Five years ago, Meituan CEO Wang Xing said, "This is the worst year in the past decade, and it is also the best year in the next decade." "The gold content is still rising. This is like a warning to the automotive industry from a traverser.
Although China's automobile production and sales will exceed 30 million units in 2023, exports will surpass Japan and rank first in the worldEven Carlos Tavares, CEO of the Stellantis Group, has touted the threat of Chinese cars, saying that Chinese cars will replace Japanese and Korean cars in the United States. However, the auto market looks at the essence through the appearance, the slowdown or even contraction of domestic demand has become the norm, and the exports that provoke the growth beam are facing the protection of Europe and the United States, and the demand for electric vehicles is slowing down, and various challenges have been put on the table.
The "cold air" from the industry, the CEOs of car companies also clarified the challenges in the New Year message of the Year of the Dragon.
Gan Jiayue, CEO of Geely Automobile Group, judged: "2024 will be another 'most volatile' year. ”
Lv Juncheng, general manager of SAIC-GM-Wuling, who believes that the industry competition is becoming more and more lively, said"We have no way but victory! ”
He Xiaopeng, chairman and CEO of Xiaopeng, who has experienced strong winds and waves, is more direct: "This year is the first year for Chinese auto brands to enter the 'sea of blood' competition, that is, the first year of the knockout competition. ”
Lei Jun, who makes the car circle like a great enemy, may not have sales pressure for the time being, and does not pay much attention to the car in the message, mainly on the value, emphasizing that Xiaomi must have goals, beliefs, and unity, and become a winner through the cycle.
However, the more heavyweight BYD did not send a New Year's message, but spoke directly with actionsWith 7Qin PLUS DM-i from 980,000 yuanand Destroyer 05 Glory Editionset off the first battle in the Year of the Dragon, which made many friends send out the "G language".
Since the "volume" is already inevitable, how can you become the "volume king" and survive? The CEOs of car companies also pointed out their goals with insight in their New Year messages.
First: volume products
Product innovation will directly determine the combat effectiveness of car companies in the last year, and each car company will also make efforts on the product side according to its own layout.
Xpeng has the biggest flag in its New Year's message. They believe that this year will be the first year of the explosion of products and technology platformsApproximately 30 new models or facelifted models will be launched within three years. This is not a small amount even in the international car companiesXpeng will recruit 4,000 people and invest more than 40% of its R&D budget in 2024 to achieve this goal.
The confidence to support this product plan is that Xpeng is confident that it will double its sales this year. To this end, Xpeng will make up for the most capable 150,000-level and high-end mainstream 300,000+ products, and build a competitive product matrix from 10-400,000 yuan. And whether these can be achieved depends not only on whether the technology can exert force, but also on whether Wang Fengying, a strong supporter, can tell a more exciting story for Xiaopeng in terms of brand and marketing.
The pressure on Wuling is also not small. Lv Juncheng punctured the filter of Wuling Shenche, and bluntly said that the era of Shenche has passed, and it is necessary to turn to modular car manufacturing, solve user pain points at the best cost and fastest speed, and create products that people can afford, use and use well.
This puts forward high requirements for Wuling's product definition ability, and Wuling is a foot in the sky and a foot in the ground in this regard. The success of Hongguang MINIEV has brought huge sales and traffic. However, it is precisely because of these muddy and sand flows that the voices of some keyboard warriors are amplified, which makes the definition of several new products of Wuling deviate from the actual demand. What Wuling needs to do now is to get back on track of "what the people need, Wuling will build".
Geely's main focus is on value. High-end new energy technology will be accelerated, and the new generation of CTB platform that realizes the integration of body battery and 11-in-1 intelligent electric drive will be applied to mainstream products for the first timeLynk & Co will also use 800V architecture, CDC electromagnetic suspension and even dual-chamber air suspension. Geely's intelligent ecological products such as AI models and satellite communications will also be installed on more models. In fact, from the two ultra-standard products of Extreme Krypton 001FR and Galaxy E8, we can see that Geely has really not been afraid of anyone in terms of "volume" value.
Second: volume intelligence
At present, the development of electric technology in the first half has entered a plateau period, and intelligent competition in the second half has become the key to product differentiation, which will determine who can stay on the stage in the end. Both Geely and Xpeng made it clear in their New Year's messages that they would increase investment in technology.
Geely's transformation from a manufacturing enterprise to a technology company, years of R&D investment and acquisitions, Geely has the industry's first-echelon intelligent technology reserves, spanning many fields such as Xingrui Intelligent Computing Center, Xingrui AI model, and Geely's future travel constellation.
In 2024, Ganjiayue will deploy a multi-modal artificial intelligence "AI Digital Genie" based on the Xingrui AI model, a three-dimensional intelligent cockpit "AI Intelligent Space" based on Geely's technology ecosystem, and a satellite communication technology based on Geely's future travel constellation. Intelligence is not only the screen of the car machine, but permeates all aspects of the car, creating the most intelligent "top" car for users.
Xiaopeng, which focuses on smart cards, does not hesitate to invest a lot of money in intelligenceHe Xiaopeng made it clear that he would invest 3.5 billion yuan to develop "AI technology with intelligent driving as the core". He believes that the contraction of friends is the development opportunity of Xpeng, which can promote the rapid iteration of Xpeng's intelligent driving capabilities through intensive investment, take the lead in high-end intelligent driving, and let Xpeng once again lead the field of intelligent driving in China and penetrate the international market through the advantages of leading technology.
Wuling took a different path, and Lu Juncheng proposed a good prescription for the symptoms of "cost leadership and difference". Wuling's positioning and structure are destined to be unable to reach the height of intelligence with the head volume, so I will develop it according to the core needs of users, remove redundant configurations to reduce costs, and be a different "partial student". In high-frequency scenes, the experience is shoulder to shoulder, ** I am even lower, to be a popularizer of technology.
The large-scale increase in investment in intelligence reflects the concerns of car companies. Although Chinese car companies have certain advantages in intelligence, and even some car companies claim that BBA is backward, they all know in their hearts that our current advantages are mainly in software and ** chain, and the underlying chips, controllers, operating systems, etc. are basically foreign shelf products, and our successful foreign car companies are not impossible to copy. What's more, with the application of AI models in smart terminals, it is possible to completely subvert the intelligent technology framework and user experience, so that the advantages of Chinese car companies will be zeroed.
It is advisable to chase after the poor. Through continuous investment in R&D, in-depth cooperation with technology companies, internal incubation and other multi-pronged efforts, Chinese cars can maintain or even expand their intelligent advantages. And this will be the foundation for car companies to roll up to the end, and it is also the sharpest spearhead for us to go overseas to attack the top value market in Europe and the United States.
Write at the end
Throughout 2023, the first war and technical war have been set off in turn, and this trend will inevitably continue in 2024.
But the "volume" is not the goal. As Gan Jiayue said; "The automotive industry is a marathon. "In this marathon knockout competition, the test is the long-term planning and strategic determination of car companies. The short-term "volume" sales are only the appearance, only by allocating their "physical strength", adhering to long-termism, and completing their own strategies in the "volume" of the market can they decide who is the "volume king" who will stay on the stage in the end.