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Yesterday, Lantu announced on Weibo that it would announce the price adjustment plan of Lantu FREE on March 31, and said that users who had been scheduled before this would not be affected by the price adjustment.
As for the reason for the price increase, the official explanation is no different from other companies, that is, "the price of raw materials has risen sharply". This is also a common issue facing the entire new energy automobile industry. In fact, since March 1, more than a dozen companies have announced price adjustment plans for their new energy models, with prices ranging from 3,000 to 30,000 yuan.
But this news still surprised me. The reason is that just yesterday in Wuhan when I test-drove Lantu FREE, I asked the little brother of the brand public relations department accompanying me: "Lantu FREE has experienced a decline in sales in the past two months, is it a problem on the production and supply side?" ”
His answer to me was: "Lantu FREE is backed by Dongfeng Group, has a complete and huge supply chain system, and there is no problem in the current production and supply chain situation." The decline in sales in the past two months is mainly affected by the Spring Festival and subsidy decline. At the same time, he also proudly told me: "You see many new energy vehicle companies have recently increased prices because of raw material problems, but we have not increased prices." ”
After only one night, the wind direction has changed, and it is not difficult to see how entangled Lantu is about whether to increase prices.
However, compared with the price increase itself, I believe that Lantu Automobile just wants to remind potential users who are still waiting to hurry up. Therefore, dare to speculate, even if the price rises, Lantu's increase will not be too large.
As Lantu Automobile posted on Weibo, "Every decision involving the vital interests of users is not an easy decision." ”
Who is Rantu?
Mention Lantu Automobile, you have to say Wuhan. On July 29, 2020, Dongfeng Motor Group Co., Ltd. held a brand strategy conference of Lantu Automobile in Wuhan. The brand launch that lit up the four rivers on both sides of the strait, with wuhan leaders attending as observers and thousands of people present to support it, was the largest event in Wuhan since the outbreak of the epidemic.
At that time, the leaders of Wuhan City said in their speeches, "Dongfeng is a shining city business card of hero Wuhan, and the lantu brand was first launched in Han, which is a milestone event in the history of Dongfeng's development and a happy event in Wuhan's economic and social development." ”
This also means that Lantu is not only the Lantu of Dongfeng, but also the Lantu of Wuhan.
On June 19 last year, Landu Automobile's first model, Landu FREE, was officially announced, priced at 313,600-333,600 yuan.
Range extender power system, the only model equipped with air suspension in the 300,000 class, the liftable central control screen, Danna audio, intelligent panoramic canopy... With so many suction configurations in one, Lando FREE quickly attracted the attention of consumers.
The follow-up market response is also very good. In December 2021, the monthly delivery volume of Landu FREE exceeded 3,330 units, becoming the fastest electric vehicle brand to achieve more than 3,000 deliveries in a single month.
On January 21, 2022, the 10,000th Landu FREE officially rolled off the production line at the Landu 4.0 Digital Factory. Landu Auto completed the leap from 1 to 10,000 vehicles in just 205 days, creating a new speed from brand launch to 10,000 vehicles off the production line.
It can be said that as a new strength of car manufacturing, Lantu has a good start, whether it is speed or word of mouth, it is beyond the imagination of the outside world.
What kind of car is the Lando FREE?
My first close encounter with Lando FREE was at last year's Chengdu Motor Show. At the time, what amazed me the most was its interior. The double-panel contrast design is very restrained and elegant, and the through-line triple screen design is not uncommon in the industry, but the through-screen screen that can be lifted and lowered as a whole is still eye-catching.
Later, in a japanese brand new car test drive activity, it was test drive coach Amway Free air suspension. Therefore, I am especially looking forward to this test drive.
At present, Lantu FREE has two versions of pure electric and extended range power, we test drive is the "1.5T four-cylinder" extended range version, front and rear dual motors can achieve a maximum power of 510kW, a maximum torque of 1040N·m, 100 km acceleration is only 4.5 seconds.
In terms of handling performance, in addition to the strong Amway air suspension, Lando FREE also uses a front double wishbone independent suspension structure and an aluminum alloy lightweight chassis.
These powerful power configurations laid a solid foundation for this test drive. The test drive departed from Wuhan to the Cherry Blossom Valley of Gexian Mountain in Xianning, and on the way, it included highways, urban roads, suburban roads, mountain roads, mountain sand roads and other road conditions.
