, and will compete head-on with Weilai, Xiaopeng, Tesla, AndKr. To what extent will AION LX Plus help the Aeon brand soar? Time and market tests.

Ping An Securities believes that as the subsidy for new energy vehicles continues to decline in 2022 and the growth rate of some dominant model markets slows down, the pattern of the new energy vehicle market will change next year. In 2022, independent brands and new car-making forces will launch more high-quality high-end models, further enriching the user's choice range, coupled with the "intelligent" label blessing, the traditional high-end fuel vehicle market will be more impacted, it is expected that the high-end new energy vehicle market will maintain a high growth rate in 2022, and the market will evolve from "dumbbell type" to traditional "spindle shape".