Since last year, a hot discussion has been circulating in the automotive circle: Can the new car-making brands survive? Recently, a picture of a new power company being marked with a cross has been widely circulated on major social platforms. Perhaps it is really because many brands have already been "emptied out" and no companies have come forward to refute. However, Leipian Automobile was like "exploding hair", and its official Weibo responded quickly, shouting "We are still alive" and searching the entire network for the source of the picture.
Leapmotor's confident and bold response to the challenge also attracted the attention of reporters. After all, among the new forces currently achieving mass production, their sales volume is not the highest, and their models are not the most attractive. Eye-catching, taking advantage of this oolong, we might as well take a closer look at whether Zero Pao is a "hoax" or is really still "alive".
Can a person without a professional background build a car?
Leapmotor was founded in 2015 and has always positioned itself as an "IT-manufactured car" and claimed that compared to "traditional car-manufactured cars", IT people pay more attention to the research and development of core technologies and can master Low-level chip-level technology for vehicles. I have complained before that my friend businessman is at best a "general surgeon" while "IT people are neurosurgeons", which reveals an inexplicable confidence of a science and engineering man.
The "otherness" of Leapmotor lies in its enigmatic obsession with the number of patents. The IT spirit of insisting on "self-research and self-manufacturing" is true. According to the patent application rankings of new car-making brands released by Pacific Automobile a few days ago, In the table, Leapao ranks fifth. It has obtained and applied for 816 patents in progress, of which invention patents account for more than 50%. Judging from the patent content, Leapao is still very promising. For a car company established less than 5 years ago, it is not easy.
At the same time, when we scanned past news, we also found that the former is one of the few new brands with "hardcore information" in the field of autonomous driving. In May and October 2019, Leapmotor obtained two driverless road test licenses from Hangzhou and Deqing, Zhejiang respectively. Traditional car brands mostly use outsourced third-party autonomous driving solutions, lack the ability to conduct self-research, and cannot obtain licenses; among the new forces, except for leading brands such as Weilai and Xpeng, few companies can Get the road test qualification. It is rare for Leapao to obtain two licenses within half a year.
Another outside factor is the "big tree" behind Zero Run - Dahua Shares. As the world's leading video-centric smart IoT solution provider and operation service provider, its business is mainly concentrated on the B-side. Ordinary people don't know much about it, but just remember that this is a security product ranking among the world. Second, companies whose smart transportation services cover more than 30% of the country’s roads will be sufficient. In October 2019, Dahua Co., Ltd. was also included in the "Entity List" by the U.S. Department of Commerce and passively obtained the "Trump Certification" of high-tech enterprises. It has a lot of technical information.
Based on the above information, you will find that the essence of the zero-running car is not simple: it is usually silent, but it is just like a low-key "sweeping monk" with deep internal strength and cannot be underestimated.
“Alternative” product layout
After digging out the basic information of Leapao, let’s take a look at its products. What makes reporters more curious is that while other new car-making forces focus most of their attention on the SUV market, Leappo has not yet entered the market. Instead, it has launched a coupe and a small car. Regarding this, Leappo has Has its own other explanation.
“We believe that small cars are a trend, especially when the battery cost cannot be reduced for the time being, the quality-price ratio advantage of small cars will be clearer. At the same time, the Chinese automobile market is becoming increasingly mature, and cars as a kind of Transportation tools are gradually returning to their tool attributes, such as European small cars and Japan's K-CAR. Their status symbols are weakening. Small cars will be more economical travel solutions within 2 years, as the industrial chain changes. With the development of new energy vehicles, the cost of new energy vehicles will drop significantly. By then, the cost of electric vehicles will be the same as that of traditional fuel vehicles. This is an inflection point, which means that the "golden age" of smart pure electric products is coming and the use scenarios of pure electric vehicles will be more comprehensive. Only medium and large models will have more competitive cost advantages.”