Thanks to the 100mm adaptive height adjustment of the air suspension up and down, Landu FREE can provide five driving modes of economy, comfort, high energy, outing, and customization, which not only have the comfort of a car, but also take into account the passability of the off-road vehicle.
It is worth noting that when the vehicle switches to high-energy mode, the chassis height will be adjusted to 133mm, while the central control screen will also be reduced, and the fragrance system in the car will also emit fragrance, creating a strong sense of combat. When the driving mode is adjusted to outing mode (equivalent to off-road mode), the chassis height will be raised to 213mm, bringing higher passability.
According to the staff, this air suspension is jointly developed by Lantu Automobile and domestic suppliers, sharing patent rights. This means that Lantu Automobile is the first automobile brand in China to independently master the core technology of air suspension. Compared with the high maintenance costs that may exist for air suspensions mounted by other luxury brands, the advantage of Landu FREE is that the lifetime warranty of the whole vehicle also includes air suspension.
In terms of configuration, Lantu FREE also gives enough, the two wireless charging plates in the car, the rear seat provides USB and TYPE-C charging ports at the same time, Dana audio, front seats provide waist support, seat heating and ventilation, panoramic canopy, rear privacy glass and other functions, which can meet the basic needs of users.
Intelligence is probably the only fly in the ointment, as an emerging new energy luxury brand, Landu FREE in the car experience and voice interaction, compared to the same level of new power models there is indeed a certain gap. Of course, this is also a common problem when most traditional car companies turn to new energy luxury brands.
However, I also believe that these issues will be addressed through later OTA upgrades. In general, within the 300,000 level, there are extended range power systems, air suspension, Tanner audio and other configuration blessings, and the product value of Landu FREE is beyond doubt.
What else is missing in Lantu?
Since the product has no obvious shortcomings, why does the sales volume still encounter bottlenecks?
It is difficult to deny that it is also equipped with a range-extended power system without range anxiety, although the Landu FREE uses a 1.5T four-cylinder extended range engine, which is much better than the ideal ONE's 1.2T three-cylinder engine, but the market is clearly more inclined to the ideal ONE.
Is it just because the ideal ONE is six? Or, compared to the ideal ONE, what else is missing from Landu FREE?
We believe that what Lantu FREE still lacks at present is brand recognition and grasp of user needs. In the current market environment, which has been seriously involuted, it is very difficult for a product to really stand out if it does not have too obvious advantages and disadvantages.
Although, in the past year, the Lando FREE team has done a lot.
For example, on October 16 last year, Lantu Automobile held the first Lantu User Night on the Wuhan Yangtze River Second Bridge and the Zhiyin Cruise Ship, and more than 500 car owners participated in that night.
For another example, in Luo Zhenyu's 2022 "Friends of Time" New Year's Eve speech, Lantu Automobile, as a sponsor, let the names of 1700 Lantu FREE users appear on the speech screen, giving users a grand and highly commemorative New Year's Eve ceremony.
Even the founder of a new force has expressed high recognition of Lantu's marketing work in private.
According to the staff, the current mainstream car buying crowd of Landu FREE is a middle-aged man of about 40 years old, this group, basically the second time to buy a car, not only understands the car, but also very rational.
It can only be said that Lantu is already very good, but if you want to get a piece of the chinese new energy vehicle market, it needs to be better.
Therefore, Lantu Automobile is seizing every opportunity to appear in the public eye, such as this price increase. Of course, there are still many things that Lantu has to do this year, such as opening more direct stores, enriching the form of user operation, and more importantly, doing a good job in the listing promotion of the second product, Lantu Dreamer.
It is believed that with the efforts of Lantu people, the sales of Lantu automobile can also return to the right track as soon as possible.
epilogue
Originally, the theme of this test drive was "Knowing 'Cherry' Lantu", although due to weather reasons, I could not meet the most beautiful cherry blossoms in Wuhan, but I saw the hardest-working Lantu people.
Lantu Automobile has a recruitment public account, which shares a variety of small stories of Lantu people, there are engineers responsible for mold cost management, because they have just been discharged from the hospital can not sit for a long time, so they use the window sill as an office desk; there are engineers responsible for the development of parking functions, at the peak of the time every night at ten o'clock in the car, until the test until four or five o'clock in the morning to leave work...
With such a team, why worry about not creating a beautiful "Lantu"? Giving Lantu a little more time is also a space for Chinese brands to show their skills.