At the beginning of the year, VOYAH set this year's sales target of "100,000 units", and at the beginning of April, VOYAH just reached the first 100,000 vehicles off the assembly line, and this year's sales target is the total sales of the brand that was born five years ago. It is not yet known whether the models officially announced by Huawei will contribute to sales.
Text丨Zhijia.com Zero sauce
The 2024 Beijing Auto Show started in an unprecedented way and ended in a splashing traffic.
In addition to the "red with green" CP, the busy car companies have not played a "out of the circle" model, which is pitiful.
Enterprises that have been buried by hot searches, VOYAH is one of them.
VOYAH is the most courageous car brand at the Beijing Auto Show, and at a time when Wei Xiaoli took the initiative to drive the new car in the wrong cycle, the VOYAH spring conference was held on April 24, which coincided with the activities of Huawei's debut and Volkswagen, which has been in China for 40 years and found a new posture of cooperation, and BMW, Mercedes-Benz and other brand days.
The few voices that pay attention to VOYAH are almost occupied by "cooperation with Huawei".
Looking back at Lantu's voice in the past two weeks, it seems that only Lu Fang's sentence remains:
"I really want to be an influencer, and I hope you can help me become an influencer."
As the person in charge of a state-owned enterprise, Lu Fang, known as a model worker, bears the heavy responsibility of Dongfeng Group to open a breakthrough in the field of new energy, and it is undeniable that VOYAH is the most Internet-oriented brand in Dongfeng's family.
But compared to those brands born on the Internet, the attention is indeed much lower.
During the auto show, Dongfeng insiders communicated with Zhijia.com, and Dongfeng was very anxious about the achievements of its new energy. He said frankly that the internal review is often carried out, Dongfeng from the vast to the Lantu to eπ, there has never been a new energy explosion model, if this year is not a hit, Dongfeng's new energy may be "just like that".
Lu Fang obviously disagrees with this sentence, in order to win a hand, he is willing to become an Internet celebrity, write Weibo every day, and increase fans.
Today, the excitement has dissipated, do you still remember what VOYAH said at the press conference that embraced Huawei and Baidu at the same time and fully showed its self-developed technology to the media?
01.
Watch back the press conference
VOYAH is a brand that few national brands have broken and crumpled their technology.
Looking back at VOYAH's technology conference today, people will be amazed that VOYAH and the Dongfeng Group behind it have almost a layout on every track of smart electric vehicles, and have invested money and achieved results.
Take a closer look, the current hot technology, VOYAH does not leak: the power system covers pure electric, plug-in hybrid and extended range three-line layout, the popular intelligent driving technology has two major partners of Huawei and Baidu, lidar and pure vision are involved, and at the same time, it has not given up self-development, and the application of light chasing is its self-developed and landed solution.
Let's briefly list the technologies released by VOYAH:
Lanhai Power System: Covering all power routes
BEV: 800V electric drive system + battery + energy network
1.800V high-efficiency electric drive system: Based on the silicon carbide platform, the working efficiency under the CLTC standard reaches 92.5%, which is 0.5% higher than that of the industry's 800V electric drive efficiency;
2. A new generation of amber battery: it can provide 80kW·h, 110kW·h and 112kW·h multi-echelon power options. Using the self-developed 212Wh/kg energy density battery pack, the overall weight is reduced by 40%, and the range can exceed 900km;
3. Self-developed supercharging pile: the world's first megawatt-level charging pile, with a maximum support of 8C and a peak power of up to 1000kW;
4. Energy replenishment: Thousands of stations and thousands of piles plan will be launched, and a 6km energy replenishment network will be built in the main urban area of the core city in the future, and the first batch of 16 supercharging demonstration stations will be landed, and cooperative ecological energy replenishment will also land in 95% of cities across the country;
PHEV: Based on the pure electric platform, it is composed of a large battery with a range of more than 260km, front and rear dual large motor four-wheel drive, and an engine with a "thermal efficiency of more than 45%", with a comprehensive range of more than 1200km, the strongest comprehensive power of 420kW and 840Nm, and the fuel consumption is as low as 5.36L/100km.
REEV: 1.5T deep Miller cycle range extender, providing pure electric range of 310km+ and comprehensive range of 1400km+;
Intelligent cabin system: autonomous & cooperative two-legged walking
1. VOYAH AI voice system: independently master the core AI algorithm and engineering software capabilities of cockpit voice, with a 98% speech recognition rate and a dialogue response time of only 550ms.
