Just this past March, Xiao Peng's bad things are a bit much.
First of all, it was exposed to a series of things such as "brake failure", "power locking", "delivery delay", "reduction of rights and interests", etc., and became the protagonist of the cusp of the storm.
As everyone knows, before March is over, Xiaopeng has once again fallen into the "spontaneous combustion" storm, and for a time the owners of Xiaopeng are panicked.
On the evening of March 28, in a residential area of Longhua District, Shenzhen, a Xiaopeng G3 spontaneously combusted.
Judging from the scene, there was a large number of flames coming out of the bottom of the car at that time, accompanied by thick white smoke, and the fire surrounded the entire vehicle.
After the incident, Xiaopeng Automobile confirmed that the vehicle that caught fire was the 2019 Xiaopeng G3, and no personnel were injured at the scene.
Coincidentally, on the night of the accident, Xiaopeng Automobile disclosed its 2021 performance report, and the company won the 2021 car-making new force sales championship with a delivery of 98,000 vehicles.
On the one hand, there are hot new sales crowns, and on the other hand, there are frequent safety issues.
Here we can't help but ask whether the new car-making forces have set up a "safety bottom line" when they are running wildly?
And Xiao Peng, who is deeply trapped in the whirlpool of negative information, may not be so easy to maintain speed in the "radical run" of the new forces in the second half.
(1) The elders of the Kai Dynasty, frequent problems?
For those who are familiar with Xiaopeng Motors, although Xiaopeng G3 is not the flagship main force, its influence is absolutely top-notch, and it is also a well-deserved "Kai Dynasty Elder" of the Xiaopeng series.
Even if Xiaopeng officially does not publicize, Xiaopeng G3 is not drowned in history.
And it is precisely the Xiaopeng G3 that has always exploded with safety problems.
In December 2019, a Xiaopeng G3 in Guangzhou spontaneously combusted. Xiaopeng officials responded that "spontaneous combustion" was not true, but there was an open flame in the tail.
In August 2020, a Xiaopeng G3 in Guangzhou had a smoke and fire, and Xiaopeng's official response was due to damage to the bottom of the battery box.
In April 2021, a Xiaopeng G3 in Guangzhou spontaneously combusted during charging next to the charging pile.
From a series of "spontaneous combustion" incidents, it is not difficult to see that the stability of Xiaopeng G3 is indeed controversial.
In January 2021, Xiaopeng Motors recalled about 13,300 Xiaopeng G3s at one time, with production dates covering March 29, 2019 to September 27, 2020.
At that time, Xiaopeng officially explained that the batch of cars may have inverter failure.
If this happens, the vehicle may not be able to start again if it is parked, and if the vehicle is in a driving state, the vehicle may lose power and there is a safety hazard.
Since the problem broke out, it must be solved, but how to solve it is a "headache" for Xiaopeng.
recall? They have all been recalled, and the cost of this matter is too high to bear.
Then go another way.
Lock the power? Reduced charging capacity? Reduced charge-discharge performance?
This is the manufacturer's "lowest" cost solution, and it is not difficult to operate, but consumers cannot accept it.
Since March, many car owners have complained that their first batch of Xiaopeng P7 model electric vehicles are suspected of being "locked" for no reason.
A number of xiaopeng P7 first owners complained: after their car went through an OTA (car remote upgrade) at the end of last year, there was a significant decline in mileage, so the owner suspected that Xiaopeng Automobile had "locked the power" of the vehicle through OTA.
After all, for the matter of locking the electricity, the user does not know that it is okay, and once they know the nature of the matter, it will change.
In fact, for users, whether it is locking the power, reducing the performance of the vehicle, or shrinking the battery life, any follow-up service cannot make up for it.
However, forced to do so, in order to "safety bottom line", car companies can only choose between sacrificing "self-interest" and "user rights and interests".
Xiao Peng's answer can be imagined.
Electric Star people believe that if car companies only take the power lock as a "countermeasure" after the spontaneous combustion accident, and do not really solve the problem, they will only lose the trust of consumers in the end.
(2) The problem is "less", the speed can be "faster"
For "Wei Xiaoli", after entering 2022, as the competition heats up, the position between them will gradually become clear.
However, they are not without hidden worries, regardless of Tesla's continuous oppression, the second echelon of car manufacturing and the catch-up of traditional car companies are also topics they cannot avoid.
Therefore, the "fast and slow" in sales volume will mean the high and low status in the future new energy market.
In this context, He Xiaopeng also shared his insights in an interview.
"This year, new energy vehicle manufacturers are facing three major challenges: one is materials (mainly referring to batteries); the other is chips, previously we expected that the lack of cores in the second half of 2022 may be alleviated, but in the first half of this year, instead of alleviating, it has further deteriorated; the third is the change of the epidemic in China this year."
From the current point of view, Xiaopeng has a good response to these thorny issues.
If raw materials rise, prices rise. On March 18, Xiaopeng announced that the price of models on sale has increased by 10,000 to 20,000 yuan.
In addition, Xiaopeng is looking for more battery suppliers to cope with the problem of battery shortage.
In the conference call, He Xiaopeng pointed out that at present, he is communicating with some power battery suppliers, hoping to control the battery cost problem caused by the rise in material prices after 1-3 quarters while ensuring supply.
Electric star people believe that compared with the lack of core and less electricity, Xiaopeng actually has a big hidden worry - there are many after-sales problems, and the service cannot keep up with the speed.
From the subsequent solution of the spontaneous combustion problem, to the "brake failure", to the "power lock", "delivery delay", "reduction of rights" and so on, it can be described as a continuous problem.
Some data on complaints such as 12315, Weibo, and black cats can also prove on the side that Xiaopeng's various problems after-sales are not small.
Separately, this is really not a "big problem".
But through these "small problems" it is easy to roll up snowballs, accumulate more and more, if not enough attention, it is likely to cause unexpected losses.
In fact, as early as a few years ago, because of the user's after-sales service problem, Xiaopeng had encountered a wave of reaction.
Three years ago, Xiaopeng officially released the 2020 G3 model. However, due to the fact that the maximum endurance of the new model is 40% higher than that of the 2019 G3 model on sale, the price difference is not large, resulting in extreme dissatisfaction among the old owners.
Finally, He Xiaopeng publicly apologized to the affected car owners and gave a compensation plan, which calmed the anger of the owners.
Therefore, the electric star people believe that under the footsteps of Yu Xiaopeng' galloping, let the problem be "a little less" in order to better maintain balance and speed faster in the "radical fast run".
(3) Kung Fu shooting
In the long-distance running movement of the new car-making forces, it may not even be a "field break" now, and the temporary lead may even be an illusion.
If you are blinded by the results you have achieved so far, you will fall behind if you are not careful.
For Xiaopeng, one of its major challenges in the future is to balance service and sales.
To some extent, this also affects how fast it can run and how far it jumps.