The most eye-catching new force in 2023 must be Li Auto. According to statistics, since the beginning of this year, Ideal has been the champion of SUV sales of more than 300,000 yuan in the Chinese market for 6 consecutive months, with a market share of 17%. As the former follower of "Wei Xiaoli", his ideal has grown from a gap to a little giant, and now Xiaopeng and Weilai can't catch up. Ideal even surpasses the first-line luxury brands, breaking through the blockade of the three major German brands of "BBA", and its sales have been unbeatable. The popularity of ideal sales can be seen from this. Why is the best life of "Wei Xiaoli" ideal?
Demand management creates a competitive advantage
Market management, signposting, planning, doing the right thing
For an entrepreneur, the first thing to think about is to do the right thing, the direction is not right, everything is restarted, this is not to take a product, to find the market segment of the product, but should be based on the market segment, to develop the development of the product signpost, we say that doing things correctly is more important than doing things right. SUVs have always been one of the most popular models in the market, and the ideal is to squeeze the share of foreign brands through high-end cost performance in the two markets of large SUVs and mid-to-large SUVs.
Ideally, the market is accurately positioned and labeled as the most suitable "daddy car", which has become the first choice for many middle-aged men to buy a car. Buying an ideal middle-aged person is to use it to carry the burden of the family and meet the needs of the family. In order to take care of the whole family, middle-aged men buy cars first from the practical, technical problems are secondary, and meeting the needs of family travel is the first.
Fuel vehicles are too expensive and expensive, and big cities still need to queue up in the lottery. The ideal is jokingly called "picking the factory", reducing costs and increasing efficiency through various ways, spending money on the blade, and not letting the owner's money be wasted on useless so-called fashionable new technologies. In the transition period of vehicle electrification, the ideal range extender system allows consumers to enjoy the benefits of electricity and the long range of oil at the same time.
Professor Jiang Xin'an, the first proposer of the "Theory of Explosive Product Addiction", said that the most important thing in market segmentation is to cut the cake, and the market is selected because the market is cut well. Of course, doing market segmentation is not simply doing a market segmentation. Instead, select verticals and select multiple market segments. In this step, try to divide it as fine as possible, and you can find the blue ocean of business that others have not discovered.
Therefore, the ideal model focuses on the needs of families, and introduces elements such as sofas, refrigerators, and large TVs in product design, so that the interior space is no longer just a means of transportation, but also a comfortable and practical leisure space. This unique design concept brings a new car experience to consumers, making Li Auto stand out in terms of function and practicality.
When a car is not just a means of transportation, but a space to relax, play, and work, consumers will be able to find more reasons to choose this car. This combination of technology and practicality makes Li Auto unique in the market, attracting consumers who are looking for fashion and comfort.
In addition, the ideal pace of release and delivery is more in line with market Xi, and the rapid increase does not sell **, which is a characteristic of mature ** chains. This allows Ideal to produce cars quickly and at a lower cost, while giving users a sense of reliability of the brand.
This strategy of finding differentiated competitive advantages in the hot market makes Li Auto stand out in the fierce market competition, and it is also one of the keys to the success of Li Auto.
The ultimate explosive product tears open the market gap
Shape a new perception of users
In fact, the difficulty of Li Auto to win the "first" is much higher than that of NIO and Xiaopeng Motors, after all, Xiaopeng Motors and NIO have achieved today's "achievements" on the basis of a relatively complete product matrix, and Li Auto has achieved transcendence by virtue of only a single model. Arguably, the Ideal ONE is one of the most successful models.
In the era of fuel vehicles, consumers often have a "collective brand impression" of Chinese brands, often similar to low-end, cheap and other cookie-cutter labels, and for a specific brand, there is no specific adjective like foreign brands. Although some local car companies have created popular models, these high-sales models are often models in the low-end market.
Generally, the most valuable products in enterprises are leading products, so those that account for high sales and large profit contributions are innovative products that have a first-mover advantage. In the medium and large market of more than 300,000 yuan, it has always been occupied by German and Japanese high-end models, and the reason why Ideal ONE can be unsurpassed in this segment is due to Li Auto's accurate grasp of user needs and pain points, judgment of Chinese consumption trends, and focus on products.
Only by finding the right target users and catering to the needs of users can consumers recognize the product and feel the value and identity of the brand at the same time. Ideal by digging deep into the differentiated needs of young consumer groups that are different from the past, through unique content marketing and convenient online shopping channels, a new set of playing methods has been formed, which has quickly occupied the minds of users in a short period of time, formed a sales scale, and successfully established a brand.
Ideal ONE provides large space + comfort + intelligence for two-child and three-child family users. In contrast, the seven-seater car of the past, although equally spacious, was very cramped and had little practicality. The six-seat design can expand the space of the second and third rows, which can meet the actual needs of more families with many children, and the space is extremely practical.
