At the beginning of 2024, a news about the explosion of Gaohe, a new force car manufacturing company, appeared on Weibo hot search. On January 2, Gaohe Automobile said that it had not suspended all work and that everything was working normally.
The wind rises at the end of Qingping, and the waves become between the waves, if Gaohe is really solid, how can this kind of news be transmitted? Moreover, the previous Weimar and GAC Mitsubishi, which had just withdrawn from China, were actually like this at the beginning, and when the timeline was lengthened, the rumors really became a reality.
In addition, judging from the most actual sales volume, Gaohe is really having a hard time now.
According to statistics, Gaohe sold a total of 4,237 vehicles in 2021 and 4,349 vehicles in 2022, with an average monthly delivery of 400 vehicles. However, by 2023, the monthly delivery volume of Gaohe will only be 355 vehicles.
据懂车帝，高合目前一共在售的有三款车型，分别是型高合HiPhi X、HiPhi Z和HiPhi Y，售价依次从高到低，最贵的HiPhi X售价高达56万-80万，中等的HiPhi Z售价为50万-63万。 即便是最普通的HiPhi Y，售价也高达33.9万-45.9万。
The most common HiPhi Y is also more expensive than the BMW 3 Series, Mercedes-Benz C-Class and Audi A4. Although the unit price is high, it is absolutely impossible to support the normal operation of an enterprise with a monthly sales volume of less than 400 vehicles.
Gaohe was founded in 2017, and the company behind it is called Human Horizons, and the founder is named Ding Lei. However, this Ding Lei is not NetEase's Ding Lei.
According to public information, Ding Lei has served as the general manager of Shanghai General Motors Co., Ltd., the vice president of SAIC, the secretary and director of the party group of the Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Management Committee, the secretary of the party committee and the general manager of Shanghai Zhangjiang (Group) Co., Ltd., and the deputy mayor of Shanghai Pudong New Area. During his tenure in the government, Ding Lei participated in the construction of China's first free trade zone and led the introduction of the Tesla project.
Ding Lei founded Gaohe, and the slogan shouted was "to build a luxury intelligent pure electric brand", which may be because he led the introduction of Tesla, so he wanted to create a local luxury electric car in China. And from the very beginning, Ding Lei's positioning for Gaohe is the high-end luxury car market, after all, the price is there, and both models start at 500,000.
The price is so high, even higher than BBA, what is the core competitiveness of Gaohe?
In Ding Lei's view, perhaps Gaohe's competitiveness is the "color TV refrigerator sofa" and unique appearance design. For example, Gaohe is the world's first new energy SUV with active rear-wheel steering, and it is also an SUV with many sports car elements, and these high-end technologies and materials have raised Gaohe to a higher level.
After all, the rear door of Gaohe adopts the same 89-degree frameless door design of Rolls-Royce, and the most expensive HiPhi X also supports high-end wing doors, and the door can also be customized LED lights, and it supports mobile phones, keys, and B-pillar face recognition to open the door.
However, rear-wheel steering Mercedes-Benz has been around for a long time? SUVs with sports car elements, and now there are many such styles in electric cars, and the high merger is not special. In addition, the design of the Rolls-Royce door reminds people of what Nanhai Shisanlang said to his apprentice Tang Disheng, "Those who learn from me live, and those who are like me die."
Interestingly, Gaohe has always emphasized that its audio equipment is imported from the United Kingdom, but it has been reported that it is actually a domestic audio. However, it is estimated that imported audio is also one of the reasons why Gaohe dares to sell at a high price.
To this day, the biggest problem of Gaohe is not these bells and whistles and the price of 500,000 yuan, but the fact that there is no core technology at the same time, it is completely taking the assembly route.
The most expensive HiPhi X is priced at 560,000-800,000 yuan, but it uses a ternary lithium battery from CATL, and the front and back motors are all from the German company Bosch, and even the chassis is a ready-made supplier. From the core battery, to the basic frame, to the interior and audio, Gaohe has nothing of its own. No wonder some people will say that Gaohe Automobile is a big toy for the rich, and the main focus is an experience and collection.
Why the emphasis on core technologies?
The current domestic cars, such as the Xiaomi SU7 that has not yet been listed, although people also use batteries from BYD and CATL, at least they have their own workshops, and they spent 10 billion to develop them. Moreover, BYD U8 dares to price 1 million, the core point is that it has core technologies such as independent control of Yi Sifang four motors, and four motors can bring a higher ceiling to the car, which involves a lot of technology.
For another example, now the M9 has its own HUAWEI ADS 2.0 intelligent driving system, and the industry has achieved mass production of motors with a maximum speed of 22,000 rpm, etc.
Without the core technology, where is the road?