Written by / Baohua Liu, Windsor
Editor/ Zhang Nan
Design / Shi Yuchao
When the heavens and the earth work together, the heroes are not free.
In 2021, China's annual sales of new energy vehicles exceeded 3.5 million units, an increase of nearly 160% year-on-year, and the market penetration rate increased to 13.4%. The China Automobile Association expects that the sales volume of new energy vehicles in China will reach 5 million units in 2022, an increase of 42% year-on-year, and the market penetration rate is expected to exceed 18%.
The opportunities that are in sight are all in 2022, and there are still new entrants, and those who enter the bureau are accelerating. In the second week of the new year, after the year-end summary and the mobilization meeting at the beginning of the year, the various car-building corps were eager to move, and some boots that had been hanging for a while finally landed.
The CEO of the automobile trading service platform Tuanche made his debut, saying that he had gathered an external team of more than 100 people and could do almost everything; Yu Liguo, who had been rumored to join Xiaomi Automobile since September last year, finally officially announced the vice president; Evergrande Group's signboard was demolished, but the house had to be built, and the car had to be built; the Bank, which could not build a car, became a car supplier, ready to start from making chips and becoming China's Bosch; after the debut of the brand last year, the first product of youjia was unveiled from the youjia NV...
Newcomers come with dreams, mixed with the restlessness of the Spring Festival holiday, and 2022 has begun.
The CEO of Tuanche talked about building cars for the first time,
Nuclear weapons are mysterious teams
"Most of the new car-making forces are racking their brains to find a weapon to take advantage of, and we are racking our brains in the arsenal."
On January 14, Wen Wei, CEO of Tuanche, was interviewed by a small range of media at the company's Headquarters in Beijing. Nine days ago, the car trading service platform announced the construction of cars and joined the army of new car manufacturers.
The interview mainly answered the basic questions such as why the group car should build a car, how to build a car and what car to build, some questions are not clearly answered, one is because the group car is a U.S. stock listed company has many restrictions, and the second is that the group car has been from having the idea of building a car to officially announcing the car in less than half a year, many questions "have not been thought out." The core content revealed by Wen Wei is as follows.
Why build a car? In addition to the commonality of industry opportunities, the biggest driving force for Tuanche to decide to build a car came from an external team of more than 100 people. Wen Wei introduced that this team can undertake product planning, modeling design, engineering development, testing, chassis, three electricity, intelligent driving, intelligent cockpit, systematic integration program, production support, supplier management of almost all car manufacturing processes, with more than 20 years of experience in car manufacturing, in the technology, sample cars have precipitation.
"This team can make cars with more than 20 million yuan, and can also do cars with less than 50,000 yuan, including commercial vehicles and logistics vehicles."
"The international manufacturers of the fuel vehicle era of the car manufacturing cycle are 48 months, the domestic manufacturers have done 36 months, and our current team can do 18-24 months."
"The technical route prefers pure electricity, and the choice is relatively large. This team has done solar energy, hydrogen energy. ”
"It doesn't matter if our first car fails, we can make another one in 3 months."
In Wen Wei's description, this team is almost omnipotent, and is with semi-finished models to come, the first car will be selected from these semi-finished models, "the first car using mature programs, mature technology, mature suppliers, the product itself quality, quality control is completely mature and controllable", priced at 100,000 yuan - 200,000 yuan range, 2022 golden nine silver ten can be pre-sold.
After the model may be newly developed, the next 3 years to produce 2 cars, the face of the crowd is likely to be different.
Tuanche mainly relies on this team, and Tuanche is responsible for product positioning, marketing, and channel network. Simply put, one party is responsible for building cars, one party is responsible for selling cars, and the reason why the two sides can come together is also "they have a reverence for selling cars, and we have a reverence for car building."
Wen Wei is very confident in this team - "I think there is at least a 50% chance of winning." Wen Wei said that he would be in the car in the future.
Regarding the funds, Wen Wei said that tuanche itself is a U.S. listed company, and there are many investors who are very interested at present, and the desire of local governments for car-making projects can also become one of the solutions, and "the funds used for the mass production of a car are one of the few points of the new forces of car-making." Niu Chuang got $500 million, and we could be 1/10 of him. ”
Regarding product positioning, Tuanche should do differentiation, hoping to make a brand and model that is completely absent now. But how to differentiate has not yet been thought out. Brand positioning and brand concept have not yet been determined, because these are related to the target market, and the target market of the brand has not yet been determined.
