Following "Huawei Inside", a new Inside model is breaking ground in the automotive supply chain.
Recently, CATL, which made its debut at the Beijing Auto Show, not only brought a variety of new products, but also brought CATL Inside to the forefront. At the auto show, the Dongfeng Mengshi 917 show car has appeared with the eye-catching logo of "CATL Inside".
In addition, CATL has also launched the Shenxing Supercharging Network and will set up a Shenxing Supercharging Owners Club. It is reported that CATL plans to open its first offline brand display store in August this year to create a "new energy life square" covering an area of about 15,000 square meters. This series of new actions, coupled with Huawei's previous exploration of Inside, has aroused the industry's attention and thinking about the Inside model at the end of the automotive supply chain.
01
To B or to C
In the traditional perception, parts suppliers are often "willing to be green leaves", but at this time, CATL is unusual, and seems to be working hard to build momentum for the Inside model. Whether the Inside model is to B or to C is a matter of different opinions in the industry.
"At present, whether it is Huawei Inside or CATL Inside, it contains more to B meaning, with the purpose of strongly binding vehicle companies." Zeng Xin, a professor at the University of Science and Technology Beijing, believes that there is no precise definition of the Inside model, and according to the current relevant behaviors of Huawei and CATL, it can be roughly summarized as that core component suppliers can form a relatively strong bargaining power and voice power by deepening cooperation with car companies, so as to achieve higher profits. In the eyes of the outside world, the progress and benefits of Huawei Inside are not as good as the Hongmeng Zhixing model, but they are all to B; CATL's officially signed partners so far are all enterprises without exception. The competition in the new energy vehicle industry is becoming increasingly fierce, and in the face of such a market situation, it is impossible for CATL to have no pressure. Through the Inside model, CATL can achieve a strong binding with new energy vehicle companies to prevent the loss of car customers. Therefore, on the whole, whether it is Huawei or CATL, the Inside model is a realistic way to cope with the increasing market competition and form a closer bound cooperative relationship.
Different perspectives lead to different perspectives. "It should be said that the Inside model also has the connotation of expanding customers through to C, so as to enhance brand value." Wei Fulei, director of the Research Center for Finance, Taxation, Trade and Industrial Development of China (Shenzhen) Comprehensive Development Research Institute, said that at the level of TOC, Huawei and CATL are both laying out charging and swapping networks, and both are moving towards the channel of brand experience stores. Huawei claims to have thousands of experience stores available to partners as sales channels for new energy vehicles, while CATL's supercharging car owners club and offline brand display stores are just getting started. From the perspective of market demand, consumers now not only want to know the situation of the whole vehicle when buying a car, but also want to know the brand, performance and life cycle of the battery equipped with the vehicle. As far as CATL is concerned, the establishment of a supercharger owner club and the establishment of offline brand display stores can bring more participation to consumers through product interaction and social attributes, while enhancing brand recognition and brand value, and ultimately achieve the goal of the Inside model.
"In the existing Inside model of the automotive supply chain, to B and to C are not contradictory, and can even be regarded as a 'to B + to C' complementary model." According to Li Ming, a professor at the School of Automotive Engineering of Jilin University, the purpose of the Inside model is more to B, which is the fulcrum for Huawei, CATL and other suppliers to play a greater role; However, this process can also be "two-legged", which not only strengthens the strong binding with car company partners, but also enhances the brand value through to C, and better realizes to B. In this regard, Huawei Inside can be regarded as the "1.0" version, and CATL Inside can be regarded as the upgraded "2.0 version", the latter reaches consumer users more directly, compared with the traditional market research method, it will shorten the path of market feedback, reduce information loss and distortion, and provide a more detailed and reliable basis for the technological optimization and innovation development of parts and components enterprises.
02
The connotation is "attack" or "defense"
So, for parts companies, is the role of the Inside model more prominent in the aspect of strong binding of customers to "defend", or is it more effective in the continuous expansion of customers and new business "attack"? This is also a topic worth exploring.
