Produced | Tiger Sniff Car Group
Author| Li Wenbo
Header image | video screenshot
In the Chinese New Year, it has to be a local Chinese car brand.
On January 22, Geely Automobile officially announced the new mid-to-high-end new energy series, which will be composed of a number of new pure electric, plug-in hybrid, and extended-range hybrid models, using Geely Raytheon hybrid technology, equipped with the latest intelligent technology and new design language, and the first product will be unveiled in 2023.
In the following three days, Geely Automobile released the design details of the new mid-to-high-end new energy series in the front side of the car, rear light strip, handle wheel hub and interior central control, although the video duration is very limited, after a Leeuwenhoek review by Tiger Sniff Auto, the three core messages of the series were found:
First, the new car is most likely a medium and large sedan with a body length of more than 5 meters, using a long front overhang + large back design style, even in a static state, you can feel the sporty atmosphere.
If you want to find an imaginary projection for it in the existing production car, the imported Audi A7 Sportback, which has the "most soul-wrenching curve in history", is a good object, but it is necessary to slightly lengthen the body on the basis of the Audi A7 (length 4976 mm), but it cannot be lengthened into the domestic SAIC Audi A7L (length 5076 mm) is seriously out of proportion;
Second, the front L-shaped daytime running lights add three-dimensional polyline elements to the most popular "squinting" design of new energy models, which is like making a semi-permanent 3D eyeliner for Li Ronghao, squinting without closing, and the hole is slightly clear.
The design is reminiscent of the Lotus Type 133, the all-electric four-door coupe to be released by Lotus in 2023, or the Polestar Polestar 5, the all-electric four-door GT coupe to be released in 2024, both of which tacitly chose to benchmark the Porsche all-electric sports car Taycan.
On the taillights, the new car chooses the common through-through taillights, which, like the front daytime running lights, also incorporate a three-dimensional layered design.
At the same time, the new car also added LED light sources to the door handles and wheel hubs for detailed outline, especially the visual focus of a thick vertical line surrounded by a triangle in the center of the wheel hub, which makes people think of whether "triangle + vertical line" will be the LOGO of the new car;
Third, the interior has a cleverly conical suspension device that runs through the upper and lower parts of the central control, with the grain effect created by the lighting, the light blue leather material and brown stitching, which reminds people of the Temple of Heaven in Beijing for the first time.
Sharp-eyed netizens said that this is not the "Vortex emotional vortex on Avita 11". In fact, a closer look at the video reveals that the Avita 11 uses a tapered device that connects the bulge of the upper half of the dashboard to the lower half, along with a long row of reflective backplates that enhance the reflection effect.
Avita 11
Geely chiseled a hole to allow the conical device to merge with the instrument panel, becoming the focal point of the entire cockpit. In essence, the conical device is an interactive entity, an outpost for deep communication between the cockpit and the user, and the first port for the emotional connection between the user and the vehicle. For example, the cone device is flexibly used to bring and nearby ambient lights to realize the music rhythm welcome mode and voice linkage.
Based on the available information, a Geely New Energy Porsche Panamera is about to come out, and this is still a Chinese Paramela that can open the door.
It's time for the high end
From developing and manufacturing cars in 1997 to selling more than 1.43 million new cars in 2022, Geely has grown from a private automobile company with indigenous steelmaking to a standard-bearer of Chinese car brands. Among them, Geely has gone through a total of four stages:
In the "economy car era" from 1997 to 2006, the core value was "to build the cheapest car in China". In 1998, Geely rolled off the production line of the first Geely automobile that could be mass-produced at the Zhejiang Linhai production base, Haoqing. This is a sedan "patchworked" by Xiali body chassis + Tianjin Toyota 8A engine + Fiat gearbox. Although the degree of autonomy is not very high, and the core components rely on outsourcing and reverse imitation, this is after all the starting point of Geely's car manufacturing career.
With less than half the price of Xiali, it became the first car of many Chinese of that era. Soon, Geely entered the forefront of the domestic car market with this "car that ordinary people can afford".