2. OLED sliding curved screen: the world's first, contrast ratio of 1000000:1, response time 5ms,
3. Car machine: mobile phone car machine interconnection, compatible with IOS, Android, Hongmeng three major systems,
4.AR-HUD: The screen with 14000 nit brightness is more than ten times higher than the maximum brightness of the mobile phone, which can still be highlighted under strong light conditions.
4. Navigation: It will be connected to Baidu Map V20 lane-level navigation,
Intelligent driving system: The official announcement is to cooperate with Huawei to access Qiankun ADS3.0.
The one-hour press conference, the host occupies 50 minutes, whether in terms of length or technical points, BEV is undoubtedly the focus. In the view of Lu Fang and VOYAH, although the current stage of hybrid models, including range extension, is growing rapidly, and VOYAH also has the ability to support three power modes at the same time, it is judged that around 2025, the growth point will still return to pure electric models, and VOYAH's future product route will still be dominated by pure electric vehicles.
The battery and energy replenishment network are the key to supporting the smooth flow of pure electric vehicles.
At the press conference, VOYAH revealed that it will disclose the supercharging agreement to the industry, and also called on other companies in the industry to disclose the supercharging information and share the resources of the supercharging pile to work together, in order to achieve fast charging speed on all supercharging piles.
VOYAH is understandably determined to be self-responsible, but there is also a problem, that is, it is comprehensive, and it seems that Lei Jun's criticism of China's traditional car companies can be answered in the meantime.
As for the alliance with external partners, in the space of a year, VOYAH has made friends with two competing Baidu and Huawei.
02.
Discuss the third cooperation model with Huawei: Hi+
The strategic cooperation between VOYAH and Huawei was officially announced on January 22 this year, when Zhu Huarong, chairman of Chang'an, had just thrown out the so-called "theory of hurting interests":
"When I was communicating with the leaders of the relevant ministries and commissions of the state, I mentioned that [this model] would even harm the ultimate interests of our users." "There is a problem with the smart car mode, and the HI mode is in line with the country's industrial policy and the needs of users at any time. At any time, Chang'an and AVATR will be responsible. The HI model is in line with the real business model: each in its own way.
As an automobile company with a state-owned background, VOYAH officially announced its cooperation at that time, and there was speculation that VOYAH would use the Hi mode as a platform for Huawei's car BU.
On January 22, Dongfeng Motor's share price rose by 10%, and on January 23 and January 24, Dongfeng Motor's share price rose by 2.38% and 6.14% respectively.
From within the industry to the capital market, we are unanimously optimistic.
However, the delay in announcing the cooperation model between the two sides inevitably raises doubts about whether the two sides are hesitant.
After three months, at the 2024 VOYAH Spring Technical Communication Conference, the cooperation between the two parties was officially launched, and in the dialogue with the media, Lu Fang, CEO of VOYAH Automotive, described the cooperation model with Huawei as follows:
"The cooperation between VOYAH and Huawei does not fully fit any of these three models. Because we do not adopt the Huawei brand self-selection method, it is not a simple parts supply relationship. Although the cooperation between the two parties is based on the Hi model to a certain extent, VOYAH has also undertaken a lot of research and development work, which is a characteristic of our cooperation with Huawei.
In fact, we are working with Huawei to explore a new cooperation model, which may be an upgrade or variant of the Hi model, which can be called "Hi mode PLUS". During this process, we conducted in-depth communication and technical run-in with Huawei, and the R&D teams of both sides worked closely together to achieve resource sharing and complementary advantages. At present, Huawei is undertaking a large number of projects, and VOYAH Automotive has also provided the necessary support in terms of human resources, which is a process of mutual growth for both parties. ”
This is the result of VOYAH's independent control of core technologies and its pursuit of cooperation and communication with the outside world.
On the morning of April 24, Huawei's Qiankun intelligent driving system, which had just been officially announced, also appeared at the press conference with its head Jin Yuzhi.
One detail is that Jin Yuzhi almost forgot/called Lu Fang's name twice.
I don't know if it's because I'm nervous or if I really don't know each other, although the two were on the scene when they signed on January 22.
According to the official announcement at the press conference, the new pure electric SUV model created by VOYAH and Huawei will be released this year, and the industry's first MPV model equipped with Huawei's intelligent driving and intelligent cockpit VOYAH Dreamer will also be launched in the first half of next year.
Putting aside the first half of next year, if the above-mentioned pure electric SUV is released as scheduled in the second half of the year, VOYAH will become an automobile company with two "enabling models" from both Internet manufacturers.
Unprecedented.
