*Author: Feng Jingang
Introduction:
The establishment of the “Tianjing” CP means that almost all of the first batch of new forces in the automobile industry have the support of Internet giants, including Ai Chi Di Di, NETA 360, and Tianji Jingdong. The concept of traditional new forces and Internet new forces in the industry has become blurred. In the future, it will be a combination of new forces + the Internet. Each has its own manpower and financial resources. As for who can last until the end, it depends on the synergies of resources and the internal evolution capabilities of each party.
On May 7th, Tianji Automobile, which did not appear at the Shanghai Auto Show, instead appeared at the first China International Consumer Goods Expo aimed at global markets and industries. At the same time, Tianji Automobile also announced an important matter-that it has reached a strategic cooperation relationship with Internet giant JD.com. For this matter, Tianji Automobile even carefully prepared a preview poster. JD.com also believes that this cooperation is a “major annual event”.
The establishment of the “Tianji Jingdong” CP means that almost all of the first batch of new forces in the automobile industry have the support of Internet giants, including Ai Chi Di Di, NETA 360, and Tianji Jingdong, etc. The concept of traditional new forces and Internet new forces in the industry has become blurred. In the future, it will be a combination of new forces + the Internet. Each has its own manpower and financial resources. As for who can last until the end, it depends on the synergies of resources and the internal evolution capabilities of each party.
For Tianji Automobile, joining hands with JD.com is also a recognition of its brand strength and a preparation for future development. Because the brand was born in 2017, it is 3 years later than the first batch of new forces in 2014, and some industry insiders believe that the development rhythm of Tianji Automobile is “relatively” slow. Is this really the case? Obviously not.
Comparing horizontally with the new forces of a few years ago, Tianji’s second model has not yet been launched, and the rhythm does seem to be slow, but looking vertically at Tianji Automobile’s own development, it is actually very fast. This includes the launch of the IMA pure electric architecture, the successive launch of the ME7 and ME5 products, and especially this time, obtaining recognition from JD.com not only demonstrates Tianji Automobile’s hard power, but also shows that they are moving fast forward at their own pace.
Further exploration of the potential of intelligent cabins
The Tianji Jingdong CP combination’s cooperation this time is mainly divided into three parts: digital marketing, deep customization of intelligent products, and intelligent travel life. In two words, they are marketing and intelligence. Let’s first look at the intelligence.
Currently, automobile intelligence is unstoppable. According to data from the China Passenger Car Association, the proportion of intelligence in passenger cars is as high as about 60%, while the proportion of electrification is only about 10%.
In other words, automobile intelligence has already been integrated into our lives. Achieving automobile intelligence is not an unreachable goal, but the reason why people still express criticism is that current intelligence is still superficial and not deep enough.## According to the core functions, smart cars can be divided into two application categories: smart driving and smart cockpit, with the former receiving more attention and development. However, different companies have different focuses, such as Tesla emphasizing smart driving, SkyDrive quietly investing in smart cockpit, while XPeng Motors combines both.
With the repeated occurrence of Tesla’s smart driving accidents, more and more industry insiders are questioning whether smart driving technology is truly mature. Even the chief software engineer of Tesla admitted that their autonomous driving is still at level 2, which undoubtedly struck a blow to Musk and poured cold water on the current development trend of smart driving.
As for smart cockpit, most people’s understanding only stays at basic functions such as screens and voice interactions, which are already available in some fuel-powered cars. This is also the direct reason why the proportion of intelligent passenger cars is high. However, due to the electrical architecture and computing power limitations of fuel-powered cars, they still cannot support advanced intelligent functions, even if the proportion of intelligentization is high.
To realize advanced intelligent functions in the cockpit, electric vehicles, especially those born on a pure electric platform, are required. According to the evaluation and ranking of intelligent cockpits after the availability of electric cars, pure electric cars, such as SkyDrive ME7 and XPeng P7, ranked top two. Based on the driving experience of these two cars evaluated by electric vehicle journalists, this ranking is well-deserved.
Although the SkyDrive ME7’s popularity needs to be improved, it is still highly regarded once it hits the market. One important factor is that it uses a 5+X screen. Before Evergrande’s electric vehicles entered the market, it was the only mass-produced 5-screen smart electric vehicle on the market. The reason why SkyDrive chose to release a 5-screen car against the tide was for the smart cockpit, allowing both front and rear passengers to enjoy intelligent life in the era of smart cars. When the era of smart cars arrives, can only the driver and front passengers enjoy smart convenience, while the backseat cannot possess it?
Objectively speaking, from basic screens and voice functions to adding screens for rear passengers, SkyDrive has taken a step further in the intelligentization of cars. From the strategic cooperation with JD.com, it is evident that SkyDrive has not slowed down its pace of progress.
