In December last year, Hongguang MINIEV won the top spot in China's car sales list that month with nearly 56,000 units sold per month. At the same time, it also set a record for the monthly sales of new energy single models. As a latecomer to the market segment, Chery QQ Ice Cream entered the market with almost the same guidance price and endurance as MINIEV. This issue [Shopping Guide] will take you to taste how this QQ ice cream of about 50,000 tastes?
According to the data of the Association of Passenger Vehicles, under the pressure of chip shortage in the whole industry, the domestic retail sales of new energy passenger vehicles in 2021 will be 2.989 million units, an increase of 169.1% year-on-year, and the market penetration rate will be 14.8%.
The rapid development of new energy is inseparable from the sales contribution of core products. In 2021, Hongguang MINIEV single-model sales reached 426452 units, accounting for 14% of the annual sales of new energy vehicles, from the listing to the present, the cumulative sales exceeded 550,000 units, ranking first in the total sales of new energy single models in China, and dominated the Chinese new energy market for 16 consecutive months, in one fell swoop 80% of the domestic mini car market share of the pocket.
Since the success of the "pilot" of mini pure electric vehicles such as MINIEV, major mainstream car companies have followed suit and innovated. Chery QQ Ice Cream, as a latecomer, announced the launch of three models (named: pudding/cone/sundae) with almost exactly the same guidance price: 29,900-43,900 yuan, two cruising ranges: 120km and 170km.
Whether in terms of price or battery life, it has a high degree of overlap with Hongguang MINIEV, which is the leader of the market segment. It is said that the number of deliveries reached 9866 units in the month of its listing, although it still has a big gap with MINIEV, but its threat cannot be underestimated.
For potential customers in the same price range, the emergence of QQ ice cream means that there is one more choice, and you definitely want to see how strong it is. Before analyzing this new model, we can't help but wonder, what is the direct impact of new energy sales in the domestic market for mini cars such as MINIEV? After Chery QQ ice cream is listed, what will be the market space?
First, why is the pure electric mini car market developing so fast?
The so-called existence is reasonable, and the reason why MINIEV is so successful in terms of sales volume is that its extremely low pricing strategy plays a key role. The manufacturer guidance price of 28,800 yuan to 48,600 yuan gives people a feeling of "can't buy a loss, can't buy a fool".
Before it went public, the price of pure electric cars with the same positioning was generally more than 50,000 yuan. In the same price range, other products mostly exist in the form of "old man music". Although no license is required, it gives people an image of running amok on the road and consumers are mainly elderly groups.
However, this invisible hand of the market pointed the way for the lucky MINIEV. The small number of products on the market does not mean that there is no demand. Young people, especially those who have just joined the work, have limited budgets and need a tool to shield them from the wind and rain, and budgets of less than 50,000 yuan were basically not ideal at that time. The listing of MINIEV completely reversed this situation.
As a legally licensed car, it has the power to commute in the "bright and just" urban area. Secondly, for front-line youth, the price is cheap, green card, parking is convenient, these advantages in improving the convenience of use, but also greatly reduce the cost of the car. Once listed, it ushered in very good market feedback.
Of course, Wuling Hongguang, who is good at marketing and creating momentum, has successfully broken the circle again and again, and the publicity on the market side has quickly increased its popularity, and the purchase of MINIEV seems to have become a popular activity for the people. Don't believe it, go to the streets of downtown Shanghai on the weekend to take a stroll, to ensure that you can see the MINDEV driving leisurely on the road, colorful, two-color body, like a beautiful landscape in the city.
For QQ ice cream, if you want to be like MINIEV, not only is it not overwhelmed by the development momentum of new energy rolling forward, but it is independent of the tide and becomes the shoulder handle of the new energy market, first of all, it must have a decent product force.
Second, the new car listing - qq ice cream strength?
★ The boxy and slightly cartoonish cute exterior design offers a wide range of body colors to choose from
QQ Ice Cream also adopts the cute style design of the mini car, and also adds new design ideas. For example, the closed grille of the front face of many mini cars is integrated, while QQ Ice Cream adopts the design of upper and lower layers to enhance the visual tension.