Therefore, Leapmotor officially released the S01 coupe in mid-2019, with a high cost performance and a starting price of 119,900 yuan. Interestingly, Leappo itself did not regard this “debut” that set the tone of the brand as a mass-market model.
Because according to its official statement, "The main function of this car is to demonstrate the technical strength of Leapmotor, and use personalized models to gain popularity and market attention."
Leapoo S01 has a maximum NEDC range of 451km and has L2 The level of intelligent driving assistance system and hardware configuration can realize OTA upgrade of the entire vehicle and achieve 6.9 seconds of acceleration from 100 kilometers to 100 kilometers. Looking at sales, more than 2,000 new cars have been delivered so far. Although the results are not impressive, considering that only 20,000 new cars were sold in the national two-door coupe market throughout the year, this market share is still gratifying. At the same time, the appearance design that is different from competing products also makes S01 earn enough gimmicks.
The second model of Leapmotor is the T03, which is positioned as a "high-endurance intelligent pure electric car" and will be officially launched in May 2020. Judging from the recently officially announced terminal sales, good results have been achieved, exceeding 1,00 within two months, and the market share of the same level in some first-tier cities has climbed to the first place.
Perhaps for many traditional car companies, the achievement of more than 1,000 vehicles is not surprising, but for the growing new forces, it is enough to prove that they have taken the first step towards success. After all, there are With sales, you have the capital to survive. At the same time, the cruising range of Leapmoon T03 can achieve NEDC cruising range of 403km, which directly raises the average cruising range of pure electric cars of this level. As a reference, the Euler White Cat that has just been launched has an NEDC cruising range of 401km.
It is true to face "criticism" directly
It is undeniable that the main method used by most new forces in car manufacturing and marketing is still "burning money", whether it is a press conference on a celebrity platform , or a big party with thousands of people participating. In short, the more out of the circle and the more advanced the former, the more willing they are to see it, because it can indeed gain enough attention in a short period of time.
In contrast, zero running is a bit "alternative" and even a bit "stingy" in terms of spending money. For example, they brazenly argued that they would not serve coffee in stores. According to Lingpao's point of view, users come to see and buy cars. What modern people want is simple and efficient services; instead of spending energy on making hand-ground coffee and providing high-end massage chairs, it is better to reduce costs and improve product performance-price ratio.
In addition, as a new brand, mainstream new forces all attach great importance to user reputation and user service. In particular, Weilai's ultimate style of "user first" has made traditional car brands say that they can't learn from it. Come". Leapmotor is no exception and has put forward its own core value of "user-centered".
According to common sense, Leapoo, as a new force, should be good at communicating with users, but it turned over in embarrassment: In April this year, Leapao S01? 460 version was launched, with greatly improved battery life and a comparable price. The original selling price has been reduced by 10,000 yuan. The double improvement in product strength and cost-effectiveness should be a good thing, but it has caused dissatisfaction among old car owners who bought the S01?380 version. They obviously bought the car first and strongly supported the new brand, but they did not enjoy it. More benefits.
To be fair, this matter is essentially the same as the rights protection of old car owners in the Xpeng G3 replacement incident. It is understandable emotionally, but from the perspective of the spirit of the contract, it is not advocated. Therefore, the "upright" Leapao realized that the situation was getting serious when the rights protection car owners came to fight against it. Fortunately, it finally appeased and solved the users' complaints and protected their vital rights and interests.
After the episode, Leapmotor seems to have a new understanding of how to face users. It is proposed to provide all-round detailed services before, during and after sales. To this end, the reporter also downloaded the Leapao APP to see what real users are saying every day. What is the official service attitude?
Looking through the posts of some users, you can find that the "activity level" is quite high. Some car owners will also put forward opinions for Leappo every day, some want to add new features, and some also complain that the official OTA update is too slow, and even urge the delivery progress online. The official response is also relatively timely, and the overall atmosphere is still very harmonious.
