#FMCG Eight Talks##Consumption##Auto##NIO#6 years ago, NIO's first flagship SUV ES8 was unveiled on NIO Day, and the new domestic car-making forces entered the 400,000-yuan market. Six years later, the ET9, with a pre-sale price of 800,000 yuan, hit the price ceiling of NIO again.
The length of the car is over 5.3 meters, the four-seater version, 23-inch wheels, "Sky Island", "Executive Bridge", ...... The ET9 is benchmarked against a number of flagship competitors of luxury brands such as the Maybach S-Class in a "stacking" way. However, compared with various top-of-the-line configurations, the ET9's high body and short tail exterior design that challenges the aesthetics of traditional executive sedans have also attracted some doubts. In this regard, Li Bin, founder, chairman and CEO of NIO, said: "The design of ET9 is an iterative evolution of NIO. In the history of automobiles, design has never subverted itself, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche are iterating and upgrading themselves, and the outside world does not want NIO's design to change from the past. ”
"Futures" delivered in a year
At NIO Day, a number of technical achievements such as Shenji NX9031, 46105 large cylindrical batteries, and 640 kW fully liquid-cooled ultra-fast charging piles were displayed to the public. However, these black technologies became a supporting role in NIO's "Little Spring Festival Gala" after the ET9 debuted.
"As the original intelligent electric executive flagship of the Chinese brand, the ET9 fully demonstrates NIO's R&D strength and achievements, bringing the executive flagship sedan into the era of intelligent electric vehicles, representing NIO's determination, confidence and enterprising spirit to continue to impact the high-end market. NIO will continue to provide users with high-quality products and services through technological innovation. Li Bin said.
As early as before this year's NIO Day, NIO has begun to carry out a "relay" warm-up for the ET9, and a number of executives continue to release various information about the product, which is not difficult to see that NIO has high hopes for this model. Compared with the model, the ET9 is more like a work that showcases the technological research and development achievements of NIO. At the NIO Day scene, Li Bin described ET9 with a number of "firsts", including the intelligent driving chip Shenji NX9031, 950V high-voltage architecture, and full-wire intelligent chassis. It is understood that ET9 is equipped with a "global 900V high-voltage architecture", including core electronic and electrical components such as batteries, motors, wiring harnesses, air conditioners, DC-DC, and on-board chargers. In terms of battery life, the NIO ET9 uses a 5C high-voltage fast-charging battery pack with a total capacity of 120kWh and a self-developed 46105 large cylindrical battery cell.
At the same time, at the NIO Day site, Li Bin used an ET9 test vehicle to successfully pass the test video of the continuous undulating road surface with a four-story champagne tower to demonstrate the technical strength of his products. NIO said: "This is due to the 'SkyRide intelligent chassis system' equipped with the ET9. It is understood that NIO ET9's "SkyRide Intelligent Chassis System" integrates the three core hardware systems of steer-by-wire, rear-wheel steering and fully active suspension for the first time. Li Bin said that the Tianxing fully active suspension is known as "the world's first integrated hydraulic full active suspension", equipped with an active suspension electric drive unit.
However, the NIO ET9 unveiled this time will not be delivered until the first quarter of 2025. In this regard, Li Bin said: "NIO ET9 is the first product in China to enter the soul competition of luxury executive sedans, so we are willing to spend more time to adjust and optimize the details. Therefore, the ET9 at NIO Day is an unveiling and not a release, and it is not too late to launch and deliver in 2025. ”
Continue to rush high to "add points" to the brand?
It is understood that the theme of this year's NIO Day is "upward", and the pre-sale price of NIO ET9 has also rushed to 800,000 yuan. In the eyes of the outside world, NIO is accelerating its high-end market.
It is worth noting that after the beginning of the electrification transformation, the new forces of car manufacturing have cut into the high-end market, and then the independent brands have also collectively attacked the 350,000-500,000 yuan market, and in the past two years, BYD U8, Haobo SSR, Mengshi 917 and other models have begun to impact the million-level market. Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the Passenger Car Market Information Association, believes that under the wave of electrification, new energy models in the high-end luxury car market are performing strongly, and the main force is independent brands.
In the eyes of the outside world, at this time, NIO is also rushing higher again to cope with competitive pressure and further enhance brand power and brand positioning. Previously, Li Bin said: "Weilai insists on not reducing prices, we will push the price up, and do not 'roll' with others at the 200,000 yuan level, Weilai will always maintain its high-end positioning." Yan Jinghui, a member of the expert committee of the China Automobile Dealers Association, said that although the million-level model market is not the mainstream market, if a successful model is launched, it can further enhance the brand power and premium ability.
Compared with other brands, NIO has directly targeted executive-level models. It is understood that in NIO's planning, the "competing products" of ET9 include Maybach S-class, BMW 7 Series, Porsche Paramela, etc. Li Bin said: "This market has always been inaccessible to Chinese car brands, and we believe that in the era of smart electric vehicles, the executive flagship has always been the technology flagship. I think there is an opportunity for our Chinese companies to get involved. ”
In fact, in addition to technical support, in order to conform to the characteristics of administrative business, NIO has made "additions" to the interior of the ET9. Judging from the pictures and information released at NIO Day, the model has an executive four-seat layout and innovatively adopts the design of "Sky Bridge" and "Executive Island". In addition, NIO, which has always been labeled as a technical service, has also begun to move closer to market demand. It is reported that ET9 will also provide variable executive tables, executive-grade wine cabinets, private accompanying safes and other configurations.
However, with the debut of the NIO ET9, its exterior design has also sparked heated discussions. In terms of product dimensions, the body size of the model is 5325 mm× 2016 mm× 1620 mm, and the wheelbase is 3250 mm. Some netizens said: "NIO ET9 is like the flattened EC6/EC7, and like the enlarged version of the ET5, the body is slender, and the chassis has a high ground clearance, this design style is neither like a sedan nor like an SUV, it is difficult to define." ”
In fact, at present, executive-class models have been occupied by Mercedes-Benz S-class, Audi A8 and other models, and stability, luxury, and business have always been the impression that such models give to the public. Although independent brands also deploy million-level model products, they rarely launch executive-class sedans for alignment. Industry insiders believe that in terms of appearance, NIO is seeking a breakthrough to distinguish it from traditional executive models in the field of new energy vehicles, but whether such a design can be accepted by consumers has also become a new problem. However, in Li Bin's view, the design of NIO ET9 is an iterative evolution of NIO. In the history of automobiles, design has never subverted itself, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche are self-iterating and upgrading. The outside world also doesn't want NIO's design to be old.
Beijing Business Daily reporter Liu Yang Liu Xiaomeng