Author: Luo Ji
“There are no products that cannot be sold, only prices that cannot be sold.”
This sentence has been heard frequently in the past two years. At first glance, it seems very philosophical, but upon further thought, it is just a useless statement. According to this sentence, if a house in Hegang priced at 35,000 RMB cannot be sold, it is still because it is too expensive. If the price continues to go down and is sold at 3,500 or even 35 RMB, it will surely be sold out, right?
It’s meaningless to debate this issue. In the automotive industry, some cars with a price increase of 20,000 RMB are still queued for orders, while some cars on half-price sales are still unpopular. If we simply attribute the problem to the price, it would only result in losing money and negative business outcomes, and ultimately leading to closing down the company.
To make sense of this sentence “there are no products that cannot be sold, only prices that cannot be sold”, we must add another sentence to the beginning: “on the premise of excellent product quality”. Only when the product is strong enough and someone wants to buy it, will people care about the price.
And when I experienced the Star Yue L at the Mid-Automotive Research Institute’s salt city test site a few days ago, the topic I discussed the most with my colleagues on site was how much it should be priced if it wants to be popular.
Note that the meaning of this sentence is that we have almost all agreed that the Star Yue L is definitely going to be popular. It depends only on how aggressive Geely’s pricing strategy can be, to determine how popular it can be.
Some people guess it will be priced at 170,000 RMB or more, some guess it will be priced at over 160,000 RMB, My prediction is starting from 158,800 RMB, with the best selling model being sold close to 170,000 RMB. As for the price of the top-of-the-line model, almost everyone believes that the Star Yue L will be sold for more than 200,000 RMB.
Looking at the pre-sale price range of 148,000-188,000 RMB, I only said one sentence – Geely, you are killing it.
What Does the Pre-Sale Price Range of 148,000-188,000 RMB for Star Yue L Mean?
Before discussing the price, we first need to confirm one question: what kind of car is Star Yue L?
Geely’s positioning for this car is a compact SUV, but even without seeing the actual car, you can feel that the Star Yue L doesn’t look like a compact SUV from the pictures or videos online.
Comparing the dimensions, we can find out the truth. With a wheelbase of 2800 mm, it can easily enter the mid-size SUV camp without any pressure. The wheelbase of the Star Yue L is 2845 mm, and the standard length of a compact SUV in the market is generally within 4.6 or even 4.5 meters, while the Star Yue L reaches 4770 mm.Here’s the translation:
Fun fact, the length of the Geely Xingyue L is not only larger than the Volvo XC60 mid-size SUV, but even surpasses the length of the stretched Audi Q5L.
Therefore, in the entire market, the Geely Xingyue L can definitely be classified as a mid-size SUV. This “downgrade” in definition is derived from Geely’s definition of the Xingyue L as a “SUV disruptor”, corresponding to the previous “sedan disruptor” of the Geely Starry. An important factor that embodies the disruptive nature of the Xingyue L is using the size, space, and specifications of a mid-size SUV to meet the household market which was previously dominated by compact SUV.
What price do you think the Xingyue L should be set at given this positioning?
We don’t yet have the specific configuration details of the Xingyue L, nor can we make a direct comparison with competitors. However, judging from the price range alone, the entry price of the Xingyue L is still relatively low compared to several other cars in the same class.
As for the design style of the appearance and interior, opinions vary and we won’t do much evaluation. However, what we can confirm is that the quality of the Xingyue L’s interior is not exceptionally high, but rather at the level of the class.
The direct advantage of the Xingyue L is its powertrain, chassis tuning, and handling performance, which can directly compare with first-tier joint venture brands. It’s not an exaggeration to say that the mechanical quality of the Xingyue L is at least comparable to that of first-tier joint venture compact SUVs, and the entry prices of these models, even in the most basic configurations, generally start at 170,000 yuan.
That’s all we’ll discuss regarding the Xingyue L’s price. When it comes to buying a car, opinions are always subjective. After comprehensively considering the product strength of all aspects, the pre-sale price of the Xingyue L is “once again defining cost-effectiveness” (not a grammatical error).
What does a professional evaluation test drive reveal?
To be honest, personally, I really like the Xingyue L, but I didn’t have a lot of interest or expectations for its test drive experience. This isn’t to say that I didn’t believe in it – on the contrary, I had already had a deep experience with a series of models sharing the same platform and core components as the Xingyue L, such as the Lynk&Co 01, Lynk&Co 05, Geely Xingyue, and Volvo XC40, and all their mechanical quality is at the industry’s excellent level.
But on the day of the test drive, this car still surprised me with some unexpected discoveries.First of all, it is the moment of starting the engine. After getting used to the engine noise of my S60L which is below the luxury brand level, the vibration of the ignition of the Starry’s engine and the noise performance at idle, at least surpasses the previous generation of Volvo products.