Through a variety of energy replenishment methods, Ideal ONE has the ability to travel long distances, which can better meet the needs of family users for long-distance travel and enjoy the quality of life. Secondly, the intelligent experience of Ideal ONE is also an important part of creating user experience advantages: "creating a mobile home", and Li Auto hopes to build Ideal ONE into a product with intelligent experience attributes. By strengthening the relationship between the car and the family, it shapes the user's new perception of the car.
The success of Ideal ONE is a comprehensive embodiment of product, technology and brand competitivenessFocusing on a popular model can achieve twice the result with half the effort.
The product continues to be iteratively upgraded
Steadily build the core competitiveness of the brand
It can be said that the high-end cost performance has achieved the ideal market segment sales champion. This allows Ideal to continue to iterate its products and add various configurations. Iterative upgrading is actually an evolutionary process, and only by constantly iterating and evolving can enterprises move towards the MVP model.
Enterprises need to use a set of systematic ways to think about how to upgrade and iterate products in the later stage, and how to get better feedback in the market. Then according to some conditions of the market, do some targeted market actions.
At the beginning, the ideal ONE 2020 used the large screen as a selling point, with Linux and Android systems, this momentum suppressed many consumers. The large screen has requirements for the response speed and characteristics of the system, but the product that switches from TI's Jacinto to the horizon is not much different for the upgrade of the overall cockpit, and Qualcomm's 820A still determines the overall final experience effect.
In the Ideal One, the 2021 to 2020 iterations have also made improvements to the rational perception systemThe performance parameters of the front camera have been improved from a monocular camera of 1.3 million pixels to a horizontal angle of view of 52°Upgraded to 8 million pixels with a horizontal viewing angle of 120°.
Take the ideal L9 as an example: the screens in its cockpit include the vehicle central control screen, the co-pilot entertainment screen, and the rear cabin entertainment screen. Compared with the previous one, the instrument cluster and car control screen were abandoned, and the driving information will be obtained through the HUD and the center control screen. The cockpit domain controller uses two Qualcomm Snapdragon 8155 chips (24GB memory and 256GB high-speed storage) to form a computing platform that supports the switching of dual 5G operators. For voice interaction, 6 microphones are used to improve voice interaction ability, and gesture recognition is carried out through 3DTOF sensors. Ideal L9 also improves its own automatic assisted driving capability to achieve full-scene navigation assisted driving functions.
Through the iterative evolution of internal organization and management capabilities, it is ideal to quickly iterate the same series of products in high-end categoriesAt the same time, the product concept of "mobile home" is created with richer configurations - small household appliances, full-cockpit voice interaction, massage seats, etc., to make up for the shortcomings of the brand and achieve dimensionality reduction against competing products.
Through a high-quality design team, an efficient first-class chain and a continuously improved product strategy, Li Auto has steadily built the core competitiveness of the brand and realized product advantages.
Systematic product thinking to create explosive products
Product management to achieve customer satisfaction
To make a good product, an enterprise must first have a soul, so what is the soul behind a product?In fact, it is the user mindset. In fact, product management ultimately wants to achieve two things, one is customer satisfaction, and the other is competitive advantageThe product thinking of explosive products should provide everyone with systematic and structured thinking, rather than a simple idea. It also advocates the idea of making products more valuable and profitable through systematic and structured thinking, and realizes the transformation from explosive products to constant explosive products.
Since the establishment of Li Auto, only one production model has been launched, the Ideal One. In contrast, the product matrix of Xpeng and NIO is more complete. Taking NIO as an example, it currently owns NIO ES8, ES6, and EC6, while NIO ET7 and ET5 will also be launched in the near future, and its products have covered sedans and SUVs.
How to build a road that is recognized as a standard, how to plan the road, how to build the road, and how to operate the road is an indispensable core competitiveness of an automobile company. By reviewing the product of Ideal One, we can see that Ideal Auto understands the needs of users better.
In the past, the ability of Ideal One to make explosive products was copied to other cars of Ideal, which promoted the speed of climbing up the production capacity very fast, and Ideal began to cultivate a large number of people with business awareness. The ideal adoption process IPD divides the R&D process into four categories: product development process, platform development process, technology pre-research process, and customized project process. At the same time, IPD clarifies the interface relationship of the four types of R&D processes, forming a set of self-consistent closed-loop mechanisms.
First of all, in the era of gasoline-electric conversion, all consumers want car products with the comfort and economy of electric vehicles, but they are full of anxiety about the range of pure electric vehicles. Li Auto's enterprise development and IPD reform have gone through five stages.
