Rethink cars with us.
Hello, everyone, I am the president of the electric car commune. The Beijing Auto Show in 2020 is destined to become an important page in the development of the industry. How different is this year's auto show? If you look closely, you will find that all car companies are starting to make coffee, so let's open coffee. They can sing, dance and play, and they will never catch a leader to watch PPT. At the same time, they have also moved the "new energy exhibition hall" that they used to have every year. All the brands are scattered and rubbed together.
More interestingly, almost all traditional brands are trying new energy transformation and intelligence in the true sense. ? My focus is on the word "real meaning". ? Because many products of traditional car companies simply changed the original fuel car into the form of pure electric drive, and then had to be marked with extremely high prices because of limited production capacity, and finally became a bunch of products just for launch. ? With the trend of electrification becoming more and more obvious, the original brand really started the next game of chess. ? For example, Volkswagen's ID series began to be delivered, BMW launched iX3, and Audi launched e-tron on the basis of e-tron? 55 sinking model and so on. Among the traditional old car companies, today I want to talk to you about Volvo and the changes I have seen. This is the most distinctive feature of traditional and established car companies when I look at the whole Beijing Auto Show.
(1) Electrification was planned nine years ago.
Volvo tried electrification very early. As early as 20 1 1 year, Volvo launched its own pure electric vehicle based on C30 model, and delivered 15 units to Shanghai for demonstration operation. Because it has not been officially put into the market, some people in the industry think that Volvo is just doing it casually. ? However, to everyone's surprise, only 1 year after C30 pure electric went on the market, on February 3, 20 12, 12, Volvo officially announced that its brand-new vehicle platform SPA (extensible? Product? Architecture Extensible Vehicle Platform Architecture) and VEA (Volvo? Engine? Architecture? Volvo Engine Cluster has completed the main research and development work and entered the operational stage of substantive product design and upgrading of production facilities.
Just a new platform? Then you are naive.
In 20 13, Volvo released the plug-in hybrid S60 based on the EUCD vehicle platform. After the mixed layout began, the new SPA platform was quickly connected. Although most of the SPA platforms are still fuel vehicles, in fact, Volvo has reserved space for the batteries and motors of the SPA platform. By 20 17, Volvo decisively put forward the goal of full electrification.
It was ready to end the era of single pure internal combustion engine, which was the first luxury brand that was completely electrified at that time. Even though many people said they didn't understand it at that time, and even many people felt radical, when time went back, what we saw was that in the next few years, all the main sales models of Volvo covered new energy hybrid products. In addition to seeing Volvo's determination and practical actions, we also saw other brands put forward the goal of "full electrification". What is the concept of Volvo 20 1 1 starting to set foot in electric vehicles? There are still three years before Musk takes his first production car to China for delivery, and two years before BAIC launches EV 150. Li Bin just went public with Easy Car 1 year, while Li Xiang's car home is still immersed in internal struggles, and there is still 1 year before going public in the United States. ...
At that time, there were not even a few hybrid cars, let alone pure trams. ? —— As early as when other brands were still studying changing from oil to electricity, Volvo was already preparing for the future electrification on the newly developed platform!
(2) The first pure electric vehicle was unveiled.
This Nordic luxury brand, which is famous for its safety, launched the first pure electric vehicle XC40 at this year's Beijing Auto Show. Charge.
Just looking at the name of the car, you may think that this is a gasoline-to-electric model, and there is nothing new.
After all, Volvo already has a fuel version and a hybrid version of the XC40, which sells well. ? But in fact, the XC40 uses the CMA platform developed by Volvo a long time ago. At the beginning of development, this platform considered the adaptation of hybrid electric vehicle and pure electric vehicle in advance, and reserved space for both battery pack and motor.
(The middle part in the figure is the battery that has been reserved for the hybrid battery. ) In terms of product positioning, XC40? Charging really fills the gap in the pure electric vehicle market. ? Weilai ES6 and ES8 respectively locate medium and large pure electric SUVs, while Tesla's models? X is positioned in a large SUV, model? Y is positioned in the medium-sized hatchback SUV. Audi e-tron, BMW iX and Mercedes-Benz EQC are all positioned in the market of medium-sized SUVs-luxury brand compact pure electric SUVs, and XC40 should be the first one. In terms of localization demand, domestic users' requirements for car engines are obviously higher than those of overseas users.