The body color has seven colors of taro purple, sea salt blue, mint green, coconut white, light blue, lemon yellow, cherry blossom powder, and the design of the two-color body also makes QQ ice cream more in line with the fashion trend.
In terms of size, the length, width and height are 2980/1496/1637mm, and the wheelbase is 1960mm. With a four-seat design, the rear seating space can not be expected too much, but the use of short-distance transportation is not a big problem. For daily use, you can put down the rear row as a two-seater car and will get a nice space.
★ The interior is minimalist in design, and although the configuration is not rich, the functionality is guaranteed
The interior adopts a simple design style to meet the basic daily use needs, and the seat adopts an integrated design, officially called "player gaming seat", which looks more sporty. In addition, it is equipped with an ergonomic double-width I Wheel 1.0 pressure-reducing multi-function steering wheel.
As the first product of Chery iCar Ecology, car owners can register and certify vehicles on the iCar Ecological Mobile App, and can currently realize 12 functions such as remote switching central control lock, switching air conditioning, switching low beam lights, and App intelligent power replenishment through the mobile phone App.
In terms of safety, the configuration is also relatively rich, with standard collision automatic unlocking, automatic driving locking, rear ISOFIX child safety seat interface, main driver pre-tightening force limiting seat belt, co-driver limited force seat belt, rear three-point seat belt, main driving seat belt is not tied sound alarm prompt, low speed pedestrian warning system, tire pressure alarm, etc.
★ Pure electric endurance of up to 170Km, urban commuting is guaranteed
In terms of power, Chery QQ Ice Cream is arranged with a permanent magnet synchronous motor on the rear axle, with a maximum power of 20kW and a maximum torque of 85N·m. It is equipped with a lithium iron phosphate battery pack. Two of the low-end versions of pudding and cone have a battery capacity of 9.6kWh, NEDC range of 120km, and a full charge time of about 6 hours; the top version of Sundae has a battery capacity of 13.9kWh, NEDC has a cruising range of 170km, and a full charge time of about 8 hours, averaging only 5 cents per kilometer. In terms of battery warranty, the official also gives an 8-year or 150,000-kilometer warranty.
Third, the comparison of models - how to choose several models
Comparison of different configurations of QQ ice cream
Because the price of such cars themselves is relatively cheap, the cost control is relatively more stringent. Therefore, it is much easier to choose between the three models on the market.
QQ Ice Cream has launched three models, with a pudding price of 29,900 yuan, a cone with a guidance price of 37,900 yuan, and a sundae with a guidance price of 43,900 yuan.
In contrast, the cone is 8,000 yuan more expensive than the pudding, and the configuration is more than the main driving airbag, rear parking radar, reversing image, color driving computer display, Bluetooth/car phone, an extra speaker, LED daytime running lights and manual air conditioning; in this way, the extra 8,000 pieces are not too cost-effective;
Looking at the top with sundae, compared to the cone, the price is 6,000 yuan, on the one hand, the pure electric endurance has been increased to 170Km, which also means greater battery capacity and relatively slow charging time (slow charging is extended from 6 hours to 8 hours), on the other hand, the proportion of the rear seats is receded, and the space is more flexible.
Therefore, based on the above comparison, the choice of the three models mainly depends on the demand for battery life. If you value battery life, directly choose the top match, 170Km, the basic urban commuting is enough; if the 120Km endurance communication, select the match, enough. As for the low match. It is not recommended to choose, the basic configuration is missing more, for this kind of model that is relatively niche, the most important safety configuration is not recommended to be abandoned.
Fourth, competitive product analysis - who can be selected at the same price
The previous analysis is not difficult to see that the price and product of QQ ice cream, including battery life, are highly consistent with MINIEV, and miniev is counted as one in the competitive basket. In addition, Changan Benben, which was once the leader in the domestic mini car market, also previously listed its pure electric model Ben E-Star, and its 2021 model also reduced the price to 49,800 yuan. Therefore, under the same budget, the competition between the three is still very obvious.