In terms of shock absorption of the chassis, I felt the obvious tilt of the CMA architecture model to comfort for the first time on the Starry L. Under various sizes of bumpy road conditions in the test field “torture”, the Starry L’s chassis always provided very solid feedback, and the shock absorber did not show any impact of “topping out” throughout the process.
By this point in the test, I can basically determine that the Starry L is not necessarily the best-performing model under the CMA architecture, but it is definitely the model that focuses on comfort adjustment the most.
In addition, the Starry L is also the largest model under the CMA architecture, plus its emphasis on comfort, the sporty performance of this car cannot avoid making some compromises to a certain extent. In my actual experience of driving on a small track, I did feel a bit of an impact on the handling due to its relatively large size. But when turning at high speed, the tire grip is still very stable.
However, this does not mean that the handling of the Starry L is not good enough. In various more extreme test sections that followed, such as full throttle acceleration + full-force braking, elk test, emergency lane change and a series of items on a route set up by pylons in a spacious field, I was very confident to push the Starry L to its limit.
After experiencing these items, I realized that the comfort-oriented Starry L really gives people the illusion of not having high limits, but when pushed to its limit, the emergency braking, suppressing the rolling and the grip of high-speed turns all far exceeded the expectations of gentle driving.
For example, after full throttle acceleration, a right angle turn follows quickly within a short distance for full-force braking. In my first lap of test driving, I was not confident, unconsciously released the accelerator before brake point and stepped on the brake again too early, the result was that when the speed dropped sharply, I had not even reached the turning point and almost came to a stop.## This is the English Markdown Text Translation:
The brake was applied sharply and I could feel its braking force. When I went through the bend for the second time, I confidently kept the accelerator at the brake point and then reached for the brake pedal to stop quickly. I still made it through the right-angle bend effortlessly.
As for the other projects on the site, I easily adapted to the performance of Lynk & Co 03+ after a lap and went through the whole course in an intense tire-squealing state. The Lynk & Co 03+ size barely gave me any burden due to the excellent sports foundation of the CMA architecture.
Challenger Lynk & Co 03+: Not just a mechanical quality
The theme of the test drive in Yancheng this time was to experience the performance of the Lynk & Co 03+ in various scenarios. However, there was no chance to experience the driving sensation on daily roads and just briefly brushed over the infotainment system. Nevertheless, the short contact left me with a deep impression.
The three large screens are the biggest highlight of the Lynk & Co 03+ cockpit. Although some people may think the design is a bit too much, in actual experience, regardless of whether the aesthetic orientation is radical or conservative, the three large screens, especially the central control screen and the co-pilot screen covered by a whole glass panel, can still bring strong visual impact.
There are many screens, but the design of the infotainment system is actually very simple and elegant. Although the background panel is black, the main interface of the three screens is dominated by white. Apart from the co-pilot’s screen that is compatible with various audio and video entertainment apps, there are no particularly eye-catching color blocks in the menus of the central control and LCD instrument. Overall, it gives people a sense of lightness.
And this kind of style is exactly the characteristic of smart-electrification brands like Tesla, Nio, and XPeng.
In fact, Geely’s evaluation of the intelligence of Lynk & Co 03+ is no less than that of the major new car-making forces. Although there was no chance to deeply experience it on-site, some basic operation interfaces of certain functions indeed gave me the feeling of smoothness and novelty that were no less than its target competitors.
For example, adjusting the air conditioning can be realized by pressing virtual buttons or directly clicking the air conditioning’s position in the animation on the central control screen. Want to open or close a certain angle of air direction? Just lightly tap, which is very intuitive.
When switching from adjusting the air conditioning to adjusting the seat in the Star Yue L, there is a transition animation from the middle view inside the car to the top view of the car. The status and level of the seat heating or ventilation are also displayed intuitively on the screen, and you can simply click on the seat position to operate it.
Although the deeper functionalities have not been explored yet, the experience of these basic functions has already demonstrated a qualitative improvement in human-machine interaction for the Star Yue L.
Conclusion
In the first four months of this year, the sales of the Geely Star Rui totaled 46,000 units, although far behind the Xuan Yi, it has already achieved an unprecedented breakthrough for an independent brand sedan priced at 100,000-150,000 yuan, and has lived up to its positioning as a “subverter of family sedans.”
On the Star Yue L, the powertrain specification has been further improved, and the car’s feature of smart interconnectivity has once again evolved, but its price range remains “user-friendly”. If the CMA architecture and Volvo’s Drive-E powertrain were compared to a set of excellent ingredients, then the brand that develops cars would be the chef who prepares these ingredients. Geely has cooked up a home-cooked dish that fits the taste of the general public with these premium ingredients.
By introducing experiences and performance that surpass those of joint-venture and even luxury brands at a lower threshold, the Star Yue L has achieved this, and its truly subversive nature may be reflected precisely here.
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.