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Wen/Leng Zelin
Source: Photon Planet (ID: TMTweb)
On this Friday, Ideal released the financial report data for the fourth quarter of 2021 and the whole year. First and foremost, the ideal net profit in the fourth quarter was 295.5 million yuan, up 174.9% year on year. Yes, the ideal is profitable again.
Looking at the main financial data, thanks to the great increase in the delivery volume of Ideal ONE in the fourth quarter, the revenue of Ideal ONE in the fourth quarter was 10.62 billion yuan, up 156.1% year on year, 36.6% month on month, and the annual revenue reached 27.01 billion yuan.
In the fourth quarter, the gross profit rate of vehicles rose again to 22.3%. According to the financial report, the increase in the average selling price was mainly due to the increase in the delivery of the new ideal ONE. The overall gross profit margin decreased to 22.4% from 23.3% in the previous quarter, mainly due to the lack of new energy vehicle points sales in the fourth quarter.
In terms of offline channels, by the end of 2021, there are 206 retail stores in total, covering 102 cities. In addition, there are 278 service centers and B&P centers in 204 cities.
On the whole, Ideals delivered a brilliant financial report, marking the end of 2021.
With glorious financial reports and popular models, we can basically say that we are one of the biggest winners in the new domestic car making forces last year. However, this does not mean that new energy has really reached the high speed of growth. In 2022, the hidden dangers of new cars may still be surging under the bright surface.
Once bitten, twice shy
As one of the top three newly built cars, and the ideal of selling like a dark horse last year, Yiyue has gained great exposure on the Internet. However, the Internet has always been like this. To enjoy the glory brought by the spotlight, you must be prepared to withstand the pressure of public opinion. Generally speaking, a big tree catches the wind.
Not long ago, the ideal ONE caused great controversy.
During the Spring Festival, an ideal car owner drove his ideal ONE to Tibet. On the way back, he set out from Chengdu, Sichuan, bypassed Shimen County, Changde City, Hunan Province, visited the famous Chengfo Hill, and decided to try to challenge with the encouragement of friends.
Because of its steep slope, sharp curve and many cross axle roads, Chengfo Slope has always been a popular destination for cross-country enthusiasts. Previously, there had been videos of successful challenges for Tesla Model 3/Y, Weilai ES8, BYD Tang, Celis SF5 and other models on the network. Naturally, the challenge of the ideal ONE also attracted many people's attention.
The Landau Free, which was challenged with the ideal ONE, completed the climbing step by step after several attempts. After several attempts, the ideal ONE seemed to idle too fast because one tire did not touch the ground and the grip was not enough. Finally, the reducer of the rear drive motor of the ideal ONE was damaged and some liquid leaked out.
The video spread on the tremolo clips the challenges of many models and the ideal ONE together, and the ideal ONE is naturally questioned. Ideal has also become another brand of public opinion triggered by users after Weilai's car owners triggered public opinion.
In fact, for city cars, whether they can climb such a professional slope does not mean anything. However, Idealist officials then went to Hunan Chengfo Slope to organize a challenge, and all four tests were successful. However, because the ground and weather were inconsistent with the previous situation, many netizens did not buy it, and also thought it was unnecessary.
With the release of the posters by Landu, the outbreak of this public opinion has intensified.
This is also seen by some as a challenge to the ideal ONE by Landu Free. Because the two cars are very similar in terms of power mode, interior decoration and pricing, in addition to the number of seats, they usually regard the two products as a competitive relationship.
Just like Weilai benchmarking BMW, the ideal benchmarking Hananda, Weima often "meets porcelain" Tesla, which helps to rapidly expand recognition at the initial stage of the brand by associating with models and brands of higher visibility at the same level. Most brands have adopted this strategy, which is understandable.
However, both the ideal and Landu seem to be eager to "prove" their own meaning in this matter.
People will unconsciously compare "Tewei Xiaoli" and other new energy sources. If they put them last year or the year before last, it will not matter. However, as the models of various OEMs begin to overlap, the competition will become particularly fierce.
In short, there used to be enough mountains, and everyone was the king. Now, with the expansion of their respective "territories", the boundaries begin to become blurred, resulting in friction and confrontation with each other, and eventually evolved into local wars.
After this matter became popular on the Internet, many car owners drove various models to challenge Chengfo Hill, and even Fukang. In addition to the love of off-road, this is also an invisible sense of achievement. After all, a successful climb means that your car crushed the sales champion of more than 300000 new energy single models last year.
The current ideal has only one model on sale. Compared with many other new energy vehicle enterprises, the ideal ONE bears greater sales pressure.
It is not easy to prove that how to wear this crown longer and more steadily may be an ideal topic to study deeply.
