Introduction: Qiuliangping said, “AION S Plus is confident to become another hot-selling product after AION Y and challenge the sales champion in the subdivided market.”
On the evening of June 23, the Guangzhou Automobile AION S Plus was launched, with a new car mileage of 410/510/602 kilometers and a subsidized price range of RMB 1.396-1.726 million.
Strictly speaking, this car is not a restyled or upgraded model of the AION S, but a new category launched by Guangzhou Automobile AION S for the C-end market, hence the Plus suffix.
The reason for launching AION S Plus for the C-end market is that Guangzhou Automobile AION S considers that the current AION S has too large a market share in the B-end market, with a relatively low share in the C-end market.
Taking the May insurance data as an example, the sales proportion of AION S units and leases was as high as 78.52%, while the proportion for CB was only about 28. This shows that the sales ratio of Guangzhou Automobile AION S is opposite to that of new forces like NIO and Xpeng, which have a CB sales ratio of 82.
For Guangzhou Automobile AION S, relying on the B-end market alone makes it difficult to break through the C-end market, which means that the brand’s journey towards higher achievement will face many difficulties and may follow the downfall of BAIC New Energy.
However, faced with this precarious situation, Guangzhou Automobile AION S chose to launch a counterattack, especially with its recent preparation for the C-end market, which is particularly outstanding.
In March of this year, Guangzhou Automobile AION S released a bullet battery, launching a battery safety defense campaign; in April, Guangzhou Automobile AION S’s exclusive charging station was completed at Shanghai Hongqiao Airport, providing vital support for the development of the C-end market – the energy replenishment system; and this year, two new models aimed at the C-end market were released – AION Y and AION S Plus.
Data shows that AION Y had an insurance amount of 1780 units in May and ranked second among pure electric vehicles priced between RMB 100,000-150,000, second only to last year’s Ola Cat (1825 units).
As this is AION Y’s first complete monthly sales, it is easy to predict that it will lock in first place behind Cat after the capacity can be produced and delivered in the following months.
Moreover, there has been a new breakthrough in the proportion of CB with AION Y. In May, the number of personal users for AION Y was 1579, accounting for as much as 88.71%.
With the recognized safety of the bullet battery and the hot market performance of AION Y, Guangzhou Automobile AION S has turned the tide in the C-end market in the first half of this year.
Looking at the recently launched AION S Plus, this is the second bullet fired by Guangzhou Automobile AION S for the C-end market. How effective will it be? Will it continue the performance of AION Y?# About building AION S Plus
Guangzhou Automobile AIWAYS spent a lot of effort on how to build AION S Plus, including using a 1.9 square meter panoramic sunroof with light sensing technology and a low drag coefficient of 0.211Cd. All of these factors make AION S Plus more attractive to users.
Although there are many features to consider, objectively speaking, the core competitiveness of electric vehicles still depends on range and price. These are the primary factors that attract consumers.
Regarding the price of AION S Plus mentioned above, Qiu Liangping, head of the planning and marketing department of Guangzhou Automobile New Energy Vehicle Co., Ltd., said, “This price is a bit tough.” He continued, “Being tough on yourself means making users happy.”
So, is the price of AION S Plus really as tough as Qiu Liangping said? This depends on how to compare it.
Compared to AION S, AION S Plus has taken a middle price range. For example, the former has a maximum price of 205,800 yuan, while the latter has a maximum price of 172,600 yuan. This is also why many media outlets said that the price of AION S Plus is more affordable.
After the launch of AION S Plus, its direct competitor will be focused on ZEEKR Geely, based on the version with the most similar range and market prospects of 600 km. The former starts at 159,600 yuan, while the latter costs 148,700 yuan, a difference of 10,900 yuan.
Purely from this price perspective, AIWAYS AION S Plus does not have the advantage. In terms of configuration, the two are generally the same, with some minor differences. For example, AIWAYS AION S Plus has a 15 kW higher motor power (0.1 second faster for every 100 km/h of acceleration), while the latter has hill descent control and head-up display.
Of course, in some other configurations, AIWAYS AION S Plus has advantages, such as the light sensing panoramic sunroof, low drag coefficient, and pure electric forward platform mentioned above, while ZEEKR Geely is still an oil-electric conversion platform.
Even when comparing the 400 km range version (AIWAYS AION S Plus 410 km, ZEEKR Geely 430 km), the results are roughly the same.
Therefore, overall, compared to AION S, AION S Plus does have a price advantage, and it is not difficult to predict that the latter will capture part of the former’s market share.
Compared to ZEEKR Geely, the price of AION S Plus has a certain disadvantage, but its product features are more prominent. Therefore, the key is how consumers choose and whether Guangzhou Automobile AIWAYS can attract consumers.
In the past two years, with the withdrawal of subsidies, the A-level car market has been targeted, and its market share has dropped from a high of 54% to 22% this year. Therefore, the sudden emergence of AION S Plus cannot be said to have no market pressure.As we have seen, with the advent and stunning performance of new generation premium A-class cars such as Euler Good Cat, AION Y, and NETA U Pro, the A-class car market has shown signs of recovery, and market share has increased from 23% in April to 26% in May.
Therefore, for AION S Plus renowned for its top quality, as long as the product strength is solid enough, it can still achieve decent performance despite the market pressure.
According to Qiu Liangping, “AION S Plus is confident to become another best-selling product after AION Y and compete for the top spot in the segmented 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.