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Text/Yu Erhu
Source: Yu Jian Column (ID: cn-yujian)
Every year at the end of the year, there will always be various forms of summaries in the auto industry, allowing people to have a clear view of the development of major auto companies in the past year. Backed by the three giants of SAIC Motor, Zhangjiang Hi-Tech, and Alibaba, Zhiji Automobile, which was born with a golden key in its mouth, has also become one of the objects that people talk about.
As a new energy vehicle brand incubated by traditional car companies, it is self-evident that the market has high expectations for Zhiji Auto. However, Zhiji Motors, which was established in 2020, has made breakthroughs in the past year, but its overall performance does not seem to match its high-flying posture. Not only did its actual sales fall short of expectations, but its user reputation was also somewhat unsatisfactory.
According to data released by SAIC Motor, the sales volume of Zhiji Automobile in the past November was dismal, with only 608 vehicles sold, a month-on-month decrease of 29.3%. In contrast, the new energy vehicle brand GAC Aian, which is also a subsidiary of traditional automobiles, ranked second in monthly sales in November, reaching 28,765 vehicles. Moreover, Aian’s sales in November increased by 91% year-on-year, and even completed the manufacturer’s annual sales task ahead of schedule.
Although Zhiji Automobile is a latecomer in the industry and its positioning is relatively high-end, it is a bit harsh to require its sales to catch up with top brands in a short period of time. However, the month-on-month decline in sales in November is enough to show that the situation is not good, and the pressure it will face in the future should not be underestimated.
1
Haste makes waste, was jointly defended by car owners
For Zhiji cars, it can be described as driving high and driving low. In early January 2021, Zhiji released the “IM Zhiji” brand and two new mass-produced models in Shanghai, Las Vegas, and London at the same time.
As of August 1, Zhiji Automobile announced that its first flagship model L7 has delivered 1,051 units to users, and it has also become the fastest cumulative delivery of over 1,000 luxury pure electric models above 350,000 yuan in China.
In contrast, since Zhiji L7 officially launched nationwide user delivery on June 18, it quickly exceeded 1,000 units in less than 45 days from July 31 to July 31, an average of more than 60 days compared to the industry’s sales of more than 1,000 units. The speed is indeed the fastest.
Moreover, the only comparable luxury cars in the price range above 350,000 are Weilai ET7 and Jikrypton 001. At that time, Zhiji Automobile also received a valuation of 30 billion, and it seemed that the future was bright.
However, as Zhiji’s pioneering work, Zhiji L7 has gone through a half-year test cycle as of November. However, the average monthly sales volume of less than 800 vehicles, and the market performance of the month-on-month decline for two consecutive months since October, are far from expectations.
Without comparison, there is no harm. The average monthly sales of Jikrypton 001 and Han EV in the same echelon have exceeded 10,000, but Zhiji is less than a fraction of that. And even the Weilai ET7, which is also launched this year, has a monthly sales volume of 3-5 times that of Zhiji L7. It can be seen from this that the sales of Zhiji Automobile are far behind the sales of models of the same class.
A good start is half the battle. However, while the sales volume broke through the thousand at the fastest time, Zhiji Automobile did not seem to have a good start. For example, at the beginning of May this year, Zhiji was subjected to collective rights protection by car owners.
According to media reports, at that time, 102 Zhiji “Angel Wheel” car owners issued a joint statement to defend their rights, asking Zhiji officials to say that “the rights and interests of the Angel Wheel version have been surpassed, and the scarce seats are not scarce”, “the conditions for upgrading lidar and high-end energy batteries have not been met.” Clear”, “the configuration table advertised 93kWh battery capacity does not match the registration of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology”, “a number of auto show press conferences and advertisements have not been fulfilled”, “official App community management chaos” and other issues have been positively responded.
A series of problems were intensively exposed by car owners, which also exposed the embarrassment of Zhiji Automobile to the public. According to observations, the incident brought two major negative impacts on Zhiji Automobile.
One is that there are many differences between the configuration table of Zhiji Automobile and the configuration promised at the previous press conference, which overdraws its brand trust in advance. According to feedback from some car owners, the management of the Zhiji Auto community is chaotic, and the official staff have a bad attitude. Normal inquiries about car owners’ rights are met with rude ridicule.
Moreover, the owner of the “Angel Wheel” that was used by Zhiji Automobile to repeatedly promote and prove that its products are popular, was also officially responded as “much ado about nothing”. Therefore, many car owners complained on social media platforms that they felt “being used by Zhiji”.
In particular, the rights and interests of Angel Wheel, which is scarce in the official publicity seats, are not scarce when it is discovered by car owners. Because the interest-free rights it promised before also exist in the preferential rights and interests of group customers, and it can also be superimposed on the benefits of angel cards, which makes car owners feel that Zhiji Auto is a bit “treacherous”.
It can be seen that Zhiji Auto’s marketing methods in order to quickly increase sales are also gimmicks overshadowing reality. Under the loopholes that various promises cannot be fulfilled and membership rights are improperly set, it seems a bit haste.
2
Zhiji L7 has not yet succeeded, and the label of “driving control” has become a gimmick
As Zhiji’s first mass-produced model, Zhiji L7 obviously has high hopes. However, in addition to the poor sales performance, its product positioning, quality, and performance also have a lot of shortcomings, and it is even accused of being a major failure of Zhiji Automobile. For example, a person from Auto We Media commented on the Zhiji L7 on the Chejia account and said that it had five major negative reviews, among which the performance version was complained about its poor power, which is even more ironic.
At the same time, although some people in the industry classify Zhiji L7, BYD Han and Weilai ET7 into the same level by price segment. However, there are also car owners who have tested it in person and found that Zhiji can’t beat BYD Han in the downward direction, and can’t keep up with the Weilai ET7 in the upward direction. It has been observed that this view does not only refer to sales volume, but model positioning and differentiated competitiveness.