According to SkyDrive, after the cooperation with JD.com, its products, including ME7 and the upcoming ME5, will gradually be equipped with JD.com’s in-car voice, map scenes, and in-car payment capabilities, and will introduce JD.com’s core services to gradually cover various innovative scenarios from payment, shopping, entertainment, to daily life, expanding SkyDrive’s all-scenario interactive capabilities of intelligent cockpits.
For ordinary consumers, the advantages of basic functions such as JD.com’s in-car voice and maps are still unknown. The differentiation lies in the import of so-called core services of JD.com.
Leveraging JD’s Strengths to Strengthen Marketing Network
Looking at the second key phrase of the “Tianjing” partnership – marketing, we can see that the first model of the Skyline, the ME7, was officially launched in September of last year, but its monthly sales have been hovering around only a few hundred units, due to issues with battery production and a lack of marketing channels.
Some insiders have questioned whether the ME7 is competitively weak, which has led to poor sales, but insiders from the new energy sector have revealed that the ME7 received several thousand orders as soon as it was released, which contradicts the notion that the ME7 lacks product power.
Moreover, the same insider also revealed that the battery production issues of the ME7 will be resolved in the first quarter of this year, thus the only obstacle standing in the way of increased sales of the ME7 is marketing channels. Certain groups of new energy vehicle users have provided some verification that brand awareness and channels are the shortcomings of Skyline Automobile at present.
Looking at this strategic partnership of the “Tianjing” combination, it is evident that the first cooperation content is geared towards digital marketing.
Regarding this agreement, Yu Songyao, Vice President of Skyline Automobile’s connected vehicle business unit, stated that “both sides will share brand, product, user, and channel resources in multiple dimensions, in order to promote the competitive advantage of Skyline Automobile’s intelligent travel products and services.”
Specifically, both sides will share digital resources in depth, and take advantage of JD’s strengths in big data, user resources, and digitized supply chains, through ways such as creating public topics and brand partnerships to assist in enhancing the brand value of Skyline Automobile.
In fact, Skyline’s choice of JD for marketing is similar to when Ora chose Tmall.
In June of last year, in view of Ora’s lackluster sales performance, Ora shifted its marketing focus to Tmall’s online platform, where the White Cat model even had its only retail rights held by Tmall while offline channels were only responsible for test-rides and delivery.
The marketing reform of Ora produced immediate results, with Ora accumulating more than 10,000 orders on the Tmall platform in less than three months, and most importantly, it completely activated the vitality of the entire Ora brand, making it one of the most rapidly growing new energy brands of the past two years.
Can Skyline reproduce Ora’s sales miracle? It is not yet known, but this online change is undoubtedly correct.
As for the offline aspect, Skyline will rely on JD Group’s comprehensive automobile service industrial chain layout, with the core being “Jingche Jingchehui”. This is the most important base of JD’s offline channels for cars. According to our investigation, as of the end of last year, it has covered 163 cities in 30 provinces across the country, with over 1,200 contracted stores servicing over 10 million online users.However, the issue is that Jingcar Jingcar may only serve as a repair shop, without the functions of vehicle display or sales. The collaboration between Huawei and Seres has turned the latter from an obscure automaker to a blockbuster hit at offline experience stores. Will JD be willing to redesign the functions of its offline channels for Skyline?
“The actual business we are doing is automotive service, providing different services throughout the entire car consumer lifecycle, including viewing, selecting, buying, using, and changing. Consumers can screen online, complete purchases online, and fulfill contracts offline. Our offline JD Jingcar stores can help brands complete after-sales service, and our technology module can provide intelligent car brands with in-car systems. So, we basically help brands build all the ecology and system for their car-related businesses,” said Yuan Ye, general manager of the Vehicle Business Department of the JD Retail Automotive Division.
Despite describing JD’s role in this strategic cooperation as building all the ecology related to cars, the offline retail channel remains a missing link.
From JD’s conservative approach, we can see that they have not yet fully decided to engage in car manufacturing, but rather extended their current business. Although the industry sees JD’s participation in car manufacturing through this collaboration, they still have a long way to go, such as core capital output.
Of course, for Skyline, it would be significant if JD could strengthen its online marketing efforts. From a developmental perspective, since this strategic partnership has been signed with Skyline, it has laid the foundation for stronger cooperation in the future.
According to insiders who spoke to Electric Dynamics, anything is possible with the Skyline and JD combination. We can sense that there is indeed something unusual in the official statements, such as this year’s 618, when Skyline will launch the ME5 JD customized car and introduce JD’s product development system. It seems like JD is just one step away from investing and announcing its car manufacturing plans.
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.