In August 2023, the new VOYAH FREE was officially launched, with only one version for the entire series, and the main selling point is "the first model equipped with Baidu's Apollo Highway Driving Pro Pilot Assisted Intelligent Driving System". As VOYAH's first model to "seek foreign assistance", the new VOYAH FREE will inevitably be compared with "Huawei Empowerment".
CTO Wang Junjun explains the difference between the two:
"Our cooperation with Apollo at that time, in fact, his main focus was high-speed point-to-point intelligent driving, which did not have the function of urban areas, but our cooperation with Huawei was a higher-level intelligent driving, including urban NOA has been counted in this.
I think Huawei and Baidu, based on their existing capabilities and current situation, have chosen two different technical routes, Huawei is now based on lidar-based intelligent computing solutions, and Baidu is choosing a pure visual route, in this field, both of them have made this set of solutions can have very strong market competitiveness and technical competitiveness.
We have communicated a lot with Huawei and Baidu, and both of them are very good, and both of them are doing very well. ”
Wang Junjun explained the difference between the cooperation between VOYAH and Baidu Huawei as the route of pure vision and lidar, and hopes to take advantage of the strengths of the two.
Referring to the scene of the press conference, Lu Fang revealed that it will be equipped with Baidu Maps V20 that supports lane-level navigation, and the follow-up VOYANT may also jointly retain two sets of intelligent driving solutions of pure vision and lidar.
"Baidu and Huawei are both partners that we respect very much, and we will continue to work with them on related projects."
When Wang Junjun responded to the relationship between Baidu and Huawei, he introduced his own system by the way:
"We actually have a set of self-developed intelligent driving solutions in chasing light, and this program has been put into production, and you can also experience it."
According to the data, the VOYAH Chasing Light, which will be launched in May 2023, is equipped with a self-developed high-speed autonomous pilot driving system, which can reach the L2.9 level of automatic driving and support 30+ intelligent assisted driving functions, which can realize point-to-point intelligent assisted driving in highway and urban expressway scenarios.
The ability is basically the same as that of the VOYAH FREE intelligent driving version.
A noteworthy detail is that at that time, in order to reflect the ability of the new VOYAH FREE to be equipped with Baidu's Apollo high-end intelligent driving, VOYAH also made a small design on the model: the "apollo tech" logo was added to the model logo at the bottom right of the rear of the new VOYAH FREE.
I don't know if the new SUV in cooperation with Huawei will be launched in the future, whether it will put a flower on the tail.
Although it will take a while longer to see this flower, it is already very quick to compare and look at Chang'an next door.
On November 25, 2023, Changan Automobile and Huawei signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Investment Cooperation in Shenzhen.
Huawei plans to establish a new company to focus on the R&D, production, sales, and service of intelligent driving systems and incremental components for intelligent and connected vehicles. At the same time, Changan Automobile confirms that the two parties plan to sign the definitive transaction documents within 6 months after the signing date of this memorandum, including the share purchase agreement, the shareholders' agreement, the articles of association of the target company and other documents related to the transaction as defined in the definitive transaction documents
On January 16, 2024, Huawei completed the registration of a new company named Shenzhen Yinwang Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd., whose business scope covers various fields such as automotive intelligent driving solutions, intelligent cockpits, intelligent vehicle digital platforms, intelligent vehicle clouds, AR-HUDs, and intelligent lights. Changan Automobile and its affiliates plan to invest in the new company and plan to hold no more than 40% of the shares. The two companies have committed to long-term cooperation and strategic synergy with the new company to ensure that the components and solutions within the business scope will be mainly provided by the new company to vehicle customers.
On April 30, 2024, Changan Automobile announced that its investment and cooperation projects with Huawei are progressing steadily. Based on the latest developments, the Company expects to enter into definitive transaction documents no later than August 31, 2024
Three months behind the original six months.
It should be noted that the new pure electric SUV model cooperated by VOYAH and Huawei is planned to be "released" within the year, not "launched" within the year, let alone "delivered" within the year.
But here, VOYAH has both self-developed and two partners at the level of intelligent driving, which is comprehensive, but to a certain extent, it also means a huge investment and a waste of time and energy in selecting partners.
03.
The sea is a must
At the technical conference on the 24th, VOYAH did not touch too much on the topic of going overseas.
Because it was important enough to hold a separate press conference, VOYAH put it at the show.
On April 26, VOYAH released Let's VOYAH's "Co-VOYAH" overseas strategy, establishing the core goal of "6655" - by 2030, it will lay out the six continents of the world, enter 60 countries around the world, build a total of 500 sales and service outlets, and sell more than 500,000 overseas vehicles.
