Text: Understand the original Che Emperor Wang Yan
Since the market value of the new car company in the U.S. stock market has plummeted, it has been proved that after several years of bloody development of the new car, the market's patience and confidence in it has entered a new stage.
The price war is staged in turn, and how to occupy the market share and obtain profit margins at the same time is a hard question that all car companies have to face.
As a cost-effective car company, although it is constantly changing its sales structure and increasing the proportion of high-end cars, Leapmotor is still trying to continue this label.
On January 10, Leapmotor's first global model, the C10, officially opened for pre-sale. Today, Zhu Jiangming, chairman and CEO of Leapmotor, said in an interview that the order volume is still very considerable, showing an order of magnitude growth. What's more, it revealed that because the price was not actually released until March 1, "there is still a certain expectation." ”
Zhu Jiangming, chairman and CEO of Leapmotor
Zhu Jiangming emphasized that Leaprun has always been priced at cost, rather than brand.
Cao Li, senior vice president of Leapmotor, explained that with the continuous decline in battery costs this year, the C10, which is currently priced at about 150,000 yuan, still has a chance to achieve the expected gross profit target based on the price of 4 cents of battery cells.
Behind the competitive model pricing and profitability targets is the company's ability to control costs. In Zhu Jiangming's view, from the boom of dozens of cars involved eight years ago, there are only a few left, and the main factors involved are determination, capital investment and organizational ability.
In the third quarter of 2023, Leapmotor's gross profit margin turned positive for the first time to 1.2%, which is also the first time that its gross profit has turned positive in its eight years of car manufacturing.
Cao Li said that behind the positive gross profit of Zerorun, in addition to the change in sales structure, half of the contribution comes from the reduction of battery costs. At the same time, starting from September 2022, each department of Leaprun has done comprehensive cost control and optimization.
Cao Li, senior vice president of Leapmotor
In the fourth quarter of 2023, Leapmotor made the third round of cost reduction measures, "We strive to reflect the cost reduction results in the first quarter of 2024." ”
For the next financial performance, Zhu Jiangming said that in 2024, the goal is to reduce absolute losses, increase the average gross profit margin of each vehicle, and achieve profitability by 2025.
For the past 2023, another important move of Leaprun is to "join hands" with Stellantis Group, which means that Leaprun's internationalization path may be more "local".
Leap's international chess game was the first to fall to Europe. Zhu Jiangming said that as a flagship model, the C10 will be prioritized for the first time in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and other countries, and at the same time, Leapmotor is also developing A-class cars.
Leap C10
Nowadays, many new energy vehicle companies have embarked on the road to the sea, in their view, the difference between Leap is that from the construction of channels to brand promotion, like the domestic practice, it is still in the foundation stage.
"We still need to look at how to go to sea in the long run, how to land, how to work steadily, not in a hurry to sell a few cars for the time being, and make pocket money first. Zhu Jiangming said that with the rapid entry of Leap into overseas markets, it will also be conducive to the improvement of gross profit margin.
In terms of sales volume, in the past 2023, the cumulative delivery volume of Leapmotor will reach 144155, a year-on-year increase of 29.7%. However, the original target of Leap was 200,000 units, and the sales volume was less than expected, which was also Zhu Jiangming's review of the shortcomings of the past year.
Facing the new year, in terms of product planning, Zhu Jiangming revealed that in 2024, a revised model with a new architecture of C11 will be launched, and at the Beijing Auto Show, Leap C16 will also be launched. And 2025 will be a big year for Leapmotor's products, and 5 cars have been planned.
With the enrichment of the product camp, Cao Li said that Leap currently focuses on the range of 15-200,000 yuan, and in the future, it will also look at the range of 10-300,000 yuan from the entire new energy source.
At present, there are 4 product lines based on the internal vehicle architecture, that is, the model with 4 platforms - TACD. Among them, C is the positioning of the middle and high-end, and on this basis, there will be 20-300,000 follow-ups, and the product planning of the D series will go up to 300,000.
However, for the pure electric + extended range two-legged zero run, it also needs to face the difference in the growth of different routes. For example, in 2023, it is an indisputable fact that the sales of hybrid models will grow rapidly and the pure electric vehicle will gradually slow down.
Zhu Jiangming believes that with the future of charging facilities more and more perfect, especially the decline in the cost of fast charging above 2.5C, coupled with 800V high voltage, "its prospects will get better and better, I think it will be reversed in 3 years, and the growth rate of pure electric will be greater than the increase in range." ”
Whether it is the price war in the current automotive industry or the frequency and timing of the release of blockbuster new products, what can be seen is that the involution in 2023 seems to be continuing.
In Zhu Jiangming's view, 2024 will be very challenging for all car companies, and sales are the top priority, "because in an uncertain market, everyone is grabbing territory." However, "volume" is a good thing, only "volume" can "roll" out of the competitive advantages of new energy vehicles, and it is possible to get a share from fuel vehicles at the fastest speed. ”
For new energy vehicle companies, this year's competition also has the participation of Xiaomi, a cross-border "player", especially in the mobile phone industry, one of Xiaomi's advantages is also cost-effective. And Zhu Jiangming also set a flag that Leapmotor should be "the Xiaomi of the automobile industry".
In the face of rivals, it said that the car market can accommodate 10 Xiaomi, and competition is normal. "Xiaomi may be a dark horse", but in the end, whether a company can win the competition "still depends on your positioning and strength, whether you adhere to long-termism." Zhu Jiangming said.