Write on the front
Without a little defense, without a hint of concern, you just show up... At last year's Munich Motor Show, the Smart Genie #1 concept car jointly created by Mercedes-Benz and Geely was officially unveiled. On April 8, Smart Genie #1 made its world debut in Berlin, Germany. The question is, is smart genie #1 just made in China, or is it an original domestic car export? If it is the former, Geely is a foundry, the process, technology and standards are mercedes-Benz; if it is the latter, then it is just a domestic car with a new brand.
Smart before entering the fold
As we all know, the classic car smart born in 1998 landed in the domestic market, even if the price is not low, but because people sell in the Mercedes-Benz showroom, therefore, both word of mouth and sales, are very good. However, with the advent of the electrification era, smart global sales began to decline, compared with 2012, which sold 150,000 vehicles a year, and the cumulative global sales in 2021 were only 38,500 vehicles.
As a result, Mercedes-Benz has two choices, either to stop production or change. There is no doubt that Mercedes-Benz is willing and finally chose the latter, and together with Geely, launched an electric version of smart.
On December 27, 2019, Geely Automobile Group Co., Ltd. and Mercedes-Benz Co., Ltd. jointly invested 5.4 billion yuan to establish a joint venture in China, Zhimada Automobile Co., Ltd., each holding 50% of the shares, and will jointly operate and promote the transformation of the smart brand on a global scale, committed to building smart into a high-end electric intelligent car brand, and smart genie #1 is its first mass production product.
On April 25, smart genie #1 was officially pre-sold, and a total of 2 models were launched for the new car, with a pre-price range of 190,000-230,000 yuan. According to official claims, on the night of listing, the smart car app and the smart car mini program opened the booking channel less than 24 hours, and the users who delivered 500 yuan of intention money have exceeded 10,000.
With the launch of Smart Genie #1, it also means that the Smart brand will transform into a pure electric brand. In this regard, Tong Xiangbei, CEO of Smart Brand Global, said: "Genie #1 is not only the best interpretation of brand renewal, but also its global debut has set the latest milestone in the brand development road, and I believe that the new luxury pure electric travel experience brought by Smart will surely gain the favor of the global market." ”
Back to the question at the beginning, what kind of car is the Smart Genie #1? Is it only produced at Geely, or is it built entirely by Geely?
Is a new car an IQ tax?
In fact, from the information given by the official, smart genie #1 is based on the Geely Haohan SEA architecture, designed by the Mercedes-Benz design department, and R&D and manufactured by Geely, the new car is positioned as a pure electric small SUV, and the new car will be produced in China and sold around the world.
I don't know if the officials understand it? Mercedes-Benz is responsible for the styling, the rest is responsible for Geely, and even the architecture is the Geely Vast SEA architecture. To put it bluntly, Mercedes-Benz just gave smart genie #1 a good-looking coat, to say that the inside, or we are auspicious. So, if I let the author define it, smart genie #1 is a domestic car!
Of course, some friends may question that the domestic models of Beijing Benz are not also manufactured in China? Same as Smart Genie #1, no problem!
Okay, so let's talk about Beijing Benz. Although they are all joint ventures, and some of the spare parts of Beijing Benz are also purchased by China, the production process, standards and some important spare parts of Beijing Benz are still Mercedes-Benz. In short, Beijing Benz manufactured and produced in China and Imported Mercedes-Benz from Germany do not have much difference in production standards, quality inspection standards and core machine components.
Comparing the production of smart genie #1, is there a problem? Of course, the author is not questioning Geely's production process and standards, but just wants to clarify the fact that smart genie #1 is just produced by Geely. Therefore, we look at the pre-sale price of 190,000-230,000 yuan, is it a bit high?
As for the official so-called delivery of 500 yuan of intention funds to the user has been more than a case, the author does not want to evaluate too much. After all, it's not just smart genie #1, it seems that many pure electric models will have surprising booking data released at the time of pre-sale, and then "punch themselves in the face" with a few sales. However, this year, it can be explained by the best phrase of "affected by the epidemic", but what about the future? Therefore, whether smart genie #1 sells well depends on the actual sales.
Looking at the specific products, since the shape is responsible for Mercedes-Benz, it should not be much different, and the new design style does make people unable to see the shadow of other smart models. Arguably, it not only got bigger, with a wheelbase of 2750mm; it was also more stylish and rounded. Good or bad, is a very subjective evaluation. In my opinion, smart #1 "moving knife" is a team after that, and it is really "the same country" to stand with Volkswagen ID.3 and Euler Good Cat. But on the other hand, smart #1并不够独特, at least the new face does not cover the uniqueness of the "small" body of the past. The point is, there are more questions on closer inspection: Why does smart genie #1 look a bit like the BMW MINI? Could it be that Mercedes-Benz's new styling design borrows from old rival BMW?
Inside, with a 9.2-inch slim LCD meter, a 10-inch HUD head-up display, and a 12.8-inch floating multimedia display, Smart Genie #1 has a strong sense of technology. Of course, since the vehicle research and development and manufacturing is completed by Geely, we do not have to question the inner nature of this large screen, presumably in terms of intelligent technology, it is expected that full-speed adaptive cruise, intelligent assisted driving, blind spot detection and automatic brake assist, OTA upgrade These configurations, in the electric version of smart genie #1上都会有配备. However, these 100,000 domestic models can almost be equipped with standard configurations, and there seems to be nothing worth showing off.