According to the plan, VOYAH will launch the brand in Spain in June this year, and in the second half of the year, it plans to enter European countries such as Portugal, Belgium, Germany, and Sweden, as well as Poland, Greece, the Philippines, Azerbaijan and other countries that jointly build the "Belt and Road", and will also explore the markets in the Middle East, South America and Southeast Asia. By 2026, VOYAH will basically achieve full coverage of European countries, complete the strategic layout in Central Asia, the Middle East, Central and South America and other markets, and develop the right-hand drive market. By 2030, VOYAH will achieve the "6655" layout, that is, it will build 500 sales and service outlets on six continents and 60 countries around the world, and the cumulative overseas sales will exceed 500,000 units.
Lu Fang believes that China's new energy vehicles have reached or even surpassed traditional European car companies in terms of intelligence and electrification. Even under the premise that the European Commission launched an investigation on China's electric vehicles, China's new energy vehicles still cannot give up on Europe, not only can not give up, but also do a good job in products, the whole value chain, and the whole industry chain.
"Every country may have various policies, but as long as our products are good enough and our brand building is strong enough, even in the face of increased tariffs, we can still sell at a higher price than our European counterparts, which is good for our brand building."
"We need a common society, we need a common world. The genes at the bottom of Chinese culture are not life and death, but the beauty and beauty together, and the world is the same. ”
Obviously, VOYAH is exploring the way to the sea on behalf of the east wind.
04.
Also talk about traffic
At present, among China's state-owned automobile companies, VOYAH is the brand with the most personal label and temperament, and Lu has projected his huge energy and hard work in it.
After traffic became a new area of automotive competition, both new and old automakers were coerced.
In the CCTV "Dialogue" program a few days ago, Yin Tongyue, chairman of Chery Automobile, responded to the reason why he personally went down to start the live broadcast. Yin Tongyue said that doing his own live broadcast is a typical "kidnapping", being kidnapped by the industry, and being kidnapped by these young people under him.
"I made fun of myself, I said that old men in their 60s were also forced out to bring goods, and they promoted themselves (products), but this era has reached this level, and this is also a very fun thing, painful but very fun."
Lu Fang, who is more than one round younger than Mr. Yin, ridiculed even more:
"I really want to be an influencer, and I hope you can help me become an influencer."
Lu Fang believes that under the premise of excellent products, marketing ability is equally important, and it is necessary to dynamically evaluate their own marketing ability realistically, and learn from the advanced experience of the industry, especially the successful practices of Internet companies in marketing innovation, and apply these experiences to their own marketing strategies. It's important to work with companies like Huawei, and the same applies to marketing.
"I'm working very Weibo every day, and my followers are also increasing."
Lu Fang said that holding a technical communication conference will become a high-frequency communication method for VOYAH in the future, shortening the cycle and increasing the frequency while continuing to convey brand technology, the latest products and user concepts to the outside world.
But he also admitted that we should look at the phenomenon of traffic calmly, and the effect of traffic is not the norm, and its durability has yet to be tested. And what can really stand the test of time is the power of the brand.
In a conversation with the media on April 24, some media asked if VOYAH would be able to achieve its goal of selling 100,000 units in 2024.
At the beginning of April, VOYAH just achieved the first 100,000 vehicles off the assembly line, and this year's sales target is the total sales of the five-year-old brand.
Referring to the cumulative sales volume of 16,345 vehicles in the first quarter of this year, it means that the sales target of more than 27,000 units needs to be completed in the next three quarters, with an average of nearly 10,000 units per month.
This figure is not easy to achieve, at least not at least AVATAR, which is also a Huawei department, has not done it so far.
In response to questions from the media, Shao Mingfeng, assistant general manager of VOYAH and general manager of the sales company, firmly stated that VOYAH will stick to this sales target and gave three reasons:
First of all, we will pay close attention to market dynamics and focus on improving the competitiveness of our products and technologies instead of engaging in meaningless competition. At the same time, we will increase communication with users and attract more consumers by promoting new products and technologies.
Second, we will accelerate the iteration of products and technologies to adapt to the changes in the digital age. We will increase the iteration frequency of the product to make the product more in line with the needs of users and create more value for users.
Finally, VOYAH is about to usher in a product explosion period. We will launch new products one after another to meet the needs of different consumers.
In short, VOYAH has to come up with a blockbuster model, and Huawei may not be able to help.