Sales lagging CEO Daniel Zhang "reviewed" Nezha Automobile's turbulent start to the year, and the marketing team changed blood

Reporter Xia Zhibin and Quartz Jing reported from Shanghai

(Nezha X.) Infographic of this newspaper)

"There are many reasons (there are) for not doing well in 2023, and the big aspects are as follows: there is no good connection between new and old products, and the rhythm is chaotic; the price of new products is too high, and although the adjustment is in place in the second half of the year, it has lost the opportunity; the loss-making product line has greatly reduced production; the communication method is old, and there are good things that cannot be said; and the marketing headquarters is centralized and the management is weak. In addition, the decrease in production in December (2023) was mainly due to preparations for the export of CKD (Total Component Assembly) of aya and the launch of new product L. ”

On January 2, 2024, Daniel Zhang, CEO of Nezha Automobile, "reviewed" the reasons for the company's poor performance in 2023 on his personal verification Weibo. On the day Daniel Zhang publicly released the article, Nezha Automobile announced its annual sales data for 2023.

The reporter of "China Business Daily" learned that Nezha Automobile will deliver a total of 127496 vehicles in the whole series in 2023, ranking fifth among new car-making forces, and its sales lag behind. In 2022, Nezha Automobile's annual sales will be 152073 units, ranking first among the new car-making forces that year.

While Daniel Zhang made the "review" public, a personnel appointment document for Zhejiang Hezhong New Energy Automobile Co., Ltd. was circulated on the Internet, involving 13 executives of Nezha Automobile Marketing Company. In response to the authenticity of the document, on January 9, the reporter contacted an executive of Nezha Automobile Marketing Company, who did not deny that the content of the online document was untrue, and only told the reporter, "(This) is an internal document of the company, not an official release of the document." ”

Sales fell behind, and two executives were dismissed

"Some people rejoice, some people are sad." At the beginning of 2024, new EV manufacturers have announced their sales "report cards" for 2023. Li Auto topped the list of new EV manufacturers in 2023 with 376,000 deliveries, NIO ranked second with 160,000 deliveries, and Leapmotor ranked third with 144,000 deliveries, with the three companies increasing by 182.2%, 30.7%, and 29% year-on-year respectively.

It was followed by Xpeng, which ranked fourth in 2023 with 142,000 deliveries, a 17% year-on-year increase. In fifth place is Nezha Automobile, whose annual deliveries in 2023 will be 127,500 units, down 16.2% year-on-year.

The poor performance of sales in 2023 may be the main reason for Daniel Zhang's public "review". "In 2024, we will start again: 1. I am also the general manager of the marketing company. 2. Launch the Nezha L 5-seater SUV and the EP41 crossover. 3. Adjustment of existing product lines and channel upgrades. 4. The marketing system all stand up and return to work. 5. After two years of development, the overseas market has the foundation to accelerate in 2024. 6. Comprehensively improve marketing communication and user communication. Daniel Zhang said.

Nezha Automobile's marketing team personnel appointment documents circulated on the Internet, appointing Daniel Zhang as the president of the marketing company; appointing Zhou Jiang as the executive vice president of the marketing company, assisting Daniel Zhang in managing the Shanhai business department, responsible for coordinating the marketing of the Shanhai product line, and undertaking the overall sales target of the Shanhai product line; appointing Hu Enping as the executive vice president and director of the creative and new media department of the marketing company, responsible for coordinating the marketing work of the Yunhe product line, in charge of the Yunhe business department and channel development department, and undertaking the overall sales target of the Yunhe product line.

At the same time, Jiang Feng and Li Changhe were removed from their positions as executive vice president and executive vice president of the marketing company, respectively. In fact, Daniel Zhang has previously expressed "dissatisfaction" with the marketing team. On December 15, 2023, Daniel Zhang posted on Weibo on the topic of "super range extension": "In the fourth quarter of 2022, we launched the maximum pure electric range of 310 kilometers of the range extension model Nezha S! ”

The reporter noticed that under the Weibo post of Daniel Zhang's public "review", some netizens pointed out that Nezha Automobile lacked publicity about the car accident at Nezha S Highway, and the owner was unscathed. Daniel Zhang replied: "We really did a bad job of communication. ”

Zhang Xiang, director of the Vodaf Digital Vehicle International Cooperation Research Center, told reporters that in addition to the subjective reasons of the enterprise, Nezha Automobile's sales in 2023 are also closely related to industry changes. "Nezha Automobile is a low-end car brand, mainly relying on low-end cars to contribute sales, but now the automobile industry chain is upgrading, and the market space for low-end cars has been squeezed. ”

