Abstract: Renault Jiangling's online ride-hailing method is clear, and this year it will be fully deployed in China and Europe, but how to deal with the To C market in the post-subsidy era is still the core issue
Text | Wang Jingyi
Edit | Zhao Cheng
What will the youngest joint venture's first product look like?
In July 2019, Renault Group and Jiangling Group established a joint venture company, and Renault increased its capital by 1 billion yuan to become a shareholder of Jiangling Group New Energy Automobile Company, with 50% equity. In September 2021, Renault Jiangling Group's first new energy coupe "Yi" was launched, with a range of up to 500 kilometers and a price of 139,800-195,800 yuan.
▲ Liu Guowei, General Manager of New Energy of Jiangling Group
Liu Guowei, general manager of new energy of Jiangling Group, admitted to Caijingqiche that the two years since the establishment of Renault Jiangling in 2019 have been relatively difficult. "The first is the epidemic, especially the new energy automobile industry is also facing raw material price increases, chip shortages, etc., we have also paid a huge price to develop this product."
On January 12, 2022, the A+ class sedan Yi officially entered the domestic online car market. Jiangling New Energy and The fourth largest order compliance rate of the online ride-hailing platform have reached a strategic cooperation with Company China, which will introduce a total of 10,000 new vehicles from Jiangling New Energy for capacity launch.
Previously, Jiangling New Energy has laid out the European travel market. At last year's Munich Motor Show in Germany, Renault Group's mobility brand Mobilize released a new strategic model Limo, which is the European version of Yi and will land in Europe in May 2022.
To B or To C is not a choice question for Jiangling New Energy - Jiangling New Energy positions itself as an electric vehicle and travel popularizer, "to provide services for consumers, the scope of services can be both car purchase and car use", Liu Guowei said.
In China and Europe, the online ride-hailing market is fully laid out
In September 2021, the first product of the joint venture company was officially launched. Jiangling New Energy was established in January 2015, and in July 2019, it established a joint venture with Renault Group, Renault Jiangling, which has a modular pure electric A-class vehicle platform GSE platform, yi is the first car model developed on the basis of this pure electric platform.
Yi's research and development process is not easy, the new brand is also pinned on high hopes, Jiangling New Energy hopes to quickly increase sales on the one hand, on the other hand, it also hopes to quickly occupy the market.
How to quickly occupy the market? In Liu Guowei's view, online car-hailing is an important grasp and channel for more people to understand products and brands, so that everyone can experience products through the form of taxis and let products go deep into daily life. This cooperation with Hua Travel, on the one hand, can put the amount up, on the other hand, I also hope to promote individual consumers to buy products through daily travel experience, "more cars running on the road, brand recognition will come up."
▲ Courtesy of the enterprise
Zhuang Zhiqiang, CEO of Hua travel, told Caijingqiche that from the perspective of operating vehicles, it is already a fait accompli that new energy vehicles occupy the mainstream of online ride-hailing, for the simple reason that it is the daily energy cost, because the cost difference between new energy and traditional fuel vehicles is several thousand yuan per month. Battery life and comfort are the two factors that are of greatest concern to drivers and passengers.
Due to the need for long-term and long-distance operation, the online ride-hailing scene has also become a touchstone for new energy models. Zhuang Zhiqiang believes that from the perspective of the main engine factory, the major new forces and traditional main engine factories have the main models for the tob market, and the online car is indeed an important channel for verifying new energy vehicles, including data, experience and quality.
In Europe, Jiangling New Energy's online ride-hailing method is more clear. At the Munich Motor Show in September 2021, Renault unveiled its mobility brand Mobolize, as well as the European version of Limo, which mainly operates in the field of online ride-hailing and car-sharing in Europe.
Liu Guowei introduced that Yi's European version of Limo will be put into operation in Europe in May this year, so the cooperation between Renault Jiangling and With China can help operators in Europe understand and study products in advance, and it is also conducive to helping vehicles find problems in operation, so as to quickly introduce Limo products in Europe.
Some Renault Jiangling insiders revealed to Caijing Automobile (ID: caijingqiche) that at that time, Jiangling New Energy chose to carry out a joint venture with Renault, an important reason was to see Renault's strong performance in the European market, hoping to enter the European market unfamiliar with its own brands through Renault.
Jiangling New Energy officially said that Yi meets the automotive regulatory standards of many European countries and achieves the same standard supply between China and Europe after May this year.
To B or To C, not multiple choice
When a car becomes an online car, it is bound to affect the brand image of the To C market. In this regard, Liu Guowei said: "At this stage, running the car is our pursuit and the requirement of the market. At the same time, we also considered the user's feelings, and at the beginning of the design, we distinguished between online car customers and family car customers in terms of performance, color, configuration, etc. ”
If it is a practical way to play for the To B online ride-hailing market, how to impress the individual consumers of To C is a topic that Jiangling New Energy must answer.
From the perspective of market segmentation, the current new energy market presents a spindle-shaped pattern of "two large ends, small in the middle", and the hot-selling products are concentrated in the range of more than 200,000 yuan and less than 50,000 yuan, while Yi chooses to cut into the 150,000 yuan market for mainstream family car people.
Liu Guowei told Caijingqiche that this is highly related to the current industry development process. In the era of subsidies, some new energy early adopters, especially young consumers, may choose some models of 200,000 or more than 300,000, and treat new energy vehicles as technology products. Models below 50,000 yuan are mainly used for daily transportation, and may be the second car or even the third car at home.
▲Courtesy of the enterprise
From 2023, all subsidies for new energy vehicles will be cancelled, and the post-subsidy era is coming. Liu Guowei believes that Yi is not only to catch customers in years with subsidies, but also to cope with the needs of consumers in the post-subsidy era, that is, the demands of mainstream consumers for family cars.
The competition in the 150,000-yuan new energy vehicle market is equally fierce, and the main competitors in the same price range include: Volkswagen ID.3, GAC Aean S, BYD Qin PLUS, Xiaopeng P5 and so on. Some are strong in the brand, some are strong in intelligence, and the general monthly sales exceed 1,000 units, so what are the odds of Yi?
▲ Draft: Zhao Cheng
"Yi takes into account all dimensions such as household use and performance, and is not necessarily very prominent in which one, but the strength is very balanced." Liu Guowei introduced, first of all, Renault Jiangling is a joint venture brand; secondly, this car has a certain cost performance; at the same time, as the only model with four-wheel drive dual motors below 200,000, the acceleration from 0 to 100 kilometers is 5.8 seconds, which can meet consumers' demands for driving performance.
Jiangling New Energy is also carrying out a parallel channel layout between dealers and direct stores. In Nanchang, where the headquarters is located, Jiangling New Energy has opened direct stores in commercial supermarkets, as well as its own delivery center, and will have direct stores in mainstream first-tier cities in the future.
At present, Jiangling New Energy has 2 core products such as coupe and A00-class product small radar, and will launch a number of models based on the modular pure electric A-class vehicle platform GSE platform in the next five years, and there will be an SUV in the near future, and an A00-class car will be down.
According to data from the China Automobile Association, in 2021, the cumulative sales of Jiangling New Energy were 4270 vehicles, an increase of 208.53% year-on-year; among them, the cumulative sales of Jiangling E300 were 3395 vehicles, an increase of 157.39% year-on-year; the cumulative sales of Yiling for the whole year were 829 vehicles.
In the short term, Jiangling New Energy is still subject to capacity shortages. Liu Guowei introduced to Caijingqiche (ID: caijingqiche) that Jiangling New Energy, like many OEMs, is facing problems in battery supply and chip supply, and the current production capacity constraints are more prominent, but it is working hard to solve them.