Author: Nie Yiyao
On March 31, the first product of the Voyah brand – Voyah FREE, positioned as a “performance-level medium to large intelligent electric SUV”, began pre-sale, and two models were simultaneously launched: a plug-in hybrid version priced at 313,600 yuan and a pure electric version priced at 333,600 yuan.
This high-end electric vehicle brand, which was fully developed by Dongfeng Motor Group, has been rushing from brand release to new car launch in less than a year, reaching the new energy vehicle stage before the window for new energy vehicles closes.
Different from most new energy vehicle companies that only focus on pure electric, Voyah adopts a strategy of launching both a plug-in hybrid and a pure electric model. Voyah Automobile CEO Lu Fang explained that the “plug-in hybrid + pure electric” dual power route is to provide users with a pure electric driving experience while meeting users’ different usage scenarios and solving the current problem of pure electric range anxiety.
All in all, it sounds both salty and sweet, and is a car that users can’t go wrong with no matter what they choose.
Voyah also offers attentive services and warm gift packages to users. For example, during the pre-sale period, users who pre-order Voyah FREE will enjoy the priority to purchase the 2021 limited edition. As for what is special about this limited edition, it mainly reflects many details such as the body color, wheels, grille, interior color scheme, B-pillar signature, and seat badge, which are particularly particular about details and pursue personalization.
What is really practical is that Voyah promises to give the first non-commercial vehicle owner a lifetime warranty for the three electric systems, free lifetime charging, free charging piles, and installation services. Voyah also provides users with two options: standard version and high-end version. Plug-in hybrid version users can upgrade from the standard version to the high-end version with air suspension and other configurations by paying 31,360 yuan plus a 20,000 yuan option package, while pure electric version users can pay 33,360 yuan plus 30,000 yuan option package to upgrade to a high-end version.
With the strategies of plug-in hybrid and pure electric, standard version and high-end version, Voyah FREE is all-round, and the strategy of richness can help Voyah win a great victory in the high-end electric vehicle field.
Plug-in Hybrid: Is Voyah the Ideal Future?
“The ideal future is Voyah” is an old saying that Voyah people often mention since Voyah FREE was officially released in December last year. This sentence comes up in every test drive before the Voyah FREE pre-sale.
This sentence “The ideal future is Voyah” naturally makes people think of Ideal One, which effortlessly deepens people’s understanding of Voyah is building a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, which is what Voyah wants.Why did Voyah create extended range electric vehicles? Ultimately, there are two main reasons – market and technology.
In the 2020 domestic new energy vehicle sub-market, which electric SUV had the highest sales volume? It was the Ideal ONE. The Ideal ONE sold 33,457 units throughout the year, leading the second place NIO ES6, at 5,625 units, and third place Leapmotor EX5, at 16,597 units.
Delivered at the end of 2019, Ideal ONE not only quickly climbed to become the annual champion of domestic new energy SUV unit sales in 2020, but also achieved the fastest delivery of over 30,000 units among new force models. The extended range electric vehicle Ideal ONE can excel under pressure due to its hybrid nature, and its success in marketing integrated perfectly.
For extended range electric vehicles, its electrification properties receive the same subsidies and license treatment as pure electric vehicles. In terms of range anxiety in pure electric vehicles, extended range electric vehicles ingeniously use the petrol range extender to solve this problem. It is a strategy of turning disadvantages into advantages.
Ideal ONE has successfully cultivated the concept of user extended range electric vehicle. Its strong labels of seven-seater / six-seater, second child family dad’s car, etc., accurately pushed itself in front of target consumers.
The extended range electric vehicle market has been opened up by Ideal ONE. There are fewer competitors than in the pure electric vehicle market, almost only Ideal ONE and the relatively unknown SERES SF5, which is the market opportunity that Voyah values.
Technologically, there are many connections with SERES SF5, which is also an extended range electric vehicle. The following timeline may shed some light.
In June 2003, Dongfeng Motor and Chongqing Sokon Industry Group established a joint venture company, Dongfeng Xiaokang, with a 50% stake each.
In 2016, Sokon Industry Group established a new energy vehicle company, SF MOTORS, in Silicon Valley, USA.
In September 2018, Jinke New Energy, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dongfeng Xiaokang, obtained a new energy vehicle production qualification.
Also in 2018, SF MOTORS, which had poor sales in the United States, moved to China, and Sokon Industry Group transferred all of its shares in SF MOTORS to Jinke New Energy.