Regarding whether there is still a time window for car manufacturing in 2022, Wen Wei said that if the market capacity is 5 million units, it will be crowded, and if it is 20 million or 30 million units, there will be opportunities. The differentiation of electric vehicles and new operating models, business models, profit models still have room, and new formats such as software subscriptions will emerge, "You don't have to worry about track crowding, there will be segmentation, the next 2 years is the last window period for my understanding." ”
Therefore, he disagrees with the judgment that smart electric vehicles will only survive in the future, "The car is unlikely to copy the logic of the mobile phone from the perspective of shape and function, from multiple dimensions." Mobile phone is a two-dimensional thing, now young users buy things that is justice, mobile phones have no differentiated space, three-dimensional space is not the same, clothing is exhausted? Nothing. In such a large and complex market in China, the cultural differences and preferences of the crowd will naturally cause a lot of preferences. There is too much room for differentiation in the car. ”
Wen Wei said that it has only been a few months since he decided to build a car, and what he thinks most about is the definition of the product and the choice of the target group.
"From what we know about our users, there are better ways to meet them, and most brands now deserve to redo it."
Mass production is the first threshold, the other is how to define the second and third cars in the future, to be redefined, how to define the law, this is more worrying.
Officially announced that he was appointed vice president of Xiaomi Automobile,
"Rice noodles" began the road to car building in Liguo
On January 14, Xiaomi announced that it has appointed Yu Liguo as vice president of Xiaomi Automobile and political commissar of Xiaomi Automobile Beijing Headquarters, responsible for coordinating the comprehensive management of Xiaomi Automobile, the promotion of special business, and the organization and talent construction of Xiaomi Automobile Beijing Headquarters.
In September 2021, it was reported that Yu Liguo joined Xiaomi, and now it has finally been officially confirmed. Yu Liguo, who holds a doctorate degree in engineering from Beijing Institute of Technology, was the director of the Strategic Planning Department of BAIC Group, presided over the "13th Five-Year Plan" strategic planning of BAIC Group, served as the deputy general manager of BAIC BJEV, and also served as the chairman of Blue Valley Smart Energy Company and the president of ARCFOX Business Unit.
During his time in BAIC, Yu Liguo led the preliminary planning of the high-end brand ARCFOX Polar Fox, experienced the brand from scratch, established the development route of the early left hand Huawei, right hand Magna, and had ideas and practices in car building.
In March 2020, when the ARCFOX Extreme Fox brand was reborn, Yu Liguo was interviewed by Dr. Jia Ke, editor-in-chief of Automotive Business Review, during which Xiaomi was mentioned many times, just like "rice noodles".
"At that time, the earliest Internet TV was Changhong, which actually did a good job, but I was worried that the impact of this matter on the traditional business was relatively large, so I did not dare to invest in it, but Xiaomi was not afraid and threw itself into it." I have bought three Xiaomi TVs myself, and when I buy a TV now, I don't think of Hisense, Changhong, or Xiaomi. Yu Liguo said at the time, "Xiaomi's president of China told me before that when new species come, it is an opportunity for new brands." ”
When Dr. Jaco asked Yu Liguo's expectations for arcfox extreme fox, he did not give a specific number in the face, but told the story of Xiaomi and Lei Jun.
"When the first generation of millet was listed, others asked Lei Jun how much he wanted to sell, and he said that sales are the result of your efforts, setting a goal for you. But there is no heart. Lei Jun's goal at that time was 700,000, and as a result, the sales volume of the first generation of millet reached 7.8 million. Yu Liguo gave an open-ended answer, "You said I have some ideas in my heart, of course I have." ”
It can be seen that before joining Xiaomi, Yu Liguo has deeply identified with Xiaomi's products and corporate culture.
"I've always felt like a start-up in my bones... My style is not very similar to that of the state-owned car companies, not like the car factories, I am very friendly with the people on the Internet, and I like their culture. Yu Liguo said. Looking at the original interview now, it is touching that everything has a definite number.
