The wave of electrification swept the MPV market, can Lantu Dreamers seize the opportunity?

Although Lantu Dreamer is the first electric MPV, its performance, configuration and intelligence level are also very prominent, but as a new entrant in the high-end MPV market, it does not have a user reputation, Lantu brand influence is still weak, therefore, it still needs time to prove itself.

On May 7, Lantu Automobile's second model, the high-end electric MPV "Dreamer", was launched, which is known as the world's first large-scale luxury electric MPV model will help further improve the brand height of Lantu Automobile, and also kick off the prelude to the electrification of MPV models.

In addition to Lantu Dreamer, Chinese brands such as Denza, Extreme Krypton, Hongqi, and WEY will all launch high-end electric (hybrid) MPVs. As electric vehicles accelerate to replace traditional fuel vehicles, it is expected to set off a wave of electrification of MPVs.

Compared with traditional fuel MPV, electric MPV is less expensive to use, NVH performance is better, and the level of intelligence of several newly launched models is also higher. However, compared with cars and SUVs, the market size of MPV is not large, and the current high-end MPV market, especially for high-end business people, is mainly occupied by foreign brands of fuel vehicles.

However, in the context of the Chinese government's encouragement of second- and third-child families, car companies expect the market size of MPV to further expand. Chinese car companies also believe that with the transformation of MPV models to electrification and intelligence, the opportunity for Chinese brands has come.

As a pioneer in the high-end electric MPV market, can Lantu Dreamer seize this opportunity?

The mission of Lantu Dreamer:

Boost your brand, or increase your sales?

Lantu Dreamer has a total of four models with different configurations, of which the three configurations of the seven-seat version are priced at 369,900, 389,900 yuan and 439,900 yuan, and the four-seat private customized version is priced at 639,900 yuan. Deliveries of new cars will begin in the third quarter of this year.

The price of Landu FREE is between 333,600 and 373,600 yuan, and the price range of Landu Dreamer has reached the range of 350,000-650,000 yuan, which has also raised the positioning and height of the Landu brand by one level.

At the beginning of its establishment, Lantu positioned itself as a high-end brand, the official brand positioning is "zero anxiety high-end smart electric brand", the positioning of the first model Lantu FREE is "performance-level intelligent electric SUV", although it does not explicitly mention "high-end", but from its pricing and target population, it is indeed a high-end electric SUV.

In the second car Dreamer, its positioning rose to "electric luxury flagship MPV", and the keyword of "luxury" appeared, which means that Lantu wants to enhance its brand positioning.

From high-end to luxury, why is there such a change? The author believes that it is mainly caused by the fierce competition between China's new energy vehicle market and the new car-making force camp, which is simply that the new car-making force camp is too rolled.

At present, in the camp of new car-making forces, measured by the comprehensive strength of brand height, brand influence and sales volume, Weilai Xiaopeng and ideal are still the first echelon, like Lantu, Jihu, these new brands born from traditional state-owned enterprises, although also positioned in the high-end market, but the comprehensive strength of brand awareness, influence and sales is not as good as "Wei Xiaoli". Purely in terms of sales, it is not as good as zero-running cars and Nezha cars (of course, Lantu's pricing is higher than zero-running and Nezha).

Traffic insurance data shows that Lantu FREE has been tepid since it began to be delivered in July last year, with a total of 10,635 vehicles insured by the end of March this year, an average of less than 1,200 vehicles per month. The highest monthly sales were 3,128 units in December last year. In addition to the low sales in a single month, the performance of the pure electric version of Lantu FREE did not meet expectations, with sales accounting for 22%, and the remaining 78% were extended range versions.

Landu Auto did not announce deliveries in April this year. In April this year, due to factors such as the impact of the epidemic control on production and chip supply, a number of new car-making forces fell sharply from the previous month, and it is expected that the delivery volume of Lantu Automobile will also be greatly affected.

In addition, in the same range-extended electric vehicle market, the sales volume of Landu FREE is not only a huge gap with the ideal ONE, but even inferior to Cyrus's M5. According to the traffic insurance data, in February and March this year, the number of insurance vehicles on the M5 was 867 and 2870 respectively, exceeding the 573 and 1147 vehicles of the LANDFRIE extended range version.

In this situation, is the top priority of Lantu Automobile to increase sales or enhance the brand? The author believes that compared with the Dreamer MPV, Lantu Automobile needs a sedan or a second SUV at the moment. Although the competition in the new energy car and MPV market is more intense, the market size is larger, and if the product is competitive, there will still be a great market opportunity.

However, there is also a view that the main mission of Dreamers is to improve the brand positioning of Lantu, rather than contributing more sales to it, because the MPV market itself is very small, and Lantu Dreamers cannot share much from it. However, the pricing of 350,000-650,000 yuan has helped to increase the height of Lantu's license. Moreover, there is no electric MPV on the market at present, and Lantu Dreamers can take the lead in entering the market and strengthen users' awareness of the Lantu brand.

Where are the opportunities for Lantu Dreamers?

