Reading guide:In the same fierce competition in 2024,Whether Alps' first new car can become a phenomenal hit like Model Y,This is still up for debate。
A few days ago, spy photos of the first new car of NIO's sub-brand Alps**. According to previous news, the positioning of the new brand is lower than that of NIO's own brand, and the price of the first new car is expected to be around 250,000 yuan, and it is expected to still have the ability to swap batteries. The car will also compete with models such as the Tesla Model Y, Zhiji LS6, and Xpeng G6.
Image source watermark. As can be seen from the spy photos, Alps' first new car will be an SUV, and it is expected to be positioned as a mid-size pure electric model. As you can see from the spy photos, the rear of the new car has a fastback design, which is not the silhouette design of a traditional SUV. At present, NIO's EC6 and EC7 also adopt a similar design.
Image source watermark. 
NIO EC6, with a fastback design.
In August 2021, Li Bin, chairman and CEO of NIO, confirmed the news of NIO's launch of a new brand for the first time at the earnings conference. Li Bin has said in public: The relationship between the Alps and NIO brands is similar to that between Audi and Volkswagen, Lexus and Toyota. Li Bin also said that he hopes that the new brand will provide better products and services with a lower ** than Tesla.
Then, at the end of 2022, spy photos of Alps' first new car were first available online**.
*From the Internet.
At the ** communication meeting at the end of 2022, Qin Lihong, co-founder and president of NIO, said that the monthly sales target of the new brand Alps is 50,000 units in the future, and as a mass-market product, Alps will carry a higher sales target.
Li Bin also said in public: In the household market of more than 200,000 yuan, there is an opportunity to produce a single model with a monthly sales of 50,000 or 60,000 units, even if it is pure electric.
In fact, Alps is not the only sub-brand of NIO. In addition to Alps, NIO also plans a third brand codenamed Firefly, which is expected to be positioned lower than Alps and focus on the market below 200,000 yuan.
Qin Lihong revealed in an interview that the third brand offers a small car similar to the BMW mini, which is scheduled to debut in the European market in 2025.
Compared to the third brand Firefly, which was released far away, the Alps for the mid-range market was expected to have very high expectations by NIO. As the first model of the new brand, it is a difficult challenge to achieve sales results similar to that of the Model Y, which has been the No. 1 seller for a long time.
The reason behind this is the lackluster performance of the NIO brand in 2023. In 2023, NIO delivered a total of 160,000 vehicles, only about 65% of its sales target. Objectively speaking, NIO has more than 40% of the pure electric vehicle market of more than 300,000 yuan, but if you compare hybrid models horizontally, NIO's sales are even less than the ideal 37Half of 60,000 units.
At present, Li only has three models: L7, L8, and L9, while NIO has 8 models, including ET5, ES6, etc.
At the beginning of 2024, Li Bin sent an internal letter to NIO**, which mentioned:
In 2023, in a macro environment full of uncertainties, the competition in the smart electric vehicle industry has entered the most intense stage of the qualifying round. The past year has been another challenging and unforgettable year for NIO. Our overall performance did not meet the expected goals, there are many lessons to be summarized and reflected, and there are too many organizational capabilities that need to be improved as soon as possible. 」
According to the internal letter, Li Bin made it clear that ensuring long-term investment in core and key technologies, ensuring the leading edge of technology and products and delivering on time and quality, ensuring that sales and service capabilities can cope with fierce market competition, and that sales can be converted into sales as soon as possible, and ensuring that the research and development of 9 core products of 3 brands is carried out on schedule are the three high priorities in 2024.
Regarding reducing costs and increasing efficiency, Li Bin said:
In 2024, we must resolutely avoid ineffective and inefficient investment, resolutely save every penny that does not create value for users and the company, save every kilowatt-hour of electricity that is not needed, save every unwanted document printing, do not waste every click and inquiry, and do not waste every opportunity for product and service improvement brought by user feedback. 」
Regarding the NIO brand, Li Bin previously said that there will be no new product deliveries for the NIO brand in 2024. Alps' first new car in the spotlight has 800V, battery swapping and other technologies, occupying a certain late-mover advantage.
Objectively speaking, NIO's high-end positioning of the brand is expected to play a certain role in stimulating Alps' communication breakthrough, but in 2024, when the competition is also fierce, it remains to be seen whether Alps' first new car can become a phenomenal hit like the Model Y.
This article is an exclusive manuscript of the Observer.com, and it is not allowed to be unauthorized and shall not be allowed.