In March 2021, Xiaomi officially announced the construction of the car, xiaomi founder Lei Jun once said: "This is the last major entrepreneurial project in my life. I am willing to bet on the entire reputation of my life, personally lead the team, and fight for xiaomi cars." But there has been little sound since then.
Probably because xiaomi is too slow to build a car, the anxious rice noodles personally designed the car, and the rice noodles who call themselves "@ director Xiao Li" opened their minds to design and "released" the millet car in advance in 2021. Yu Liguo's official appointment means that Xiaomi Cars are proceeding in an orderly manner, and as for the mysterious products, perhaps they can be glimpsed from his past remarks.
"I myself am doing product planning, seeing more cars, I see that Chinese brands want to succeed is three ways, the first is the technology is particularly cattle, like Huawei mobile phones, to grab apple's market." The second is the cost-effective route, buy millet is not wrong. Otherwise, there is a strong cultural endorsement, like the Red Flag, like the Forbidden City, Chinese brands want to succeed, it is nothing more than three roads. Yu Liguo said in an interview with Automotive Business Review.
In a forum, Yu Liguo once delivered a speech, he believes that the development and management of a brand, the essence is the same, the key is in three points: willing to consistently stand in the user's position to think about how to serve. Whether you dare to change your life and keep the technology constantly updated. Whether it can consistently provide consumers with high-quality products.
A user-centric, high-quality, high-priced product that appears in the form of technological revolution may be the initial positioning of Xiaomi Car.
The first mass-produced car Hengchi 5 off the production line, Evergrande self-help trilogy
Here it comes, it's finally here!
On January 12, Evergrande Automobile brand Hengchi announced on the official Weibo that Hengchi's first car rolled off the production line at the Tianjin plant 12 days earlier than originally planned, and Hengchi Automobile ushered in a major milestone moment.
In order to prove that what is said is not false, the official micro also uploaded a video that is one minute long. Accompanied by festive and magnificent music, the royal blue Hengchi 5 shows the process of stamping, welding, painting and final assembly. The dynamic effect is really realistic, netizens leave a message stamp, this time it does not look like PPT to build a car.
As the first model launched by Evergrande Automobile, Hengchi 5 is positioned as a pure electric A-class SUV, with a length, width and height dimensions of 4725mm, 1925mm, 1688mm, and wheelbase of 2780mm. The peak power of the motor is 150W, the maximum speed is 180k/h, and the NEDC cruising range will exceed 700km using lithium iron phosphate batteries.
The expected price of Hengchi 5 is 150,000-200,000 yuan, which is the lowest positioning and cheapest of Hengchi Automobile's 9 models, and it is benchmarked against Audi Q3, BMW X1 and other models.
On October 22, 2021, Xu Jiayin, chairman of the board of directors of Evergrande Group, announced evergrande's three strategic decisions to resolve risks and save itself at the special meeting for Evergrande Group to resume work and production, one is to unswervingly and go all out to achieve the resumption of work and production and delivery of buildings; the second is to fully implement the sales of existing buildings and significantly reduce the scale of real estate development and construction; and the third is to realize the transformation from real estate industry to new energy automobile industry within 10 years.
It has been reported that at the beginning of 2022, Evergrande's headquarters, which was once located in Shenzhen Bay, was demolished from the "Evergrande Group" signboard on the roof, leaving only the Logo. But now, everything is proceeding step by step, and the downline of Hengchi 5 shows that Hengchi cars are already on the road.
On January 1, 2022, Xu Jiayin said in his New Year's speech to all employees of Evergrande that the company's national project resumption rate has reached 91.7%, and the cumulative number of buildings handed over in 2021 has exceeded 53,000 units. Xu Jiayin said that he would never give up, unswervingly carry out the bao handover to the end, resume sales, resume operations, and pay off debts in all aspects.
Anecdotal rumors say that real estate is hedged with the car market. When the real estate is sluggish, the car is bought well, I don't know whether it is true or false, but seeing that the property market is not satisfactory, Evergrande's heart to enter the automobile market is particularly firm.
There are also some uncertainties. On January 13, Volkswagen China said that due to the impact of the current round of new crown pneumonia in Tianjin, the Volkswagen automatic transmission (Tianjin) plant and the FAW-Volkswagen Tianjin plant have been closed. FAW Toyota also confirmed that its factory in Tianjin has also suspended production due to the impact of nucleic acid testing of all employees in the previous two days.