In addition, Zero Run’s feedback from some “prick-headed” car owners is also very interesting. It is said that there is a car owner named "Lao Yu" who complains about Leap Motors on Weibo every day and is a pioneer in protecting the rights of car owners. Later, Leappo Automobile invited him to its Hangzhou headquarters. When he thought he was going to be "executed on the spot" by the former, Leapao specially summoned relevant personnel from various departments to carefully listen to every suggestion or criticism from Lao Yu and record it. Come down and carefully arrange follow-up optimization work.
Car owners like Lao Yu are sometimes called "chief complaints officers." As opinion leaders among users, they represent the needs of users, which will influence the functional iteration direction of corporate products, and will also influence more users to make purchase or rejection decisions.
When will the slow zero run "lead"?
As mentioned at the beginning, due to the passing of the "black swan" caused by the epidemic, the entire automobile industry is facing unprecedented pressure. The successive collapse of some new forces has also brought a more sad atmosphere. . It is undeniable that in terms of development, whether it is sales, products, users or brand reputation, Leapao has not entered the first echelon. It itself knows this, and has put forward the theory that "car building is a long-distance running sport". On the surface, it seems like a justification, but as far as the current situation is concerned, it must be admitted that it is a correct way of thinking.
First of all, the extremely rapid rise of brands has violated the laws of economic development. When related supporting product planning, channel layout, management level, and financial support have not increased, explosive growth will actually face a big "bubble." Secondly, building a car is different from starting a business on the Internet. You must have sufficient technology accumulation and manufacturing experience, and these must be completed through long-term experiments, research and development, and actual scenario testing. Rapid growth in a short period of time actually has hidden risks.
Looking back, in terms of product progress, Leapao maintains the pace of releasing one new car every year, maintains efficient utilization of funds, and also welcomes new management to join. In June, Leapao Auto officially announced the appointment of Wu Baojun, former chairman of Zhongcheng Insurance, as co-founder and president of Zhejiang Leapao Technology Co., Ltd. He will be fully responsible for corporate operations and promote Leapao from a "technology-oriented" enterprise to a faster , a more stable development stage.
In terms of channels, Leapmotor requires its stores to be "small but beautiful" and is determined not to open large stores. The money saved will be used for real profit-sharing activities. According to the plan, Leapao will open 150 stores this year, and currently more than 80 stores are open or under renovation. The continuous expansion of offline channels will also further increase its terminal sales. In terms of new launches, we can see that various bidding announcements have been posted on its official website. The C11 model that will be launched next year has also started various pre-production bidding works, and this model also shoulders the heavy responsibility of moving towards high-end. .
It is undeniable that on the surface, Leopao has not left a very deep impression on people from beginning to end, but after an in-depth split, it was discovered that Leopao has been doing things in a relatively low-key manner. While some car companies are promoting their selling points to attract attention, Leappo is concentrating on technology research and development; while some car companies are considering how to quickly gain market share, Leapao is summarizing user feedback to further polish its products. It has to be admitted that it is indeed a new power car. An outlier in the enterprise.
At the same time, if you want to survive in this downward market, Leapao still needs to solve two major "pain points." First, the issue of brand height. It is undeniable that Tesla’s entry into China has proven to us that only high-endization of pure electric vehicles is the best way out. As an A00-class car, the Leapmoon T03 seems unable to undertake this task, so the SUV model codenamed C11 will be launched next year. Going public requires stronger brand power and higher tonal support. The second is financial support. Although relying on Dahua Ling Auto has reduced the pressure of "lack of money", after all, automobile manufacturing is an "asset-heavy" investment industry. Without continuous financing support, it is difficult to achieve greater development.
Whether it is Leapmotor, Weilai, or other old and new car-making forces, their strategic models and operating styles are different, but they are all seeking new breakthroughs in the industry by leveraging the wave of intelligent change. . There are never shortcuts or smooth roads in building cars. Regardless of whether they succeed or not, this business model deserves our continued attention.
Text/Levi
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This article comes from the author of Autohome Chejiahao and does not represent the views and positions of Autohome.