01, Chang Jing, strange person
On April 23, Polar Stone Automobile, which had not released a new product for a long time, held a unique press conference. The reason why the phrase "unique" is added is because it is very different from the press conference we have seen recently: it is not so much a "press conference" as it is the moment when the personality of Chang Jing, the founder of Polar Stone Automobile, is announced.
During the conversation between him and Meng Hetang, he did not deliberately package the words that were not clear, and some were just sincere, so although the whole press conference lasted for 1 hour, it could make people watch it easily and happily. This unhurried attitude coincides with his style of managing the business.
Chang Jing is a person that some people may not be familiar with.
Changjing may not be unfamiliar to the IT industry, the home appliance industry, and even for Xiaomi fans. As one of the most successful post-80s generations, Chang Jing has completed the perfect transformation from a "working emperor" to a "domineering president", squeezing the subway and squeezing into the Hurun Rich List and Forbes Rich List, becoming a new person of the year in 2021.
Chang Jingchu, who graduated from South China University of Technology in 2006 with a major in computer science, is also like many college students, sending out cover letters and looking forward to the future. In just five years after graduation, Chang Jing has worked for Maxthon, Microsoft and Tencent, and his position has gradually been promoted from technical manager to senior product manager.
I believe that many college students, even if they graduated from "211" and "985", if they can achieve the position of senior product manager of Tencent within 5 years, it is estimated that they will already burn high incense at home. But Chang Jing didn't! There seemed to be an adventurous spirit in his life. So after working at Tencent for a year, he began his entrepreneurial dream and founded Beijing Motu Genie Technology Co., Ltd.
Unexpectedly, this company was targeted by Baidu less than a year after its establishment and was included in Baidu's pocket. As a result, Chang Jing became a senior manager at Baidu. Unexpectedly, in less than 3 years, Changjing's adventurous spirit reappeared, so he resolutely quit his high-paying job at Baidu and founded Roborock, which is now worth nearly 50 billion yuan, with a former colleague from Microsoft.
In fact, Chang Jing's first entrepreneurial success has already made him famous in the investment circle, so many people are already looking for a way to stuff money for him when they learn that he is going to start a second business, even if they don't know what his entrepreneurial direction is. They believe not only in Chang Jing's ability, but also in his business sense.
Facts have once again proved that Chang Jing has a unique vision.
You must know that the sweeping robot used by Roborock to make a fortune in 2014 The market prospect was not clear. At that time, there were only two companies in China, and the industry had been tepid for more than ten years, so many people had already sentenced it to a "death sentence" at that time.
Chang Jing, who was born as a product manager, firmly believes that sweeping robots have a future. He is convinced that the recession in the industry is just a lack of good products, not a lack of market demand. Therefore, at the beginning of the business, he spent 26 months to build the first product, and gave a global planning solution for LDS LiDAR + SLAM algorithm, which was very rare in the industry at that time, and it became an instant hit.
According to the research data of Euromonitor International, the world's authoritative market research agency, Roborock's sales of sweeping robots will reach the first place in the world in 2023. In specific countries and regions, according to IDC data, Roborock has achieved the first place in sales volume and sales in many markets such as Northern Europe, Germany, South Korea, and Turkey.
According to public information, in 2023, Roborock will achieve revenue of 8.654 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 30.55%, a net profit of 2.051 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 73.32%, and a net cash flow from operating activities increased by 95.1% year-on-year to 2.186 billion yuan.
In 2020, Roborock, which has only been established for 6 years, landed on the science and technology innovation version at a price of 271.12 yuan per share with the halo of "issue price first".
To be honest, for a post-80s generation, it is really not easy to achieve this level in his career, and he already belongs to the elite of the elite in this society. However, even for the elite of these elites, in the face of such a large scale of enterprises, it is estimated that they have to devote themselves to it in this life.
But I didn't expect Chang Jing to believe that "my fate is up to me, not to heaven".
In 2021, less than a year after Roborock went public, Chang Jing and Yan Feng, who had worked in SAIC, co-founded Shanghai Luoke Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd., headquartered in Shanghai, with Chang Jing as the company's chairman and Yan Feng as CEO. Yes, you guessed that right, Chang Kyung, who has been very successful, has started his third venture.