I don't know, for Hengchi Automobile, which has just improved, the epidemic will not be worse.
Priced at 1799 yuan, Extreme Krypton jointly sells liquor with Wuliangye
After Tesla, another car company began to sell alcohol.
On January 12, the official WeChat public account of Extreme Kr Automobile released a message that the company and Wuliangye jointly launched a joint bottle of liquor "Extreme Krypton · Tribute", priced at 1799 yuan / bottle. The liquor was sold online on the Krypton APP on the same day, and there was a limited sale of 100 bottles before the Spring Festival, and each user ID was limited to 1 bottle.
The joint model is because the bottle is full of extreme krypton elements: the shape of the bottle cap draws on the design elements of the extreme krypton 001 central control electronic gear, and the adduct double swan neck curve at the bottom of the bottle cap refers to the body line of the extreme krypton 001.
The poster of Extreme Kr also outlines a beautiful artistic conception: "When Extreme Krypton meets Wuliangye, it is every precipitation and brewing before the dawn, every fermentation and appreciation on the road of life, and every attempt and imagination to go to the future." Taste into the wine, wine is raw and tasteful, see the wine as a meeting. ”
As a user-oriented enterprise, Extreme Krypton to create peripheral products is a smooth chapter of things, as early as the establishment of the brand, Extreme Kr announced the creation of Extreme Kr Universe. Through the construction of a new brand direct sales system, self-built full-scenario energy system, and the launch of multiple innovative measures including online communities, subscription travel, OTA malls, and extreme life, we will meet the diverse needs of zero generation users.
The joint liquor is from the extreme kryptonite team, the design manager is Sang Jiaxi, he believes that the tone of this liquor coincides with the owner of the extreme kryptonian car, because the 90s, 95 gradually replaced the 70s, 80s to become the main force of the liquor market, and the automobile market is experiencing the same situation, and the liquor with high appearance and good taste can capture the hearts of young people.
The slogan of the poster directly tells about this concept, "with the alcohol of Wuliangye and the burning of extreme krypton, it tells the attitude of Generation Z young people to life, the pursuit of ideals, and the perception of life." ”
In short, everything is to meet the needs of users.
However, since its listing, Extreme Kr has been tortuous, and the relationship with users is really not harmonious, which may be the price of fast. From the official release of the brand on April 15, 2021, to the official delivery of the first model on October 23, 2022 days, Extreme Kr has compressed the cycle from release to delivery of the new car brand to no shorter.
Yang Xueliang, senior vice president of Geely Holding Group and CMO of Extreme Kr Intelligent Technology, summed it up as a change in users and changes in the times, "The habits of user communication have changed, and the original users may not express their opinions directly, but now in this era, everyone will express their opinions directly, and hope to be able to get the first time reply from manufacturers." ”
"In fact, some problems are not necessarily very big, but users may care more about the attitude of the manufacturer and your value proposition." In the future, consumers like a brand or consume a product, not only focusing on product performance and technological leadership, but also to see whether the experience and value proposition they can provide meet their needs. ”
Find problems, solve problems, through a series of brand peripheral products to close the relationship with users, into the user's life, let the brand become a friend in the user's life, by the way pulled a wave of publicity, a double eagle with one stone seems to be a good choice, but this is only a small part of the development of the enterprise,
The transformation of traditional car companies into user-oriented organizations and direct operation models is a big proposition, And Extreme Krypton has chosen this road and believes that this road is correct, which means that there is still a long way to go next, "For example, where should the boundary between and users be defined?" I think it's a dynamic process that everyone is constantly exploring. Yang Xueliang said that in the spirit of waiting for no time to wait, Ji Kr grew while learning.
Finally, before the festival, warm tips: drive without drinking, drink alcohol without driving; the driver has a drop of wine, and the relatives have two lines of tears.
More than a dozen car companies collectively increased prices,
The landlord's family had no surplus grain
After peanut melon seeds and soy sauce milk tea, automobile manufacturers are finally overwhelmed. At the end of the year and the beginning of the year, there was a wave of price increases.