This is also the reason why Tesla began to carry QQ music and use Baidu maps. After all, domestic users will basically not see those models that are not grounded. Volvo also said at the press conference that it will join hands with local technology giants such as Iflytek and Gaode Map to create applications and services for consumers in China. At this conference full of science and technology, even the vice presidents of the two technology giants came to the scene to platform the new car. ? From the perspective of user positioning, for those who want to experience electrified and intelligent products, but can't accept Tesla radicalism, XC40? Recharge will be a good choice for them.
Of course, this moment is not suitable to talk about the level of product strength, because the current XC40? The performance parameters and configuration details of charging have not been announced. ? More attractive than filling the market gap and analyzing the product strength is that Volvo's first pure electric vehicle has its own direct sales model. This is why the president thinks that the brand significance of this car is far greater than the sales significance.
(C) Test the water direct selling mode
Official website's attitude is clear: "Buy a car at one price, online integration, one-on-one service", and "three ones" directly hit the pain point of consumers buying a car.
From the press conference, Volvo is full of confidence in its direct sales model.
After the meeting, I had the honor to interview Qin Peiji, president of Volvo Car Greater China Sales Company. I threw the question at him directly. In his mind, Volvo's direct sales model is different from that of the new forces. Simply put, direct selling is actually "officially selling cars online". Shops are also officially opened, people are also officially hired, and management is also within the entire official system.
Volvo's direct sales are online orders, delivery shops or dealers, and offline service personnel or dealers. The difference lies in the responsibility of the dealer.
It turns out that selling cars is a one-time deal, and selling cars is good, but how to experience it is not so important; However, in the direct selling mode, whether the dealer starts from the delivery of the car or the test drive, it is to make consumers buy the car more smoothly, that is to say, the focus is on the product itself, which serves the consumers, not just selling the car. For Volvo, it will give full play to the system advantages of more than 250 dealers in China to avoid bad experiences of consumers (such as price reduction). ).
This is actually more like a process of interest chain redistribution. As long as the distribution is proper, it is indeed a good way to change the relationship between traditional brands and users.
But it did cause me some thoughts and questions.
In this year's bad environment and the sharp decline in sales of other car companies, Volvo has grown against the trend for six months. Such sales performance has caused quite a stir in the whole industry, and it is not an exaggeration to say that this one is the only one.
On the one hand, it may be that more people pay more attention to health and safety issues under the epidemic. On the other hand, what I learned from my sales friends is that Volvo has been trying to help dealers improve their capabilities in addition to selling cars. So, I asked a sharper question: "Isn't this contrary to the previous phenomenon of sharing weal and woe?"
Unexpectedly, Mr. Qin is also a straightforward person. "Dealers may want to ask this question, but they are afraid to ask. We will not abandon our former partners. We have more than 250 dealers in China. In the process of transformation, these dealers are actually not a burden. For Volvo, this is an advantage. " ? In his view, when the new forces do direct selling, they need to spend a lot of energy to undertake offline, while Volvo only needs to select dealers who can provide quality services in these 257 stores to undertake offline.
Even the auto show and test drive are provided by enterprises, the official sends direct sales consultants, and other services are provided by dealers, giving full play to each other's advantages.
(D) Do everything possible to solve the "mileage anxiety"
In addition to the sales models, what everyone is most concerned about at the auto show is actually battery life.
Although even so far, the official has not announced the Volvo XC40? RECHARGE's specific performance parameters, but according to the reference of overseas versions, the acceleration of 100 kilometers brought by 408 horsepower dual motors is 4.9 seconds, and it is equipped with a 78 kWh battery. The cruising range of WTLP is over 400 kilometers, which is equivalent to the familiar cruising range of NEDC, about 450 kilometers or more. This battery life actually caused some discussion.
One school thinks that in today's cruising age of 500-600 kilometers, the cruising range of 450 kilometers is not enough and sincerity is not enough. There is also a school that believes that the cruising range of 450 kilometers can actually meet the living radius of most people. After all, few people will drive 400-500 kilometers continuously.
