Author | Liu Ran
Source | Insights New Research Institute
It is said that leaning against a big tree is good for enjoying the shade, but leaning against the Zhiji Automobile of SAIC Group, it is in dire straits.
In 2021, after Zhiji officially announced the "luxury pure electric smart car" Zhiji L7 to the outside world, its CEO Liu Tao once made a bold statement: "We will look back on this year after many years in the future, and it may be the counterattack of smart electric luxury cars." In the first year, we have a high probability of believing that it will be the best in the future growth curve.”
Among the models that Zhiji has released, not only have there been no explosive models, but the sales volume is also not satisfactory.
Since the debut of Zhiji L7, there have been frequent problems. There have been a series of problems such as false power battery labels, wireless charging and front seat ventilation configurations in auto show press conferences and advertisements, which have had a great impact on its sales.
According to the data from the Passenger Federation, the cumulative sales of Zhiji L7 in 2022 will only be 5,000, and the sense of existence is close to none. By April of this year, sales fell further, with only 80 units.
Zhiji LS7, which was launched in February this year, joined hands with international movie star Tang Wei. It has a bigger marketing momentum than L7, but the sales volume is not impressive. According to official data, the sales volume of the Zhiji brand in the past four months has remained in the range of 1920-1950 vehicles.
Zhiji, who is determined to change, has already given countermeasures: SAIC Motor has dispatched a sales executive to Zhiji, the channel has completely changed to a direct sales model, Liu Tao also actively walked into the store, and took a photo with the owner of the new car.
At this year's Shanghai Auto Show, Liu Tao said that this year's sales will reach 45,000, but how can Zhiji, who has mediocre sales, increase in a short period of time? Why is Zhiji, who is backed by a giant, so unruly?
1. New cars without "hard power"
Zhiji has been obsessed with the high-end market for a long time.
In the history of SAIC's exploration of new energy vehicles, the word high-end cannot be avoided. In 2012, SAIC launched the first pure electric mini-car E50, priced at 18 yuan; four years later, SAIC and Roewe, under the banner of "China's first new energy high-end car", launched a hybrid model Roewe E950, priced The range is 255,900 to 308,800; in 2018, the high-end model, Roewe Marvel X, was launched again, positioned as a pure electric medium-sized SUV, with a price range of 268,800 to 308,800.
Among them, the monthly sales of Roewe E950 rarely exceeded 100, and the cumulative sales of Marvel X in the first seven months of 2020 were only 51.
Zhiji, who is backed by SAIC, has no obvious advantage in the face of new energy brands such as Jikrypton and Weilai.
Compared with the sales volume, even though the Zhiji LS7 has improved a bit, the monthly sales have gradually climbed to around 2,000. However, Deep Blue, which entered the market later, has been pulling away from Zhiji's sales since October last year, and the gap is getting wider and wider. In June this year, a total of 8,041 units of Deep Blue SL03 were delivered; among comparable competing models, Jikr 001 also delivered 10,620 units in June.
In the current new energy market, new energy brands such as Weilai and Ideal already have a certain user base and brand connotation. If Zhiji does not have new flowers, it will be difficult to get a share of the high-end market.
Looking at the products, compared with the "predecessors", the two models of Zhiji have the problem of homogeneity.
The recently released model LS7 is still in the stage of stockpiling. For example, the chassis is equipped with Continental air springs and Bilstein electromagnetic dynamic damping shock absorbers. There are also things like "Star Fall's ice-feeling front dome", "huge immersive liftable smart scene screen", "smart-controlled full-flat folding passenger seat", "zero-gravity buoyant seat", etc., which have nothing to do with car performance. High-end configuration.
For the most competitive driving assistance function of new energy vehicles, Zhiji adopts the IM AD intelligent driving assistance system. However, when it was delivered, Zhiji officially stated that the first batch of L7 delivered only had basic package functions such as full-speed adaptive cruise and lane departure assistance, and other higher-level functions will continue to be iterated through OTA in the future.
In terms of intelligence, Zhiji Navigator assisted driving has been launched in cities across the country, and NOA based on high-precision maps plans to start public testing before the end of the year.
SAIC has said before that it must master its own core technology of intelligent driving, but now it seems that it is mediocre and has no bright spots. Urban NGPs like Xiaopeng and Huawei have already been mass-produced.
The sales of L7 can also confirm the sentiment of consumers. From the production and sales reports disclosed by SAIC every month, it can be seen that the average monthly sales of L7 in the past three months has been less than 100 vehicles.
According to the plan, the sales target of Zhiji in 2023 is 45,000 vehicles. In the first half of this year, Zhiji's cumulative sales were 10,688 vehicles, only 23% of the annual target. If there is no qualitative leap in sales in the second half of the year, it will be difficult to achieve this target.
2. Involved in the vortex of price war
Zhiji Automobile was born out of the L project of SAIC Group. Since its preparation in 2018, it has been regarded as the "No. 1 Project" by SAIC, trying to build Zhiji into "China's Tesla."
Zhiji also targets Tesla in its development strategy.
Zhiji Automobile Co-CEO Liu Tao said in an interview that in the second half of this year, Zhiji Automobile will release its third model, which will be an urban crossover SUV. Regardless of size or price, it is directly benchmarked against Model Y. The fourth model is benchmarked against Tesla's Model 3, and the smart cockpit will use the Qualcomm 8295 chip.
