Once Weima was full of vigor and occupied the heavens, places, and people; today's Weima, like everyone, the rumor of "falling behind" has intensified.
However, even though "rumors" were everywhere, Shen Hui was also full of confidence in Weima. "Smart electric cars are a long-term track, it's like playing football, and now the first 15 minutes of the first half have not been played, and who wins and who loses is not yet known." It was his most powerful response.
But the reality is always unexpected, and "rumors" are not out of thin air. WM Motors' unsatisfactory performance gave its founder Shen Hui a fierce slap, "Don't make a big splash, I really can't keep up!" ”
"I'm at the top of my own brand. You know, the above is Li Shufu, he is the chairman, I can't do a higher position than the chairman. This is the "harsh words" that Shen Hui left when he left Jili at the end of 2104.
So in 2015, at the age of 45, he resolutely threw himself into the tide of the times, founded WM Motors, and transformed from a senior worker into a boss.
Thanks to more than 20 years of trial and error, Shen Hui was simply terrible about the automotive industry, and quickly set up a mature team.
In 2016, WM began to build its own factory, unveiled its first model EX5 in 2017, and obtained production qualifications in 2018 and began to deliver new cars. Then in that life-and-death 2019, it also achieved the second place in the annual sales list of the new car-making forces.
So far, Weima is still the "other person's child" in the mouth of his parents. The development situation is very good, it has been favored by the market and capital, and is considered to be one of the most potential new car-making forces in China.
However, sometimes "young fame" is not necessarily a good thing, and the story of "hurting Zhongyong" is quietly staged on Weima. Change, in 2020.
This year, ES8, ES6 and EC6 went hand in hand, Xiaopeng launched P7, and the ideal ONE was finally recognized by the market. But what's in Weima? The EX6 launch at the end of 2019 is just a knock on the ex5 basis, and the annual sales volume has also fallen out of the top three of the new forces.
This year, Ideal and Xiaopeng went public in the United States, but WM's planned Series D financing at the beginning of the year was delayed until September. 10 billion yuan, it is said to be the largest single round of financing in the history of new car-making forces.
Just when it was "full of confidence" and wanted to impact the science and technology innovation version, the news of WM Automobile's suspension of listing spread in April 2021. Reasons include "insufficient scientific and technological content, low R&D expense ratio, and continuous huge losses."
In the whole year of 2021, WM delivered a total of 44,157 new vehicles, an increase of 96.3% year-on-year.
Taken out individually, such results are remarkable, and the official also believes that this is a new "annual growth answer", because the sales volume of this year is close to the sum of the cumulative deliveries in the past three years.
However, in 2021, Xiaopeng delivered a total of 98,155 vehicles, 91,429 weilai vehicles, and ideally 90,491 vehicles, each of which sold more than twice as many as Weima. Even Nezha Automobile can catch up with weima with an annual sales performance of 69674 vehicles.
What's more, in 2021, the sales volume of new energy models in the domestic market will be 2.989 million units, and the penetration rate has reached 14.8%. In other words, 1 in every 6.8 new cars is new energy.
There is no doubt that the market is getting better and better. However, Weima seems to be unable to keep up with the pace of the times, and the slow growth rate is like "sailing against the current, not advancing and retreating". At this time, the "rumor" is no longer a rumor, and the time has entered 2022, and WM has not taken the initiative to announce sales.
However, compared with the decline in sales and the obstacle to listing, the sound volume is more "intimidating". Whether it is good or bad, when public opinion no longer pays attention to WM, how much vitality does this brand have? Maybe the M7 is the case.
Weilai focuses on service, ideal main products, and Xiaopeng is committed to science and technology. Li Bin, Li Xiang and He Xiaopeng, who were born on the Internet, not only have a distinct founder IP, but also give the brand a unique tone.
Compared with them, Shen Hui is somewhat lacking (mei) lacking (you) Internet (gu) thinking (shi). The background of the traditional automotive industry gave him a good start, but it also laid a lot of foreshadowing for Weima, and there have never been any bright spots that can be remembered over the years.
Focusing on the mainstream market segment of 150,000-250,000 yuan, the concept of "scientific and technological inclusion" adhered to by WM has not only not been recognized by the market, but has become a proof of its "falling behind".
Among the 20 new energy models with the best sales in 2021. There are 7 mini cars, 3 small cars, 5 medium-sized cars and 2 medium and large cars, only 3 compact cars are left, and the only model that is really based on pure electricity is the AION S.
Therefore, when "polarization" becomes a true portrayal of the current new energy market, the living place of Weima is also eroded. In 2020, the domestic Tesla came, the BYD Han EV came, and the Hongguang MINIEV also came.
Although the market segment targeted by WM is large, it is difficult to do well, and the cost and experience are always contradictory. Consumers want more, and car companies are willing to give, but the most embarrassing thing is that car companies have not done a good job, and consumers have not got anything.
Therefore, as of now, compact pure electric vehicles have not really opened up the consumer market, and their highlight moments have stayed in 2019. And this year also happens to be the highlight of Weima.
