A few days ago I received a call from Weilai Flow, inviting me to the store to test drive "866", when I made it clear that I had no intention of buying a car recently, the fellow did not dislike that I was not a target customer, or invited me to experience it.
The whole test drive process of several points of experience impressed: the store service enthusiasm, test driver introduction in detail, the test drive process also took me to experience the power exchange service, after the several telephone return visits although trivial, but can feel that this is To improve the quality of service rather than complete the conversion of the amount of clues mechanical return visit.
Yes, not the kind of service experience that goes straight to the point and convinces you to buy.
Although in the past many years, traditional 4S stores have talked about improving service and customer ways, but it is not uncommon to see people on the dishes and not the target customers to ignore the situation, from luxury brands, joint venture brands to independent brands.
When I talked to my friends about this store experience that is second to none in the automotive field, my friend lamented that NIO must have spent a lot of money on service.
If you calculate according to the listing of Niolai's first car, ES8, for more than four years, Weilai has built a brand moat with the ultimate user experience, whether it is to retain customers or non-customer groups like me who have only experienced it, the service felt is second to none.
In addition, in the past two years, Weilai has focused on intelligent driving self-research, continuously expanding the power exchange network, upgrading the power station, improving the battery energy density, starting the strategy of going to the sea, etc., so:
Weilai's moat is getting deeper and deeper.
On March 10, NIO successfully completed its listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange through the introduction method and officially began to be listed for trading, with the stock code "9866".
Li Bin, founder, chairman and CEO of NIO, and Qin Lihong, co-founder and president of NIO, can NIO stand firm in the high-end market?
The return to Hong Kong listing can provide alternative trading locations for WEIlai investors and expand the investor base, and the listing of the two places will provide investors with more trading location options and more flexible trading hours, and the daily trading time has been expanded from 6.5 hours to 12 hours. At the same time, the listing of the two places will help introduce more investors and be beneficial to the long-term development of the company.
Li Bin, founder, chairman and CEO of NIO, said: "Weilai's successful listing in Hong Kong is inseparable from the trust of users, the dedication of employees and the support of partners. At a time when the automotive industry is in an era of rapid change, we will continue to use technological innovation to continue to bring users products and experiences that exceed expectations, and create long-term returns for investors. ”
Citibank believes that NIO will use the introduction method to return to Hong Kong for listing, not issuing new shares, which will not lead to stock dilution, and believes that the stock market will respond positively to NIO Hong Kong stocks in the next 1-2 days.
At the same time, CITIC Securities also gave the expectation that WEILAI Automobile's sales in 2022 are expected to reach 180,000 vehicles, an increase of about 100% year-on-year.
The capital market is very optimistic about Weilai's return to Hong Kong for listing.
Previously, Pin Play/Pin Driving had analyzed the return of new energy vehicles to Hong Kong for listing: after completing the initial stabilization of the market pattern, everyone was committed to continuously improving market share. On the other hand, the competition for intelligent and automatic driving has also reached a white-hot, and for new car manufacturers, after the mass production has passed, it has reached a new stage to meet the inflection point of automatic driving.
To put it simply, after completing the return to Hong Kong for listing, Weilai will have more confidence in further research and development and improving quality.
In fact, although NIO, like other new energy vehicle brands, has generally not gotten rid of the state of loss, they have achieved stable delivery and sufficient cash flow.
Judging from the 2021 Q3 financial report that WEILAI has released, as of the third quarter of last year, NIO's cash flow reached 47 billion yuan. At the same time, in November last year, NIO also completed a $2 billion ADDITIONAL issuance of US stock ATMs, that is to say, NIO's cash flow is expected to be around 60 billion yuan.
Stable cash flow represents NIO's current ability to continue to operate.
The completion of the secondary listing in Hong Kong stocks has further stabilized WEILAI's leading edge in the capital market.
At the same time, WEILAI can also enrich financing channels, have more funds to support the polishing of new products, improve software and hardware capabilities, and also allow WEILAI to make more leading moves in the market.
In fact, this year is a year in which WEILAI's new technologies and new products are fully implemented, and it will also be a year in which the scale effect will begin to appear, and the market with an average selling price of 400,000+ will be enlarged, which is also a new challenge for Weilai to face next.
Weilai's landing in Hong Kong stocks is laying the foundation for the future.
Six products joined the matrix, with an average selling price of 400,000+
After the first generation of products "866", ET7, ET5 and ES7 based on the second generation platform will be delivered this year.
As of February 28, NIO had delivered a total of 182,853 new vehicles (ES8, ES6, EC6). According to the data of the world's third-party authoritative institutions, in the global high-end electric vehicle (MSRP more than 50,000 US dollars) sales ranking in 2021, Weilai ranks second.
In fact, under the market verification of the first generation of products, WEILAI has more affirmed this market opportunity: the high-end electric vehicle market has a high degree of user acceptance, and the new car manufacturing forces currently have more advantages in intelligent driving ability, ultimate driving experience and luxury.