We selected the QQ Ice Cream 2022 Sundae with a guidance price of 43,900 yuan, the Wuling Hongguang MINIEV 2021 with a guidance price of 48,600 yuan Macaron sandwich version with a 170km ternary lithium version and the Changan Ben Ben E-Star 2021 with a guidance price of 49,800 yuan For comparison, the National Edition Colorful Lithium Iron Phosphate Version.
Competitive configuration comparison: QQ Ice Cream vs Wuling Hongguang MINIEV & Changan Ben Ben E-Star
In terms of horizontal comparison, in terms of space: Changan Benben E-Star has a leading edge, in addition to not having an absolute advantage in height, it occupies a considerable advantage in terms of length, width and wheelbase. In addition, Ben Ben is equipped with 15-inch wheels, while the other two models are equipped with 12-inch wheels, the former has obvious advantages. This may be one of the reasons why the E-Star sold expensive before, after all, people do not suffer losses in terms of size.
In terms of power, all three are equipped with permanent magnet synchronous motors, but the ice cream and MINIEV have a maximum power of 20Kw and a maximum torque of 85 Nm, while the Benben EV has a maximum power of 55Kw and a maximum torque of 170 Nm, which is in an absolute leading position. In terms of power batteries, ice cream is equipped with lithium iron phosphate batteries as standard, and the 2021 Ben E-Star is also equipped with lithium iron phosphate batteries, while the Hongguang Mini EV can choose a ternary lithium-ion battery version, compared to its low temperature endurance performance is more worth looking forward to.
In terms of specific configuration, sundae has the advantage of being equipped with a multi-functional steering wheel, a color driving computer screen, LED daytime running lights and manual anti-glare inner rearview mirrors, an extra economic driving mode, and other configurations have no advantages, but in the three, its price is 5000-6000 yuan cheaper;
The advantages of Hongguang MINIEV are: leather steering wheel, full LCD instrument, main driving car makeup mirror, voice recognition function is reserved, but it needs to spend money to choose. As with ice cream, there are two charging ports in the front.
In contrast, in addition to the size and endurance just mentioned, the advantages of the Ben E-Star are that its front brakes use ventilated disc brakes, aluminum alloy wheels, steering wheel support manual up and down adjustment, 7-inch central control touch LCD screen, mobile phone original interconnection mapping, etc.
In a comprehensive comparison, in the case of the price difference between the three, it seems that the E-Star is almost leading across the board, but the market feedback is diametrically opposed. I think the reason is that Ben's design philosophy is different from MINEV.
Ben E-Star pays attention to price, the overall design meets the price-sensitive consumers, to put it bluntly, still aimed at the direction of "old man music" design; and although Hongguang MINIEV does not occupy any advantage in terms of endurance and size space, its youthful appearance, interior design, coupled with its all-round marketing program, it is not surprising to achieve a fast exit from the circle.
For ice cream, in my personal opinion, it is not only to benchmark MINIEV on the product, but also in terms of marketing, design, etc., which is the focus of learning, because in terms of product strength, I think there is no essential difference between the two.
Or go back to the selection car, in fact, it is not difficult. Budget of 50,000 yuan:
1. Focus on endurance and power, Ben Ben E-Star is the first choice, the configuration is relatively good, the price difference is not large, but at the same time to accept the relatively old-fashioned interior and exterior design;
2. As a young consumer, the budget is limited can consider MINIEV, the configuration is not bad, the price is 6,000 yuan more expensive than ice cream;
3. Really limited budget, consider ice cream, which is the cheapest price, but lower in comparison;
Fifth, who should I buy
After the previous comparative analysis, everyone should have a general understanding of these cars, and finally summarize it for everyone:
For the ice cream car, the first choice is to recommend the top with the sundae model, followed by the middle one. Low-end models are not recommended;
For horizontal comparison, it is recommended that you can choose like this:
Pay attention to practicality, choose Ben Ben E-Star; to be young, choose MINIEV; to be cheap, choose ice cream.
Above, I hope to be able to play a certain role in helping you to choose a car. Of course, in the process of comparative analysis, it is natural to be benevolent. I hope that you can see more and choose more when buying a car, and you are also welcome to leave a message in the background to compare the models, and the discussion content may appear in the next issue of the [Shopping Guide] column.
The author of this article is Yang Fan, a kick car gang