Leapmotor is an outlier among the new car-making forces, keenly seizing the gap left for smart electric SUVs in the originally crowded price space of 15-200,000 yuan. In contrast, Leap has not had a mixed reputation in the market like BYD. The advent of C16 has quietly taken shape the Uniqlo model that Zhu Jiangming has repeatedly emphasized.
Text丨Zhijia.com Li Duoyu
Editor丨Langlang Mountain and Mingzhi Mountain Wang Xin
At a time when almost the entire automobile circle is staring at BYD and exhaling its anger, Zhu Jiangming of Leapmotor is one of the few CEOs of OEMs that Zhijia.com has seen recently, and there are few people who are not frowning and calm.
On June 28, after the launch of the 6-seater flagship SUV Leapmotor C16 based on the new production platform of LEAP3.0 in Jinhua, Zhejiang, he walked into the media interview room with a relaxed face and patiently explained to the media how Leapmotor made a car bigger than the previous car but cheaper.
He said that our goal is to be Uniqlo, not BYD.
C16 is the third model launched in recent years priced in the range of 15-200,000 yuan, although C16 is called the flagship, it is the largest model launched by Leap, but the price is still locked at 155,800-185,800 yuan.
As a large 6-seater model, the eπ008 launched by Dongfeng Yipai also took the same route as the ideal L8, but the price failed to enter the range of 200,000 yuan.
Compared with the core data, Leap C16 is slightly inferior to eπ008 and ideal L8 in body size and wheelbase, and the battery capacity of the extended range version of the model is lower than that of Ideal L8, but in terms of cost performance, Leap C16 is a half-style bargain.
The price is cut in half, and at the same time, the configuration is trying to catch up:
1. Pure electric vehicles are equipped with global 800V fast charging as standard, and the Leapmotor C16 pure electric model adopts a global 800V high-voltage silicon carbide fast charging platform, with a maximum charging power of 180kW and a maximum charging power from 30% to 80% in 15 minutes;
2. Lidar + NVIDIA Orin-X chip, with 30 high-performance perception hardware including 8 million pixel high-definition cameras, etc., with a vehicle computing power of 284TOPS, can realize the use of NAC navigation to assist cruise in urban areas and liberate your feet; On highways and urban expressways, intelligent pilot NAP is used to cover all scenarios.
3. Second row of large color TV: 15.6-inch high-definition rear ceiling screen, 1080P high-definition resolution, support voice, mobile phone remote control, touch and other operation methods, can realize a variety of entertainment activities such as watching videos and karaoke, support dual-screen linkage, dual-screen simulcast function;
It can be said that the selling point of the ideal L8 is not bad in the Leap C16.
While the technology is catching up with the industry's flagship models, the C16 uses the same suppliers as BBA, which truly "not only lowers the price, but also provides better materials and experience".
Of course, we can criticize Leap for piling up materials, or we can say that Leap is not original enough, and pays too much tribute to domestic star brands, but from the price level alone, it can achieve such a level, and at the same time can maintain enough gross profit of a single bike, Leap is making itself a different new force in car manufacturing.
Back to the question at the beginning, how did Leaprun achieve such a low price?
Zhu Jiangming made three points:
First, the parts that account for 60% of the cost of the zero-run model are self-developed and self-made, which can save some cost space: if the parts have a 10% gross profit, it is equivalent to the self-developed and self-made part can save 10%, and from the perspective of the whole car, it is 6% of the cost space;
Second, reduce costs through platform, chip, and CTC technology innovation:
1. The platform of the product can make the largest number of parts purchased for each model, forming a scale procurement bargaining power, like the current C series, the B series behind, in addition to the non-general parts, such as styling, shell, and body, which can not be shared, the shared parts have reached 88%, including some interior and exterior trim parts on the body have also been shared. Like the C16 and C10 cars, the front and rear lights, dashboard, and front seats are exactly the same, and the wheelbase of the chassis parts is also the same.
2. Through global self-development, a chip is maximized to the maximum efficiency, and the Zhixiang version uses an 8295 chip to do L2 level ADAS, which achieves 360-degree surround view of the whole vehicle, automatic parking, audio tuning, etc. These innovations allow users to enjoy chips like the 8295 at a very affordable price.
