Weekly Index

Weekly News

Idealease ONE Sold 2516 Units in July

On August 10, Idealease ONE announced that it sold 2516 units in July 2020, an increase of 33% compared to June, ranking second in the monthly sales of Idealease vehicles.

Since 2020, the total sales of Idealease ONE have reached 12,182 units, ranking first in the Chinese new energy large SUV market (including hybrid, plug-in hybrid, pure electric, and extended-range electric), exceeding models such as Lexus RX 450h, NIO ES8, and Porsche Cayenne E-Hybrid.

Remarks:

According to data from CPCA, since its delivery in December last year, the total sales of Idealease ONE have reached 13,193 units. To achieve the sales target this year, Li Xiang publicly stated that he will open 60 new stores this year. As of August 10, Idealease has 25 retail centers across 21 cities nationwide. In addition, in order to increase customer trust in the brand and facilitate maintenance, Idealease is also increasing the speed of opening after-sales stores.

As of August 10th, the after-sales service network of Xpeng covers 39 cities nationwide, including repair centers and authorized paint and sheet metal centers. It seems that there are more and more Xpeng car owners traveling to Northwest recently. Xpeng plans to open an after-sales service center in Xining in the third quarter, but it is not known when an after-sales service center will be opened in Lhasa for car owners.

On August 8th, 2020, Xpeng Motors officially submitted an IPO document to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and plans to go public on the New York Stock Exchange with the stock code “XPEV”. According to the prospectus, Xpeng Motors plans to raise $100 million, but the IPO price has not been determined and the final financing amount is yet to be confirmed. $100 million is only a placeholder. Let’s review Xpeng’s financing history:

• In March 2016, Xpeng Motors completed Pre-A round financing;
• On June 12th, 2017, Xpeng Motors announced the completion of a 2.2 billion yuan A round of financing, led by the UCar Industrial Fund;
• On January 29th, 2018, Xpeng Motors officially announced the launch of a 2.2 billion yuan B round of financing;
• On November 13th, 2019, Xpeng Motors announced the completion of a $400 million C round of financing, with investors including Xiaomi Corporation and the company’s founder, He XPeng. In addition to the $400 million financing, Xpeng Motors also announced its receipt of several billion yuan in unsecured credit loans from banks such as China Merchants Bank, Citibank, and HSBC;
• On July 20th, 2020, Xpeng Motors completed nearly $500 million in C+ round of financing, which was mainly invested by Aspex, Coatue, Hillhouse Capital, and Sequoia China;
• In August 2020, Xpeng Motors raised over $300 million again, with Alibaba Group leading the investment and Qatari sovereign fund (QIA) among other participants.

On July 30th, 2020, Li Auto just landed on the Nasdaq. With the release of Xpeng Motors’ prospectus for its IPO in the U.S., the three giants of Chinese intelligent electric vehicles, NIO, Li Auto, and Xpeng, are set to gather on Wall Street.## 2020 was dubbed the year of intelligent electric vehicles in China. Despite the US’s efforts to suppress and sanction Chinese tech companies, it could not stop the surge of new carmakers going public in the US. To quote Li Xiang, “these are currently the three most promising new forces in the domestic car market.”

Since its launch, the stock price of the Ideal car has been on the rise for over a week. Nio is also expected to release its Q2 financial report tomorrow, and if things go well, the profit margin will turn positive. It remains to be seen how this will affect the stock market. As for XPeng Motors, it is expected to be listed on the US stock market sometime this month. Which company do you think will perform the best?

Geometry launched its first compact SUV, the Geometry C, on August 7th, with a comprehensive subsidy price range of 129,800 – 182,800 yuan, 10,000 yuan lower than the previous pre-sale price. The new SUV comes in five models, including two different versions of the driving range, with NEDC ranges of 400 km and 550 km, respectively.

In terms of power, the Geometry C is equipped with a permanent magnet synchronous drive motor, with a peak power of 150 kW, peak torque of 310 N·m, and a maximum speed of 6.9 seconds for 100 km. The SUV also offers three wheel hub sizes – 16, 17, and 18 inches – for customers to choose from.

As for the assisted driving system, the Geometry C has integrated ICC intelligent navigation system, ACC S&G start-stop adaptive intelligent cruise control system, LKA lane keeping assistance system, LDW lane deviation warning system, FCW front-end collision warning + AEB automatic emergency braking system, and BSD blind spot detection system.

Quick Review:As the first SUV model of Geometry, an emerging car manufacturer in China, the competitive rivals of Geometry C are supposed to be XPeng G3, WM EX5, NETA U, etc. in terms of price range. Among these models, Geometry C has medium-level dimensions of 4432/1833/1560 mm (length/width/height) and a wheelbase of 2700 mm. After it is launched, the NEDC 550 km version in C++ will become its best-selling model. Therefore, the advantages of Geometry C mainly lie in the driving range, pricing, and the support of Geely’s sales channels.