Based on the needs and concerns of users, Li Auto has adopted extended-range hybrid technology to create a new electric mode of urban electricity consumption and long-distance power generation. With a pure electric range of 188km and a comprehensive range of 1080km, Ideal ONE is not only an electric vehicle that can easily cope with daily commuting, but also can take into account the needs of users for long-distance travel.
In addition to solving the needs of users for economic travel, the Ideal ONE is a large six-seater SUV model specially built for family users. Combined with the situation of Chinese families at this stage, the only child of the post-80s generation has become the mainstream, so for Chinese consumers with "second child" and "old and young", a luxury six-seater SUV that can carry "three generations in the same house" has become one of the mainstream needs of the industry.
It can be said that the ideal is a product based on the needs of users, which meets the general needs of Chinese family users to the greatest extent. Internalize your own story into the brand story, and finally form a unique emotional connection between the user and the brand.
In addition, Li Auto proposes a complete evaluation dimension of "6+1". Among them, there are 6 core requirements for users to choose an ideal car: appearance quality, seat comfort, operation comfort, lighting quality, sound quality, ergonomics, and functional logic that is not very intuitively felt. In order to allow users not to choose "BBA" and choose Li Auto, their standard for the pursuit of PQ is the ultimate. For example, the taillight trim and the sound of the tailgate opening and closing are taken into account.
In the process of tangible items, intangible services are actually part of the product, so the after-sales of a tangible product is also a part of the product. From the perspective of sales model, Ideal adopts direct sales, and Li Auto directly faces consumers, from understanding the product to purchasing the product to using the product, bidding farewell to the routine and treating each other honestly. At the same time, it has established its own sales and distribution system, and mainly has a retail center, a maintenance center and an authorized sheet metal painting center offline to provide customers with reservation, delivery and after-sales service.
The R&D strategy focuses on market segments
Optimize the differentiated product experience for users
The strategic vision actually determines our starting point, and it is which industry we want to focus on to take root in the strategy. Strategy can clarify where we start and where we can pry up the core of our business model. By understanding the market, conducting market segmentation, then portfolio analysis, formulating business plans, adjusting business plans and managing business plans, finding heavy vertical markets, focusing on an industry and digging deeper gradually, then we prioritize the market, so as to determine the sequence of product planning.
The advantage of focusing on the family car scene is that if you only talk about high-end every day, and do not focus on specific needs or scenarios, not only consumers will not feel it, but the R&D team will not know how to make products. Clearly focus on the family user group to make products, everyone in the R&D team will have a good insight into user needs, and each technology will be built around family needs.
At present, the demand of household users for trams is mainly concentrated in three aspects. One is the convenience of charging; the second is the cost of using the car; The third is to experience safety, comfort and environmental protection with the car. To a large extent, these requirements determine the product power configuration of Li Auto.
In terms of specific R&D strategies, the first is that "no one has what I have".Focus on family car scenarios to create product differentiation. The second is "people have me", and create a differentiated product experience through detailed polishing. In terms of R&D rhythm, priority is given to the layout of fields with high user perception, and a moderate and advanced strategy is adopted for non-urgent user needs.
In terms of charging convenience, it is ideal to use the extended range mode to solve the problem, and the pure electric mode will only be considered after the popularization of 800V fast charging. At present, the use of range extension mode will not be embarrassing for family users to take their wives, parents, and children to find charging piles everywhere or in high-speed service areas and other charging piles during holidays.
In terms of car cost, the ideal has a pure electric coverage mileage of about 150 kilometers, so the cost of urban car is no different from that of pure electric vehicles. Only gasoline is consumed for long-distance travel, incurring similar costs to petrol trucks. The cost of using a car is between a gasoline car and a pure electric car.
In terms of safety, comfort and environmental protection, the ideal car has large space, rich configuration, comfortable to sit up, the model is the top configuration at the entrance, and the comfort configuration is everything, and the whole car is designed with the first task of serving passengers. Safety is not spared budget, and materials and facilities are configured to the best of their ability. The SUV model with the best performance in the history of the crash test of the China Insurance Research Institute has also made a good trust endorsement for ideal safety.
Scenario-based explosive product marketing mix
Precise positioning, efficient interactive fission
In fact, all marketing strategies can be based on the "4Ps". 4P from several aspects, its core first is the product, when your product is good, in fact, the last three "P" is actually very simple, the product is done well, and then there is our location, the location is our distribution system, how do we establish our distribution, to establish our channels, this is the core content of our establishment, and then, including three, pricing, transaction price.
Ideal is the first new force to sink the channel network layoutAiming at the new incremental markets of urbanization, transportation improvement, and income increase, non-first- and second-tier cities, the sales channel network has been sinking from first- and second-tier cities to third-, fourth- and fifth-tier cities. At the same time, it will increase the density of urban outlets with high car ownership, which is in line with its positioning in the family travel market and product range.
