Text/Wen Chong
On May 7, Lantu's second model is also the first flagship MPV "Dreamer" officially launched. The seven-seat version of the new car is priced at 369,900-439,900 yuan, and the four-seat private customized version is priced at 639,900-689,900 yuan, and users can book through the Lantu Auto APP, and it is expected to start delivery from the third quarter of this year.
Seeing the price, I can't help but think, where is the bottom line of Lantu Dreamer's pricing of more than 360,000 yuan? To know that this price is not a simple high-end, but hit the hinterland of the first-class model, is it Lantu's "honey juice confidence", or Lantu's insistence on high-end dreams?
In fact, the controversy about the high pricing of Lantu Dreamers began from the pre-sale, some netizens said "is the RMB depreciating", and some people think that "look at the configuration to know that it is worth it", behind the controversy, people can't help but think, Lantu is not too eager to sprint to the high-end?
■ High prices rush into the "narrow" MPV market
In recent years, independent brands have continued to exert upward efforts, high-end brands such as Lantu, Weipai, Lynk & Co and Ji Kr have been continuously pushed to the market, and new car-making forces have also continued to move closer to high-end with the help of electrification. However, looking at the models listed by these brands, the price is mostly around 200,000 yuan, and only a few electric models have exceeded 300,000 yuan.
Not to mention the pricing of the private customized version of more than 600,000 yuan, just look at the starting price, there are few models like dreamers, directly raising the threshold to more than 360,000 yuan. So, why can a Dreamer sell for as little as $369,900?
Lu Fang, CEO and CTO of Lantu Automobile, described it as "born different". He said, "Dreamer is a truly luxurious and executive-grade sedan driving texture of the electric luxury flagship MPV, will create a new category of electric MPV, will also establish a new benchmark for electric luxury MPV, leading MPV into a new era of electrification and intelligence." ”
Lu Fang, CEO and CTO of Lantu Automobile
Dreamers are entering the relatively niche MPV market, targeting the new backbone, people with dreams, perhaps wanting to find another way here. However, the MPV market environment is not so ideal, to luxury travel said that there is an Alpha nanny car cap, to business travel said that there is BAK GL8 to dominate the list. In particular, in the first quarter of this year, the domestic MPV market accumulated zero sales of 239,000 units, down 16.3% year-on-year, and the decline was much larger than that of cars (-5.3%) and SUVs (-2.3%) in the same period.
However, Lu Fang believes that "the Dreamer is a model of IKEA, and Lantu has signed car purchase agreements with a number of leading companies, which will help the dreams of each company." "This may reveal the scope of the Dreamer's sales, which will not be limited to the retail field, and large customer orders will also be an important channel."
Dreamer positioning electric luxury flagship MPV, with large customer support, why do people still feel that the pricing is set high? Why doesn't anyone question Alpha and how expensive the BBA sells? In fact, the value of a product includes not only the configuration, but also the brand value.
As a high-end brand launched in 2018, Lantu's brand image is still in the process of being established, and brand awareness and customer loyalty are still in the "cultivation" stage, especially in front of Lantu, there are not optimistic sales data. According to the data of the owner's home, starting from the delivery of Lando FREE in August last year, in 8 months, land map has accumulated sales of 10,484 vehicles and will exceed 10,000. This achievement is not even as good as the single-month sales of the best-selling models of the new car-making forces.
The industry believes that the private customized version of the dreamer of more than 600,000 yuan is actually the model launched by Lantu in order to establish a high-end brand image, the purpose is not to use the volume, and the sales contribution of the dreamer is mainly based on the seven-seat version.
Judging from the pre-sale orders, the feedback from the Dreamers is not bad. Officials said that since the pre-sale on April 7, Dreamer has accumulated more than 4,000 orders.
■ Play two cards of intelligence and electrification
In fact, the pricing is high or not high, in addition to looking at the brand value and product positioning, the most important thing is to look at the product strength of the dreamer, can it support the "dream" that Lantu wants to lead the electric MPV market?
Space is a key factor in consumers' choice of MPV. The Dreamer's 5315/1985/1820mm length, width and height and 3200mm wheelbase make it larger than mainstream MPVs such as buick GL8 in size, and also provide more possibilities for interior space.
Dreamer has a flexible 2+2+3 seven-seat layout and a private customized version of 2+2 four-seat layout, which can meet the travel needs of different family users or business people. Combined with the extra-long two-row slide rails, it provides ample space for both front and rear passengers.
At the same time, the Dreamer is equipped with 12-way main driver, 6-way co-driver, two-row 8-way electrically adjustable seats, and sleeping headrests as standard to make travel more comfortable. On this basis, the private customized version also adds hidden lifting TV, liftable speakers, air conditioning control panels and other luxurious configurations to meet personalized needs.
Private customization version
Although the Dreamer is an MPV model that gives consumers more space, the Dreamer is also a smart electric vehicle model with the intelligent technology configuration that a smart car should have.
According to reports, Dreamer has 17 MPV first-ride technologies and 21 leading technologies of the same level, including Qualcomm 8155 car machine chip, L2+ intelligent driving assistance, remote control parking function and triple screen cockpit.
Among them, the 1.4-meter unbounded intelligent triple screen, each performing its own duties, the main driver and co-driver can push navigation, music and other information to each other to meet the independent exclusive cockpit experience; 5 millimeter wave radar, 7 cameras, 12 ultrasonic radar, can support 26 advanced driver assistance functions; support vehicle OTA upgrade.
Seven-seat version
In terms of power, The Lantu Dreamer, like the Lantu FREE, adopts an extended range and pure electric dual-power layout. This is mainly due to the fact that Dreamer is based on ESSA's native high-end intelligent electric architecture, and adopts a new generation of power system "Lanhai Power", which can support two power schemes of high-performance pure electricity and intelligent multi-mode drive.
Corresponding to the extended range and pure electric version are the low-carbon version and the 0-carbon version. Among them, the low-carbon version is equipped with a front and rear dual motors with a maximum power of 130kW/160kW, a peak torque of 610N·m, a 100-kilometer acceleration of 6.6 seconds, and a WLTC endurance of 750km; the 0 carbon version is equipped with a front and rear dual motor with a maximum power of 160kW/160kW, with a peak torque of 620N·m, a 100-kilometer acceleration of 5.8 seconds, and the cruising range of the standard endurance version and the long-endurance version of CLTC are 475km and 605 km, respectively.
Intelligence and electrification have added a differentiated competitive advantage to the dreamers from traditional fuel MPV, but the high price is still full of controversy. The market feedback after the listing of Dreamer may give a "clear" answer to Lantu, who is rushing towards high-end.