The "crazy" involution of new car-making forces

“There are no naturally good people in this world, only civilized people who are restrained.”

As the National Day holiday draws to a close, I watched the show "Talk Show Conference Season 4" and was suddenly deeply touched by a sentence in Yang Meng'en's elimination speech. Even more touching was that he stood in the center of the stage and formally proposed to his girlfriend of four years, hoping that she could witness it with her own eyes on the day the show was broadcast.

In the end, we learned from his Weibo that although there were some "small episodes", the result was not surprising, and love once again defeated time. And such a high-sugar plot, to some extent, is enough to offset some of the anxiety of starting work again. After all, we are used to too much rational analysis in our daily lives, and sometimes we need a slightly emotional impulse to make adjustments.

As for me, I spent the past seven days of the long holiday in Lanzhou, Gansu. Lanzhou is an inland city with the Yellow River running through it. In the eyes of those who know it well, it is more like a hot-tempered but true-hearted Northwest man. Only when you are there in person, standing on the century-old Zhongshan Iron Bridge in Chengguan District, looking at the turbulent and turbid Yellow River water under the bridge, surrounded by towering mountains on both sides, can you feel the rugged charm.

But it must be admitted that compared with many first-tier coastal cities, it is relatively backward, and for this reason, it often takes time for new things to become popular here over the past decade. For any company, if it can break the inherent cognition of local consumers, it is enough to prove its success in promoting new products and the maturity of its products.

Little did people know that when the global automotive market was undergoing a transformation towards electrification, Lanzhou was also hit very hard. At this moment, at the entrance of Lanzhou Center on Xijin West Road, as a shopping complex in the entire city, many main selling models of second-tier new forces, such as Hechuang 007, Skyworth ME7, Aiways U5, Skyworth ET5, Leapmotor T03 and Nezha V, are displayed.

On the first floor of a nearby shopping mall, NIO, Xpeng, Li Auto, and Tesla were quicker to open showrooms. The constant flow of customers coming to view cars during holidays provided sufficient confidence support for the above brands to explore this unknown market segment.

Obviously, even in Lanzhou, increasingly fierce competition has quietly begun. And if we look at it from a broader perspective, as the overall share of the new energy market continues to expand, a crazy "involution" among all new forces has long been inevitable.

From struggling to survive to monthly sales exceeding 10,000

For several emerging car manufacturers that have achieved large-scale deliveries, the just-concluded National Day holiday was surrounded by emotions of surprise and relief.

First of all, let’s bring our memories back to 2019, which was particularly impressive to everyone. Due to the impact of negative waves such as the recall crisis and the failure of financing, NIO’s US stock price was once on the verge of delisting. At that time, Li Bin was extremely anxious. No one could guarantee how long this car company, which has been criticized since its inception, can survive.

Although Xiaopeng has successfully launched the G3, it is forced to enter the most dangerous market of 150,000 to 200,000 yuan due to its product positioning, and its sales are not optimistic. How to further improve the brand is also the biggest problem facing this automaker.

In the same year, Ideal just launched its first mass-produced model, and its slightly alternative extended-range technology route was also questioned. As for latecomers such as Nezha and Leapmotor, which already lack voice and traffic, the entire industry's impression of them is still mostly on the slightly harsh "PPT car manufacturing".

Perhaps, no one had expected that just two years later, all of the above-mentioned people jointly created a "surprise" of sufficient value for China's new energy vehicle industry, and also used practical actions to fiercely fight back against the vicious injustice and contempt of the past.

In September, Xiaopeng and Weilai announced that they had achieved a milestone of delivering more than 10,000 vehicles in a single month. As for the fundamental reason, the former was able to sell a relatively niche B-class pure electric coupe model well, which was perhaps something no one had expected. The latter's rapid adjustment after the supply chain crisis in August helped it successfully achieve a qualitative change caused by quantitative change.

On the other hand, Ideal had a very strong performance in the first half of the third quarter. In the eyes of most people, it was the first of the top three to break the 10,000 mark before the other two. However, due to limited production capacity, its president Shen Yanan once promised to deliver 10,000 vehicles per model in September, but did not fulfill it. Even so, it still delivered more than 7,000 vehicles per model.