On January 11, Xiaopeng Automobile announced the latest subsidized prices for all models. Among them, the Xiaopeng flagship sedan P7 series rose by 4300-5900 yuan, and the price after the latest subsidy was 224,200-409,900 yuan; the new P5 series rose by 4800-5400 yuan, and the price after the latest subsidy was 162,700-229,300 yuan; the SUV model G3i rose by 4800-5400 yuan, and the price after the latest subsidy was 154,600-193,200 yuan.
The direct cause of this wave of price increases is the decline in subsidies. On December 31, 2021, the Ministry of Finance and other four ministries and commissions issued the Notice on the Financial Subsidy Policy for the Promotion and Application of New Energy Vehicles in 2022, which clarified that the subsidy standard for new energy vehicles in 2022 will be reduced by 30% on the basis of 2021.
According to the latest subsidy plan, from January 1, 2022, there will be no subsidy for pure electric passenger cars with a mileage of less than 300 kilometers; a subsidy of 0.91 million yuan for pure electric vehicle models with a cruising range of 300 kilometers (inclusive) to 400 kilometers, a decrease of 3,900 yuan compared with 2021; a subsidy of 12,600 yuan for pure electric vehicle models with a cruising range of 400 kilometers, a decrease of 5,400 yuan compared with 2021; in addition, a subsidy of 4,800 yuan for plug-in hybrid models, a decrease of 2,000 yuan compared with before.
Soochow Automobile Huang Xioli team announced a car price increase list, FAW-Volkswagen, Nezha, Tesla, zero run and other enterprises of new energy models are impressively listed, basically the price increase is less than or about equal to the national subsidy price, that is to say, part of the cost transferred to the car price.
There are still some companies that have actually raised their selling prices. Tesla's domestic Model 3 and Model Y rear-wheel drive versions are priced at 265,700 yuan and 301,800 yuan, respectively, up 10,000 yuan and 21,000 yuan, respectively; GAC Aion S Plus rose by 7,200 yuan; zero-run T03 rose by 8,100 yuan to 9,100 yuan depending on the model; extreme krypton ZEEKRE 001 YOU version and WE version of the air suspension configuration rose by 8,000 yuan, both higher than the national replenishment slope.
In 2021, China's new energy vehicles have shown vigorous vitality, is shifting from policy-driven to market-driven, subsidies in addition to the decline, chip shortage, supply chain price increases have also affected car prices, new car delivery pressure increased, terminal price increases there is a direct relationship between the rise.
Price increases may only be temporary, most of the traditional consumer goods are necessities of life, basically irreplaceable, cars as an improvement in consumption, price increases will allow everyone to choose other car brands.
In 2022, the number of new entrants will increase, the market will continue to grow, the association originally expected new energy passenger car sales in 2022 to be 4.8 million, but has now adjusted the expectation to more than 5.5 million, the penetration rate reached about 25%. With the easing of the epidemic, the large-scale development of the industry, and the intensification of market competition, the price of new energy vehicle products will also fluctuate.
Midea announced that it will make chips and will not build cars to do Bosch
"Change is because we want to live forever, not for a moment; because we aspire to run to the raging sea, rather than forever anchored in a quiet harbor." On December 28, 2005, Fang Hongbo, chairman and CEO of Midea Group, published an article on midea's refrigeration forum intranet under the pseudonym "Ershui".
When the torrent of change surged in the automotive field, Midea could not wait to enter the game again. On December 30, 2021, Midea Group's Mechanical and Electrical Division was officially renamed Midea Industrial Technology.
The name change means the expansion of boundaries, industrial technology includes industrial automation, new energy, semiconductors, intelligent transportation and auto parts, etc., Midea expects that the accumulation of technology in the field of core components of home appliances will be transformed into opportunities in the field of new energy.
Midea chose the hottest chip track this time. On January 10, the relevant person in charge of the Midea Group said that the company aims to ship 80 million chips in 2022, in addition to MCU chips, the future plans to cover power chips, power chips, IoT chips and other home appliances chips, and plans to lay out automotive chips.
Midea officials revealed that Midea entered the chip field in the second half of 2018 and began mass production in 2021, mainly putting into production the type of chip for MCU control chips, with an annual output of about 10 million.
Midea Group's automotive chips will be mass-produced in 2024 and will first be applied to the control of new energy vehicle pumps. In addition, automotive electric drive systems, new energy vehicle thermal management systems, and intelligent driving will also be the focus of Midea's development in the automotive field.
