In recent times, Xiaopeng Automobile has had a lot of negative news - brake failure, inducing signing to postpone delivery, collecting face data has been fined... People can't help but ask, what happened to Xiaopeng Motors?
Supply shortages and quality problems are frequent
On the black cat complaint platform, the China Business Daily reporter used Xiaopeng Automobile as a keyword to search and found that its related complaints were nearly 500, and basically published in the past two months, and the complaint problems mainly involved non-delivery according to the prescribed date, non-refund of the deposit, induced consumption, battery OEM, false publicity, etc.
△ On March 17, Xiaopeng p5 was not delivered on the prescribed date and ranked first in the complaint. (Screenshot of Black Cat Complaint Platform)
According to the "Domestic Automobile Consumption Rights Protection Public Opinion Research Report (2021)" released by the Beijing Sunshine Consumption Big Data Research Institute, the new car-making forces are significantly higher than traditional car companies on the issue of delivery, of which the proportion of public opinion that Xiaopeng Automobile has not delivered on time is as high as 18.53%. At the same time, in the distribution of public opinion on the consumer rights protection of domestic brand new energy vehicles, Xiaopeng Automobile still ranks first, accounting for 20.17%.
△ Distribution of public opinion on consumer rights protection of domestic brand new energy vehicles (Picture from "Domestic Automobile Consumption Rights Protection Public Opinion Research Report (2021)")
Not only that, but the quality problems of Xiaopeng Automobile are also frequent. In February last year, a Xiaopeng P7 spontaneous combustion accident occurred on the streets of Guangdong, white smoke came out of the rear of the car, and then an open flame began to appear on the left rear wheel, which was not extinguished until the firefighters arrived, but the car had been burned into a frame and the interior was seriously damaged. In November of the same year, Xiaopeng P7 was also collectively complained by car owners for serious false labels for endurance. The complaint shows that after picking up the car for more than half a month, the owner found that the Xiaopeng P7 had a phenomenon of losing power for 10-20 kilometers in one night, while the officially advertised 480 kilometers endurance was actually only about 240 kilometers, up to about 270 kilometers, and the endurance was seriously "discounted".
Consumer rights protection is also very difficult. On September 19, 2021, consumer Ms. Wang pre-purchased a Pure Electric Vehicle of Xiaopeng at a new energy vehicle 4S store in Suzhou, which is a green version of the mechanical brake. Ms. Wang paid the deposit, and the two parties signed a vehicle pre-sale contract, but the delivery date column in the contract was blank. A month later, Ms. Wang contacted the 4S store to deliver the balance and pick up the car, but the 4S shop told Ms. Wang that due to the manufacturer's adjustment of production, the model ordered by Ms. Wang had been discontinued and was now upgraded to an electronic handbrake, and only cyan, the upgraded model needed Ms. Wang to pay an additional 3,000 yuan to pick up the car. Ms. Wang believed that the 4S store was in breach of contract and demanded to pay for the car as agreed or refund the deposit and compensate for the loss. 4S Shop disagrees. Ms. Wang then complained to the Consumer Rights and Interests Protection Committee of Suzhou Municipality, Jiangsu Province. After repeated mediation by the Suzhou Municipal Consumer Protection Commission, Ms. Wang purchased a new model at a small markup, and the complaint was resolved.
In this regard, Chen Yinjiang, deputy secretary-general of the Consumer Rights and Interests Protection Law Research Association of the China Law Society, analyzed the China Business Daily reporter that automobiles are complex industrial products, and the quality problems of consumer complaints are mainly concentrated in the engine, battery mileage, brake system and other aspects. These questions are highly professional and difficult to prove. Compared with traditional fuel vehicles, new energy vehicles are in the development stage, whether it is technology or industry standardization is not yet mature, some technical indicators, test methods have not yet formed a consensus, once there is a problem, it is difficult to effectively prove and get recognition.
"In addition, some violations of laws and regulations or acts that harm the rights and interests of consumers have not been dealt with in a timely and effective manner, which objectively condones some dishonest and law-abiding business behaviors." Chen Yinjiang said, "These have brought great difficulties to consumers to complain and protect their rights. ”
For the rights protection problems reflected by consumers, Xiaopeng Automobile told the China Business Daily reporter that "it attaches great importance to this and has arranged special personnel to follow up and communicate with different needs." For the delay in delivery, Xiaopeng Automobile said, "Due to the impact of the epidemic, the industry is facing an extreme shortage of core components including lithium iron phosphate batteries, which has also brought great uncertainty to the production of Xiaopeng P5 460 models, resulting in the overdue delivery of 460 model orders, for which we apologize."
