by The traditional gold nine silver ten, in any consumer-oriented industry, is an excellent moment to launch new products and impact sales at the end of the year. This is especially true in the auto industry – in the past two months, almost all automakers have released their own main models, and the number of products is a bit dizzying.
The new car war that started 7 years ago has gradually knocked on the door of the market for new energy vehicles represented by pure electric vehicles. Not long ago, all three of Wei Xiaoli released their main models this year. In terms of price alone, these “new cars” are still aimed at the high-end market of 350,000-500,000 yuan, and continue to benchmark BBA’s luxury models.
The “new and new forces” of car-making that came out behind the “new forces”, such as Leapmotor and other companies, are in the range of 200,000 to 300,000 yuan. This market still seems to be a blue ocean.
Coincidentally, traditional car companies such as BYD and Changan have newly launched pure electric models targeting the same price range.
200,000 yuan – 300,000 yuan of pure electric models one of the signs of the blue ocean changing to the red ocean isThe luxurious configuration and advanced technology that only appeared in the higher-priced models have now become standard for pure electric vehicles one by one.
The mid-end pure electric market is ushering in an “involution war”.
Pure electric last blue ocean
If Li Xiang is given another chance, it is estimated that he will still bet his energy on SEVs that are smaller than the A00 class at the node where the new car force is just emerging. His vision was verified by the Wuling Hongguang MINI EV, which was sold a few years later. Unfortunately, the time period was wrong.
In the words of Zhu Jiangming, founder of Leapmotor, when the pure electric car was just emerging in the domestic market, it was a typical “dumbbell” market – the most sold were low-end cars below 100,000 yuan, and 350,000 yuan or more. high-end models.
Wei Xiaoli, who is closely following the pioneer Tesla, as a representative of a new force in domestic car manufacturing, initially aimed at high-end models, with the goal of killing BBA. In addition to the pure electric power system that is different from traditional gasoline vehicles, new car manufacturers have successfully implanted the concept of “domestic cars can sell for more than 300,000 yuan” in the minds of domestic consumers through intelligent, human-friendly design and user experience.
IDC predicts the penetration rate of new energy vehicles in the next few years｜IDC
Seven years later, electric vehicles have become a consensus in China. In the past August, the penetration rate of new energy vehicles has reached 28%, and the monthly sales of 16 car companies exceeded 10,000. As one of the mainstays of new energy vehicles, pure electric vehicles have become an important force in the automotive market.
In this context, behind the “new car-making forces”, there is also a wave of “new and new forces”, such as Leapmotor and other companies, which have opened up a different path from the “predecessors” in the field of pure electric vehicles – from The pure electric car cuts in, breaking the experience barriers of smart cars.
Now that trams have become the mainstream, when the first batch of new car manufacturers are still fighting in the high-end model field of around 400,000 yuan, the mid-range pure electric car market of 200,000 to 300,000 yuan has ushered in a short blue ocean period. . And this market has also attracted the attention of “new and new forces” and even traditional car manufacturers.
This year, Leapmotor, BYD, Changan and other companies have successively exposed models such as Leapmotor C01, Seal and Dark Blue. The mid-range pure electric vehicle market has ushered in its first wave of war.
Luxury + Technology Decentralization
At the Apple press conference just past, consumers often praised CEO Tim Cook’s “skillful swordsmanship”, allowing innovative technologies to flow between products in a “trickle-down” manner from top to bottom to maximize price and efficiency. Audience range.
In fact, Apple’s approach has been a basic consensus in the automotive industry in the past – “matryoshka” and shell replacement once became well-known labels for traditional oil car manufacturers. And if you pursue luxurious configuration and extreme power, you can only buy high-end models with real money and technology premiums.
To get rid of BBA’s new car-making power, the shot is the luxury configuration, so that consumers can enjoy the configuration of the luxury car with almost 30% discount, and often even more than 500,000 yuan.
History will not repeat, but it will rhyme. Rising stars will use the same strategy in the mid-end car field with a wider user base, and will use the top audio, luxury interiors, and full intelligent driving that have appeared on millions of cars in the past. Configuration and user-friendly comfort experience, etc., are “decentralized” to mid-range cars below 300,000 yuan.
Leapmotor C01 pure electric sedan just launched | Leapmotor
Take the just-launched Leapmotor C01 as an example. As the main new model of the “new force” of this car maker, the C01 exudes the taste of “super value” from the inside out:
The fast-back “coupe” design and frameless doors greatly enhance the appearance of the vehicle; the streamlined design and hidden door handles, the drag coefficient of the vehicle is as low as 0.226Cd;
“Arjamis” immersive music cockpit + surround sound composed of 12 high-performance speakers, providing an immersive sound experience;
The Nappa leather applied to the steering wheel and the seats, and the standard suede roof of the whole series are high-grade materials that have only appeared in million-dollar cars in the past, highlighting the design level and luxury;
And a double-layer laminated coating + Low-E glass, which can isolate 99.9% of ultraviolet rays and a panoramic skylight.