During this period, Li Shufu, who adhered to "four wheels, two sofas and a car shell", also played a flower job: in 2003, Geely released the "China's first running" beauty leopard, and the price of 12.99 to 148,800 yuan silenced those who understood sports cars and those who did not understand sports cars at that time. Although the beauty leopard is still a long way from a real sports car, in that era, a local Chinese car brand dared to build a sports car, which meant that Geely really put the word "high-end" on the agenda.
In the "safety car era" from 2007 to 2013, the core value stock was "building the safest, greenest and most energy-efficient good cars". In the 2007 Ningbo Declaration, Geely stated that the company would make a strategic transformation to "leading technology, reliable quality, satisfactory service and overall leadership". In 2009, Emgrand, Geely's representative work of the "safety car era", was launched. A year later, Geely acquired Volvo, a Swedish luxury car brand, and established the CEVT China-Europe Automotive R&D Center to strengthen the technical foundation through China-Europe sharing and cooperative research and development. By 2013, Geely was already one of the top bearers of domestically produced passenger cars in China.
From 2014 to 2019, the core value of the "boutique car era" was "to build a boutique car for everyone". At this stage, the protagonist is the bought Volvo, under the blessing of the Nordic car-making method, Geely has successively launched two boutique cars, Borui and Boyue, both of which have become explosive models, and the nickname of "Volvo Ping" has also begun to circulate in the rivers and lakes. But it is clear that Geely prefers to be himself than to be the replacement of anyone. In 2017, Geely launched a high-end joint venture brand Lynk & Co, focusing on the market vacuum above Geely and below Volvo. In 2019, Geely released the mid-to-high-end pure electric brand geometry, hoping to make a difference in the pure electric track. In the past five years, in addition to building two new brands from zero to one, Geely has also bought Proton and Lotus, acquired part of the shares of Mercedes-Benz parent company Daimler, and promoted the electrification transformation of the smart brand.
In the "era of smart cars" from 2020 to the present, the action guide is "comprehensive modular car building". In 2020, Geely has four modular vehicle manufacturing platforms, SPA, CMA, BMA, and sea, to realize the R&D and manufacturing of all models from fuel to hybrid and pure power, from compact to luxury. In a word: there are only cars that you can't think of, and there are no cars that Geely can't save.
In 2021, Geely's high-end pure electric brand Extreme Krypton released that the first pure electric model based on the SEA architecture, Extreme Krypton 001, was launched, with a starting price of 300,000 yuan, marking that Geely's high-end strategy has finally had the second landing that ordinary people can perceive after the beauty leopard in 2003. In the same year, Raytheon Power released a set of highly reusable and flexible powertrains, covering small to medium and large vehicles, supporting various power forms such as HEV gasoline-electric hybrid, PHEV plug-in hybrid and REEV extended range hybrid.
In the pure electric division, Geely won the high-end car game ticket to compete with Mercedes-Benz and BMW by building a new brand of extreme krypton. But in the main arena of new energy, Geely's high-end has many points of strength.
In 2022, Geely's high-end process has two landmark nodes with relatively high perception: first, Lynk & Co 09 enters the 300,000 yuan price band, and the most expensive one is sold to 320,000 yuan; Second, the average selling price of bicycles of the "China Star" series (Xingrui and Xingyue) exceeded 150,000 yuan, entering the main price range of the joint venture brand.
Through these two nodes, it is not difficult to find that independent brands born from Geely, such as Extreme Krypton and Lynk & Co, have gone up and stood at the peak, but the Geely brand is still halfway up the mountain, trying to find an effective way to climb up.
To put it bluntly, the Geely brand itself always has a sense of "high-end, but it doesn't seem to be too high". How to eliminate this stereotype generated by the old perspective and old concept is a problem that the new mid-to-high-end new energy vehicle series must solve.
Cautious, but optimistic
In the scope of the conventional cognitive system, automobile brands will be divided into three levels with brand value as a measure and measure: civilian brands, high-end brands, and luxury brands.
Civilian brands highlight a "real", buy more functions with less money, the brand premium is low, is the sum of the most extensive consumer demand, mainstream joint venture brands and Chinese brands, such as Volkswagen, Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Geely, Great Wall, Changan, etc. are all included.