3. Using CTC technology to reduce costs, the battery pack of Leap has no top cover, and adopts an all-steel structure, but it is lighter than the battery pack with an all-aluminum structure, but the structure is stronger, and at the same time, the battery pack does not have an upper cover, which can increase the height of the passenger compartment and improve the comfort in the cabin.
Thirdly, Leaprun is priced at cost, using innovative technology and more than 60% of the parts to make their own products, so that the saved space can be transferred to users, so that our products can be very affordable to the people.
However, on the whole, the pricing of Leap Run models and the ups and downs of sales in the past few years, the core of Leap's strategy is to occupy a stable range of 15-200,000 yuan, and the pricing of several models is basically 10,000 yuan as a ladder step by step to 200,000 yuan, similar to the ideal car-style nesting doll strategy, if the similarities and differences between the two market strategies, the ideal is to go down from high to high, and the ideal L9 is the fixing star, and then there are L8, L7, L6, and Leap has obviously undergone continuous adjustment, and finally anchored the ideal car and followed the strategy.
Leapmotor started with pure electric models in the early stage, with more than 200,000 yuan of pure electric sports cars, and finally reorganized the product line four years ago, and after the release of the Leapmotor 2.0 strategy, it took four years to gain a firm foothold from C11 to C01, to C10, and then to today's C16.
In other words, Leap first determined the price range of 15-200,000 yuan for its own survival, and then had a follow-up series of products.
Zhu Jiangming said:
We hope that the C series will deepen the price band of about 150,000 yuan, and first occupy a relatively large market share in this price band and achieve sales of more than 30,000 units per month.
Because that's the only way you'll be able to focus.
Next year, Leapmotor will have 3 models of the B series on the market, facing the price range of 10-150,000 yuan, and high-end models may also have lidar and high-computing intelligent driving chips.
In 2026, we will focus on pushing 3 products with 200,000 yuan as the central price band, only in this way can we concentrate resources in a price band to make our products more advantageous, so that your front line is not so long, the user base is relatively focused, and the scale of the product is increased to form product competitiveness.
Focusing on a customer in a price band and the products and components in this price band and their configurations can make the price band thorough. Otherwise, we have to do high and low, users are different, products are different, and the front will be very long. This is our thinking.
This is the reason why Leap has broken four models step by step in the range of 15-200,000 yuan.
At present, China's new car-making force, this is the unique car-making philosophy of Leapmotor, which is the reason why WM was finally squeezed out of the market step by step, and the positioning of Xpeng Motors has also been released from this market.
Leap is not BYD.
But in the camp of new forces, it is producing a BYD-style disruptive effect.
Compared with the ideal L8 and Wenjie M7, the C16 that has just been launched shows that the three models have to be compared at the same level, which is quite similar to the BYD Qin that was launched in the spring of this year.
Therefore, the reason for Zhu Jiangming's relaxed face is not complicated, he is not a person who was forced into a corner by BYD, but in the extended range and intelligent electric SUV market, he is the disruptor of this market.
Although the intelligent driving of Leap is inferior to Huawei、Ideal,The second row of color TVs can only be turned on manually,But the main one is "What you have, I have it。 ”
It's just that Zhu Jiangming has always emphasized that the object of his study is Uniqlo, and the ideal model of Leap is "Uniqlo in the automotive industry".
The business strategy of the founder of UNIQLO, Masashi Yanai, can be summed up in one word: "Good products at low prices, quality assurance", and by making every effort to control costs and ensure quality, UNIQLO is able to provide high-quality products while maintaining price competitiveness.
However, another reason for Uniqlo's success is also highly related to the background of the bursting of Japan's economic bubble in the 90s.
This is similar to the current rise of China's Pinduoduo model.
Can the Uniqlo model be replicated in an industry as capital-heavy and highly competitive as automobile manufacturing?
Zhu Jiangming's answer is to "disenchant" the car.
"In the end, the car must be a durable consumer product, a means of transportation," he said. It may be more advantageous to use the car as a means of transportation in this industry. Our brand positioning is to provide users with higher configuration, better quality, good and inexpensive products, no matter how big the temptation, how high the gross profit or how much space, Leapmotor will always insist on the car as a mass consumer product.