"In 2022, Nezha relied on the advantage of cost performance to reach the top of the champion of the new car-making forces of the year. Zhang Xiang said: "In 2023, Nezha wants to change the brand image of low-cost cars, but it has little effect and has not reversed the outside world's perception of it. ”

However, Nezha Automobile also has a lot of bright spots in 2023. For example, in 2023, Nezha Automobile will achieve a comprehensive closed-loop of self-production and self-research from technology research and development, to the manufacturing of vehicles and core components. It is reported that in 2023, Nezha Automobile will release the Haozhi Technology Brand 2.0 with the five major spot technologies as the first launch, and set up a parts company Haozhi Technology Smart Factory to achieve self-research and self-manufacturing of core components, so that the technology of cutting-edge goods can be quickly implemented into technology spots.

Taking Shanhai Platform 2.0 as an example, during the 2023 Guangzhou International Auto Show, Nezha Automobile released the "Shanhai Platform 2.0", which has realized the "full-dimensional" upgrade of the five areas of platform, architecture, comfort, intelligence and core components, and the core technology of Shanhai Platform 2.0 will be launched and iterated from 2024 to 2025.

The bet on overseas markets aims to sell 1 million units a year

While deeply cultivating the domestic market, Nezha Automobile is also actively deploying overseas markets. The reporter learned from Nezha Automobile that in 2023, Nezha Automobile's overseas sales will exceed 20,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 567%.

The relevant person in charge of Nezha Automobile told reporters that in 2023, Nezha Automobile will sell more than 10,000 vehicles in the Thai market in just one model and 10 months in Thailand, the starting point of the company's overseas strategy, and enter the "10,000 overseas single market club". In November 2023, Nezha Automobile's first overseas factory in Thailand, the Thailand Eco-Smart Factory, was put into operation, and the first vehicle officially rolled off the assembly line. At the same time, Nezha Automobile cooperated with PT HIM in Indonesia to produce new vehicles in Indonesia in the KD (Piece Assemblement) method.

In just one year, in addition to Thailand and Indonesia, Nezha Automobile has also entered more than a dozen countries such as Nepal, Myanmar, Malaysia, Turkey, Jordan, Israel, and Azerbaijan. In November 2023, we also officially entered the Latin American market with Costa Rica as our first stop, and our overseas footprints have covered Southeast Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, and Central and South America. The relevant person in charge of Nezha Automobile said.

Facing 2024, Nezha Automobile will continue to increase its layout in overseas markets. The relevant person in charge of Nezha Automobile told reporters that in 2024, Nezha Automobile will accelerate the leap from "China's Nezha" to "World NETA".

The reporter learned that in terms of products, Nezha Automobile should be based on the present, focus on platform technology, make every effort to develop Shanhai Platform 2.0 and Yunhe Platform 2.0, create new models with differentiated competitive advantages, accelerate the iterative upgrading of models, promote the platformization of core components, accelerate the development and certification of global models, bring at least 4 global models to more countries and regions in 2024, and achieve simultaneous sales of 8 products at home and abroad in 2025, and march towards the overseas sales target of 100,000 units in the next year.

In terms of channel construction, Nezha Automobile will accelerate the layout of overseas channels, quickly sell in key countries in the Middle East, South America, Western Europe and other regions, covering five continents and 50 countries in 2024, and the number of overseas channels will exceed 500.

In terms of manufacturing, Nezha Automobile will make every effort to improve the efficiency of its first overseas factory, the Thailand Eco-Smart Factory, to ensure the long-term stable operation and rapid delivery of its subsidiaries in Thailand, and win the first battle of overseas manufacturing, accelerate the planning and implementation of factories in Indonesia, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas, and turn to an innovative trade + localized manufacturing model to help achieve the sales target in overseas markets from 2024 to 2026.

The reporter noted that Nezha Automobile's sales target for 2026 is 1 million units. Daniel Zhang once told reporters that in 2026, sales will account for about 65% in China and 35% abroad, and 650,000 of the 1 million vehicles will be sold in China.

The above-mentioned person in charge said that in 2024, Nezha Automobile will also continue to innovate and create, and transform to "Nezha in science and technology, Nezha in the world, and Nezha in ecology". Taking globalization as an example, Nezha Automobile will grasp the trend of China's new energy going overseas, and accelerate the localization of overseas local regulations and product certification, market-oriented research, adaptive product improvement, channel development, and parts.

"Nezha Automobile's layout in overseas markets will become an important source of their sales in the future. Zhang Xiang told reporters, "Nezha Automobile has a cost-effective advantage, and the degree of intelligence of the product is also very high, and the acceptance of overseas consumers should not be low." ”

(Editor: Quartz Jing Proofreader: Zhai Jun)