As the first large-scale international auto show after the domestic epidemic situation improved, Ying Zhou, the public relations director of Zero Run automobile brand, said that a large number of automobile brands have seized the rare opportunity to show themselves to the outside world. However, unlike people's impression of the new car-making forces with rich marketing forms, this auto show launched two mass-produced models, but did not set up booths as usual.
And this seems to be the consistent business philosophy of zero running. In the view of Ying Zhou, the public relations director of Zero Run Automobile Market, although it belongs to the new force of making cars, Zero Run has a great feature that the cost is more spent on R&D and manufacturing, which also requires them to communicate accurately with users at low cost through innovative forms in marketing.
According to the data, since its establishment, Zero Run has raised 3.6 billion yuan. Previously, Zhu Zeng, the founder and chairman of Zero Run Automobile, said: "Zero Run needs no financing for three years, and it has spent more than 2 billion in four years."
In the past four years, it has spent more than 2 billion yuan to build a factory, launched two mass-produced models, and laid more than 80 experience stores in the city ... In this era when many new car-making forces closed down due to lack of money, zero-running has amazing capital utilization efficiency.
In Ying Zhou's view, the ultra-high capital utilization efficiency of zero-run is inseparable from the cost control concept that the whole team was born in manufacturing and went deep into the bone marrow. At the same time, in building a car, Zero Run is more inclined to research and build its own parts, which also gives Zero Run a more say in cost.
In addition to being different from other new car-making forces in marketing ideas, Zero Run also has different temperament in product ideas.
Unlike most new car-making forces that cut into the market with medium and large SUVs, Zero Run chose to deepen the car market in the initial stage. In this regard, Ying Zhou said that this is mainly due to the consideration of cost and market acceptance.
"At present, the battery cost of new energy vehicles is still relatively high. If we cut in from large and medium-sized SUVs, there will be no advantage in price, and users will have a higher acceptance threshold for our models. "
However, with the continuous improvement of new energy market technology and consumer acceptance, Ying Zhou revealed that Zero Run will enter the large and medium-sized SUV market in the future, and "large and medium-sized SUV products will be launched next year".
The following is an interview record:
Automobile production and marketing. Com: In the first half of this year, T03, the second model of zero-running, went on the market. Zero running gives people the feeling that it is a company with unique temperament among the new forces of building cars. What is the reason why you choose to be a different car at zero run?
Ying Zhou: At present, many new forces choose to make large and medium-sized SUVs as their first cars, but we think that the battery cost of new energy vehicles is still relatively high. If we start with large and medium-sized SUVs, the price will not have an advantage, and users will have a higher acceptance threshold for our models. So let's start with a small car.
Now T03' s NEDC cruising range is 403 kilometers, which is the best in its class. Because our car is relatively small, the battery cost is relatively low. At present, the price of T03 is 65,800-75,800. Buying a new energy vehicle at this price is acceptable to most users. Therefore, first cut into the market from small cars, and the user acceptance can be higher.
Next year, we will have a medium-sized SUV on the market. We believe that the development of the whole new energy market will be more mature next year, when the price advantage of our SUV will be more obvious.
Products like T03 are very suitable for being the second family car, so don't worry about the restriction. The electricity bill is less than one yuan per day, so it is a popular model.
Automobile production and marketing. Com: What are the main user groups of T03 now?
Ying Zhou: Now our consumer groups are mainly divided into two parts: the first part is the second car at home. This category is mainly the group with better income, such as the middle class, who already has a car with higher specifications at home. At this time, he will choose a car as a means of transportation without using it to show his identity. The other part is the young people's first car. Most of the users sold by our two experience stores in Chengdu are young people born after 90. First of all, the burden of buying this car is not heavy, the cost is relatively low, and it is convenient to use and easy to park. We have a shop in the Global Center, and many employees in the Global Center have bought this car for commuting after work.
According to your introduction, there are currently two experience stores in Chengdu. We know that at present, the channel mode of most new car-making forces is in the form of "direct sales+partners". Is it the same as zero running?