Zhu Jiangming did not shy away from the ideal model that was regarded as a flat replacement: "I will make an analogy, there may be some users who are used to buying things like Zegna and Chanel who occasionally buy Uniqlo, and may also buy C16, but after he uses it, he feels that it is no different, and at this time he is a loyal fan of Leap." ”
As a staunch advocate of the low-price strategy, Zhu Jiangming once said at the 2023 Electric Vehicle 100 Conference that the price of power batteries is expected to drop by half, and it is not impossible to buy a luxury car of 50,000 yuan in the future. Even a medium and large SUV like the Leapmotor C11 is likely to achieve a price of 50,000 yuan in the future (see "When you drive a 100,000-level luxury car on the road many years later, you will definitely think of the spring of 2023").
First, it is easy to halve the price of battery packs after ten years, and with the improvement of efficiency and the improvement of charging facilities, the price of battery packs of 15,000 yuan is enough to cope with the usual 400 kilometers of battery life according to the calculation of 400 kilometers of battery life and 50 degrees of battery packs in the future. Similarly, with the development of technology and scale, the cost of electric drive and electronic control will also be significantly reduced.
Second, once the single-chip solution of intelligent cockpit and intelligent driving is realized, the cost of chips can be greatly reduced. The configuration of luxury cars, such as air suspension, will also gradually decline as the cost decreases.
"Ten years later, the battery, electric drive, intelligent cockpit and traditional parts add up, and 50,000 yuan is expected to be a relatively high-end electric vehicle. Electric vehicles are an electronic product, and their iteration and price reduction speed will definitely be much faster than that of traditional fuel vehicles. So two years is an update cycle for smart electric vehicles. ”
On June 28, Zhu Jiangming talked about the price war that has been going on for two years, he said: "The price war will definitely continue in the next three years, because the whole pattern has not yet been determined, but the entire new energy process will basically be completed in three years, and pure fuel vehicles will be reduced to less than 10% after three years, more hybrid, plug-in hybrid or pure electric models." Therefore, in the process of full competition, everyone must seize their position in the pattern in the next three years. “
In its first quarter report of 2024 released in May, the company achieved revenue of 3.486 billion yuan and a net loss of 1.013 billion yuan, compared with 1.133 billion yuan in the same period last year and 955 million yuan in the fourth quarter of 2023. In the first quarter of this year, it delivered a total of 33,400 vehicles, an increase of 217.9% year-on-year and a decrease of 39.6% month-on-month. However, due to the increase in the manufacturing cost of bicycles due to the decline in sales and the promotion of old models, the gross profit margin of Leapmotor fell back to negative again, at -1.4%; -7.8% in the first quarter of 2023, 6.7% in the fourth quarter of 2023, and 0.5% for the full year of 2023.
As of the first quarter of 2024, the balance of cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, financial assets at fair value through profit or loss and bank time deposits held by Leapmotor was RMB17.584 billion, a decrease of RMB1.8 billion from the end of 2023.
Although Leapmotor has established a cost-effective barrier in the range of 15-200,000 yuan, it is also like dancing on the tip of a knife, and the gross profit margin of a single car fluctuates in millimeters.
Yesterday (July 1), Leapmotor announced its delivery data for June: 20,116 units, entering the "20,000 club" for the first time, which is also its record high. The cumulative delivery volume in the first half of 2024 will reach 86,696 units, which is still the first echelon of the new power camp.
The four models of the Leapmotor C series are forming a certain scale advantage.
Leap can be said to have jumped out of the circle in the cruel price war, did not become a passive participant, and even became a player in the price war in a specific range of 15-200,000 yuan.
The cooperation with Stellantis also gives the outside world more room for imagination about its going overseas.
Cao Li, vice president of Leapmotor Technology, confirmed to the media that Leapmotor is indeed taking a few T03 models to overseas factories to explore the adaptability and assembly feasibility, but it is still in the evaluation stage and has not determined the specific timing of overseas production.
Leapmotor is an outlier among the new car-making forces, keenly seizing the gap left for smart electric SUVs in the originally crowded price space of 15-200,000 yuan.
Not long ago, the new Haval H6 was launched, with a price in the range of 117,900-143,900 yuan, and the feedback of many netizens is why it has not dropped to less than 100,000 yuan?
In contrast, Ideal and Wenjie have anchored the price range of a Chinese brand for range extension and pure electric SUVs, and have formed a unique competitive advantage after refining the operation of following the horizontal type of Leap.
In contrast, Leap has not had a mixed reputation in the market like BYD.
The advent of the Leap C16 has made the Uniqlo model car manufacturing that Zhu Jiangming has repeatedly emphasized quietly take shape.