Written | Cold Zelin
Edit the | Wang Pan
On Friday, Ideal released its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year of 2021. First of all, the most important thing is that the ideal net profit in the fourth quarter was 295.5 million yuan, an increase of 174.9% year-on-year. That's right, ideals are profitable again.
Looking at the main financial data, thanks to the great increase in the delivery volume of Ideal ONE in the fourth quarter, the ideal fourth quarter revenue of 10.62 billion yuan, an increase of 156.1% year-on-year, an increase of 36.6% month-on-month, and the annual revenue also reached 27.01 billion yuan.
Vehicle gross margin rose again to 22.3% in the fourth quarter, mainly due to the increase in average selling prices due to the increase in deliveries of the new ideal ONE, according to the earnings report. The overall gross margin decreased from 23.3% in the previous quarter to 22.4%, mainly due to the lack of sales of new energy vehicle credits in the fourth quarter.
In terms of offline channels, by the end of 2021, Ideal has a total of 206 retail stores, covering 102 cities, in addition to 278 service centers and sheet metal spray centers in 204 cities.
Overall, Ideal handed over a brilliant financial report, bringing a complete end to 2021.
With glorious financial reports and blockbuster models, it can basically be said that the ideal is one of the biggest winners in the new domestic car-making forces last year. But this does not mean that new energy has really run on the high speed of growth, and the hidden dangers of new cars in 2022 may still be surging under the bright appearance.
Once bitten by a snake, ten years afraid of well rope
As one of the top three new cars, and the ideal of running like a dark horse in sales last year, a leap has gained great exposure on the Internet. However, the Internet has always been like this, to enjoy the glory brought by the spotlight, you must also be prepared to withstand the pressure of public opinion. In layman's terms, it is a big trick of the tree.
No, not long ago the ideal ONE caused great controversy.
During the Spring Festival, the ideal car owner drove the ideal ONE to the Tibetan area, and on the way back, he set off from Chengdu, Sichuan Province, detoured through Shimen County, Changde City, Hunan Province, visited the famous ChengfoPo, and decided to try a challenge under the "encouragement" of his friends.
Due to its steep slopes, sharp curves, and many cross-axles on the way, Chengfo Slope has always been a popular destination for off-road enthusiasts. Previously, there have been videos of Tesla Model 3/Y, Weilai ES8, BYD Tang, Cyrus SF5 and other models successfully challenging on the Network, and naturally the challenge of the ideal ONE has also attracted the attention of many people.
A Landu FREE that challenged with the ideal ONE, after many attempts to complete the climb first, and the ideal ONE after several attempts, it seems that due to the side tires not touching the ground, the grip is not enough, resulting in too fast idling, and finally the reducer of the ideal ONE rear drive motor is damaged and part of the liquid is leaked.
The video circulating on Douyin has edited the challenges of many models with the ideal ONE, and the ideal ONE has naturally been questioned. Ideal has also become another brand that triggers public opinion by users after Weilai car owners have triggered public opinion.
In fact, for urban models, whether they can climb such a professional slope does not mean anything. However, the ideal official then went to Hunan Chengfopo to organize a challenge, and the four tests were successfully uphill, and because the ground and weather did not match the previous situation, many netizens did not buy it, and also thought that this was a superfluous move.
With the poster released by Lan Tu, this outbreak of public opinion was further exacerbated.
This is also seen by some people as a challenge of Lantu FREE to the ideal ONE, because the two cars in addition to the number of seats are different, in the power mode, interior, pricing has a high degree of similarity, so usually the two products are regarded as a competitive relationship.
Just like Weilai benchmarking BMW, ideal benchmarking Highlander, WM often "touches" Tesla, through the same level of higher visibility models, brands associated, help to rapidly expand the recognition of the brand in the early stage, most brands have adopted this strategy, no blame.
However, whether it is an ideal or a land map, there seems to be some rush to "prove" their own meaning in this matter.
People will unconsciously compare a number of new energy sources such as "Special Wei Xiaoli", if they are placed last year or the year before, this is not a big problem. But now, as the models of various OEMs begin to overlap, the competition will become particularly fierce.
To put it simply, in the past, there were enough mountains, and everyone occupied the mountains as kings, but now with the continuous expansion of their respective "territories", the boundaries have begun to become blurred, friction and confrontation with each other, and eventually evolved into local wars.
After this matter became popular on the Internet, many car owners drove various models to challenge Cheng fo Po, and even Fukang. In addition to the love of off-road, it is also an invisible sense of accomplishment. After all, being able to climb the hill successfully means that its own car crushed the sales champion of more than 300,000 new energy single models last year.
At present, the ideal has only one model on sale, compared with many other new energy vehicle companies, the ideal ONE bears greater sales pressure.
It is hard to prove yourself through sales, how to wear this crown longer and more steadily, may be the ideal want to investigate the subject.
