The competitive trend in the high-end new energy MPV market is becoming white-hot.
In the past, there were models such as Denza D9, Zeekr 009, VOYAH Dreamer, and Wei brand Gaoshan to besiege the 300,000-500,000 MPV market, and then there were car companies such as Ideal, Xpeng, and NIO ready to go.
On the first day of the first year of 2024, the Xpeng X9 was launched, officially kicking off the fierce battle in the pure electric high-end MPV market this year.
The Xpeng X9, much like an SUV's MPV
For a long time in the past, large MPVs were mostly used as commercial vehicles, and the mainstream users were mostly enterprises. However, in recent years, more and more MPV models have been positioned as dual-use for home and business or directly for family users, and family scenarios have become the key direction for new energy vehicle companies to build MPVs.
The same goes for the Xpeng X9. In the post-meeting exchange, He Xiaopeng, chairman of Xpeng Motors, explained that the reason for launching the MPV at this time is to see the potential of the family market.
In order to attract family users, He Xiaopeng is also selling houses to promote MPV, in addition to introducing refrigerators, color TVs, sofas, central air conditioning and other configurations, "large space" has become a high-frequency word for He Xiaopeng at the press conference.
The Xpeng X9 measures 5293/1988/1785mm in length, width and height, with a wheelbase of 3160mm. He Xiaopeng pointed out that the Xpeng X9 has an area of 7.7m², which can also fit camping, sports equipment, multiple suitcases and other items when it seats 7 people. "Equivalent to a small bedroom. He Xiaopeng said.
Not only that, in order to improve space utilization, the Xpeng X9 supports one-key electric storage of the third row of seats, and the expanded trunk space can reach up to 2554L, which is equivalent to putting down 4 adult bicycles or 29 20-inch suitcases.
According to He Xiaopeng, in order to keep the third row flush with the floor, the Xpeng X9 body uses front and rear integrated aluminum die-casting, with a maximum die-casting force of 12,000 tons and a torsional rigidity of 46,000N·m/deg.
In He Xiaopeng's view, the Xpeng X9 can be either a large seven-seat MPV or a four-seat SUV. To a certain extent, this dual-purpose approach is also a differentiated way for Xpeng Motors to enter the MPV market.
"MPV is a very challenging market, the space is relatively limited, it is mainly a big car, difficult to drive, etc., if you solve (these pain points), it is not only a seven-seat MPV, but also a super large 4-seat SUV. By combining these two points, I think it's possible to create a super hit in this category. He Xiaopeng said.
Based on this, the Xpeng X9 is equipped with intelligent dual-chamber air suspension and rear-wheel steering capabilities as standard, with a rear wheel rotation angle of ±5°, and with the large front wheel turning angle, the Xpeng X9 can reach a turning diameter of 10.8 meters.
In addition, another core competitive weapon of the Xpeng X9 lies in intelligence. The Xpeng X9 is the first model to be equipped with the XOS Dimensity intelligent cockpit system, which supports split screen on the homepage of the new system, navigation can be fixed in the left third, and support for custom shortcut function buttons.
In terms of intelligent driving performance, He Xiaopeng announced at the launch site that the urban intelligent driving capability of Xpeng's XNGP intelligent assisted driving system has covered 191 cities on the basis of the 52 cities that have been fully released, with a total of 243 cities.
It is worth mentioning that at the M9 press conference last month, Yu Chengdong announced that he would achieve urban NCA in urban areas across the country by the end of December 2023.
The MPV market is fiercely competitive
With the entry of Xpeng X9, the new energy MPV market is becoming more and more lively.
In recent years, brands including Zeekr and Denza have launched MPV models, impacting the original Buick GL8, Toyota Alpha and other foreign car companies to occupy the fuel MPV market.
Why car companies are paying attention to the MPV market, McKinsey Global Partner Fang Yinliang once explained, "The competition in the most mainstream sedan and SUV markets has become fierce, the user scenarios and product positioning of MPVs are still evolving, and the logic of positioning and pricing has not yet been solidified, there is the possibility of differentiated positioning and pricing, and the price elasticity of users to commodities is also greater." ”
It can also be seen from the data released by the passenger association that in the first three quarters of 2023, MPV sales increased by 18.2% year-on-year, which is equivalent to 2.8 times that of SUVs. In 2022, the penetration rate of new energy in the MPV market will not even be 10%, while in 2023, the annual sales of the MPV market will increase by about 18% year-on-year (cumulative in January ~ November), and the penetration rate of new energy will be about 20%.
