From the moment the ET5 pricing was announced, it was doomed that The future of Weilai may not be so optimistic.
Once Weilai, among a number of domestic new force car companies, is a well-deserved leader, but also the earliest in the high-end market to gain a firm foothold in the brand, and now with the acceleration of brands such as Xiaopeng and Ideal, the pattern of domestic new force car companies may be reshuffled.
In 2021, NIO delivered 91,400 vehicles, the ideal delivery of 90,500 vehicles, Xiaopeng delivered 98,100 vehicles, from the data point of view, Weilai temporarily ranked second, but it is worth noting that the ideal ONE is with a car to achieve more than 90,000 vehicles of data, the gold content is richer than the product camp of Weilai high.
As of 2021, it can be said that Weilai is being equalized by latecomers such as Xiaopeng Ideal, but it has not yet been surpassed. However, from the arrival of ET5, it is foreseeable that in the next few years, Weilai may no longer be the opponent of the other two, and will be largely surpassed.
Because the price of NIO ET5 is too high.
It is no exaggeration to say that the price of WEILAI ET5 is much more expensive than many people expect. ET5 positioning is lower than ET7, before the listing is a highly anticipated focus model, originally thought it would be priced below 300,000, around 270,000, benchmarking Xiaopeng P7 and Tesla Model 3, plus the cheapest Weilai gimmick, becoming the most popular product of Weilai.
It's just that I never expected that Weilai still couldn't put down his body so much.
Nio ET5 currently has two purchase schemes, one is the purchase of the whole vehicle, the entry-level model is also 328,000, the other is to buy a naked car, battery rental, each month according to different models, pay 980/1480 yuan, this premise naked car price of 258,000.
Less than 300,000 is indeed done, but it is achieved on the premise of the lease plan. Seriously, few people will choose this solution, especially for domestic consumers, so the price of WEILAI ET5 is actually more than 300,000. After the 32.8 million pricing and subsidy of 26.552 million Model 3, it is clear who has more advantages at a glance.
The difference of fifty or sixty thousand is very large? Saying that the big is really big, compared with the Tesla Model 3, the advantages of the Weilai ET5 are actually not obvious, the size is slightly larger, the value is more recognizable, but this is not enough to support the price gap, not to mention that whether it is the brand height or the cost performance of the whole vehicle, Weilai ET5 is not as good as tesla Model 3 performance, there is no obvious advantage to speak of, there is no way to impress the potential audience, and you can only watch this good "Jiangshan" hand over to people.
I can't figure it out, why Weilai wants to put a good market share, not to pursue this "unnecessary" sense of grade and so-called style. The market demand in the field of 250,000+ is strong, the acceptance of young consumers is high, the market popularity is obvious to all, and the new energy models have sales performance that is not lost to fuel vehicles.
Tesla Model 3 and Model Y two cars in December sold 70,000 sales data, BYD Han monthly sales of 13,700, Xiaopeng P7 also has 7459 monthly sales data, it can be said that as long as Weilai out of a similar pricing product, with the current Weilai brand influence and positioning and appearance, the market performance is destined not to be too bad.
Is 300,000+ doomed to have no market? No, the ideal ONE can also maintain the data of monthly sales of more than 10,000, but that is largely a large part of the extended range of new energy models to support, as well as SUV model positioning plus points, ET5 a car to want to come out on top in this price range is not easy, it is also facing the test from the traditional fuel model BBA and other luxury brands. And at the 300,000+ level, the performance of the two cars of Weilai ES6 and ES8 can only be regarded as average, and the positioning and premium capabilities are lower than their ET5 prospects.
So the question is, why doesn't WEILAI ET5 drop to 250,000? Some say it's a cost constraint, like a power swap mode.
The power swap mode has achieved significant results in improving battery safety and saving time and cost, but it is not lower in cost than conventional new energy models. Is the power exchange really Weilai's weapon and killing move? At this stage, on the contrary, it is full of limitations for various objective reasons.
Because in terms of the car use scenario and the actual ease of use, the power exchange mode may not be as convenient as charging. Power exchange mode for the use of the use of the scene is higher, for the third and fourth-tier cities or townships and rural groups, the power station may not be so extensive, the time cost is no less than the time spent charging, charging stations and other infrastructure is growing steadily, personal charging piles are also very convenient and fast, at this time the power exchange mode has become a restriction, to some extent limit the model of the audience choice of a wide range.
Some people also say that Weilai does not reduce the price of ET5 because of the positioning restrictions of Weilai luxury brand, resulting in the price of WEILAI ET5 cannot be reduced to less than 300,000. In fact, this is not a conflict, the BBA also has entry-level models below 300,000, but the luxury of the brand has never been questioned, Tesla's domestic two cars have not started at more than 300,000, although this makes many people question its luxury, but what can be done? Single-month sales exceeded 70,000. And if Weilai blindly adheres to this unwarranted style and always bites the threshold of 300,000, can consumers recognize luxury? Not quite, at least for now, many people don't think it's a luxury brand category. The last one to be so persistent is the French luxury brand DS, and now the status and influence are also obvious to all.
Why is the outlook for ET5 not optimistic? In the current car market, who is the person who is willing to spend more than 300,000 yuan to buy WEIO ET5? Not only rich people, but also fans of Weilai, because in this way can resist the temptation from traditional fuel vehicle companies such as BBA, and can also withstand the impact of new products such as SUVs and cars in the new energy market, in order to unswervingly choose Weilai ET5.
Needless to say, we all know how difficult it is, and it can be predicted that the sales of ET5 will not be very optimistic, and if THE5 that should be going to go, if it fails to carry the sales flag, The sales volume of Weilai will naturally be affected and impacted in a short period of time. A good hand of cards is broken, starting with ET5.
Conclusion: Et5 is a very good car, but the pricing is still slightly higher, which may affect the fate of NIO in the future.