High-end brands highlight a "virtual", buy less functions and more face with more money, and use high brand premiums to achieve the harvest of the primary middle class. Fuel vehicle brands must have a long history and countless stories to tell, such as Porsche, Mercedes, BMW, Lexus, Cadillac, Jaguar Land Rover; Electric vehicle brands must highlight "technological luxury" through technological leadership and uniqueness, such as Tesla, Lucid, NIO, Extreme Krypton, and Gaohe.
Luxury brands highlight an "expensive" and buy the most functionality and face with the most money. Taking advantage of the natural gap of price to maintain a sense of distance from mass consumers, high social status and class expression, only a very small number of "real rich" can afford to spend. For example, Rolls-Royce, Ferrari, Bentley, McLaren, Lamborghini.
The barriers between the three classes are extremely deep, and the transition from bottom to top is difficult to complete unless you dodge every big hole in the ascension path.
Therefore, if it wants to achieve "mid-to-high-end" in the new car series, Geely has three hurdles to pass:
Level 1: Avoid the "Phaeton" style route that comes from a famous family, but wants to sell the price of a wealthy family.
The most familiar civilian brand German Volkswagen once manufactured a full-size high-end sedan with a W12 engine and the most expensive price to sell for 2.5 million in the Dresden glass factory. When it comes to "Tokuhara Hui", almost everyone gives it a thumbs up, with a "really authentic", but the Chinese who finally bought it are few, spending 1 million to buy a car with the same logo as Santana and Jetta, which is basically equivalent to "letting the banknote be directly blown away by the wind".
Volkswagen Phaeton is indeed famous, but not a giant, and "Deyuan Hui" can only end up with a tragic end of "slag glow".
Because it is too difficult to upgrade a civilian brand to a high-end brand through a car.
Second, avoid "geometric" swinging routes.
In 2019, Geely Automobile Group's "independent high-end pure electric brand" Geometry was listed in Singapore's most famous Internet celebrity hotel, and at the same time released "the best pure electric vehicle in the Eastern Hemisphere", the "killer" most likely to kill Tesla Model 3, and Geometry A that will also be sold for nearly 200,000 after subsidies.
But contrary to expectations, the "best pure electric vehicle in the eastern hemisphere" was not loved by the people of the eastern hemisphere, and Geometry A only sold 12,000 units a year, far from the expectation of 35,000 units. In 2020, Geometry C went on the market, and the pricing has long lost the confidence of a year ago, this year, the "magic reform brothers" Geometry A and Geometry C jointly sold 22,500 units, which is regarded as bringing back some face to the Eastern Hemisphere, but half of the sales came from Geely's ride-hailing brand Cao Cao. After that, Geometry successively launched the Kung Fu Ox EX3 with a starting price of 59,700 and the Geometry E with a starting price of 86,800. In less than three years, Britney became Mrs. Cow.
In order not to let the brand go down the narrow road of "high, low, low and low", in November 2022, Geometry launched the G6 and M6 with a starting price of 149,800, trying to return to the "best pure electric vehicle in the eastern hemisphere" competition track, but we all know that how can the "Emgrand in the electric era" be in line with the "high-end"?
Fortunately, according to people close to Geely Automobile, the geometric brand is likely to leave the card table, and the existing channels are classified into the Geely new energy channel. At the same time, the new energy channels of the Geely brand in the future only sell pure electricity and HI· P model, opened in March, has more than 300 stores.
The third level, don't let a dime slip through your fingers.
The current Geely Group, the complexity of the brand and the huge structure of the structure, is no less than that of the German Volkswagen. Endogenous Geely, Lynk & Co, Geometry, Polar Krypton, Rui Blue, Radar; Volvo, Smart, Polestar, Lotus. Each brand is contributing to the group, but at the same time it is playing its own calculations.
Insufficient resources are a problem, and resource allocation is even more difficult.
However, even if it is difficult, having the courage to set off is always encouraged, as Nike founder Phil Knight wrote in "Shoe Dog":
Cowards never set off, the weak die in the road, and we are left to move forward, without stopping a step.