Ying Zhou: Yes. We are in the form of direct operation in Hangzhou, and now we have four stores. We mainly learn marketing ideas and management norms from these stores, and then copy them to other stores. Most other cities adopt the form of city partners. At present, our channels add up to about 80, and it is planned to reach about 150 by the end of this year.
Automobile production and marketing. Com: What is the distribution area of channels?
Ying Zhou: First of all, we must cover the core cities, especially the cities with restricted purchases, such as Beishangguangshen and Shenzhen. In addition, T03 is the main selling city, such as Zhengzhou and Qingdao.
Automobile production and marketing. Com: Is T03' s main consumer market a first-tier city or a low-tier market?
Ying Zhou: Now T03 is selling well in first-tier cities, such as Hangzhou, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Jiangsu and Nanjing, which are among the top ten cities in terms of sales volume. This has something to do with the positioning of our boutique car. The overall texture of T03 is good, with a battery life of 403 km, including many intelligent configurations, which can better meet the commuting needs of first-tier cities.
This may also be a big difference between us and other cars. Nowadays, many cars are selling well in low-tier cities, because this group of people don't have much car purchase budget, and there are not many car purchase options of 567 million.
However, from the beginning, we wanted to make T03 a boutique car in product positioning. Now, after we give it excellent product strength, T03 is still relatively competitive in first-tier cities. The cost performance and texture are very high, and everyone will not feel humiliated when they drive out.
Automobile production and marketing. Com:T03 has been ranked first in the same market in some first-tier cities in a single month since its listing. But in fact, in the first half of this year, the development situation of the new energy market was not good. What do you think of the future development of this market?
Ying Zhou: Generally speaking, the new energy market will definitely grow gradually. It may fall back in stages, but the overall acceptance will be higher and higher. At the same time, under the new national infrastructure policy, the threshold for the use of new energy vehicles is getting lower and lower, and everyone's concerns are getting less and less. For example, in terms of charging, there are more and more public charging piles, and charging is very convenient. In addition, with the lower and lower cost of new energy vehicles, there are not many obstacles for consumers to choose, and the future of new energy vehicles is definitely an inevitable trend.
In this process, what we have to do is to lay a good foundation and occupy a good position to meet the arrival of the golden age of new energy vehicles.
Automobile production and marketing. Com: In the first half of this year, the share of A00 in the whole pure electric vehicle market was only 65,438+06%. Do you think this is a market with great development potential?
Ying Zhou: Generally speaking, the share of A00 pure electric vehicles has indeed declined in recent years. One of the most important reasons is the lack of truly excellent products in this market. In the previous A00 market segment, there were many products with poor quality, and users were forced to choose these models intelligently. What Zero Run wants to do is to set a benchmark for the A00 market segment through a boutique car like T03.
I think there is a real demand for cars in the market. In the first half of this year, in addition to zero-running, many cars went on the market, which shows that the demand in this market has not really been met.
In addition, from a global perspective, such as Europe, Japan and South Korea, small cars are a development trend. Commuting in big cities has obvious advantages, such as convenient parking and low car cost.
Automobile production and marketing. Com: With excellent product strength, it is also very important to push models to consumers through diversified marketing. What is the concept of zero running in marketing?
Ying Zhou: A big feature of zero running is that more expenses are spent on R&D and manufacturing. Compared with our peers, we have little investment in marketing, which requires us to pay more attention to innovation and communicate with users more accurately. We are in marketing, and the online part also accounts for the bulk.
We made an online press conference for the release of T03. Although most enterprises are doing online press conferences because of the epidemic, our press conference is not simply to move the offline press conference online. Our choice is to do small-scale live broadcast from the user's point of view on platforms such as Tik Tok and Bi Li, and the effect is still good. Unlike traditional car companies, we don't have much burden, and the boss also supports our innovative practices.
Automobile production and marketing. Com: When it comes to the new force of making cars, people often think of another word-"burning money". However, Zhu Zeng, the founder and chairman of Zero Run Automobile, once said that "Zero Run does not need financing for three years, and it took more than 2 billion yuan to set up four years ago". In many new cars.