Lu Weiyi, vice president of Baoneng Automobile Group: Technology is competitiveness

On January 22, Baoneng Automobile New Car Tasting Meeting was held in Guangzhou Baoneng Qoros Cultural Center, Baoneng Automobile (BAO brand) and Qoros Automobile's various models were exposed for the first time, Baoneng Automobile Group R & D Vice President Lu Weiyi said in an interview, Baoneng Automobile Group took a positive R & D route, comprehensively laid out the new energy electric vehicle market, and actively embraced the strategic opportunity of automotive industry change.

1. Previously, Baoneng Automobile Group carried out the layout of the whole automotive industry chain and firmly forward the R&D route. Can you introduce the relevant industrial chain and research and development results? Will these paths be adjusted under the current circumstances?

Lu Wei: Baoneng Automobile's product chain layout is a vehicle product development (like other OEMs), its own battery company, and a mature production base. Many new car-making power companies do not have battery companies, mainly relying on battery suppliers to provide and technical support. For electric vehicle companies, batteries are the core technology, similar to the heart, and should be in the hands of the enterprises themselves. In the current case, the path remains unchanged.

2. How does Baoneng Automobile Group view its independent research and development strength and level? In the fierce competitive environment, what is the key to Baoneng Automobile's breakthrough in research and development? What preparations and efforts have been made?

Lu Only: Baoneng Automobile Group has always insisted on independent research and development, and in the fierce competitive environment, the development of vehicle products has been in progress. Including the first generation of GX16 engineering prototypes that everyone sees today, mass production will be achieved at the end of this year. In addition to the GX16, we also have a series of products in the process of development, such as six/seven-seat luxury SUVs, electric coupes and so on. The key to the strength and breakthrough of research and development is to continue to develop new products, continuously introduce new technologies, and maintain market competitiveness.

3. Nowadays, most of the new energy vehicles on the market are based on the independent new energy platform or architecture of the main engine factory. I would like to ask, when will Baoneng Automobile Group launch a self-developed new energy platform or architecture?

Lu Wei: Baoneng Automobile Group already has a self-developed independent platform and architecture. The G platform equipped with the GX16 is a high-end pure electric vehicle platform that will be introduced to the market this year. At the same time, we are simultaneously developing a new platform for Qoros fuel and hybrid vehicles.

4. At the beginning of last year, Baoneng Automobile (BAO brand) officially released the winter test video and spy photos of its first car, but at present, Baoneng Automobile's speed of new product listing is later than other new energy vehicle brands in the same period. In the future, how to catch up with the progress and have strong competitive strength?

Lu Only: We are different from the model of other new car-making forces, as the first model of the BAO brand, GX16 adopts a very standardized research and development process BPDP, from product pre-research, product planning, concept development, engineering design verification, to the reliability verification of all parts, as well as the reliability and durability testing and verification of the whole vehicle, to ensure the high safety of the product in all aspects. The results of the GX16 in the early stage have been demonstrated, and at this stage, we will work together to ensure the mass production of the GX16.

5. Can you introduce the basic situation of the GX16 car, positioning, configuration, design and other aspects? In terms of the same type of products in the benchmarking industry, what are the main highlights and competitiveness?

Lu Unique: The GX16 is a luxury brand car as an entry-level luxury brand. It has excellent performance, cruising range of not less than 650 km, 0.28Cd ultra-low wind resistance coefficient, 100 km acceleration time of less than 4.5s; the appearance of the integrated through LED headlights and tail lights, the interior equipped with comfortable and luxurious Nappa leather seats, sleeping headrests, electric massage memory leg rests, main driving wing aerodynamic adjustment, oversized vision glass roof, front and rear privacy glass and 10 airbags, to ensure the luxury and comfort of driving; the intelligent system of the car will use BN independently developed by Baoneng Pilot system, equipped with face recognition sensorless login, virtual AI driving assistant and OTA remote sensorless upgrade, to achieve a 360-degree car safety experience.

6. Listening to your introduction, I am looking forward to test driving to the long-awaited GX16 soon. The GX16 was originally scheduled to debut last year, but is it now certain when it will be available this year? Are there any other products released this year?

Lu Wei: We plan to achieve the first car off the production line at the end of July this year, and put into production and go public in the second half of the year. In addition to the GX16, the BAO brand expects to release two more SUVs (internal codenames: GX15, GX18) this year. In addition, the Qoros brand will also release a new car (internal code C21), which will launch two versions of fuel vehicles and electric vehicles.

7. In addition to the BAO brand and Qoros brand, will Baoneng Auto launch other brands? What is the brand matrix of each business of Baoneng Automobile Group, and what is the positioning and planning of each?

Lu Wei: We plan to launch a small electric vehicle brand, the first model (internal codename AM00) has entered the research and development stage, the main competitor is Wuling Hongguang MINI and other small electric SUV models. The internal positioning of each sub-brand is clear, the BAO brand positions the high-end pure electric brand, and pursues a unique high-end exclusive customer experience; the Qoros brand positions the high-end brand, oil and electricity at the same time, with design, quality and safety as the brand DNA; the small car brand positioning entry-level brand, the product meets the needs of home transportation.

8. Under the above brand path, what is the corresponding product planning? What about the models under study?

Lu only: BAO brand product spectrum covers SUVs, MPVs and cars; Qoros brand products are mainly SUVs, and will be listed in pure electric cars, hybrid cars and hybrid SUVs, while small car brand products are concentrated in small electric SUVs.