(**Self-reading micro-car).
Zhiji, which was born for three years, was on the verge of elimination, and attacked at a low price to start its "last stop" in the new energy vehicle market. At this critical moment, Zhiji's double CEO - Liu Tao's marketing frequently overturns, Jiang Jun is almost the best to the outside world, who can lead Zhiji to the future?
Zhiji LS6 entered the market at a low price, and it was difficult to solve the root cause of the "rigidity" problem
On December 1, Liu Tao, CEO of Zhiji, posted on Weibo that the sales volume of LS6 reached 8,158 units in November, an increase of 125% month-on-month, and it topped the sales of medium and large pure electric SUVs.
In the context of the recession of the automotive industry, the Zhiji LS6 entered the market at a low price, which not only impacted the existing market pattern of 200,000-level pure electric SUVs, but also leveraged consumer enthusiasm with a low-price strategy. A relevant person who has served in the management of the SAIC system told Yuewei Cheji,Zhiji is very good now, and he has made a low price of 200,000 yuan.
However, it is important to see if the LS6 can attack the mainstream and still maintain its popularityReading Weicheji interviewed a number of industry insiders, all of whom were conservative about its follow-up development trend。Zhiji has three models: L7, LS7 and LS6, all of which are positioned in medium and large sizes, and their prices are gradually decreasing, and the starting price of the first Zhiji L7 is as high as 33880,000 yuan, to the Zhiji LS6 price of 21490,000 yuan. According to the data on the official website of Zhiji, at the beginning of the launch of the Zhiji LS7, the highest monthly sales were 1,948 units in June, and since then, it has been declining, and as of November 2023, the latest monthly sales are only 385 units. Another model, the L7, has maintained monthly sales in the hundreds since 2023, and has faded out of the public eye.
Zhiji is jointly built by SAIC, Zhangjiang Hi-Tech and Alibaba Group, with an initial round of financing of 10 billion yuan, which is owned by SAICProject No. 1It also undertakes the important mission of SAIC's electrification and intelligent transformation. Standing on the shoulders of the "Big Three", Zhiji has the incomparable technology and resource advantages of many start-up car companies, butIn 2022, Zhiji sold 5,000 unitsState-owned enterprises are not SAIC-Zhiji, but it is Zhiji who has the bottom results. GAC Aion sold more than 270,000 vehicles, 54 times its sales, and Dongfeng's VOYAH sold about 20,000 units, which is 3% of its sales9 times, even Jihu's sales are more than 2 times that of Zhiji.
"Their thinking is very rigid, and they are all old cadres of old state-owned enterprises. Consider what the leader thinks of everything you do. "The performance of Zhiji is not proportional to its investment, the above-mentioned person said to Yuewei Cheji.
Liu Tao).The marketing method is clumsy, and Liu Tao has repeatedly overturned into a "clown".
Since its establishment, Zhiji's style of play wants to break away from the "conservative" model of traditional car companiesCEO Liu Tao has always been out of the circle with bold remarks, in the eyes of the outside world, there is a suspicion of imitating Weilai Li Bin and Li Xiang of idealism, but the latter two continue to start businesses, which already have their own traffic and aura, and Liu Tao has joined the SAIC system since graduation, and his life experience is far from it.
Not long ago,Liu Tao's live broadcast of making dumplings in the LS6 car caused negative discussions in the automotive industry。To show the "IM Mag Magnetic Docking Station" of Zhiji LS6,Liu Tao personally went into battle in the live broadcast and acted in a drama of "making dumplings in the car".
Liu Tao makes dumplings in the car).
For Liu Tao's marketing method of making dumplings in the carAn employee of Zhiji's public relations team privately said that the incident was not rehearsed, and Liu Tao personally appeared on the stage and praised his good camera performance. However, Liu Tao posted a Weibo about the live eventMany netizens questioned the necessity of this marketing and pointed out that it ignored the safety of drivers and passengers. "If there is no application scenario, create your own application scenario", "What are the selling points of an SUV besides the brand, he really doesn't understand".
