Lotus is about to celebrate its 75th birthday.
75 In life, do what you want from your heart. Yu Chesheng is just a transitional stage from young restlessness to middle-aged calmness, and it is also the most advanced stage.
It can have the self-confidence, passion, and love of youth, and the stability, calmness, and precipitation of middle age. The most important thing is that at this stage, it is easier for us to see its self-drive and upward exploration.
At the age of 75, Lotus has done a lot of things:
In the first half of the year, the global order volume of the Lotus brand increased to 170,000 units. With the delivery of the first pure electric SUV Eletre, the world premiere of the second life car, Lotus's first pure electric supercar sedan, Emeya, and the addition of Evija and Emira, the Lotus 3+3 product matrix has gradually formed a scale effect. Today, Lotus has a sales network of 54 stores in 26 cities across the country.
Lotus has changed dramatically in terms of volume, scale, technology, products, delivery and brand enhancement. Not only does this make that part of the loyal fans love it with a lot of purity and tenacity, but it also makes more and more people start to re-examine, identify with and appreciate it.
But there are still people who are skeptical about it.
Sound comes from two main sources:
First, can the tram still sell for millions?
In the new arena of new energy, few people can really cross the threshold of millions. It measures not only the value of a single product, but also the brand premium, social value, identity value, and investment attributes are all influencing factors.
Putting aside the top position of Lotus's models, the Emira i4 First Edition at the Chengdu Motor Show even saw a 5%** increase. You must know that this "bullish" logic is in the current car market where "down" is king, and the choice of Lotus and users seems to be very risky.
Second, do you still want to be a brand in the tram era?
This is not a very common practice in the field of electric vehicles. The high-end models are still competing for configuration and rights, and they are bloody. The luxury of the brand is mostly directly equated with intelligence.
This "luxury" is clearly thin and one-sided.
In the view of Mao Jingbo, President of Lotus China, from the day of the announcement of all in electrification and intelligence, Lotus has been challenging these two "impossible".
November 16 happened to be the first anniversary of Mao Jingbo's arrival at Lotus. "I can be anxious at times, but Lotus is definitely the right choice for my career. ”
On November 17, the Guangzhou Auto Show opened reservations for the Lotus Emeya, and in only 3 hours, orders exceeded 300. Mao Jingbo's heart is undoubtedly gratified, and this figure also confirms the choice she has insisted on: the essence of a luxury brand is value rather than **. In the most difficult way, through brand accumulation to achieve more sustainable development.
I think we still have to follow this difficult but right path. Mao Jingbo said.
Many times, the long-term irrationality in the world leads to its reasonableness, until finally everyone becomes accustomed to it. And those things that are reasonable and right seem so high and low, and become lonely.
This also seems to confirm the cliché truth: there is no road in the world, and when there are many people who walk, there is also a way.
No matter how niche the positioning, as long as the direction is correct. If you are not in a hurry or impatient, you will be able to clear the fog and see the clouds and the moon.
The rose of time.
Mao Jingbo, who has been in office for one year, gave himself a score of 60 for this year.
This is an overly modest score.
In fact, this year, Lotus has achieved the best results in terms of business and sales volume and marketing in the history of the world and China, and it has broken the record every month.
Mao Jingbo's first hand is to return to the best brand equity and implement the global brand proposition of "for the drivers".
A global brand must have a global unified tonality. This includes that the brand proposition, brand values, brand DNA, and brand content must be aligned. This global consistency is key to building a luxury perception and a yardstick by which luxury brands are measured.
As a result, we see "for the drivers" and "Champion Yellow" becoming Lotus' irreplaceable brand memories. Take the eye-catching and artistic conception of the Lotus booth at the Guangzhou Auto Show as an example, the high-end "Champion Yellow", coupled with the unpredictable wind particles, rushed forward on the 21-meter-long through-type large screen, as if telling the "journey of the wind", paying tribute to the 75 years of Lotus "born on the track and riding the wind to win the championship".
In Mao's view, many luxury goods have the same idea in terms of branding, that is, they use color to strengthen the brand imprint, whether it is Chanel black, Hermès orange, or Tiffany blue, all represent the identity and characteristics of luxury brands. Champion Yellow is also part of Lotus' brand values.
Creating a "Lotus Day" is a different kind of memory. This year's "Lotus Day" on March 29 was the first event to celebrate the brand's 75th anniversary globally, and the first user carnival for "drivers" in China, opening up the Lotus signature way of communication. "Lotus Day" has become an iconic brand event and user event of the year.
When everyone else is busy planting grass, Lotus is silently planting trees in the minds of users, and when autumn comes, it will achieve a unique "this is very Lotus" brand fruit in the hearts of users.
If a brand is a container, it is a big, big bowl. So what it can give you in return depends entirely on what you have invested before.
Based on the container of the brand, Mao Jingbo has invested three effective paths into it.
A brand is a container.
First, let the product speak for the difference.
What Lotus brings to the new energy era is a product that integrates the passion and fanaticism of the track into life.
Extreme driving control is their point of difference, which is closely linked to their brand values for the drivers.
This year, Lotus Eletre participated in the Zhejiang Championship and won the championship with a time of 1:37.79.
And Emeya has not yet been listed.