In 2019, SF MOTORS was renamed SERES, and their first vehicle named SF5 was released.
In April 2020, Dongfeng and Sokon Industry Group signed an agreement on jointly building a medium and high-end new energy vehicle project. The two sides will work together to build the SERES brand and target the medium and high-end market.
Internal sources of Voyah have said that it has cooperated with SERES on platforms and three-electric technologies.This might be the reason why the Voyah FREE is certain to enter the extended-range electric vehicle market. With a pre-educated market, readily-available technology, and no brand or pioneer advantage in entering the market, it is reasonable that Voyah would struggle.
However, it is unclear whether the Voyah FREE extended-range version can successfully gain market share and sales. As for the product, Voyah is working hard to find the golden ratio of similarities and differences between the Voyah FREE and the Ideal ONE.
Both are mid-to-large-sized extended-range electric SUVs. Ideal ONE focuses on a 7-seater, family-oriented model, while Voyah FREE focuses on a 5-seater, and new, mid-level consumers. The latter is a concept proposed by Dongfeng Group Chairman Zhu Yanfeng when the Voyah brand was launched in July last year. According to Voyah’s explanation, it mainly refers to explorers and breakthrough makers of cutting-edge national technologies, such as chips, vaccines, aerospace, military industry, and genes, who have made significant contributions to education and medical care.
Ideal ONE is priced at 328,000 yuan, while the Voyah FREE is priced at 313,600 yuan. Ideal ONE’s price is fixed, while the Voyah FREE has an optional upgrade package for an additional 20,000 yuan.
The Voyah FREE has a competitive configuration similar to that of the Ideal ONE, including a lift-up and down Dalian screen, panoramic sunroof, Danaher audio, intelligent cockpit, high-end air suspension, L2 intelligent assisted driving system, four-wheel drive, and more.
Ideal ONE is equipped with a 1.2T three-cylinder engine and a 45L fuel tank, while the Voyah FREE is equipped with a 1.5T four-cylinder engine and a 56L fuel tank. Ideal ONE accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in 6.5 seconds, while the Voyah FREE accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in 4.5 seconds.
It is apparent that the Voyah FREE is a product made to compete with the Ideal ONE. In terms of configuration, it is slightly better than the Ideal ONE. Whether this is a smart move or simply a blind imitation by Voyah remains to be seen.
As for their target markets, they are different. Is “the future of the Ideal is the Voyah” or “the future of the Ideal is still the Ideal, and the future of Voyah is Voyah”? It is up to the users to decide.
Voyah CEO Lu Fang said in an interview after the presale meeting: “We and Ideal are teammates on the same front-line, and we hope to expand the extended-range market together and continue to transform traditional fuel cars into new energy cars.”
Pure electric vehicles are the ultimate goal, even though Voyah knows that an extended-range electric vehicle is only a transitional product on the road to new energy cars. As for the competitiveness and market share of the Voyah FREE pure-electric version, and how it fares against its competitors, it is clear that this sector is far more brutal than the extended-range market.In the price range of 300,000 to 400,000 yuan for pure electric vehicles, regardless of model, there are vehicles such as Tesla Model 3 Performance, Tesla Model Y, NIO ES6, NIO EC6, XPeng P7, Aiways U5, BYD Tang EV, BMW iX3, etc. The sales volume in this range is mainly divided among Tesla, NIO, and XPeng.
If we look at the sales rankings of domestic pure electric vehicles in 2020, the top three are Tesla Model 3 priced between 200,000 and 300,000 yuan, Hong Guang MINI EV priced between 28,000 and 40,000 yuan, and Ora Black Cat priced between 50,000 and 70,000 yuan.
If we delve into the pure electric SUV segment, the top three in sales for 2020 are NIO ES6, a mid-size SUV priced between 300,000 and 500,000 yuan, WM EX5, a compact SUV priced between 100,000 and 200,000 yuan, and BYD Yuan EV, a small SUV priced between 80,000 and 150,000 yuan.
It is evident that pure electric vehicle sales are mainly concentrated in the price ranges represented by Hong Guang MINI and Ora, which are below 100,000 yuan, and Tesla Model 3 in the 200,000 to 300,000 yuan range. The latest sales data shows that Hong Guang MINI EV has even surpassed Tesla Model 3 and becomes the top-selling pure electric vehicle brand this year.