To enhance the competitiveness of Geometry C, the official has launched a series of gift packages, including 2-year 70% repurchase value, 2-year free charging, 2-year 0 interest loans, and free charging piles with installation services. Particularly, the repurchase value policy is the first official whole-vehicle repurchase policy in the industry and can be cashed back directly.

On August 9th, Tesla began to gradually push the 2020.32.1 version to overseas users, with some interesting new functions highlighted. When you apply brakes heavily at a speed over 50 km/h, the brake light will flash quickly to remind the following cars and avoid rear-end collisions. If you leave the car for 10 minutes and the system detects that you haven’t closed the front and/or rear trunk or car door, it will send a notification to your cell phone. When you lock the car, the open windows will automatically close, which can be set in the control panel. Model S/X can use V3 superchargers after the update, and the suspension can be visualized, which means that you can see some real-time dynamic information of the suspension.The five updates listed are all quite practical, especially the first three. However, when looking at the comments, many car owners are complaining that these features came too late, as many traditional car models have already had these practical functions earlier.

Recently, Tesla has also been leaked by Green Plante’s very forward-looking visual model. Tesla Model 3/Y/S/X can be distinguished and recognized, and there will be some police, fire, and ambulance models available in version 2020.32. It must be said that when competitors are just beginning to pay attention to road visualization, Tesla has taken a new step forward in realizing model differentiation visualization. The pace of progress is really fast.

Cadillac’s First All-Electric SUV Released

On August 7th, Cadillac’s first all-electric luxury SUV – LYRIQ was officially unveiled, and is expected to be produced in 2022. LYRIQ is built based on General Motors’ latest BEV3 platform and is equipped with Ultium batteries. Next, let’s take a look at some key information about the new car.

• The Ultium platform can be compatible with battery capacities from 50 kWh to 200 kWh.
• The battery capacity of LYRIQ is 100 kWh, and it has a range of 300 miles (approximately 483 kilometers). The official EPA test protocol has not been announced yet, but judging from the battery capacity and range, it should be met.
• LYRIQ will be equipped with an enhanced version of Super Cruise, which not only frees up the driver’s hands but also implements automatic lane change signaling. Additionally, LYRIQ has also implemented automatic parking based on ultrasonic sensors when the driver is not in the car.

Quick Comment:

The arrival of LYRIQ also means that Cadillac’s layout in electrification has officially started. Although there is still some time before 2020, I have two very high expectations for this first all-electric luxury SUV from Cadillac.# I’m satisfied with the exterior and interior design of LYRIQ. The exterior is a subjective matter, but LYRIQ’s design is futuristic and has a touch of mystery with its lighting lines. Though we don’t know what the final production car will be like, Cadillac’s aesthetic seems to be always on point. The interior features a 33-inch curved LED screen, capable of displaying over one billion colors, which should be the largest screen after BYTON.

The second point is the enhanced version of Super Cruise that LYRIQ is equipped with. I have experienced the regular Super Cruise, which is an advanced driving assistance system based on high-precision maps that enables hands-free driving. However, the regular Super Cruise cannot initiate turn signal for lane changing, and its continuous driving on some road conditions is less smooth. I am looking forward to this enhanced version of Super Cruise two years later.

Mercedes-Benz and CATL Strike Strategic Partnership

On August fifth, Mercedes-Benz and CATL jointly announced a higher level of strategic partnership. Both companies will collaborate in developing advanced battery technologies to support Mercedes-Benz’s large-scale electrification.

Publicly available information shows that the agreement between the two sides covers power battery technologies in all areas, including supplying battery cells and modules for Mercedes-Benz passenger car products and providing whole battery systems for Mercedes-Benz light commercial vehicle products. CATL also offers battery pack design without traditional battery modules, integrating battery cells directly into battery packs for certain projects.Actually, both parties have started the research and development of the next generation of batteries, and the research results will be applied to the new car models launched by Mercedes-Benz in the next few years. The upcoming electric sedan EQS from Mercedes-Benz, which will be delivered next year, will also be equipped with batteries from CATL. Mercedes-Benz stated that its cruising range will exceed 700 kilometers, but its charging speed will be twice as fast as that of existing models.

Quick Comment:

In the global battery market, LG Chem temporarily leads with a market share of 24.6%, followed by China’s CATL with 23.5%, and Panasonic, ranking third with a 20.4% share. The top three currently occupy nearly 70% of the market.

In China’s growing new car manufacturing industry, the top three companies, NIO, Li Auto, and XPeng, all have partnerships with CATL. In addition to the domestic market, CATL also has a large overseas customer base, including BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, General Motors, Peugeot Citroen, Hyundai, Toyota, and Nissan. CATL’s biggest customer should be Tesla. If CATL can maintain a long-term partnership with Tesla, it will benefit greatly from the current electric vehicle market.

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.