The automotive industry is indeed experiencing a rare period of development, not only reflected in the birth of 100 new car companies in the past two years. Even the Chengdu Motor Show, whose influence has always been far less than that of Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, has seen many new car debuts this year. Once there are more players in the industry, excellent product power becomes very important.
On August 29th, LI Automotive held a press conference at the Taikoo Li Square in Chengdu, releasing the upgraded LI S01 ahead of the car show, along with the opening of the second phase of pre-orders and the accompanying exclusive rights and interests.
It was the details of the exclusive rights and interests that once again made LI trend among friends of automotive professionals after Li Bin and He XPeng’s bet at XPeng’s brand launch event.
What details? The LI exclusive companion gift.
If the first 3,000 pre-order users choose to give up the LI S01 and select NIO, WM Motor or XPeng Motors, in addition to returning the RMB 699 deposit, an additional RMB 699 yuan will be given.
Just looking at the PPT does indeed confuse people. You recognize every word in this sentence, but when you put it together, you don’t understand the logic.
But there is still another line below, “For specific activity explanations, see the pre-order details page.”
Fine, to figure out what’s going on, I decided to order a LI S01.
Open the official website, there is no explanation about the exclusive companion gift, and you need to scan a WeChat mini-program to pre-order. Joke’s on you, do you really think adding a step can stop my curiosity?
Scan the mini-program, without even bothering to select the configurations, I went straight to the payment page.
Finally saw the reserved activity rights and benefits. In the sixth clause of the activity rules, the detailed explanation of the exclusive companion gift was finally seen:
From August 29, 2018 to October 31, 2018, the first 3,000 users who participate in the LI company’s second phase of pre-orders, if they give up the S01 after June 1, 2019 because they have selected XPeng Motors, WM Motor or NIO, LI Motors promises to return RMB 699 and also give an additional RMB 699 yuan upon presenting the corresponding car purchase certificate.The so-called extra 699 yuan is a token of appreciation from Leapmotor to thank customers for their support over the past six months, even if the pre-order users do not purchase Leapmotor vehicles.
It is an implicit message that Zhao Gang is confident that the product strength of S01 can surpass that of NIO, WM Motor, and XPENG, enabling users to endure the waiting for Leapmotor’s delivery.
However, there is another problem. Within a few minutes of our Weibo announcement of the exclusive companion gift, there are comments like this:
It is possible that a small group of people will maliciously pre-order Leapmotor under the premise that they have already purchased NIO/WM Motor/XPENG cars, and then use the former’s car purchase voucher to obtain the 699-yuan benefit of Leapmotor.
Well, it’s a way of taking advantage of something, a way of making money, and an annual financial product…
I think it’s better to look at the problem from a different angle: even if the first 3,000 people who arrive are specifically there to take advantage of the situation, the proportion is only half (the actual proportion is far lower), and Leapmotor only needs to spend less than 1.05 million yuan to make Leapmotor’s brand popularity reach the top rank of the new car army.
It should be noted that, just like Li Bin and He XPeng’s gamble, this exclusive companion gift will be repeatedly mentioned by media teachers in the promotion events of NIO, WM Motor, and XPENG afterwards, creating a second ripple effect of brand influence for Leapmotor.
For Leapmotor, this is an extremely cost-effective thing.
In addition, it is worth mentioning that in the subsequent group interview, a media outlet mentioned He XPeng’s previous statement that only SAIC, Geely, XPENG, and NIO are developing and manufacturing intelligent cars in Chinese car companies.
Zhao Gang’s response was:
If you can’t even make hardware, don’t comment on whether others can make smart cars. Leapmotor is a software and hardware integrated development company.
What I want to say is that this year, the automotive industry has experienced several such cases where operational users stumble upon large-scale marketing. This is the point where those in the mobile Internet industry clash with traditional auto industry members in fields such as user operation and marketing. Whether it is traditional auto industry members or consumers, there is no need to over-analyze these cases. What is really worth paying attention to is the product.
What kind of product makes Zhao Gang so confident?
At the three-electric Workshop held earlier, Leapmotor disclosed that the components developed independently by the company for the S01 include:
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The electric drive assembly consisting of a motor, gearbox, and controller* Battery module, Pack, BMS software and hardware (which can be understood as independently developed except for the battery cells)
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Infotainment system, ADAS, intelligent driving assistance system
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Leap Cloud intelligent vehicle networking system
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HDCVI technology, 77G millimeter wave radar, binocular camera, AI autonomous driving chip
During today’s press conference, more product details of S01 were announced:
- Leap In biometric key system:
Main technologies include “finger vein entry” and “facial recognition” technology, allowing drivers to operate the entire process from entering the car door to starting the vehicle without a key.