After poor feedback from the outside world, Liu Tao's Weibo can no longer be found. Liu Tao's marketing failure is not only this time, in November 2022, in order to promote the performance of Zhiji L7, Liu Tao personally drove this car on the highway to demonstrate and shoot**, netizens found after seeing **Liu Tao has illegal driving behaviors, including illegal parking at high speed, changing lanes without turning signals, compaction lines, speeding, etc., with a cumulative deduction of about 17 points. At the same time, in response to a traffic accident of Tesla in Chaozhou City, Liu Tao posted on Weibo to accuse Tesla of being "unscrupulous", "arrogant and ruthless", and "careless of human life". Before the accident was decided, the outside world pointed out that Liu Tao's Weibo remarks were too rash, and Liu Tao subsequently deleted the Weibo.
In contrast, Li Bin rarely attacks his peers, although he has repeatedly been questioned by the outside world about "cashing out", but he has a good reputation for treating people and everything;Li Xiang's external image seems to be public, but his remarks are measured, accusing a brand of buying a water army but not naming who it is, even though Wei Pai Blue Mountain press conference stepped on the ideal L9 marketing, Li Xiang's Weibo response was more subtle.
Zhiji insiders revealed to Yuewei Cheji,Zhiji CEO Liu Tao's Weibo account is run by the team of his subordinate Zhiji public relations director Li Tong, who was previously an HR. Li Tong, who has a non-marketing background, is one of the important controllers of the entire public relations communication direction of Zhiji and the public relations company team that serves him. When asked whether there is a rotation system within Zhiji, the insider said, "No, it's just a word from the boss (Jiang Jun)." A number of insiders with different intellectual self-effacing revealed to Yuewei Cheji that "the entire public relations department is in a miasma", "infighting is constant", and "quite complicated".
Jiang Jun).Zhiji may be on the verge of elimination, and Jiang Jun is under pressure
Zhiji adopts a dual CEO system, namely Jiang Jun and Liu Tao. Compared with Liu Tao, who always shows his face in front of the public and gradually becomes a "clown" of technical talents, Jiang Jun's performance is quite low-key, but it does not affect his dominance in the internal - SAIC Group Employee Congress, Jiang Jun attended on behalf of Zhiji.
According to public information, Liu Tao joined SAIC in 1997 and led the development of China's first 3G-based Internet of Vehicles systemJiang Jun was born in March 1970, joined Shanghai Automobile Gear Factory in 1992, transferred to Shanghai General Motors in June 1997, and joined the independent brand team in July 2005. It is understoodThe general manager of SAIC Motor, the main body of the implementation of its own brand strategy, is Wang Xiaoqiu. It is worth noting thatJiang Jun is currently the CEO of Zhiji, and the chairman of Zhiji is Wang Xiaoqiu.
Jiang Jun, who was 53 years old at the time, spent almost all of his career in the SAIC system, and there was not much information about his specific position, and there were no remarkable deeds. It is unknown why SAIC used Jiang Jun and Liu Tao as partners, and whether the two sides complement each other. Jiang Jun, who is over half a hundred years old, is still 7 years away from retirement, and it can be said that his later years have been bound to his wisdom.
At the SAIC Workers' Congress on May 31, 2023, under the witness of Chen Hong, Chairman of SAIC, Wang Xiaoqiu, President of SAIC and other leaders, Jiang Jun, CEO of Zhiji, Wu Bing, CEO of Feifan Automobile, General Manager of SAIC Passenger Vehicle Company, and other senior executives signed the military order on the spotSAIC Motor plans to sell 3.5 million NEVs annually by 2025.
It is worth noting thatFrom January to November 2023, SAIC Motor sold a total of 90 new energy vehicles30,000 units。In 2022, SAIC's annual sales of new energy vehicles will be 10730,000 units, 2023 is on par with 2022 sales is still difficult to say, to achieve the vision of 3.5 million units pinned on independent brands such as Zhiji, for Jiang Jun and Liu Tao at the helm, only 5,000 units were sold last year, on the verge of elimination, quite a challenge.
Can Jiang Jun, who is in his fifties, adapt to the earth-shaking changes in the automotive industry?How should he lead Zhiji to break through the shackles next?Regarding a series of questions about Zhiji, Yuewei Cheji contacted Jiang Jun and Liu Tao respectively, but did not receive relevant replies as of press time.