Frameless doors have also become standard for mid-range trams. Pictured: Leapmotor C01 | Leapmotor
In terms of visual and tactile sensations, mid-range trams below 300,000 yuan should achieve “satisfying the “vanity” of consumers.”At the technical level, mid-range trams are definitely in a state of “red with bayonet”. In the words of Li Chengru in the movie “Big Shot”, “put everything that can be installed on him.”
From the perspective of the three-electric system, the battery is not only important, but also an important factor for differentiation. In the electric cars of the past few years, due to the limitation of initial battery technology, one result of the traditional battery cladding is that the chassis is “high”, and the appearance and driving experience are like a shorter SUV.
Many manufacturers have tried at the battery level. For example, the newly launched Leapmotor C01 adopts the CTC (Cell to Chasis) technology that is recognized by the industry as leading the future development direction, that is, the battery pack is omitted and the battery is directly “embedded” on the chassis. The advantage of this is that one is that the chassis can finally be lower, and the appearance and driving feel are more like a sedan; at the same time, the overall rigidity of the body is strengthened; the battery life and space of the whole vehicle are improved to varying degrees.
CTC technology adopted by Leapmotor | Leapmotor
Another test point for mid-range electric vehicles is intelligent assisted driving technology. For the new mid-range tram, there are no more than 20 sensors around the body, and it is embarrassing to call yourself a new car. The addition of a variety of sensors has made the L2+ level automatic driving functions – full-speed cruise, automatic parking, autonomous lane change and other functions that make it easy for consumers to use cars to become the standard configuration of mid-range household pure electric vehicles.
Finally, just like the mobile phone wars of the past, Qualcomm’s 8155 chip, continuous voice interaction, and virtual assistants are also essential in the smart cockpit system. There are also models like Leapmotor C01. In order to make the system more “open”, it even came up with the industry’s first “Android virtual machine” system installed on the car, allowing users to use more applications like “mini programs”. Running in the system without affecting the response speed of the car is definitely the favorite of old drivers who like to “play with the car”.
From the appearance design, power system, battery, to the comprehensive “luxury” and “popularization” of intelligent driving and intelligent cockpit,The “infinite upgrade” of mid-range trams is the biggest test for car manufacturers, which actually comes from production, research and manufacturing.
Core Competencies of “Vertical Integration”
More than a hundred years ago, John Ford, who created the modern automobile industry, was proud not to let most of the Americans drive Model T cars, but the “Rouge River Factory” with a very modern manufacturing thinking.
Coincidentally, Tesla, the leader in leading electric vehicles to declare war on fuel vehicles in this century, its founder Musk also expressed a similar view, saying that its “Gigafactory”, which specializes in building Tesla electric vehicles, is actually “the most important product”.
When people focus on the products under the spotlight, the manufacturing and production systems behind them are the most important core assets of new cars.
Taking Leap Motor as an example, this 7-year-old team has improved the efficiency of research and development and effectively improved the control of the supply chain by mastering the production and research capabilities of the “three powers” of electric vehicles and core components.
Leapmotor Jinhua AI Factory | Leapmotor
For example, from the construction of the underlying system and the development of the platform, it can be flexibly reused among different models. In the future, Leaprun will build on the three pure electric platforms of A, C, and D to realize the underlying interfaces, algorithms and data. The unification of communication protocols has built a platform-based electronic and electrical architecture and vehicle architecture that can be highly reused between different electric models, with a common rate of up to 88%.
Last month, Leapmotor’s second three-electric base was completed, and the battery, electric drive, and electric control have been put into production, which has eliminated the threat of “production hell” to the greatest extent.
Of course, even if self-research is stronger than Tesla, it still requires external supply chain cooperation. Domestic manufacturers, such as Leaprun, not only master core technology research and development, but also seek partners in semiconductors, new materials and Internet of Things technologies to build an industrial ecosystem.
In the next Q4, the new energy vehicle market is still an arduous battle, and the competition is not only in the field of high-end vehicles, but in fact, the mid-range trams of 200,000 yuan to 300,000 yuan are the main battlefield. How to win this range may determine the development trend of many manufacturers in the “second half of new cars”.
The price factor is important, but product strength and production and research capabilities may be the core of winning.