Let's talk about architecture in passing. Although it is the same as the origin of the extreme krypton 001, at present, the mechanical specification basis of the extreme krypton 001 rear caliper and the smart #1是不一样的 of the front caliper. If you want to give a good review, you can only say: the compatibility of the SEA vast architecture is very high.
In terms of power, the smart genie #1 is equipped with a rear-drive motor, with a maximum power of 272 horsepower, a peak torque of 343 Nm, an acceleration time of 0-100km/h of 6.7 seconds, and a maximum speed of 180km/h. It is equipped with a 66-degree (kWh) ternary lithium battery pack, a Pro+ cruising range of 535 km, and a Premium cruising range of 560 km (CLTC China light vehicle driving conditions). For the power performance of smart genie #1, it can only be said to be decent, and it is estimated that it can have a certain competitiveness when it is placed abroad. However, if you come to the domestic market, compared with the endurance standards of 700 kilometers from BYD and those new car-making forces, it seems that it is a bit out of hand. Related to the wind resistance coefficient, the performance of the new car 0.29 is really not enough to see, after all, the drag coefficient of the Volkswagen ID.3 next door has come to 0.26. Interestingly, the new car's 6.7-second acceleration is much more energetic than the ID.3.
Therefore, perhaps some netizens said that the smart genie #1 is a car and cannot be compared. Well, although the Smart Genie #1 car is not big, take a look at the pre-price! 190,000-23 million yuan of pre-sale, presumably the official listing price is also very different, and then add some money directly to a Tesla Model 3 or BYD's Han EV is not fragrant? If these two cars can't be seen, look at the list of new car-making forces, there are not many models to choose from.
Can dreams shine into reality?
On April 1, the Board of Directors of Smart Brand Global announced that Zhang Mingxia will serve as vice president of sales, marketing and after-sales of Smart Brand Global Company and as chairman of the Supervisory Board of Smart Europe GmbH, responsible for the operation of the Smart brand in the global market. As a result, Zhang Mingxia, who left Mercedes-Benz in 2021 and mixed with Audi for more than a year, returned to Mercedes-Benz.
In this regard, Mr. Tong Xiangbei, CEO of Smart Brand Global Company, welcomed him, and Ms. Zhang Mingxia also said that she would work with colleagues in the global team to bring the new generation of smart pure electric products "Made in China" to tens of millions of users in the Chinese market, and also to the European market and the world.
From Ms. Zhang Mingxia's words, we also seem to feel that perhaps the future smart pure electric products will be genuinely made in Geely and Made in China. However, with the known product power of smart genie #1, it should not be a big problem to get the national takeaway. However, if it is placed in domestic sales, if the price is not reduced appropriately, it is not only a lack of sincerity, but also I am afraid that it is difficult to have good sales.
For smart genie #1, netizens also gave an objective and rational evaluation. Some netizens commented that the Mercedes-Benz design department is responsible for styling design, and Geely is responsible for the development and manufacture of the whole vehicle, which is different from Geely's own manufacturing? This question, which I have already answered above, makes no difference.
There are also netizens who believe that with the cost of Wuling mini to sell BYD Tang price, Mercedes-Benz never pit poor people, praise! Saying that smart genie #1 costs low, this is no problem, but it is not the cost of Wuling Mini. After all, the Hongguang MINI EV mentioned by this netizen is only priced at tens of thousands of pieces!
More netizens still think that the pre-price of Smart Genie #1 is somewhat high. I think that hanging a smart mark is 190,000 ah. Aren't domestic cars fragrant? If you hang a Mercedes-Benz for 190,000, maybe someone will buy it. Some netizens pointed out that the increased configuration cost performance of plus 4w is too low, this car is destined to be a niche, and it is still possible to reduce the price by 1-2w.
Written later
If you want to use a sentence to describe the smart of the past, then I can only say "it looks small, in fact, it is very large", after all, no matter the original product form or brand volume, smart is running with a "giant" posture. Now after changing an ID card, the new pure electric smart genie #1 has indeed brought new changes, compared to the previous smart model, the smart genie #1 not only has a larger body size, but also uses pure electric drive. More importantly, the degree of intelligence has been greatly improved, which is more in line with the car needs of young consumers today. The new car, indeed, has become bigger and stronger. However, it is not bigger and stronger. Whether it is the price, the battery life, or the intelligent technology configuration equipped with it, there is not much superiority.
In fact, smart to "become stronger and bigger", I can understand, if you still go the old way, then not only the battery capacity will be limited, even the profit margin is extremely difficult to be guaranteed, even with mercedes-Benz's signature protective body, but in the current market state, the final probability will become a victim of "double integral". Worse still, perhaps smart is less competitive at the terminal level than Hongguang MINIEV. So, finally, I would like to ask Ms. Zhang Mingxia, in all fairness, smart genie #1 seems to be in addition to Mercedes-Benz's smart logo and aura, what is its core competitiveness?