It is still losing money since its establishment
In addition to falling into a negative whirlpool, recently, there is news circulating on the Internet that Xiaopeng Automobile will raise prices on March 21, of which P7 will increase by nearly 20,000 yuan and P5 by 10,000 yuan, and said that Xiaopeng Motors is impacting performance to get more orders before achieving price increases.
In this regard, Xiaopeng Automobile told the China Business Daily reporter that affected by the continuous sharp rise in the price of upstream raw materials, the company is studying the price adjustment of the models on sale, and the details should be subject to the release of official information.
It is understood that Xiaopeng Automobile is in a quagmire of losses and has not yet seen its head. According to Dongcai Choice data, from 2018 to 2020, Xiaopeng Automobile's revenue rose from 10 million yuan to more than 5.8 billion yuan. In the first half of 2021, Xiaopeng Automobile once again handed over a revenue performance of 6.712 billion yuan, more than the sum of the previous year. However, Xiaopeng Automobile has accumulated a loss of 9.8 billion yuan in three and a half years, and its profit is far away.
△ In a shopping mall in Beijing, Xiaopeng Automobile is on display.
It should be noted that the sales scale of Xiaopeng Automobile is still expanding. From the third quarter of 2020 to the third quarter of 2021, the delivery volume of Xiaopeng Motors continued to climb, from 8578 units to 25666 units. According to the model of the traditional Internet ecology, with the increase of delivery, the scale effect of Xiaopeng Automobile will gradually appear, not only the cost will be reduced, but also it is expected to obtain more value-added service revenue. However, with the growth of Xiaopeng Automobile's sales, it is not the scale effect, but the continuous amplification of losses. In the third quarter of 2021, Xiaopeng Automobile's non-GAAP net loss reached 1.492 billion yuan, an increase of 72.5% over the same period in 2020.
According to the research report of Soochow Securities, from the first to third quarters of last year, the average gross profit margin of the new energy vehicle sector was about 18.68%; the average gross profit margin in the third quarter was about 18.88%, while the gross profit margin of Xiaopeng Automobile in the same period was less than the average and needed to be improved.
According to the analysis of industry insiders, the sales and revenue of Xiaopeng Automobile have increased, but the loss is expanding, mainly due to the growth of research and development expenses and sales management expenses, which is also a common phenomenon of new car-making forces. Judging from the company's financial report data compiled by Ping An Securities Research Report, in the third quarter of last year, Xiaopeng Automobile's research and development expenditure reached a new high, breaking through the 1 billion yuan mark for the first time. Xiaopeng Automobile told reporters that the cost of its investment in research and development, sales and other aspects is indeed very large, and it is also a fact that it has not yet made a profit.
In addition, there are many administrative penalties for Xiaopeng Motors. Recently, the administrative penalty decision (Beijing Tax Inspection Three Penalties (2022) No. 6) published on the credit China website shows that Beijing Xiaopeng Automobile Co., Ltd. imposed a fine of 102,700 yuan on it in accordance with Article 69 of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Administration of Tax Collection in accordance with Article 69 of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Administration of Tax Collection. According to the data, Beijing Xiaopeng Automobile Co., Ltd. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Xiaopeng Automobile Sales Co., Ltd.
△ Screenshot of credit China website.
In December last year, Shanghai Xiaopeng Automobile Sales service Co., Ltd. was fined 100,000 yuan by the Shanghai Xuhui District Market Supervision Bureau for illegally collecting and uploading 431623 face photos from a third-party company for purchasing 22 face recognition camera devices from a third-party company.
Although Xiaopeng Automobile is in the limelight, if it is repeatedly criticized for a long time due to negative news, it may lose the trust of users. In the future, Xiaopeng Automobile should not only work hard to improve its product strength, but also in terms of user experience.
Reporter 丨 Peng Tingting
Editor 丨Qin Chuqiao Li Monan
Cover image 丨 Peng Tingting