In the past year, the domestic new energy market can be described as a big growth. According to the data of the Association of Passenger Vehicles, the cumulative retail sales of new energy passenger vehicles in 2021 were 2.989 million units, an increase of 169.1% year-on-year, accounting for 14.59% of the total passenger car market. Among them, the sales of new car-making forces are eye-catching, especially "Wei Xiaoli", with cumulative sales exceeding 90,000 throughout the year, and even approaching 100,000 levels.
At the same time, these new car-making forces gradually set their sights on the European continent in the depths of the other side of the ocean, and opening up the European market has become a new strategic goal of these car companies.
Among them, there is such a low-key new car-making force has exported cars to France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Israel and other countries, with a cumulative export volume of 2783 units, becoming the first Chinese car-making new force in the EU market. But unfortunately, its sales in the domestic market can be described by the word "dismal".
Domestic sales are dismal, and Aichi is half dead
At present, the only model on sale of Aiways Auto is the AIWAYS U5, which is also the first mass production car of Aiways Automobile, which was listed in September 2020, with a price range of 166,900-24.99 million yuan. According to public data, the cumulative sales of this model are 4684 units, only more than 1900 more than overseas markets.
As can be seen from the above sales chart, the sales volume of the Aichi U5 in the first 6 months of last year can remain about 300 units per month. Since June last year, sales have begun to decline, and even the monthly sales from September to December last year were only double digits.
On the other hand, Lantu Automobile, which is also a new force in car manufacturing, although it was established late, but its first mass-produced car, Lantu FREE, climbed all the way after its listing in June last year. According to the official release of Lantu, the sales volume of Lantu automobiles in 2021 has reached 6431 units, which is more than twice the sales of AIWAYS in 2021 of 3011 units.
From this point of view, Aichi's new energy market in China can be described as a significant drop.
E-NCAP only takes Samsung, and safety is worrying
Aichi's sales are dismal, and we have to find reasons from ourselves. The safety of the U5, a model exported overseas by Aichi, has been questioned and has been ridiculed by netizens as the most failed electric vehicle.
Why? AIWAYS officially claims that U5 is based on the MAS pure electric intelligent car module platform, using the structure of upper steel and lower aluminum, which ensures positive research and development and the advantages of light weight and stronger rigidity. Although the materials and configurations seem to be good, in the actual measurement collision, they were slapped hard.
According to the crash test results of the AIWAYS U5 published by the European E–NCAP, the AIWAYS U5 scored 73% in adult occupant safety, 70% in child occupants, less than 45% in the safety of vulnerable road users (i.e. pedestrians and cyclists) and 55% in driver assistance systems. The worst was the post bump, where the driver's seat dummy suffered a severe head injury, with a side score of 16 out of 16, while it scored only 7.5 points. For this collision, the AIWAYS U5 received only 3 stars. Not to mention the serious face of "body structure safety", more importantly, it has seriously threatened the personal safety of the people in the car.
It should be known that the European E–NCAP is recognized as the most rigorous testing body for testing car crashes, and the evaluation results are given in points and stars, of which 5 stars are the best. The Aichi U5 only got 3 stars, which shows how worrying its safety is, and for this reason, consumers have also put a "crispy" hat on the Aichi U5.
In addition, AIWAYS announced that U5 has L2 level automatic driving, which can achieve automatic parking, lane keeping, high-speed automatic assisted driving, high-end AEB (automatic emergency braking system), full-scene automatic parking and other functions, but the evaluation results of these configurations are not satisfactory. The scoring data shows that the vehicle's speed assist system is only 0.3 points, with a weak rating; lane assist system is 2 points, and the rating is edge. This also means that the above-mentioned L2 level automatic driving and safety assistance systems are in vain.
In the author's opinion, the worrying product safety makes consumers not cold to this car, which has led to the dismal domestic sales.
Can the big change of management bring opportunities to Aichi?
The decline in sales and product safety may be related to its internal management. Since 2020, Aichi has been exposed to negative news such as arrears of employee year-end bonuses, supplier payments, and the departure of many executives such as CEO Gu Feng. In the eyes of industry insiders, Aichi has fallen into the abyss of shortage of funds.
In such a dilemma, what Aichi needs most is to be able to get capital to settle in. In January this year, Aiways received a new round of financing from Chen Xuanlin and his Dongbai Group, raising hundreds of millions of dollars, and Chen Xuanlin has participated in many rounds of financing since the end of 2017. With the integration of funds, the management of AIWAYS has also ushered in a major change of blood.
According to aiways' latest official website, founder Fu Qiang still serves as president, Chen Xuanlin serves as chairman of AIWAYS Automobile, and AIWAYS CEO position is held by Zhang Yang.
It is reported that Chen Xuanlin's current Zhongtong Ruide Investment Group (Guangwei Holdings) is a comprehensive group focusing on pan-transportation industry investment and industrial operation, and the company's industries involve automobile manufacturing and commerce, general aviation industry and technology manufacturing. CEO Zhang Yang, also a senior management expert in the new energy automobile industry, once served as vice president of NIO's industrial development and other positions, and has publicly shared NIO's experience in business model and industrial development for many times. It can be seen that Chen Xuanlin and Zhang Yang, as the new managers of Aichi, still know more about the automotive industry.
So, can the Aichi after the blood change usher in a major increase in sales?
On the whole, since its establishment in 2017, AIWAYS has only launched one U5 model, and it lacks a brand label with personality. In addition, due to its poor product safety and other reasons, its sales are dismal. Although Aichi has received multiple rounds of financing and a major change of executives, it can establish a unique brand label to a certain extent, but from the perspective of the fierce competition on the new energy track, there is also uncertainty about the future development of Aichi. If more competitive products are not launched in time, it is conceivable that the road ahead of this brand will be very difficult.