For example, the “driving control” experience that Zhiji L7 has been mentioning has been accused of being “metaphysics” in the industry. Although it took BMW 20 years to label it as a brand with a sense of handling, it became the most successful luxury brand associated with it. Therefore, in the field of high-end cars, there is also a differentiated brand influence of “driving a BMW and riding a Mercedes”.
Obviously, Zhiji also wants to use “driving control” to create a differentiated label, trying to highlight its high-end positioning. But in fact, the market has not bought into such a label as BMW. For example, countless car consumers have lost their original intentions while scolding the 3 series and 5 series with a longer wheelbase, while making these two cars become the Hua series of BMW. the backbone of the.
Therefore, some people in the industry believe that Zhiji L7 wants to use the keyword “driving control” to “force” its relationship with high-end cars. Moreover, even if it comes from a traditional fuel vehicle brand, its driving control advantage is indeed superior, but it has no advantages at all compared with other products of other competitors in other aspects.
For example, compared with NIO ET7, it adopts the dual-screen design of the industry’s mainstream instrument screen + central control screen in terms of interior, and has a good reputation. The Zhiji L7 uses a 26.3-inch dual screen + 12.8-inch central control screen design, which is not outstanding.
In terms of power, which users are most concerned about, the NIO ET7 accelerates from zero to 100 kilometers in as short as 3.8 seconds, and the CLTC has a maximum mileage of 675 kilometers. In contrast, the shortest time for Zhiji to accelerate from zero to 100 kilometers is 3.87 seconds, and the maximum mileage of CLTC is 615 kilometers. It can be seen that the power performance of Zhiji L7 is not as good as that of Weilai ET7.
The comprehensive advantages of the product are not as good as those of models of the same level, but the price does not show weakness. Zhiji L7 is priced in the range of 350,000 to 500,000 yuan. Compared with Weilai ET7, BYD Han EV, and Jikrypton 001, it obviously lacks advantages.
Some car owners also said that the Zhiji L7 has no advantages, and it seems that only its good looks are worth mentioning. For example, its exterior design is very recognizable, and the frameless doors and coupe design also bring enough to make people shine. But after all, consumers pay more attention to the performance and driving experience of the car in addition to the appearance. Even for the sake of looking good, I am afraid that no one is willing to pay a high price of nearly 400,000 yuan to buy a “vase”.
Therefore, some people in the industry believe that it is a helpless move to choose “driving control” as a positioning label when Zhiji Auto’s departure is too late and competitors are occupying positions one after another, and it is also very risky to use the sedan as the first model. You must know that Weilai ES8, Weimar EX5, Xiaopeng G3, Ideal ONE, etc. are all typical examples of new car-making forces choosing SUV models for the first time.
The market has verified that this type of model is more likely to become a hit. However, Zhiji Auto does the opposite, which has been proven by the market. It may not make Zhiji Auto a hit, so it is not a wise move.
3
The launch of LS7 is difficult to solve the difficulties of Zhiji Automobile
According to reports, in mid-December, the Zhiji LS7, the first medium and large SUV under Zhiji Automobile, officially started pre-sales across the country. The pre-sale price ranges from 350,000 to 500,000 yuan. According to the analysis, Zhiji Automobile will also use this to realize the complementarity of the two models of L7 and LS7, and at the same time lay out domestic luxury brand sedans and SUV models and other market segments.
However, given that the market performance of Zhiji L7 is not as good as expected, industry insiders are generally pessimistic about the launch of LS7.
On the one hand, as a rising star, Zhiji Auto still lacks product power and brand power compared with NIO, which is also positioned as a luxury electric car. Although its brand is backed by SAIC, there are also capital consortiums such as Zhangjiang Hi-Tech and Alibaba.
However, new energy vehicles, after all, are a brand new track, and their market environment, supply chain resources, and channel resources are not the same as those of traditional fuel vehicles. Therefore, at a time when GAC and other traditional car companies are transitioning to new energy sources and new car-making forces are gaining momentum, it remains to be seen whether Zhiji Auto can stand out in the fierce market competition.
On the other hand, judging from the deployment of other new energy car companies in the pure electric SUV market for medium and large SUVs, it is even more difficult to break through the high-end SUV market. For example, the Xiaopeng G9 was launched before, and it was also expected to be high, but after the launch, the sales volume did not rise rapidly, which is a lesson from the past.
At the same time, Zhiji Auto has highlighted the embarrassment of product positioning on the L7, and it may reappear on the LS7 yesterday. According to observations, Zhiji Automobile has a kind of obsession with the label of “driving control”, and even gives people a feeling that it is too much.
For example, recently, a car blogger exposed the news that Liu Tao, the CEO of Zhiji Automobile, was driving illegally on the highway. , Changing lanes without turning on the turn signal, changing lanes with solid lines, changing lanes continuously, and speeding are all staged. Later, under the pressure of public opinion, Liu Tao also had to publicly apologize on Weibo, actively cooperated with the investigation, and accepted the punishment.
In the eyes of consumers, “driving control” is almost ineffective, but Zhiji Automobile has a different obsession. Therefore, it is also very worrying about how the newly launched Zhiji LS7 will create a differentiated label so that it can gain a firm foothold in the more competitive high-end SUV market.
4
epilogue
To sum up, Zhiji’s L7 and LS7 models are both idealistic. In the case of very high-end positioning and pricing, it is obviously impossible to win by volume.
Facts have proved that in the domestic market, whether it is a traditional fuel vehicle brand or a new energy vehicle brand, the sales volume determines the position. However, Zhiji Automobile wants to shape its brand-new brand positioning through its distinctive positioning, and the significance of it is still open to discussion.
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