However, the positioning mistake is only one of the foreshadowings, and it is relatively not the most deadly one.
In October 2020, WM had several spontaneous combustion accidents in just one month. Then the official in the recall statement to stop the boiling of the soup, the behavior of the spit pot suppliers exposed a bigger problem: EX5 actually used multiple suppliers of battery cells at the same time, and the level of these suppliers is uneven.
In December 2021, WM launched the "New Year User Premium" campaign, which conducted a comprehensive inspection of the vehicles of 18,888 "lucky" users, and also gave away 200 yuan of JD cards.
However, after the completion of the inspection, many car owners said that the vehicle had a reduced mileage and a decrease in voltage, and questioned the fact that Weima "locked the electricity" in the name of inspection.
More than a hundred people even sent a lawyer's letter to WM, asking it to provide a non-discriminatory solution and options. But as of now, WM officials have not given any official response.
In this way, it will unconsciously remind people of the intensive fire incident that broke out again in Weima in December 2021.
All this is exposed to the lack of investment in research and development by WM for a long time. The mature team that was quickly formed did not translate into real productivity, but became the biggest factor restricting the development of WM.
In September 2019, Geely took Weima to court with a complaint for infringement of trade secrets. The subject matter of the lawsuit is as high as RMB2.1 billion, and it also requires the recovery of some of the patents that have been applied for by WM.
In addition to the four legal entities, the subject of the complaint also includes more than 100 natural persons, including Shen Hui, chairman and CEO of WM Motor, and Hou Haijing, co-founder of WM Motor. And these people have all previously served in Jili.
Among them, Hou Haijing was mainly responsible for the production of GX7 models and the development of Envision SUV during his tenure at Geely. The ambiguous relationship between EX5 and GX7 also made him the focus of this case.
In the end, the case ended with The withdrawal of the lawsuit and the settlement of the two parties. We don't know the process of the peace talks, but WM seems to have been shackled since then, and the landing of the new model is simply slow and poor.
In addition, WM also handed over the most important "technology" in its "science and technology inclusive" concept to Baidu, and actively gave up the "soul" of the future car. In this way, Shen Hui's traditional side is once again reflected, but his tradition is far more than one side.
When he left Geely in 2014, Shen Hui wanted to revolutionize the fate of traditional car companies. Controversies such as "traditional automakers can't build smart cars", "independent brands develop according to the old road, there is no hope", "we (Chinese) do not do original" and other controversial remarks are his ambitions.
However, the final result is obvious to all, and the sales strategy of joining as the main and direct operation as the supplement has made WM embark on the old road of traditional car companies. However, frequent quality problems and residual brand power are difficult to support such a sales model.
In fact, in the early days of WM, Lu Bin, vice president in charge of strategic planning and execution, also advocated the "direct operation + authorization" sales model. But later, Lu Bin was first transferred from the sales position, and then left Weima in August 2020.
The so-called "dragon slayer boy eventually turns into a dragon". Those who revolutionized the fate of traditional car companies have finally become traditional car companies.
At this point, we may wish to review the "Hui Yan Hui" mentioned at the beginning of the article. Speaking in July 2021, smart electric cars are indeed a long-term track, and there is no problem comparing it to football.
But in 2022, this half has passed, although the victory or defeat is undecided, but Weima is obviously behind, sales, word of mouth, technology, marketing is not falling.
Recalling Wang Xing's "3+3+3+3" remarks made in early 2020, perhaps, he has already seen the traditional atmosphere of Weima.
There's a saying called "No one can stop you from being good, except yourself." For today's Weima, this sentence also applies. There is no doubt that it is aware of its own dilemma, but the response is like scratching the itch in the boot.
The M7 has been delayed, but WM has recently launched a "new" sedan called the E.5, which will be officially launched at the Beijing Auto Show in April, and the progress is as fast as a rocket launch.
But this is not fast, the essence of E.5 is still a ride-hailing car, which has been listed in September 2021, in order to seize the B-end market. The so-called new car is only the addition of assisted driving, large screen, sunroof and other configurations on the basis of online ride-hailing.
Perhaps it is said that "it is easier said than done", what should Weima do to catch up?
The answer is "go back"! WM needs to review the past along the way, to summarize the current experience of success or failure, and to think about the future breakthrough direction. Instead of rushing for quick success, only coveting the beauty in front of it, what's more, it has no beauty.
If there is a deviation in positioning, we will re-determine, we will re-create when the product strength is insufficient, we will re-rationalize if the marketing does not explode, and we will serve well if the user has complaints. In the face of the bleak reality, what can not give up? Do we have no money or no one?
Tesla, Weilai, BYD, Wuling... Each has something to learn from WM, and it doesn't matter whether tradition or new forces.
But it doesn't need to be anyone, it just needs to be that unique WYMA.
Finally, to paraphrase the well-known football commentator Liu Jianhong's lament about the Chinese team in 2010, there is really not much time left for the "Weima team".