This is not the first time that Midea has ventured into the automotive industry, on August 26, 2003, Midea's enterprise group and the Management Committee of Kunming High-tech Industrial Development Zone signed the "Midea Yunnan Automobile Integration Project" at the Kunming Fair, and at the same time, the income of midea was also under the command of Yunnan Aerospace Shenzhou Automobile Co., Ltd. and Hunan Sanxiang Bus Group Co., Ltd. Midea's ambitions at that time announced the small goal of "becoming a leading domestic bus manufacturer in 3 to 5 years". But five years later, Midea officially announced the suspension of the car-making project, declaring that its first attempt to build a car failed.
In 2016, Midea also joined hands with On Ging to step into the automotive Internet industry. In 2020, Midea Group spent 740 million yuan to win 23.73% of the voting rights of Hekang Xinneng, and indirectly became the controlling shareholder of Hekang Xinneng through its subsidiary group Midea HVAC. Judging from the industrial and commercial information of the latter, its business scope includes the development of new energy vehicles and the operation of the charging pile industry chain.
Midea's industrial technology president Fu Yongjun once said that Midea's auto parts company has been established for three and a half years, but the preliminary research and development preparation has exceeded five years. In the future, Midea's automotive business will accelerate its foothold in the industry through appropriate mergers and acquisitions.
On January 12, 2022, Anqing Welling Auto Parts Co., Ltd. was established with a registered capital of 200 million yuan, and its business scope includes: auto parts and accessories manufacturing; auto parts research and development; auto parts wholesale, etc. The company is indirectly wholly owned by Guangdong Welling Auto Parts Co., Ltd., which is 95% owned by Midea Group Co., Ltd.
Seeing that Huawei, Baidu and other companies rely on their own advantages, in the automotive field, Midea is also thinking, if the road to car building is too difficult, become an excellent car supplier, help enterprises build good cars seems to be a good choice. In fact, Midea has already said in 2021 that it does not build cars and hopes to become China's Bosch.
Midea's re-entry has opened up a new path for the development of the home appliance car manufacturing corps in the automotive field. Previously, Oaks, Gree, Haier, Hisense, TCL, Skyworth and other brands have emerged in the automotive field.
Since the appearance of the NV release,
Like fog like rain and like wind
Following its debut on December 15, 2021, the first product of Youjia has been unveiled.
In January, Self-Touring NV released the product appearance. The front lights combine dynamic thick-walled light guide LEDs and a pair of oversized double-track daytime running lights; the C-pillar uses a wider metallic cover plate to highlight the safety and solidity of the vehicle structure, while embedding a digital dynamic charging indicator; the rear wing adopts a one-piece crater shape, integrating the top spoiler and crosswind wing, while the wiper is cleverly embedded in the tail wing.
Orbit Light, Energy Stack, and Crater Spoiler are the official terms given by the self-traveler.
At present, the known information is that the self-Touring NV is positioned in the high-end medium and large 5-seat electric SUV, 4915mm long, 1950mm wide, 1750mm high, wheelbase of 2900mm, the body is made of steel and aluminum hybrid structure, based on C-NCAP five-star safety standards; on the power system, the Self-Touring NV is compatible with pure electric system and extended range system Two power modes, the whole series is equipped with intelligent electric four-wheel drive, 0-100km/h acceleration of 5.9s.
For the freshly baked appearance, netizens commented on mixed reviews, saying that it was like a Haval dog, some people said it was like a Land Rover Defender, and some people said it was like a tank 300... There are a thousand Hamlets in the eyes of a thousand people, and next, the self-traveling NV who does itself will enter the product promotion cycle.
In February, the interior configuration was announced; in March, a new car was launched; in April, a new store opened; and in September, the first car was delivered.
Since 2018, it has been preparing to build cars, and it is not too late since Youjia Automobile debuted in the first year of new energy vehicles. It is conceivable that for this product, the founder Li Yinan and the team of the self-traveler have given high hopes.
From the perspective of the development of the first wave of new car-making forces, the brand's first product is very important, the ideal once changed the track before the listing, Weilai Automobile set a luxurious tone for the enterprise with a sports car, Xiaopeng relied on the second product to gain a firm foothold, but for most brands, there is only one opportunity.
Whether the self-touring NV can be recognized by the market, the answer will soon be revealed.
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