"In the industry environment where 'involution' is intensifying, finding ways to prevent customer churn is a job that enterprises must do well. Therefore, the Inside mode is more of a reflection of the connotation of 'keeping'. Zeng Xin told reporters that in the competition of the new energy vehicle market, the loss of customers means a reduction in benefits. For example, in the field of power batteries, in the first two years of soaring lithium carbonate prices, car companies generally believe that the profits of battery suppliers are too high, not only bluntly said that "car companies are working for battery factories", but also GAC, SAIC, Changan, Geely, Weilai, Xiaopeng and many other car companies have opened battery self-development, hoping to incorporate power batteries into their own vertical supply system, resulting in the previous battery companies and car companies through the order "binding" way has become unstable. If battery suppliers remain indifferent, they will inevitably lose orders and market share. Therefore, both Huawei Inside and CATL Inside hope to keep customers and reduce order loss through strong binding under competitive pressure.
"It looks like a defense, but it's actually an offense." Huawei's Inside model has shown a trend of "attacking" new businesses and customer bases. For example, Huawei provides intelligent driving systems, in-vehicle systems, and Huawei's DriveONE three-in-one drive system for AVATR models, and is gradually cooperating with VOYAH in the Inside model. CATL is bound to actively expand its customer base through the Inside model, such as signing a contract with Didi Chuxing in January this year to deploy battery swap business in Didi Chuxing's vehicles, and supercharging and battery swapping are new businesses that CATL has expanded in addition to power battery production. Through these measures, the Inside model can significantly give full play to the technical advantages of parts suppliers, which is conducive to forming a strong brand power, enhancing the voice in the supply chain, and increasing revenue.
"Overall, the Inside model has the characteristics of 'both offense and defense'." Li Ming analyzed that Huawei and CATL, which are currently taking the initiative to open the Inside mode, are both leading enterprises in their respective segments. The reason why I chose to blaze this trail is because of the different pressures I am subjected to. The start of Huawei Inside was that it sought new business growth points with its advantages in automotive intelligence under external pressure. CATL is also due to the pressure of market "involution". These parts companies hope to fully tap the potential of their own technical advantages through the Inside model, bring lower costs and rich profits, so as to invest in the research and development of new parts with stronger strength, and also hope to let more new energy vehicle companies become partners of the Inside model to form a positive cycle. Moreover, the Inside model has no limitations, and it can bind both new energy vehicle companies and raw materials and other suppliers to the upstream, so as to form a closed loop of the supply chain, eliminate supply chain risks to the greatest extent, and achieve stable profits. At the same time, the Inside model can also expand the business scope of enterprises, such as the establishment of a supercharging car owner club in CATL, which is actually an active attack on the supercharging market, reflecting the openness of this model.
03
Competitive pressure and innovation and development are the result
The development of electrification, intelligence, and networking has not only brought revolutionary changes to the automotive industry, but also profoundly affected the development of the automotive supply chain. In the face of the new situation, parts suppliers are also actively exploring, and the Inside model may be one of them.
"For the industry, the emergence of the Inside model breaks through the traditional supply chain model, and prying a corner of the supply chain can be regarded as an innovation for suppliers." Wefley believes that at present, the traditional auto parts supply model is undergoing major changes, starting from the integration of electrification and intelligent technology, the supply chain has also shifted from the original one-way transmission of the "chain structure" to the "network structure". Under the network structure, it is possible for parts companies, technology companies, and material companies to achieve cross-industry and cross-field integration around needs and products. With the help of the Inside model, it can not only realize the cooperation between parts companies and car companies, but also understand the market demand from user feedback and make rapid responses, so as to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of innovation.
"In the process of responding to competition and exploring practice, the Inside model may be able to bring better market benefits." Zeng Xin said that on the one hand, the Inside model has prompted traditional parts suppliers to think deeply about how to better adapt to the new competitive environment, expand their business and customer base and improve the efficiency of market expansion. On the other hand, in the context of the gradual development of smart electric vehicles to personalization and customization, the Inside model will use the advantages of all parties involved in cooperation to provide better and newer products, carry out cooperative development under clear goals, and provide efficient support for personalization and customization.
In the new stage of the transformation of the automotive industry, the restructuring of the supply chain is a new topic. "The Inside model is not only a new choice under the pressure of competition, but also a new exploration of enterprise innovation and development." Li Ming believes that in the face of industry competition, core component suppliers such as Huawei and CATL have more motivation for change and exploration, and more companies will try new models and explore new paths over time. This is the only way for the continuous development of the parts industry and the restructuring of the supply chain.
Text: Zhao Jianguo Editor: Pang Guoxia Layout: Wang Kun
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