And this time to start a business, Chang Jing chose the competitive environment has become a red sea of the automobile market.
02, is interlacing really like a mountain?
Is there any correlation between sweeping robots and cars, except that they are both driven by wheels? To be honest, there really isn't! If you have to find a little, maybe it is that Roborock's robots and Polar Stone 01 cars have lidar, and they both rely on lidar to detect distances and achieve high-level driving assistance functions.
Indeed, many people are skeptical about the Changjing crossover car circle. On the one hand, the car is very complicated, much more complex than the sweeping robot, it is not easy to do, it is even more difficult to do it well; on the other hand, the automotive industry is a very competitive market, and the intensity can no longer be described as the Red Sea, and it is necessary to use the "Purple Sea".
However, in the face of such a situation, Chang Jing resolutely threw himself into it, just like when he founded Roborock ten years ago, as if it was his life's mission to challenge difficulties.
Of course, Chang Jing dared to get involved in the automotive industry and was not completely unconfident.
First, he found Yan Feng, a car man who has worked in SAIC's system for more than 20 years and led the start of SAIC's information and intelligence; second, Polar Stone Automobile found a series of head suppliers such as CATL, Continental, Bosch, BASF, Valeo, Hella, etc., to ensure reliable quality; moreover, one of the benefits brought by the involution of domestic new energy vehicles is that the industrial chain is very perfect, so it may not really be necessary to create a car from 0 to 1 at this stage.
One of the most important reasons is that Polar Stone is not short of money. In addition to Changjing's other company, which has been listed and continues to make profits, he has also received investment from leading VCs such as Coatue, IDG Capital, Tencent, and Sequoia Capital. All of this is naturally due to Chang Jing's continuous entrepreneurial success experience, precise business goals and the strong team he has built for Polar Rock Automobile. It can be said that Polar Stone Automobile is one of the few new power enterprises that can operate independently and have stable cash flow.
In such an environment, what Polar Stone lacks is actually an excellent product manager. This is exactly what Chang Jing does best. Don't forget, Chang Jing has been working as a product manager just after graduation, and both ventures rely on excellent product positioning and unique technology content.
At last night's press conference, Chang Jing's title was also very simple and simple, which is the word "product manager".
I believe that compared with starting a sweeping robot in Roborock, Changjing will be more excited and more invested in starting a car this time. As he once said in an interview with the media: "If it takes 10 or 20 years to make a good car, I am very happy." ”
Because he's a car enthusiast himself.
In 2012, he drove his first self-drive into Tibet in a rented Toyota Land Patrol. Since then, he's fallen in love with off-road and the sensory stimulation it brings. This is also why the first product of Polar Stone Automobile - Polar Stone 01 - will be a "square box" for positioning hard-core off-road, even if the audience in this market may not be large.
03, don't underestimate the dream-making skills of a hobbyist
Although the shape of the Polar Stone 01 is a "square box", its positioning is actually very complex, with strong off-road performance, a comfortable cockpit comparable to that of an MPV, and even an expansion function similar to that of an RV. According to the official statement, 1 Polar Stone 01 = 1 all-terrain off-road SUV + 1 urban MPV + 1 long-distance crossing small RV.
Of course, when you know that Chang Jing, the founder of Polar Stone Automobile, is a self-driving off-road enthusiast, it is probably not difficult to understand why Polar Stone 01 is so complex in positioning. Because Changjing itself is a heavy user of this product, it also has the need to "want, want, and want".
Some people may think, "People who know a little bit of everything may not be proficient in everything." "Honestly, when a product is made specifically for some hobbyists, its functions are destined to be good. This is very different from other professional product managers in the industry who only look at market research data.
The first is the off-road ability of the Polar Stone 01, or to be precise, the ability to traverse. This is also the basic skill of Polar Stone 01.
The off-road hardware of Polar Stone 01 is very good: all-aluminum alloy chassis, and uses the front double wishbone rear H-arm multi-link independent suspension; standard front and rear dual motors, the maximum power of the system reaches 350kW, the maximum torque reaches 740Nm, reaching the level of many 6-cylinder and even 8-cylinder engines; it comes with an off-road lock, with super limited slip ability, and the skidding wheels can be controlled within 150 milliseconds, so that the torque can be effectively output.
