When I came back from the group visit of NIO on Sunday, I wrote down a few points that Li Bin and Qin Lihong paid attention to during the group visit in the circle of friends:
1. Li Bin emphasized: Don't think that NIO's technology is not good because NIO's service is good, NIO has always been a technology-driven company.
2. Controversy over the appearance of ET9: If the style of ET9 is old money, then it is not NIO. The style of ET9 is casual and technological, and it is also NIO's exploration of the tonality that its flagship should have, Qin Lihong said: "It's very normal for some people to dislike it."
3. About customer positioning: Who will buy NIO?The answer is becoming clearer – they are enterprising and responsible, and what they care about is different from other brands.
My personal summary is: just because NIO is a warm man, we can't ignore that he is actually a hard-core technical science and engineering man. NIO's user base itself is not old money, and there is actually a clear difference between NIO users and BBA loyal customers, and this difference also allows NIO to have a more distinct user portrait than other brands. Finding out where users are is crucial for a brand to survive.
And what do I feel most emotional?In today's market, talking about upward rather than price reduction, talking about technology rather than configuration, which is itself a very scarce quality.
On the evening of December 23rd, the first release of ET9 caused a lot of controversy, and here is my opinion:
First of all, with the further development of the air suspension system and the gradual downward standard, it is no longer an unattainable configuration, in this process, the difference between the height of the SUV and the sedan, in the era of fuel vehicles, the clear line has become very blurred.
The ET9 goes a step further and uses a fully active hydraulic suspension instead of an air suspension. As the world's first integrated hydraulic fully active suspension system, it is the first to highly integrate the shock absorber with the active suspension electric drive unit, bringing an overall improvement in handling, comfort and safety.
The ET9's fully active hydraulic suspension has a very long stroke, which makes it easy to get on and off the car, and at the same time has a passability that cars do not have when raised, which is a significant advantage due to the evolution of technology. It's not an exaggeration to say that it's a sedan or an SUV. I think it's best to call it a crossover – of course, it's not unique at all, it's more controversial and interesting to call it an "executive flagship sedan".
From the perspective of model definition, NIO is in line with "more unique", "more disruptive" and "more focused on comprehensive innovation of technology, technology and styling", in this sense, "flagship sedan" is not only a model positioning, but also a marketing discourse.
Because of the natural conditions of ET9 pure electric + battery swapping, if you want a very good internal longitudinal space, it is difficult for the whole body to show the slenderness and lightness of the traditional perception of a sedan. Therefore, the overall shape of the ET9 is not the executive flagship sedan in our traditional perception.
Therefore, when NIO elaborated on the ET9, it emphasized that its tonality is sporty, fashionable, and especially technological - they admit that this is not an "old money style traditional car", but a new category created by NIO itself.
In addition, the most important task of the ET9 is not to sell the car in 2024 - the delivery date of this new car has been announced for January 2025. It would be more accurate to see it as a demonstration of NIO's technology and the direction of NIO's next development. Throughout 2024, NIO will use ET9 to communicate its own technology and thinking about the industry.
It is difficult to challenge cognition, but on the other hand, I would like to ask a question: if NIO builds an elegant car that meets everyone's perception and is "old money", will consumers actively buy it?I think the answer to this is clearly no.
Therefore, it is NIO that challenges the traditional perception of the "executive flagship sedan", and the ET9 may have the opportunity to be selected as an "alternative answer" - because in the face of the Mai** and S-class, the "standard answer" has no chance of winning.
The question is, how many people can admit this and really come up with a completely non-standard, completely alternative answer?Looking at the mainstream luxury executive flagship sedan market, including BMW and Audi, they have repeatedly hit and failed, including the Audi A8L, which I photographed before, which is very, very in line with the perception of the luxury flagship D-class sedan, and the highest-end version named after the founder Horch, in my eyes is a close to full score answer - but what about sales?
It obviously takes more courage to come up with an alternative answer.
Finally, I want to talk about up.
It is not difficult to ride the wind, just as when Wei Xiaoli first launched, it was cut from the mid-to-high-end market. The difficulty is that since 2023, the tide of price reductions has been transmitted to every corner of the industry, and it has almost become a luxury to talk about "upward". Everyone is fighting whose ** is lower and whose discount is greater, so the "roll" is a different 2023 from usual.
Because of this, when I saw the word "upward", I was moved with emotion and emotion. Like the launch of a model that challenges conventional wisdom such as the ET9, it takes more courage to "go up". When I saw these two words, I knew that NIO was really "brave" - it would not reduce prices and would not fight ** wars;Instead, we will continue to emphasize technology, service, and original intention.
Even in the windiest era, NIO has to go uphill against the wind.
The task of taking advantage of the trend and making the whole brand bigger and stronger is obviously the clear mission of the second brand. Throughout NIO Day and interviews, NIO still did not disclose information about the second brand. But I think that the word "upward" has actually explained a lot, at least, the future of the second brand is very clear.
And for the ups and downs and complexity of 2023, "upward" is a very positive footnote even for us personally.
Maybe we can't control whether the surrounding environment and the actual development of the individual can be improvedHowever, we can still strive to keep our mentality positive, our action positive, and our learning positive.
In life, why not go up?
Share. Happy New Year to all in advance.
Text: Zhao Xiaocha.
Figure Network.