According to the official news released recently, due to the impact of the epidemic in Malaysia and the force majeure, the supply of millimeter-wave radar chips is seriously short, affecting the production of Ideal ONE. Therefore, under the premise of the user's own choice, the "after-installation" method will be adopted for early delivery and certain compensation will be given.

What is certain is that while its competing teammates Xpeng and NIO have temporarily taken the lead, Ideal is also trying its best to catch up, which is undoubtedly a manifestation of "involution".

At the same time, the "differentiation" of the second-tier echelons of new forces is also happening. Nezha and Leapmotor have successfully hit the cusp of the market with their own A00-class pure electric cars, providing support for the overall delivery volume and giving investors confidence to continue investing.

After that, whether it is Nezha U Pro or Leapmotor C11, the significance of their arrival is to try to attack higher-positioned market segments, while making their respective brands enter the sight of more major consumers. Avoiding the edge and finding a new way are ultimately for better survival.

In contrast, the situation of the other second-tier new forces mentioned at the beginning of the article is not optimistic. They have been caught in the fierce competition since the beginning, becoming the biggest disaster.

Therefore, while Nezha and Leapmotor still have the possibility of delivering more than 10,000 vehicles per month, they cannot even produce a main selling model that can shoulder the heavy responsibility, and the predicament is still expanding. The ultimate result of this "involution" is the continued increase in the number of those who are eliminated.

From the SUV war to the sedan red ocean

There are only 80 days left until the end of 2021. At this point in time, if we want to define a keyword for the entire new energy market, then "SUV chaos" seems to be quite appropriate.

NIO ES8, ES6, EC6, Ideal ONE, Tesla Model Y, these hot models in the current mid-to-high-end market have successfully captured the attention of most consumers. And judging from their actual sales, they have all delivered impressive results.

At the same time, in the price range of 150,000 to 200,000 yuan, there are also products such as WM EX5, Xiaopeng G3i, Aiways U5, Skywell ME7, Nezha U Pro, and Leapmotor C11.

However, the pressure faced by these companies can be imagined due to their entry into the market held by some traditional fuel vehicle companies. Fortunately, Chinese consumers' natural preference for SUVs has alleviated the above difficulties to a certain extent and also increased their living space.

In this increasingly "involutionary" elimination game, when gradually gaining a foothold and looking for the next breakthrough, it has become a natural thing for most people to do. So for the upcoming 2022, referring to the product plans currently shown by various companies, a "red ocean of sedans" with waves seems to be just around the corner.

A few days ago, Tesla officially announced the global production and sales in the third quarter. The results show that even though Model Y is a latecomer, it still cannot replace the role of Model 3 in the product matrix of this American automaker.

Since the latter entered China at the beginning of last year, it has almost single-handedly changed the structure and vitality of the entire Chinese new energy market under the influence of the catfish effect. It has also directly proved with practical actions that the pure electric car market is absolutely profitable.

Therefore, when BYD Han and Xiaopeng P7 were launched amid doubts, they did not suffer the setback that pessimists imagined. On the contrary, after finding their differentiated competitive advantages over Model 3, their monthly deliveries have been on a long-term month-on-month upward trend, which also gives other new forces confidence in car manufacturing.

NIO, which is the first to bear the brunt, will officially deliver its flagship coupe ET7 in the first quarter of next year, and will also start delivering its lower-end ET5 in the second half of the year. With their addition, and with sufficient production capacity, it may move towards its annual sales target of 200,000 vehicles.

In contrast, Xpeng's second sedan, the P5, was successfully launched in mid-September. According to official disclosure, the number of large orders for this model is very impressive and it will be delivered this month.

As the first of the three emerging forces to taste the "sweetness", the former undoubtedly knows that the sedan market is its biggest strength at present. The P7, which has been on the market for nearly two years, is also expected to have a facelift. The sedan offensive of this car company seems to have never slowed down.