On this issue, we also directly and pointedly threw it to Mr. Qin at the scene, but he told the truth in a few words:
What really has "mileage anxiety" is not the owners of electric vehicles, but those who are still hesitant to buy or not (except those with intercity needs). Weilai Li Bin and Volvo Chimpeiji probably had the same idea, so Weilai got a car that can exchange electricity, and the power exchange station was mainly laid out at high speed. "Make power as fast as refueling" really touched many people, especially for promotion. 188' s one-time power exchange has become a "lifetime free car purchase". With the improvement of brand awareness, we have seen a substantial increase in sales.
Previously, the Electric Vehicle Commune also conducted a survey on the real owners of 1 106, and found that 3 1% of the owners chose this brand because of changing electricity, which was unexpected, but also reasonable.
In the article two days ago, we also analyzed in detail that changing electricity itself is a very good way, and changing electricity for free for life is a good strategy to promote sales and brands, but it is actually a double-edged sword. With more and more people buying cars, there have been some uncontrollable changes in free power exchange. ? Many car owners report that even in the middle of the night 12, power changing stations in many cities still need to wait for 1-3 people, which is equivalent to waiting for 20-30 minutes, which makes the power changing experience in some time periods drop a lot. ? Until a few days ago, Weilai finally suspended this policy that saved Weilai's sales in a sense.
Then, for those who are still hesitant to switch to new energy sources, what can be done to solve their "mileage anxiety"?
Volvo's solution to the problem is also very simple and rude: the first car owner charges for free for life, which is currently suitable for charging piles of the State Grid, and charging piles of other brands are also expanding step by step. In the previous fuel car era, the travel cost was not low, and the fuel cost per 100 kilometers was 50-80 yuan, while the electric car directly reduced the cost by nearly two-thirds. However, with the operation of Volvo, the travel energy consumption cost of consumers will be directly reduced to zero. Along with this wave of "lifetime free charging" operation, there are lifetime free maintenance, lifetime free traffic, lifetime free warranty and lifetime free road rescue. At the Beijing Auto Show, Volvo unexpectedly dropped a bomb: a gift package for the blind. Including one-click power-up in the first year, it is obviously directly aimed at those who have not bought a car and have mileage anxiety.
(5) Write it at the end.
In fact, the president has always believed that no matter how many years of traditional OEM history, there is still a long way to go in this new era. It is not so easy to transform the original huge system, and the most important thing is that the way of thinking needs to be changed. This time Volvo XC40? Recharge? The greater significance of Volvo's launch lies not in the sales volume, but in the significance of Volvo's entire brand. ? It has many firsts: it is Volvo's first pure electric vehicle; It is also the first real new exploration of Volvo and even traditional brands in the sales model. Similar to this exploration, in the past 93 years, Volvo has been doing:
1927, Volvo pioneered automatic wiper glass. When it rains, there is no need to manually pull the wiper in a panic;
1944, the laminated windshield and the first integrated carriage were invented. When the car body collides with the chassis, the car body will never separate, and the glass will not be blurred when it is hit by a stone.
1959, Volvo was equipped with three-point seat belts for the first time. In order to achieve national security, this patent was made public free of charge, which has saved tens of millions of lives so far;
1964, Volvo invented the rear child safety seat, telling the world that a good car should also pay attention to your next generation;
1970, Volvo established the first safety accident investigation team in the industry. After investigating tens of thousands of accidents in 50 years, it constantly improves its products according to the data.
1976, Volvo became the world's first three-way catalytic converter with oxygen sensor. Although it is only the size of a finger, it can reduce waste gas pollution by more than 90%. At present, almost all fuel vehicles have been equipped.
20 10, the application of automatic pedestrian identification system tells people that every pedestrian is worth protecting;
In 20 17, it became the first luxury brand to propose full electrification.
……
This brand, which has experienced 93 years of wind and rain, has been exploring for 93 years and constantly handing over answers that satisfy the world.
This year, it stood at a new starting point.
This time, it is accompanied by a new business model and a trial-and-error service model, and it is trying to find a new way. No one knows what answer Volvo will write in 1993. But maybe Volvo will rely on XC40? The test of recharging water became the first traditional brand with successful transformation.
This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.