Judging from specific product data, as of December 2023, the cumulative annual sales of ZEEKR 009 are 15,261 units, and the Denza D9 has sold 119182 units in 2023.
It can be seen that although the new energy MPV market is rising, the current mainstream is still hybrid models such as Denza D9, and the sales of pure electric MPVs are relatively small.
It is reported that Xpeng X9 uses a global 800V high-voltage silicon carbide platform, and the official said that it is expected to increase 300 kilometers in 10 minutes of charging under ideal conditions. As of 2023, Xpeng has completed the layout of self-operated sites in 406 cities, and has now launched 1,119 self-operated charging stations. However, it is still unclear whether it will be able to gain the trust of users in pure electric MPVs.
Although there are many entrants in the MPV market at present, He Xiaopeng revealed in an interview after the meeting that Xiaopeng Motors has long wanted to make a big car, and when thinking about what form the first big car will be, it even considered a 7-seat large SUV, and finally felt that MPV could make a difference.
Although the product is positioned as an MPV, He Xiaopeng is not only eyeing the MPV cake, "Actually, from a certain angle, I think it is an SUV, give us a little time to pull up the production capacity, and we will fight the SUV." He Xiaopeng said in the exchange after the meeting.
This "both want and want" approach may bring two effects - one is to get the best value for money and become a hit, and the other is to meet the obstacles on both sides and not please each other.
From the perspective of the price range, the price of the four configuration models launched by Xpeng X9 is between 359,800 yuan and 419,800 yuan, which directly benchmarks the Denza D9, Zeekrypton 009, VOYAH Dreamer and other models, and this is also the price range of mainstream SUV models.
According to He Xiaopeng, the pre-sale orders for the X9 have exceeded 30,000 units, and Dading has exceeded 5,000 units.
"The original plan wasn't done enough. He Xiaopeng bluntly said that the biggest pressure at present is production capacity. It is reported that both the X9 and G6 are produced at the Guangzhou factory, and it is expected that before the Lunar New Year, the X9 is expected to deliver about 5,000 units, and the production capacity is expected to climb to 10,000 units in the first quarter of this year.
In fact, the Xpeng X9's choice to launch on the first day of 2024 actually heralds a new beginning.
In the past year, Xpeng Motors has experienced from falling to the bottom to achieving nirvana. After several rounds of change, He Xiaopeng said in an interview after the meeting that Xpeng Motors will enter a weak positive cycle in 2023 and is expected to enter a fast positive cycle in the fourth quarter of 2024.
The reason why He Xiaopeng came to this conclusion is because he feels that the most important thing for an enterprise to do well is to build up the entire organizational capacity, and now it is not only the organizational strength of the original automotive industry, but also the organizational strength of the mobile phone industry, which is a necessary process, and this process will take about 18 -24 months to do the preliminary work, and Xiaopeng Motors is in the process of change in 2023.
He Xiaopeng revealed that in addition to the Xpeng X9, Xpeng Motors will also release a number of models such as new cars and facelifted cars in 2024, and the brand (codenamed MONA) in cooperation with Didi will also be launched between 2024 and 2025, delegating autonomous driving capabilities to models below 150,000.
It can be seen that from the perspective of Xiaopeng's model layout, Xiaopeng X9 will most likely not be a volume model of Xiaopeng Motors, but a product of a multi-market layout, which can also increase the average selling price of Xiaopeng Motors to a certain extent and improve the profit margin of a single car.
With the entry of new brands such as Zeekr, VOYANT, Xpeng, and Ideal, the competition in today's MPV market is becoming fierce, but the MPV market is not an infinitely expanding territory.
The MPV market in 2024 is getting more and more interesting.
（本文首发钛媒体App ，作者 | 肖漫，编辑 | 张敏）