At the same time, tremolo is also the most important source of ideal users. Insiders of the ideal car told Photon Planet that 60% of the early users learned the ideal ONE through tremolo. This can also understand why the ideal is eager to eliminate negative public opinion.
There is a "Buddhahood Hill" in front of the new forces of car making
In fact, blocking the ideal Buddhahood Hill is also blocking the progress of the new car making forces.
Looking at social media platforms such as Tiao Yin and Station B, we can easily find that new energy vehicles are not popular with most people here. One Tiao Yin expert told us a "unwritten rule" that he summarized in the past few years, that is, spray Wei Xiao Li=traffic.
Some time ago, Weilai cancelled its "Weilai Auto Technology Co., Ltd." and rushed to the top of the chattering hot search. The news of bankruptcy, bankruptcy, and so on was rampant, which once overshadowed Gu Ailing.
It was one of dozens of subsidiaries that had industrial and commercial changes, but it was interpreted to have countless versions. The most important thing is that many people who do not know the situation also believe it, and even some people who eat melons said in the comment area, "I knew Weilai was going to close down".
More than two months ago, Li Bin also sent himself and Wei Lai to hot search, and also sent them to the opposite side of the people, when he said, "I don't understand why people still buy gas cars".
The human mind has never changed, especially on the Internet. However, behind these public opinions, perhaps it is the increasingly backward hairline of the public relations department, and also the helplessness of the founders of the new force of car building.
Therefore, when Li Bin was interviewed by Photon Planet at the beginning of this year, he said, "So you can see that I am very nervous now, and I try to speak without leaking a bit."
Similarly, Li Xiang, with a character of hating the sky and the earth and being outspoken, stopped snowball updates after listing, and his speaking frequency on Weibo also decreased a lot last year. At one time, he stopped working for several months.
Before that, whether it was Li Xiang's profanity speech at the Chengdu Car Club or Xiao Gang's senior student's concern about the ideal value preservation rate of second-hand cars, they all had a bad impact on the ideal.
From the stock perspective, China's car ownership is nearly 300 million, and the proportion of 2% - 3% of electric vehicles is very small. So how to make more users consider electric vehicles is the common goal of new energy vehicle enterprises.
People follow the crowd, which is the normal state of new energy at present. The car enterprises eager to carry the banner of new energy propaganda are easily magnified and backfired if they have a little "radical" speech and accidents.
It is difficult for people to accept the unknown. The popularization of new energy knowledge has not reached the end with the decline of subsidy policy. On the contrary, this is just the starting point of new energy. The same is true for the tolerance of self owned brands.
One wave is not even, another wave is rising
The work of new energy knowledge popularization and concept change has not been completed, and car enterprises will face another problem.
Recently, the dealers of Euler have received a notice from the manufacturer that they will stop taking orders for the two models of Black Cat and White Cat. Although these two mini cars are not as famous as MINI EV, their total sales volume last year also exceeded 80000. The sudden refusal to take orders has caused a series of questions.
Then on February 23, Dong Yudong, CEO of Euler brand, sent a message late at night and poured out the "bitter water". "Take the black cat as an example, after the price of raw materials rises sharply in 2022, the loss of a single black cat will exceed 10000 yuan."
It is reported that if orders are received continuously, the delivery of new orders will wait until the second half of 2022. The implication is not that we are not productive, but that we are "difficult" to produce.
Behind the stop of black cat and white cat from taking orders is the crisis of the whole industry. The shortage of chips and the rise in the price of upstream raw materials have become the reins of new energy to continue to rush.
According to the Automotive Business Review, the price of chips has soared. The normal shipping price of the original factory has risen by an average of 17%. Some high-end chips have exceeded 20 times, 30 times, and some products have even exceeded 200 times. At the same time, the price of battery raw materials has also risen by 70% - 400%. This is a huge blow to the mini car that lives on a controlled cost.
Relatively speaking, the premium ability of high-end cars is stronger, but that does not mean there is no impact. Li Bin once told Photon Planet that in order to seek the support of partners, he would also go to some wine bureaus.
"There are more than 1000 chips in our car. If one chip cannot be supplied, my car will not be delivered."
In addition, because of the shortage of supply chain, Xiaopeng and Ideals adopted the delivery strategy of getting on the train first and then making up tickets at the end of last year.
According to an insider who told Photon Planet, some car companies have confirmed that they will raise prices in the middle of this year, but the specific price increase is unknown for the time being. In fact, at the beginning of this year, due to the decline of subsidy policy, most of the new energy vehicle enterprises have increased their prices by 1000-20000 yuan.
If the price of upstream raw materials rises again, the purchase enthusiasm of consumers will further decline.
With the rise of raw materials, the shortage of supply chain and the slow improvement of public awareness, 2022 new energy vehicle enterprises are also facing one after another "Buddhahood Hill".
(Statement: This article only represents the author's view, not Sina.com's position.)