Products without scenes cannot exist, so many people now don't mention products and functions, but rather scenarios and features. So Ideal has been openly reinforcing its concept of "daddy car". Therefore, the ideal app interface can be described in one word as "straight male style", enlarged and bolded. Ideal has very accurately controlled the product portrait of its own users, discarded a lot of bells and whistles, and increased real user feedback.
In the Q&A community module of the ideal app, there are many masters who know how to drive, and they are very active. The existence of hard-core users in the Q&A area is very helpful to the trust of new users in Ideal Auto, so that new users have the opportunity to communicate with others on such a heavy decision as buying a car, which is also a very good point of Ideal in how to guide the operation of active car owners.
Looking at the current market, information is fragmented and presents a state of dust. In such an environment, brands need to find the most suitable platform and the most suitable timing. Ideally, the data-driven function of the short social platform can be used to accurately target users on platforms such as Douyin and Kuaishou to achieve efficient marketing interactions.
Marketing content includes high-quality** in-house production, detailing product specifications and technologies. The company also publishes content voluntarily recommended by users, as well as content created by KOLs in the fields of technology, travel, and maternal and baby products. The marketing content includes manufacturing high quality**, detailing product specifications and technologies, and disseminating them through users in the fields of technology, travel, mother and baby products, as well as key opinion leaders.
The theoretical roots of the seven generous ** of explosive products
The IPD system helps the continuous development of explosive products
Arguably, the IPD process is a key element in becoming the next reshuffle in the automotive industry. In order to make many users demand for ideal products, Li Auto has created its own IPD system, which requires R&D to participate in every downstream department, from beginning to end.
The IPD process is one of the three major processes of the IPD system, and it is also the theoretical root of the seven generosity of our explosive products. Through such an IPD system, we can realize the continuous development of explosive products, realize the constant explosion and addiction in the real sense, and realize the process of network cable to ever-red. Through the IPD system, enterprises can truly obtain sustainability and create the mechanism and ability to create explosive products.
Manufacturing, as the last process of the whole value chain, is not only to produce the products developed by the R&D, but also to guard the door, control the pass, fill the "pit", and promote problem solving to quickly achieve mass production. At the beginning, after implementing IPD, Ideal ONE found that Ideal ONE was not suitable for platformization and was not suitable for upward and downward development, so it decisively gave up Ideal ONE.
Therefore, Ideal focused on the research and development of new products for IPD. There are two main reasons for Li Auto's continuous leadership in delivery: to create a strong product force of Ideal L9 and Ideal L8 through IPD to stimulate the needs of users; Secondly, in the case of strong product strength, the quality of Ideal L9 and Ideal L8 is also obvious to all, and it has won the trust of a large number of users.
You must know that the development cycle of traditional automotive products is very long, and the cooperation between departments adopts the method of baton, which is suitable for products that are very mature and will not have too many iterations based on the platform, and they will slowly climb into mass production. The ideal L9 and ideal L8 only 1 to 2 months from their release to monthly sales of more than 10,000 units, which can be called "climbing growth". In the case of climbing growth, R&D must stand up and be the person in charge of end-to-end.
Because the R&D team knows best which parts of the product are new and which parts need to be paid attention to, R&D must follow the whole process. Taking the smell team of Li Auto as an example, in the traditional car company, as long as the air quality in the vehicle is OK and the smell of parts is OK before the vehicle SOP, it can be directly handed over to the downstream ** chain and manufacturing base.
At Li Auto, the odor engineer is responsible for the air quality throughout the life cycle of a vehicle. They know best how smell is generated, and where things can go wrong. Whether it is the R&D stage or the air quality problem after mass production, R&D must be managed. The odor engineer should also work with the company's quality and safety, the first chain, etc. to do a good job in problem identification and technical solution support, and invest more energy in the control of key processes. Through the IPD system, achieving the ultimate research and development is the key to becoming the best living in "Wei Xiaoli".
Conclusion:
Benefiting from accurate strategic positioning, ideal and ultimate single product strategy, we avoid the fierce competition in the Red Sea from the pricing and focus on the 30-500,000 yuan ** belt. In terms of channels, user experience is the core, and the direct sales service system is adhered to. It can be said that the current success of Ideal Product stems from the creation of the IPD system within its enterprise, through the understanding of user needs and the insistence on brand positioningIt is insightful that there is no car brand that is targeting the needs of the family car subcategory alone. By creating the advantages of products in terms of space, intelligence and endurance, we will launch differentiated competition between fuel vehicles and new energy vehicles. At the same time, we will formulate appropriate first-class, channel and publicity strategies around its positioning, so that the ideal product will become a popular model in the subdivided track, and it will also help the ideal become a phenomenal enterprise in the automotive industry.
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