At the same time, Douyin is also the most important source of users of the ideal car, ideal car insiders revealed to photon planet, 60% of the early users are through the vibrato to learn the ideal ONE. This can also understand why the ideal is eager to eliminate negative public opinion.
In front of the new car-making forces, there is a section of "Becoming a Buddha Slope"
Blocking the ideal slope of becoming a Buddha is actually blocking the slope of the new forces of car-making.
Looking at social media platforms such as Douyin and Station B, it is not difficult to find that new energy vehicles are not popular with most people here, and a Douyin master told us an "unwritten rule" that he summed up in the past few years, that is, spray Wei Xiaoli = traffic.
Some time ago, Weilai cancelled its "Weilai Automobile Technology Co., Ltd." and rushed to the first hot search of Douyin, and news such as bankruptcy and bankruptcy was very loud, and Gu Ailing, who once overshadowed the fire.
It was one of the dozens of subsidiaries that had undergone industrial and commercial changes, but it was interpreted in countless versions, and the most important thing was that many people who did not understand the situation also believed it, and even some melon-eating masses said in the comment area, "I already knew that Weilai was going to go out of business."
More than two months ago, Li Bin's sentence "I don't understand why there are still people buying fuel trucks now" also sent himself and Weilai to the hot search, and also to the opposite side of the people.
The mentality of human beings to see the hilarity has never changed, especially on the Internet. However, behind these public opinions, perhaps the hairline of the public relations department is gradually moving backwards, and it is also the helplessness of the founders of the new car-making forces.
Therefore, in an interview with Photon Planet at the beginning of this year, Li Bin said, "So you see that I am very nervous in the interview now, and I am trying to talk a little bit without leaking." ”
Similarly, Li Xiang, who has a fearless and outspoken personality, stopped the snowball update after the listing, and the frequency of speaking on Weibo last year was also reduced a lot, and there was a month-long pause in the middle.
Previously, whether it was Li Xiang's own foul-mouthed speech at the Chengdu Riders' Meeting, or Xiao Gang's senior's matter about the retention rate of the ideal car used car, it had a bad impact on the ideal.
From the perspective of stock, China's car ownership is nearly 300 million, and the proportion of electric vehicles 2%-3% is still very small, so how to let more users consider electric vehicles is the common goal of new energy vehicle companies.
People are the norm of new energy at present, and car companies that are eager to carry the banner of new energy propaganda are easily magnified and cause reactions to slightly "excessive" statements and accidents.
It is difficult for people to accept the unknown, and the popularization of new energy knowledge has not reached the end with the decline of subsidy policies, on the contrary, this is only the starting point of new energy. The same is true for the tolerance of independent brands.
Wave after wave of uneven prices rose again
The work of popularizing new energy knowledge and changing concepts has not yet been completed, and car companies will face another problem.
Recently, Euler dealers received a notice from the manufacturer that their black cat and white cat models stopped receiving orders, and although these two mini cars were not as famous as MINI EV, the total sales volume of the whole year last year also exceeded 80,000 units, and the sudden refusal to accept orders caused a series of questions.
Immediately after February 23, Euler brand CEO Dong Yudong poured out "bitter water" in a late-night post. "Taking black cat as an example, after the sharp rise in raw material prices in 2022, the loss of black cats alone exceeded 10,000 yuan."
It is reported that if orders continue to be received, the delivery of new orders will wait until the second half of 2022. The implication is not that there is no childbirth, but "difficult" childbirth.
Behind the black cat and white cat to stop taking orders, is the crisis of the entire industry, the shortage of chips, and the price increase of upstream raw materials has become the reins that pull new energy to continue to run wildly.
According to the Automotive Business Review, chip prices are high, the normal shipment price of the original factory has increased by an average of 17%, some high-end chips have exceeded 20 times, 30 times, and individual products have even exceeded 200 times, while the price of battery raw materials has risen by 70%-400%. This is a huge blow to mini cars that make a living from cost control.
Relatively speaking, the premium ability of high-end cars is stronger, but it does not mean that there is no impact. Li Bin once told Photon Planet that in order to seek the support of partners, he would also go to some liquor bureaus.
"We have more than 1,000 chips on our car, and if one chip can't be supplied, my car can't be delivered."
In addition, Due to the shortage of supply chain, Xiaopeng and Ideal adopted a delivery strategy of getting on the bus first and then replenishing the ticket at the end of last year.
According to an industry insider told Photon Planet, some car companies have determined that they will increase prices in the middle of this year, and the specific price increase is not known for the time being. In fact, at the beginning of this year, due to the decline of subsidy policies, most new energy vehicle companies have increased prices by 1,000-20,000 yuan.
If the price of upstream raw materials rises again, consumers' enthusiasm for buying will further decline.
The rise of raw materials, the shortage of supply chains and the slow improvement of public perception, in 2022, new energy vehicle companies are also facing one "Buddha slope" after another.