Car stuff (public account: chedongxi)
Author | Janson
Editor | Zhihao
Che Dongxi reported on July 29 that a few days ago, NIO released the latest progress on chips, cockpits, domain control, and intelligent driving at the NIO IN 2024 press conference just held.
At the same time, Li Bin and Qin Lihong also released in the interview after the meeting whether the relevant departments can manage the weekly list, resolutely do not do Robotaxi, and car companies that do not use lidar are "either stupid or bad".
You must know that at present, Li Auto is on the weekly list, Xpeng will launch Robotaxi in 2026, and at the same time, it will also start to get involved in high-end intelligent driving without lidar like Tesla.
Both Wei Xiaoli and Tesla are some of the companies with the most sensitive sense of smell and the strongest subjective initiative in the field of new energy in China and even in the world.
In the remarks interviewed after the meeting, Li Bin seemed to be anti-industry intuition, and he wanted to find his own unique development route.
Obviously, the annual R&D investment of more than 10 billion yuan also makes Li Bin feel that he can stand on the decisive stage and "compete with friends and businessmen".
However, in the interview, Li Bin and Qin Lihong's words inevitably revealed hidden worries about the market.
1. If you don't do Robotaxi, you need the relevant departments to "manage" the weekly list
It can be said that in the field of intelligent driving, NIO has shown a unique technical layout and market strategy.
In the interview, Li Bin said that the company firmly believes that in intelligent driving technology, the more reliable sensors, the stronger the computing power, and there are only benefits and no harms. Whoever says lidar is useless is either stupid or bad.
NIO uses LiDAR to ensure the accuracy and reliability of information. However, in Ledao L60, NIO also chose pure vision as the base of the intelligent driving solution.
He emphasized that this technology layout is based on the understanding of the role of lidar in different stages and models, aiming to improve the overall performance of intelligent driving systems.
He also expressed his recognition of Xpeng's performance in the field of intelligent driving, while emphasizing that NIO will continue to work hard to remain competitive.
The NIO ET7 is equipped with LiDAR
Although the current mainstream car companies are still dominated by single/dual lidar configurations, in the context of the popularization of high-end intelligent driving, even Huawei, which is all in lidar, and Xiaopeng, which was the first to get on the car, have begun to test the waters of pure vision.
It can be said that at a time when the cost of lidar is high and the comprehensive popularization of high-end intelligent driving has become a new trend, moving towards visual integration is the new direction of development.
In terms of marketing strategy, NIO has maintained stable sales of 20,000 units per month since May.
Qin Lihong pointed out that NIO does not participate in the weekly sales ranking to avoid exacerbating the industry's involution and anxiety and promote the healthy development of the industry.
Li Bin added that if NIO achieves the first place, we will not publish a weekly list.
It can be said that at present, for Weilai, the weekly list of the ideal hair is indeed likely to put pressure on it, and this may not have much to do with the ideal itself, after all, the ideal is now mainly sold as extended range models.
And within a week's dimension, the ups and downs of NIO's sales in the pure electric field will indeed have an impact on the brand.
So much so that Qin Lihong directly called on "relevant departments to take care of it".
Regarding the weekly list, Lei Jun also jokingly joked during the live broadcast of the annual speech some time ago, "I don't know who publishes the weekly list every week."
It can be seen that the dimension of the weekly list still has a certain impact on an enterprise.
As for the Robotaxi market, which has attracted much attention in recent years, Li Bin made it clear that the company will not set foot in this field.
Li Bin believes that the real value of intelligent driving lies in liberating the driver's energy and reducing traffic accidents, rather than replacing the work of chauffeurs.
Li Bin pointed out that Robotaxi is not an inspiring business model, nor is it a sustainable big business. They are more inclined to solve transportation sharing problems, such as the Mobike and Tick Rideshare projects they have participated in before, which are more in line with social issues and market needs.
WeRide Robotaxi products
However, with the success of Baidu's Robotaxi service in Wuhan and Tesla and Xpeng have officially announced their own Robotaxi release timelines, it can be said that there is a general understanding of the Robotaxi business model in the industry.
And in this regard, Li Bin and NIO obviously did not align with the industry.
A few days ago, WeRide went to the United States to submit an IPO, and Momenta and Pony.ai are also actively preparing for listing.
In terms of the promotion of intelligent driving technology and the implementation of market strategies, NIO has announced less content than Xpeng, Li and Huawei.
And it is not difficult to see from the interview that NIO has a unique view on the future development.
2. Li Bin talks about future technology positioning BBA's next car is NIO
When talking about the investment in SkyOS and chip R&D, Li Bin said that NIO's R&D expenses are highly reusable, and compared with traditional platform-based R&D, NIO's investment in vehicle operating systems can effectively reduce costs.
He pointed out that NIO pursues the ultimate in technology, and has now realized the decoupling of battery packs and vehicles, and multiple generations of models will be able to share the same battery pack in the future, reflecting the R&D idea of hierarchical decoupling of smart car companies.
Regarding the lack of high-perception and high-value functions, Li Bin emphasized the differences in the definition of NIO's products.
He took the Ledao L60 as an example, although it is equipped with a large display screen and comfortable seats, NIO pays more attention to the competition of underlying capabilities such as safety, space efficiency, cost structure and battery swap technology.
Ledao L60
On the issue of the battery swap moat, Li Bin believes that the current competition in the automotive industry is like a marathon, and there is no absolute moat.
Qin Lihong pointed out in his analysis of the trade-in market that most of the owners of NIO come from traditional high-end fuel car users, and they choose NIO mainly because of its pure electric driving experience without range anxiety and mature charging and swapping system, as well as the style and attitude of the NIO brand.
He revealed that more than 30% of BBA owners plan to try new energy vehicles, and NIO is confident that it will undertake this part of high-end users.
Li Bin added: "The next BBA is NIO", expressing confidence in the attractiveness of the NIO brand.
Talking about activities such as NIO Day and Power Day, Li Bin said that these events are platforms for NIO to showcase its true technical background, aiming to dispel misunderstandings about NIO's technological capabilities.
He emphasized that NIO has invested heavily in both services and technology, and hopes that NIO IN events will become a popular event for media and users in the future.
Conclusion: NIO has embarked on a characteristic development path
Through this interview, we were able to get a glimpse of NIO's in-depth thinking and layout in technology research and development, brand building and market strategy.
On the track of intelligent driving, NIO is constantly exploring and moving forward in its unique way to contribute to the future development of the intelligent electric vehicle industry.
Among them, NIO also reflects its excellent side in the industry, but also reflects their hidden concerns.
And whether NIO can go through the path of characteristic development will take time to speak.