On the one hand, Chinese brands will shine at the 2024 Beijing International Auto Show and continue to expand their influence at home and abroad; On the other hand, the price war in the car market continues to spread, and the profits of single cars continue to decline. The "loss of new energy vehicle enterprises" has become a huge challenge that many industry insiders are worried about.
According to the statistics of the Passenger Car Market Information Joint Conference, in March this year, the retail sales of passenger cars in China reached 1.687 million, up 6.0% year on year; In March, the market penetration rate of new energy vehicles reached 42.0%, of which the penetration rate of pure electric vehicles was 25.4%. From January to March this year, the penetration rate of new energy vehicles was 36.7%, of which the penetration rate of pure electric vehicles was 21.3%.
However, according to incomplete statistics, in 2023, 6 of the 18 major listed car companies (including traditional car companies and new forces) will lose money; The total profits of the other 12 profitable automobile enterprises are only 96.3 billion yuan, and the total profits are even less than that of Toyota.
At the recently concluded 2024 Beijing International Auto Show, Li Bin, the founder, chairman and CEO of Weilai Auto, talked about the judgment on the healthy development of China's new energy vehicles in an interview. He believes that the current fierce competition in the new energy vehicle market is like a "marathon on the muddy road", and only the strongest companies can win in the end.
Smart electric vehicle is a historic opportunity for Chinese brands to break through
"If you want to sum up the experience and lessons of the past few years, the most important thing is to return to the original intention. Smart electric vehicles must start from the interests of users, provide users with an experience beyond expectations, and at the same time, do a good job in the systematic efficiency of the company, so as to promote continuous technological innovation." Li Bin said frankly, this is Weilai's requirement for himself. "It seems easy to say, but it is very difficult to do. Actions speak louder than words. We really have a lot to do, and we must keep our words in line with our deeds. "
At this Beijing International Auto Show, Weilai unveiled eight 2024 models, and launched 2024 ET7, a high-end intelligent pure electric executive car, with a starting price of 428000 yuan.
Li Bin said that as an epoch-making intelligent electric high-end executive car, it will be a new masterpiece of China's high-end automobile brands. It is reported that the whole vehicle computing power of 2024 Weilai ET7 administrative version is further upgraded, and the intelligent cabin application and intelligent driving ability are comprehensively upgraded. The handling experience and various performances supported by AI technology reflect the leading level of high-end intelligent manufacturing in China.
In recent years, more and more Chinese brands have launched millions of luxury models to seize the high-end car market. Bai De, an automotive analyst, believes that in the era of fuel vehicles, traditional luxury car brands represented by Mercedes Benz, BMW and Audi generally have a history of more than 100 years, and they have a strong technical accumulation and brand accumulation in the high-end car market.
"In the past, in the high-end executive car market, it was very difficult for Chinese brands to shake their position. But under the tide of electrification and intelligence of cars, Chinese brands ushered in a historic opportunity to break through the brand upward." Baide analyzed that only by continuously promoting technological innovation can the time cycle of brand upward be shortened.
After 10 years of hard work on this track, Weilai Automobile is an excellent window to observe this trend.
The latest statistics show that in April this year, Weilai delivered 15620 new cars, up 134.6% year on year and 31.6% month on month. Up to now, Weilai has delivered 495267 new cars in total, and will soon usher in the milestone of 500000 new cars coming off the production line.
"From the beginning of its establishment, Weilai has insisted on positive development and self research of core technologies, continuously strengthened investment in research and development and team building, and maintained its technological leadership." Li Bin said that since 2016, Weilai has invested nearly 40 billion yuan in research and development, which is the largest R&D investment among new forces. As of the end of March this year, the total number of patents under application and authorized by Weilai in the world was about 8700, far more than other new power brands.
At this Beijing International Auto Show, in addition to its new cars, Weilai also exhibited 12 full stack technology layouts for the first time, including car chips and on-board intelligent hardware, battery systems, power stations, electric drives and high-voltage systems, vehicle engineering, and the whole vehicle's global operating system. Among them, the display area of the power station and the first self-developed laser radar master chip "Yang Jian" and other exhibits have become clocking places for many visitors.
"The competition between automobile enterprises ultimately depends on the product competitiveness. Users buy your car because of the product, not because of the flow." Li Bin said that enterprise management should return to the essence of automobile products and services. With the intensification of market competition, Weilai's continuous investment in technology, infrastructure, service system and other aspects will gradually transform into strong competitiveness.
In the field of energy supplement for new energy vehicles, as of April 24 this year, Weilai has arranged 2404 exchange stations and built 21969 charging piles. It is worth mentioning that in order to solve the pain point of "difficult charging in high-speed service areas" when new energy owners travel long distances, Weilai has arranged 790 high-speed power exchange stations on national highways, built a high-speed power exchange network of "seven vertical and six horizontal urban agglomerations", and plans to open the high-speed power exchange network of "nine vertical and nine horizontal urban agglomerations" in 2025.
It is understood that as of April 25, Weilai has provided users with more than 42.7 million times of power exchange service, and now serves nearly 70000 times a day. On average, one vehicle starts from the full power exchange station every 1.2 seconds.
Say goodbye to the "quick win theory" and insist on cost reduction rather than quality reduction
Qin Lihong, the co-founder and president of Weilai Automobile, said that in the first quarter of this year, Weilai ranked first in the pure electric market with a transaction price of more than 300000 yuan, with a market share of 32.68%. From July to December 2023, among all the market segments in Shanghai with an average transaction price of more than 300000 yuan, the sales volume of Weilai has exceeded that of BMW, Mercedes Benz and Audi for six consecutive months, marking the first time that high-end new energy vehicles have positively defeated traditional fuel luxury vehicles in terms of sales volume.
He believes that on the one hand, Chinese auto brands should avoid being disturbed by the "quick win theory", and on the other hand, they should maintain their composure in the fierce market competition.
"Today's automobile market is very crowded, and different brands are struggling with costs while adhering to their own value, quality and experience. But we should not go astray in another way - the cost is reduced on the surface, but the quality is reduced." Qin Lihong told reporters frankly that market competition should promote enterprises to burst into strong competitiveness, rather than disorderly, If the product quality problem brings potential safety hazards to consumers, it will seriously undermine market confidence, and even cause the smart electric vehicle industry to be in trouble.
Li Bin said that smart electric vehicles are a historic opportunity for China to move from a big automobile country to a powerful automobile country. "Last year, China became the world's largest auto export country, and the margin of leading the second place is likely to be greater and greater. In fact, China's leading edge in the new energy vehicle industry will be greater and greater."
In his view, the automobile industry is not a fleeting industry, but a marathon on the muddy road, with time difference from input to output. "There is no hope for the future if we don't invest today. Today, we began to layout these investments two or three years ago, and now we see more and more of its competitiveness." Li Bin stressed that we should respect the development law of the industry, and the company that can win in the market competition must be truly competitive.
"The so-called system capability means not only leading in technology, products and services, but also in operational efficiency." Li Bin said that Weilai will strive to improve operational efficiency and comprehensively improve efficiency in R&D, supply chain, manufacturing, quality management and sales services.
China Youth Daily, trainee reporter of China Youth Network Wang Zhiyuan, reporter Zhang Zhenqi Source: China Youth Daily