With a lap time of 1:35.728, it broke the lap record of the mass-produced electric vehicle at the Zhejiang International Circuit in one fell swoop, becoming the fastest pure electric vehicle in Zhejiang. At the same time, it is also the only four-door sedan in the top 15 of the current Zhejiang race speed list.
In the opinion of Feng Qingfeng, CEO of Lotus Group, EMEYA can even run in 1 minute and 30 seconds, but he does not plan to brush the Zhejiang race anymore, because the Zhejiang race is just a "small pond", and the "sea" in his heart is New Zealand.
Lotus will do what it is good at. Mao Jingbo said: "We are talking about acceleration and horsepower, and 'faster cornering' is our exclusive ability. ”
A product can also be an artistic expression. For example, it is as beautiful as emeya.
It's a supercar sedan that makes your blood rush when you see the silhouette from afar, and it's Lotus' third all-electric model, after the Evija and Eletre.
If the term "wind gallop" is used to describe the pure electric supercar SUV Eletre, then the word "elegance" is the perfect way to summarize the emeya.
It's fast. Equipped with front and rear high-power dual motors, using an advanced two-speed gearbox, the top speed exceeds 250 kilometers per hour, and the acceleration time to 100 kilometers is less than 2In 8 seconds, it successfully entered the "2-second club" and became one of the fastest pure electric supercar cars in the world.
It is also very beautiful, and it is a particularly prominent beauty in this era of serious homogenization of pure electric vehicle design. **The proportions of the body and the streamlined design style throughout the car make it very artistic. The name Emeya alone is stunning, it is the Hassaniya Arabic word for "flowers and dreams", so Lotus calls it "flowers like dreams, walking towards beauty". ”
Lotus currently has about 5%-10% female car owners, and Mao hopes that EMEYA can attract more female customers with a keen sense of beauty and become their social business card.
Second, let the product resonate with the emotion.
There are two underlying logics in the luxury car market: one is to satisfy the demand, and the other is to create. In this regard, Mao Jingbo's explanation is: through irreplaceable product advantages and full life cycle experience, users are inspired to yearn for the brand.
Obviously, Mao Jingbo does not want Lotus to become noble and indifferent, but wants it to arouse the undying enthusiasm of every speed lover. Building The Lotus Drive is one way to do this.
On March 29, at the "Lotus Day", the Lotus Drive Extreme Driving Control System was released for the first time, establishing the iconic experience IP of the Lotus brand, providing the most professional and comprehensive test drive experience in the industry.
To put it simply, it is divided into three levels: city control, experience control and extreme control.
City driving includes in-store test drive, car delivery to home, 24 48-hour in-depth test drive, night test drive, automatic overcharging experience and other services. From January to October 2023, Lotus has tested 40,000 people and realized the planting of products.
Experience driving is a combination of circle activities and test driving activities, such as Lotus combined with mountain roads and highways, and integrated mountain running and cycling to form an experience project with the Lotus label "Looking for Shangri-La in the Heart".
The ultimate driving is to join hands with professional tracks to stimulate users' spiritual yearning for the Lotus brand.
Brands are like people, and only through more aspects can they have a more specific perception.
Luxury brands, I have always come, I see your needs, I conquer a group of people, and then a circle, the median line of influence has been advancing.
Lotus actually wants to create richer cognition and multi-dimensional touchpoints.
From the track to the road, and then to the field of life cars, Lotus wants more people to understand that the brand proposition of "for the drivers" is not only applicable to drivers on the track, but also to drivers who pursue passion in every ordinary day.
Third, let the experience endorse the brand.
Creating a driver-to-driver customer experience is a top priority this year.
In this process, the most important thing is to practice the basic skills well and build a systematic ability to deliver and customer service processes.
Mao Jingbo said frankly that this year, due to problems such as capacity climbing, the delivery process was not done well, which also caused complaints from some users. But since October, Lotus has gradually entered the "fast lane" of delivery. It is reported that eletre orders before October can be delivered within this year, and eletre orders after October will have a delivery cycle of 5-8 weeks. Emira 2 after September0t order, the delivery time is 6-8 months.
This means that Lotus's delivery system has been perfected, and the entire process from placing an order, to the vehicle being launched, going offline, and shipping is transparent and clear, so that users can clearly understand.
Mao Jingbo said with a smile: On the Lotus app, there was criticism of the delivery before, but now there is a voice of praise for the service.
Lotus also takes people as the core, and realizes the dialogue between drivers and drivers through the creation of five scene modules of Lotus stories and stores.
For example, the historic Chapman living room is restored in the exhibition hall. Paying homage to Lotus founder Colin Chapman and his wife Hazel, this themed living room provides an interactive space for users to immerse themselves in the culture of the track.
For example, the moment of championship delivery. Lotus has brought the atmosphere of the track to the delivery scene, by restoring the ceremonial sense of starting in front of the track gantry, and recreating Colin Chapman's iconic "hat throwing" when the team won the championship, allowing the owner to feel the highlight moment of riding the wind and winning the championship.
Driver to Driver is the experience marketing that ignites the hearts of customers," says Mao.
At last. It is better not to be a general for ten years than not to die for a day.
This year, Mao Jingbo and Lotus have brought together this seemingly lonely and fragmented persistence day after day, and slowly made the brand's own heritage thicker and thicker, thick enough to support higher brand premiums, deeper consumer stickiness and a broader moat.
They have their own mission, vision, and values.
They have pursuits other than sales.
They will never give up that sea of their hearts.