At present, the high-end models in the domestic MPV market mainly include SAIC-GM GL8, GAC Honda Odyssey, Dongfeng Honda Arison, GAC Toyota Xena, SAIC Volkswagen Weiran, high-end MPV is mainly Mercedes-Benz V-Class, Lexus LM, Toyota Alpha and other models. According to the data of the Association, the total annual sales of these mid-to-high-end and high-end MPV models are about 400,000 units. The pricing range of the Lantu Dreamer coincides with the high-end model of the Buick GL8, but there is still a long way to go from the Toyota Alpha, which costs 800,000-900,000 yuan.

For users, the biggest selling point of the Lantu Dreamer is that it is an electric MPV, which has two power forms, an extended range version and a pure electric version (strictly speaking, the extended range version should be called the "intelligent multi-mode drive version" because it also has an engine direct drive mode), and there are no electric MPV products on the market at present, toyota Alpha and Xena are also hybrid models.

In addition to the power form, Lantu Dreamer strives to have a greater advantage than its fuel vehicle competitors in terms of space, power performance, fuel consumption, handling quality, high-tech configuration and intelligent level, so as to gain the favor of consumers.

The body size of the Lantu Dreamer is 5315*1980*1810mm, the wheelbase reaches 3200mm, and it is equipped with double-sided electric sliding doors as standard. The 7-seater version is fully loaded with 7 people and can easily carry four 24-inch suitcases without having to rewind the third row, and the 4-seater customized version has more space in the car. Zero gravity wide seats, two-row independent seats with 70° large-angle electric leg rests and a maximum recruct angle of 155° backrest, the use of OEKO-TEX ecological textile certified baby protection grade skin-friendly fabrics, three-zone intelligent air conditioning grade air purification system, Tanner audio and other configurations have enhanced the sense of luxury.

The second row of seats of the private customized version is more luxurious and comfortable, equipped with sleeping headrests, independent intelligent control armrest screens, flagship car refrigerators, etc., and the cockpit also adds hidden lifting TV, liftable speakers, air conditioning control panels and other luxurious configurations.

In terms of power, the intelligent multi-mode drive version is equipped with front and rear dual motors with a maximum power of 130kW/160kW, a peak torque of 610N·m, an acceleration of 6.6 seconds per 100 kilometers, a WLTC endurance of 750km, and a comprehensive fuel consumption of 1.99L/100km of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

The pure electric version is equipped with a maximum power of 160kW/160kW front and rear dual motors, peak torque of 620N·m, 5.8 seconds of acceleration per 100 kilometers, the battery supports up to 230kW power fast charging, 20%-80% of the power when fully charged only about 20 minutes, the standard endurance version of CLTC cruising range of 475km, the long-endurance version of CLTC cruising range of 605km.

Both versions can reach a top speed of 200 km/h.

In order to obtain better driving comfort and control experience, Lantu Dreamer adopts the aluminum alloy independent suspension system of front double wisharm + rear five connecting rods, with air suspension and CDC continuous active suspension control, which can intelligently adjust the damping of the shock absorber to achieve the driving texture of the executive-class car.

In terms of intelligent cockpit, the Dreamer car machine uses Qualcomm 8155 chip, which has strong computing power, fast response speed, and with gigabit 5G network, it can bring smoother voice interaction, navigation, audio and video entertainment experience. The 1.4-meter-long through-line triple screen experience is also good.

Judging from the performance and configuration of Lantu Dreamer, its product power is undoubtedly very powerful. But that doesn't mean it's necessarily a piece of the high-end MPV market.

In addition to product power, brand power is also very critical, especially for the MPV of the main business market, for some users, brand power is more important than product power. Landu Automobile did not clearly state whether Landu Dreamers are mainly engaged in business or personal home markets. But from the perspective of its design style, it is obviously more suitable for the business market.

However, the brand is still the short board of Lantu Automobile, and compared with Buick and Toyota, which have been deeply engaged in the MPV market for decades, they have not accumulated user reputation.

Ideally, after the use of the first batch of seed users, Lantu Dreamer's product power was recognized, initially accumulated word of mouth, and then gradually opened up the situation. At yesterday's listing ceremony, Lu Fang, CEO of Lantu Automobile, said that since the pre-sale on April 7, 4,000 orders have been received from Dreamers.

In order to stimulate the sales of dreamers, Lantu Car also provided the first car owner with a relatively generous user car purchase rights.

Users who place orders for the "Home" series before August 7 can get an exclusive upgrade package worth 20,000 yuan; users who place orders for the "Want" series before August 7 can get 20,000 yuan of preferential rights, users who place orders for the "Want" series from August 7 to December 31 can get 10,000 yuan of preferential rights; users who place orders for the "Dream" series within this year can enjoy 20,000 yuan of preferential rights.

On the basis of the first car purchase rights, for the first owner of Lantu Dreamer, Lantu Automobile also launched six lifelong worry-free service rights, including lifetime free vehicle warranty, lifetime free triple electric warranty, lifetime free vehicle traffic, lifetime free road rescue, lifetime free foreseeable service, free charging pile and installation service. In addition, there are six major exclusive service rights and triple zero anxiety financial policies, as well as additional and exchange exclusive rights including free new insurance, rights inheritance rights or 10,000 yuan replacement subsidies.

Summary:

Although Lantu Dreamer is the first electric MPV, its performance, configuration and intelligence level are also very prominent, but as a new entrant in the high-end MPV market, Lantu Dreamer has not yet accumulated user reputation, Lantu brand influence is still weak, therefore, it will take time to prove itself.