In addition, the maximum wading depth of the Polar Stone 01 has reached 700mm, which can easily cope with the impact of heavy rain, the maximum stroke of the front and rear suspension has reached 200mm and 220mm respectively, and the maximum climbing ability can reach 100% slope, that is, the climbing angle of 45°. The ground clearance of the battery pack reaching 255mm has been able to effectively avoid the bottom of the battery pack, and at this communication meeting, Changjing also brought a piece of aluminum-magnesium alloy chassis armor to further add insurance to the battery and eliminate the worries of the wild to the greatest extent.
Off-road tough guys don't just talk about it. A few days ago, Polar Stone 01 successfully challenged the three major Internet celebrity off-road resorts in China without modification and completely unused cars: Bilutu Peak in Alxa, Haohan Slope in Laozhanggou and Sanlianpo in Changsha, and the whole process was smooth and smooth in one go.
Polar Stone 01 can not only accompany you on the worst road, the key is that it can also take you to the farthest places.
It is equipped with a large 56kWh battery as standard, and it can provide a pure electric range of 282km in CLTC mode, which is enough for you to run Guangshen. In addition, it is also equipped with a large 70L fuel tank, with a comprehensive range of 1338km under CLTC working conditions, and a fuel consumption of only 7.95L/100km. This is an excellent result for a 2.5-tonne guy.
The second is that the Polar Stone 01 can be compared to the comfort of a business MPV.
Now it is true that more and more three-row SUVs are also the same as MPVs, with two independent tables and chairs for middle-row passengers, forming a 2+2+2 seat layout, and the comfort is indeed much more comfortable than the previous ordinary seven-seat SUV. However, many six-seater SUVs are equipped with ordinary seats for the middle row, and there is still a long way to go from the airline seats of high-end business MPVs.
The Polar Stone 01 should be one of the few six-seater SUVs I have seen equipped the middle row passengers with dual aviation zero-gravity seats, which can not only achieve zero-gravity mode, but also use full-grain Nappa first-layer cowhide, which is very delicate to the touch, and the filling also uses double-hardness high-resilience foam + 15mm high-resilience comfort sponge seat cover, soft Q elastic.
In fact, a car like Polar Stone 01 that accelerates particularly violently and has a particularly heavy curb weight is easy to make people motion sick. Chang Jing's family was sick with car, so he specially invited a doctor to put a lot of effort into vehicle dynamic calibration and body stability control. As you can see, the whole system of Polar Stone 01 is equipped with DCC continuously variable damping shock absorber as standard, which can intelligently perceive the road surface conditions and adjust the softness and hardness of the suspension in 20 milliseconds.
Finally, it is also unexpected that with the blessing of the accessories system, the Polar Stone 01 can be turned into a flexible and compact RV.
The seven-seater model of Polar Stone 01 supports a one-button "make bed" mode, with a simple button, you can put down the second and third rows, and also turn off the lights, turn off the screen, turn off the sunshade, and lock the door - if it is a high-end intelligent driving version, there is also a sentry mode, guarding you day and night——, and with its customized mattress, a double room with full privacy and full security is born.
The most unexpected thing is that its tailgate can be turned into a dining bar in seconds: remove the first layer of table, it can become a floor-to-ceiling small dining table, and the second layer of table is the kitchen counter, with 2.2kW external discharge function, it is a small kitchen, there is a hot food anytime, anywhere.
There are still many possibilities for Polar Stone 01 in the future, and it is said that the exclusive car toilet has also been developed, and it is well matched with the interior, so that it will not look abrupt. In addition, customized showers and Xiaoice boxes are also planned. At that time, the Polar Stone 01, which is more than 5 meters long, will really become a smart RV with "one bedroom, one living room, one kitchen and one bathroom".
This is actually the charm of a product that is driven by enthusiasts and defined by a product manager with a strong user mindset. After all, he is an in-depth user of this product, and he is experiencing this product all the time. This is a perfect illustration of what Steve Jobs said: "The consumer doesn't really know what he really wants until you put it in front of them." (Text: Nobita)