- Leap Pilot autonomous driving system:
Equipped with 22 high-precision sensors, including cameras, millimeter-wave radar, ultrasonic sensors, etc., supporting up to 11 smart driving assistance functions, the Lepu S01 will have L2.5 level autonomous driving ability. However, the hardware reserved for supporting L3 level autonomous driving at the computing and sensor level.
There is confidence to vertically integrate to this level, on the one hand, because the technical genes of Lepu are derived from Dahua, and on the other hand, Dahua provides comprehensive empowerment. For example, the aforementioned millimeter-wave radar and cameras, Tesla chooses to purchase, while Lepu chooses to independently develop, because Dahua itself has relevant technology reserves and will not have excessive investment.
- Long-range version
The S01 long-range version uses 21700 battery cells, with a comprehensive operating condition range of 360 km-380 km and a maximum cruising range of 460 km. The battery technology department of Lepu has developed a new battery module structure for the S01 long-range version, making it possible to increase the battery capacity while maintaining the leading level of lightweight design for the whole vehicle.
In addition, the pre-subsidy price of the S01 long-range version is still under RMB 200,000.
- Sensory Starry Sky Cabin
The Lepu S01 uses a long strip double-star-shaped LCD screen to replace traditional instrument panels and center console screens. The “Leap On Intelligent Infotainment System” it carries supports OTA upgrades in addition to basic functions such as voice interaction and navigation. In addition, since it is a Coupe, the integrated sports seats are not surprising. The seats adopt ergonomic design that is fully conforming to the human body curve.
Lepu S01 uses Fuyao’s leading coating and insulation technology in China, and the dome-style skylight window design runs through the entire roof with a large piece of glass, insulating 80% and blocking almost 100% of ultraviolet radiation. In addition, the spectrum-changing ambient light equipped on S01 can achieve 100% free color adjustment.“`
Lastly, the 699 reservation benefits are not limited to exclusive gifts, in fact, 7 exclusive benefits are available for Phase 2 reservation:
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Free lifetime roadside assistance
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A discount voucher of 4000 yuan for car purchase (3000 yuan for car purchase + 1000 yuan for service)
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1 year of free charging (through the LI App platform)
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Priority for delivery
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2000 energy points reward in the LI App store
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Exclusive companion gifts
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Exclusive heart-warming gifts
Free lifetime roadside assistance and car purchase vouchers are nothing new. What I really care about are free charging through the LI App platform and 2000 energy points, which show LI’s user operation strategy.
I downloaded the LI App again, and the bottom navigation bar is divided into Home, ZERO, Store, and Mine.
ZERO: It is actually an official community activity. It is expected that in the future, UGC content output by LI users will be launched.
Store: It’s quite monotonous, with only one product, the S01. I tried it out, and besides the official website’s WeChat mini-program, the App also supports the 699 yuan reservation (yes, I booked two S01s tonight).
Mine: The column includes check-in points and control access to the S01.
Home: I tested the “Online Support” feature on the homepage, and someone actually responded promptly. I give it a thumbs up. Although it hasn’t gone into production yet, reservation users also need to maintain it well.
However, “Latest Activities” and “Test Drives” on the homepage are unresponsive. Why?
Because LI’s factory in Jinhua has just entered the equipment commissioning stage, and the first S01 body will be offline in mid-October. Starting in the first quarter of next year, the S01 will be produced and delivered in succession. So, if you want to test drive, be patient, and make a reservation first.
LI is a contradictory company. On the one hand, the chairman Zhu Jiangming, who comes from Dahua, has a strong technical background and has promoted the “vertical integration” of Tesla several times in public occasions; on the other hand, Zhao Gang, the former Huawei Glory executive and LI vice president, is well-versed in Internet user operation and marketing strategies.The biggest difference between LI and other new car manufacturing companies is that it receives capital, technology and talent resources from Dahua Group. LI has a long buffer period to patiently study technology and polish its products. Remember, if you are interested, reserve now. In case it doesn’t meet your expectations, there is still an exclusive accompanying gift!
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.