In the pure electric SUV segment, NIO, being battle-hardened, firmly grasps the sales in the price range of 300,000 to 500,000 yuan.
As for the challenges that the Voyah FREE electric vehicle will face, firstly, consumers are still sensitive to price, and low-priced pure electric vehicles priced below 100,000 yuan still have a market. Secondly, there are powerful rivals in the same price range, such as Tesla and NIO. Thirdly, strong joint-venture brands have begun to accelerate their pure electric offensive, such as the already-launched Volkswagen ID.4 series, priced between 200,000 and 300,000 yuan, and the BMW i4, which will be launched within the year.
These challenges have different characteristics, but also cause further segmentation and squeeze in the market. As a new brand without a well-established reputation, high positioning, high pricing and no experience like Tesla and NIO, Voyah needs to find its own position in the pure electric vehicle market, which is not an easy task. Voyah may need to be patient and prepared to overcome difficulties to get closer to the other side of success.Voyah has also put in a lot of effort. In terms of price, power, and configuration, Voyah’s FREE large pure electric SUV still offers the best value in its class. Currently, in China’s market for large pure electric SUVs, NIO ES8 is priced from 4.6 million to 6.3 million yuan, Gyon HiPhi X is priced from 5.7 million to 8 million yuan, Tesla Model X is priced from 7.7 million to 10 million yuan, and Audi e-tron is priced from 6.9 million to 8.3 million yuan.
Voyah CEO Lu Fang said at the presale event, “We hope that Voyah FREE is not only a high-performance car, but also a good partner for the electric era. We also look forward to Voyah FREE becoming a new benchmark for intelligent electric Chinese-made cars in this era.”
This sentence is both an expectation for Voyah’s future and a confession to its customers.
Let’s give Voyah FREE more time and see what happens.
What is Voyah lacking?
When it comes to this part, the author actually wanted to stop writing. But what needs to be said in this part is what the author feels most deeply and wants to say the most, so they decided to speak out.
As an automotive media person, the author had the privilege of being invited to a NVH test of Voyah FREE before its presale event in Tianjin. After actually test-driving the car, the author had a kinder view of Voyah FREE.
Voyah FREE’s NVH noise reduction is well done, of course, thanks to the Dynaudio sound system. What impressed the author the most was the car’s responsiveness when changing lanes, which was very strong and agile without any lag, this is probably due to the decades of mechanical quality calibration abilities of Dongfeng’s car manufacturing.
Later, the author learned that Voyah FREE has a life monitoring feature. If someone or a pet is still inside the car while it is locked, the air conditioning will automatically work, quickly opening up to the appropriate temperature.
These advantages and designs that the author considers to be very gentle and humanistic, are truly consistent with Zhu Yanfeng’s interpretation of Voyah, which is “quiet, gentle, and elegant”, and generous and understated. Too many people focus on endurance, acceleration, intelligence, and autonomous driving, wanting to be flashy and cool, but shouldn’t we also pay attention to the softness and humanization that a car can bring to people?
Later, the author read an article that talked about how, in this era, it is important to create good products, but it is equally important to tell a good story. The article cites a psychological research case from “Beyond Intelligence”, in which two charity copy cases are presented, which one do you think will receive more donations?## Text A:
In Malawi, more than 3 million children are affected by food shortages. In Zambia, due to heavy rainfall causing a 42% decrease in maize production, nearly 3 million people are facing famine. In Ethiopia, over 11 million people urgently need food aid.
Text B:
Rokia, a 7-year-old girl from Mali, is on the brink of starvation along with her family of six. Please help save this child.
The result of this experiment shows that the donations received by Text B is twice as much as Text A.
Many companies are accustomed to expressing their products in the way of Text A, which appears to be more objective. However, in fact, what better influences users are the details and stories. Just like Apple, Tesla, NIO, and even Xiaomi that just announced to manufacture cars the other night, they all tell stories well.
These stories bring users closer to the brand, some help them understand the brand’s origin and process, and some create a sense of closeness and participation.
This is a more advanced form of interaction in modern marketing. As a brand-new electric vehicle manufacturer that has the ability and ambition to make better vehicles, Voyah, maybe lacking in this regard. As a new entity that emerged from traditional car companies, Voyah needs to bid farewell to traditional ways of interacting with its customers, and learn how to tell stories.
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.