This year, Weilai also carried out a surprise attack, positioned between ES6 and ES8, and the ES7, which is also based on the second-generation platform, has been officially announced without any warning. On this car, the same silicon carbide main drive system and lidar configuration as the ET7 are also integrated.
And on March 5, THE ET7, which is based on the second-generation platform NT2.0 platform, has officially begun to test drive.
In this round of test driving experience, it can be clearly felt from user feedback:
ET7 has achieved the strongest performance of the current 400,000-500,000 electric cars, the sound quality of the car, HUD, four electric suction doors + electric tailgates, front and rear seat heating, ventilation, massage, NAD full set of hardware (1550nm lidar + 4 Orin) all standard.
In the past four years, through the products of the first generation platform, NIO has laid a leading position in the high-end electric vehicle market of new car brands, and the second generation of products, WEILAI, is based on its self-research capabilities and unique market segment positioning, and the three new models are directly called BBA.
NIO ET7
Of course, there is also an obvious feeling: the ET7 test drive has brought the love and hate polarity of Weilai car owners and non-owners.
The product has been upgraded, and the second-generation platform has been a hit, which has surprised the owner of the lock single car. The product positioning is comparable to BBA, and non-car owners still question Weilai's ability to compete with German century-old luxury brands.
This also shows that Weilai is experiencing a climbing period in the construction of high-end electric vehicle brands.
In fact, three products, including ET7, ES7, et5, are proving themselves through more self-developed technical capabilities.
For example, NAD, which embodies NIO's full-stack autonomous driving technology capabilities including perception algorithms, map positioning, control strategies and underlying systems, such as the NIO panoCinema, which is equipped with THERA's panoramic digital cockpit on ET5 and ES7, has begun to show different ideas in the cockpit interaction experience.
Including the silicon carbide electric drive system developed to improve the performance of electric vehicles, in this technological innovation, NIO has obtained and is applying for 215 patents, including 81 invention patents.
On the one hand, the research and development of large energy density batteries, on the other hand, the continuous laying of the substation network, to solve the user's various use scenarios of the battery life problem, and strive to achieve the experience of making power and refueling as convenient.
In fact, whether it is intelligent driving self-research, intelligent cockpit and the solution of mileage anxiety, new car manufacturers have begun to show greater differences, which also shows that this period of blossoming flowers is the golden period of car manufacturers.
In the inconclusive stage, constantly exploring unique technical solutions and forming user experience differences is also the beginning of the achievement of the brand.
In 2022, where is weilai's winning side
Previously, during the test drive, I asked Weilai's sales: Because of the rise in raw material prices this year, new energy vehicles are rising in price, will Weilai increase prices?
Weilai Sales did not scare me with the bluff of sales in all walks of life, but told me: In order to take care of user feelings, Weilai will digest itself and will not increase prices even if the cost rises.
On the one hand, NIO insists on not passing on the risk to users, on the other hand, NIO is also constantly improving its profitability to cope with the cost crisis of the automotive industry.
This year, NIO's smart electric flagship sedan ET7 will start delivery on March 28; the medium-sized intelligent electric coupe ET5 is expected to start delivery in September; and the medium-sized SUV ES7 will be released and delivered this year.
Last year, in terms of production capacity, WEIO also made full preparations for three new models:
The production line of JAC Weilai Hefei Advanced Manufacturing Base has completed a phased upgrade in October last year, and according to the plan, the overall upgrade of the production line will be completed in the first half of this year.
At the same time, in November last year, neopark's first factory and THE FIRST BATCH OF PROCESS EQUIPMENT OF WEILAI'S SECOND PRODUCTION BASE ENTERED THE SITE AND STARTED INSTALLATION, AND THE FIRST CAR WILL BE COMPLETED IN Q2 THIS YEAR TO COMPLETE THE TRIAL PRODUCTION OF THE WHOLE PROCESS PRODUCTION LINE AND OFFICIALLY MASS PRODUCTION IN Q3.
In terms of software services, the complete function of NIO NAD adopts the mode of "opening on a monthly basis and paying by month", which not only eliminates the large expenditure of the year for users, but also allows them to experience intelligent driving when needed.
Technological innovation and service model innovation are actually complementary. This not only tests the technical research and development capabilities of car manufacturers, but also tests how car companies can export these capabilities to users.
For example, in the past few years, when it comes to power exchange, many companies will refuse because of high costs and large investments, and after several years of market verification by Weilai, the power exchange track has squeezed in more players.
In fact, as many companies try to imitate the user operation of Weilai, this is not just a way to replenish energy. NIO not only continues to improve the ability of power station replacement, but also builds power exchange into a closed-loop business model through unique power exchange service and Baas model.
This year, NIO's products and system-wide services will be officially landed in Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark. NIO plans to provide services to users in more than 25 countries and regions around the world in 2025.
In 2021, NIO opened the first year of globalization, and the landing in various European countries is also another test of NIO's brand ability.
As a Chinese brand that is currently more successful in the high-end electric vehicle market, the courage to take risks and innovate is actually the best quality for WEILAI to consolidate its position in the first echelon.