Today, Tesla has overturned the poker table one after another, actively provoking a price war for new energy vehicles. The 8,000 yuan insurance subsidy and preferential interest rate loan plan launched in June have brought the price of Tesla models to a new low and also helped Twitter Tesla's sales in China in June hit a new high for the year.
Weilai and Xiaopeng also feel threatened by Tesla. The starting price of Weilai’s new cars will be lowered by 30,000 yuan, while Xiaopeng’s Xpeng G6, which is suspected of being a benchmark for the Tesla Model Y, will start at only 209,900 yuan.
After the Shanghai Auto Show, Japanese joint venture brands also began to adopt a low-price strategy for their electric vehicles. The price cut of BMW ix3 was as high as 100,000 yuan. With local subsidies, the Chengdu market has been sold out. Prices were lowered.
Under the pressure of competition, Zhiji was forced to get involved in the whirlpool of price cuts. Zhiji originally planned to launch two models of the LS7 Urban Fit series aimed at urban life scenes, of which the Urban Fit is priced at 289,800 yuan and the Urban Fit Pro is priced at 309,800 yuan. Compared with the original LS7 Elite version, the Urban Fit series has shrunk to a certain extent in terms of configuration. For example, the battery life has been reduced by nearly 100 kilometers, and the starting price of LS7 has dropped to less than 300,000 yuan.
The smoke of the previous round of price wars has not dissipated, and a new round of price wars has come again.
After Tesla signed the "truce agreement" with his front foot, he overturned the table with his back foot.
On July 6, Beijing time, at the 13th China Automobile Forum hosted by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, BYD, Tesla, Wei Xiaoli, FAW, Dongfeng, Changan, BAIC, GAC, Sinotruk, JAC, Geely and A total of 16 auto companies, including Great Wall, signed the "Letter of Commitment to Maintain Fair Competition Market Order in the Auto Industry".
On July 7, one day after the signing and announcement of the letter of commitment, Tesla officially announced a new round of preferential policies, launching a major upgrade of referral rewards - discounted cash for car buyers of 3,500 yuan, free use of EAP within 90 days, and referrers Will get 7000 points. This preferential promotion is another form of price war.
Zhiji is so passive in this price war, the root of it all comes down to "hard power", whether it is L7 or LS7,
The selling point is not focused on the three-electric system, nor is it on the ability of intelligent driving.
Zhiji, who was born in SAIC, is still obsessed with "driving control".
Liu Tao has repeatedly explained the positioning of Zhiji L7 as the "flagship of new world driving control". It’s an electric brand, but you can’t call it a luxury brand if you don’t have good driving control.”
Zhiji, which lacks selling points, has lower brand recognition than the high-end "Wei Xiaoli", and its price has been further lowered. If Zhiji wants to break through, it must either come up with more core technologies or create a popular brand.
3. How does traditional thinking sell new cars?
Looking at the essence through the phenomenon, Zhiji's problem is actually with SAIC.
Zhiji still retains the "traditional gene" of making cars. It is definitely not feasible to use the old method to create new products, especially in today's increasingly mature new energy market.
Although the underlying logic of the development of new energy has not changed, it is still derived from high-end products to low-end products, but the essence is still a technical competition, to compare who has more advanced technology, rather than taking the high-end route with existing technology.
Zhiji possesses many resources innately, and in terms of comprehensive strength, he is not defeated. Not only is it backed by SAIC Motor, it has mature automobile manufacturing experience, has thousands of operators, and sales channels all over the country, but also has Alibaba as its backing to provide support in cloud computing, AI, and Internet of Vehicles.
However, Zhiji and SAIC's internal brand "Feifan" collided with each other, and its resources were also divided.
Zhiji and Feifan are new energy brands launched by SAIC at the same time. They are also positioned as high-end pure electric vehicles. The difference is that Zhiji is a three-party joint venture, while Feifan is an independently operated brand of SAIC.
At first, Zhiji had a higher positioning than Feifan, and they were not in the same price range. With the start of the price war, the price of LS7 was lowered, and the positioning of Zhiji and Feifan began to overlap.
The overlap in positioning means that Zhiji and Feifan are not only competitors, but also do not receive the full support of the company in terms of channels.
In terms of marketing, Zhiji, who wants to try to use marketing as a breakthrough point, always steps on the minefield of consumers. Liu Tao's frequent "negative marketing" has reduced the public's goodwill.
For example, in order to promote the performance of Zhiji L7, Liu Tao personally drove this car on the highway for a demonstration and took a video. Netizens saw the video and found that Liu Tao was just a video. For illegal driving behaviors such as compacting lines, speeding, etc., accumulative deduction points, 17 points should be deducted accumulatively.
Data shows that as of the end of 2022, Zhiji Auto has a total of 113 experience centers and delivery centers across the country, but judging from sales data, the average monthly sales of a single store is only more than 10 units.
For the new energy vehicle industry to gain a firm foothold in the high-end market, in addition to technical hard power, the building of brand power is also indispensable. Zhiji, as a new brand without crushing technology, should pay more attention to marketing and brand building. For most high-end brands, the added value of the brand is an important part of driving consumers to buy, such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz in cars, and LV in consumer goods. , Invisibly revealing social status.
Make good use of the resources of SAIC and Alibaba to build a brand, and Zhiji still has a chance.
But, time waits for no one. In the ever-changing new energy market, someone will be out at any time.