No matter when or where, a high-tech HiPhi X can quickly become the focus, even people who have no interest in cars will be tempted to look sideways.
If you look at the sales of HiPhi X alone, it may not be very successful. But the product is stunning enough for everyone who knows it to label it "created." Gaohe's creativity seems to have no limits, and the arrival of HiPhi Z proves this, and even its appearance is not limited by the traditional conference mode, which is novel and interesting.
HiPhi Z is not only the "technology of 20 years" in Gaohe's population, but also has epoch-making significance in the history of the development of automobile brands. Before the emergence of HiPhi Z, most people speculated that HiPhi X is a tonal, eye-catching product created by Gaohe, and subsequent products still need to enter the "bayonet red" volume market. But Gaohe took a road of "high open and high walk", a road that no one had ever set foot on.
In the past few years that Gaohe has gone through, one word is enough to sum up: dream. A car company under the age of 5 wants to stand in front of Porsche with a century-old history and a worldwide reputation in the market that "needs accumulation, word of mouth, and popularity", is this kind of start not bold and interesting? HiPhi X, HiPhi Z, the unconventional exterior interior, cool lighting, is not dreamy enough? In just a few years, Gaohe seems to have entered a state of benign development, the performance of products in the market, as well as the steady advancement of new product layout, and even the supplier system have gathered major top enterprises. Gaohe's achievements today seem to have come naturally in the process of being polished by the market.
But from the perspective of the market, this kind of sensual freshness cannot support the long-term development of a brand. Although the industrial ecology is undergoing electrification and the times are changing, some market laws will not change. As strong as Porsche, it is also after abandoning the "sports car" belief, leaning back against the "big tree" to put down the body step by step to today. What's more, Gaohe either relies on the "big tree" with strong funds, or takes the initiative to reduce its stature and take root in a more expensive market. If Gaohe insists on telling its unique understanding of the high-end market, when there are more and more competitors and more and more brands willing to put down their bodies, the current "place to live" may also be lost.
Is the future of Gaohe stable?
Independent new force car brands, from the beginning of a hundred flowers to today's several dominant, although sales are rising, but when it comes to "making money by selling cars", no one still has an absolute say. "Selling cars to make money" should be the foundation of a car company, but this is not true in the new power brand. Money can not be earned, but when it comes to market value and valuation, it cannot be high, and it can even be as high as breaking the wrist with the head of traditional car companies. Angel round, A round, B round, listing, but no matter how many rounds of financing, they have only one purpose, using the power of capital to make enterprises quickly form a scale, seize the market, and then sell cars to make money.
From HiPhi X to HiPhi Z, this product planning of "not eating human fireworks" is doomed to fail to complete the "quantitative change caused by qualitative change" like "Wei Xiaoli". HiPhi X has delivered more than 5,000 units since it began delivery, and Gaohe has even customized a separate market segment with a large string of "prefixes". In this market, it has even repeatedly knocked out the Porsche Taycan. But no one can deny that even if the monthly sales volume exceeds 500 vehicles and the average transaction price is nearly 700,000 yuan, it is not enough to support the entire future of a car company.
In the short term, it is impossible to trigger qualitative changes through sales, so what does Gaohe rely on in the future? I'm afraid everything has to go back to square one. In the more than four years since its establishment, the funds invested by Gaohe have not been easily detected by the outside world, and continue to give people a sense of arrogance of "wealth and wealth". With the endorsement of local leading enterprises and the Qingdao Municipal Government, in the short term, Gaohe's funds may not have much pressure. But from a development perspective, financing is an inevitable step for Gaohe, or perhaps this step is underway.
Although the delivery volume is guaranteed, and even the production of HiPhi Z is in full swing, the current situation of short-term unprofitable is doomed to its future is uncertain. At the level of capital, investing in any company is seeking profit. Weilai, known as the "first brother" of the new independent force, also released its own planned time node of "turning losses into profits" early in exchange for the sustained benefits of the capital market. Gaohe's current sales volume and product planning cannot make it continue to gain favor in the capital market, which may be the reason why it has not taken the step of "capital" for a long time, but this step is ultimately going to go.
Where does the future of GAOHE go?
"In the era of intelligence, before launching a good product, there must be a good work." Ding Lei, founder, chairman and CEO of Huaren Express Gaohe Automobile, previously expressed this view, which may have unlocked the mystery of Gaohe's future development for us.
The future of Gaohe may not be that it does not develop a volume market, but that they feel that the time has not come. "Giving up sales" is not only a temporary helpless move, but also to fully create momentum and set the tone for the future. Perhaps after the "X" and "Z" lineups are gathered, the performance of the big killing will really begin. One or two models that face the volume market are coming out of the trend, targeting the two major areas of SUVs and cars. With the guidance of the HiPhi series of products and the survey of a large number of user questionnaires, the performance of the two volume models in all aspects may also reach the peak of the same level.
In the past 2021, Tesla sold nearly one million vehicles in the global market, of which more than 90% were Model 3/Y models. Tesla's success story at least shows that when a brand with too high a tone suddenly drops its own price, it can effectively stimulate the nerves of consumers and often reap miracles. The way to reduce the price may hurt the brand's tonality, and even impact the brand's high-end models, but it can also provide a better future for the brand. Model S/X let the market know Tesla, understand its leading technology, advanced concepts, and the arrival of model 3/Y has narrowed the distance between Tesla and consumers. Perhaps the HiPhi series of products plays the role of the high-company model S/X.
There is also a possibility that Gaohe firmly chooses the latter between price reduction and brand image, and the plot will be another direction.
There is nothing wrong with insisting on high-end, and the future of independent brands must be inseparable from the high-end market. Whether it is a traditional independent car company or a new force car company, they are desperately developing high-end, such as the great wall's salons, tanks, as well as BYD, Avita and so on. Coupled with the imported brand will not sit still, Mercedes-Benz EQS, BMW i7, Audi e-tron GT, etc., how can Gaohe ensure that it can win under this kind of attack? Whether it is from the perspective of historical background or technology accumulation, the opportunity of Gaohe is very slim.
Gaohe still has good sales in the same class, and some consumers are willing to pay for its "toy" attribute, which is enough to prove the necessity of its existence. Such models and brands are not rare in the long river of history, but most of the endings are not satisfactory, and "being acquired" and "disappearing" has become their final destination. In view of the "high-end" and "high-playability" brand image that Gaohe has created so far, there is also a certain market, and the result may not be the demise of this, but the probability is difficult to escape the fate of "being acquired".
It is not that Gaohe must not be able to take this road, perhaps it can rewrite history, but this road is too difficult, so difficult that no one has walked through before.
Master observation
Since its birth, Gaohe has been a "publicity" brand. The exterior interiors, unreserved configurations, high prices, and even market segments are defined by themselves. Gaohe is like a post-00s who brazenly and undisguised, and the "innovative" genes, imagination, and creativity that dare to break the rules and regulations are all the foundations of its foothold. In the words of Gaohe: they love to create!
Gao He used this creative spirit to establish an image of "strong playability", "high-end" and "technology" for himself, which is a miracle, but it must not violate the laws of the market. "Being acquired" is the "optimal solution" I can think of after Gaohe insisted on not compromising, if it is aimed at this, the current effort is just to make itself more valuable, everything I did not mention. If not, then Gaohe really needs to re-recognize the word "market" after HiPhi Z.