*This article is reproduced from the official account of Autocarweekly
Author: Karakush
It’s hard to become famous in the automotive industry.
There are top players above and fresh meat below, and many are caught in the middle. To break out of this situation, not only does one’s own skills have to be solid, able to withstand scrutiny from the public, but also a bit of luck. If one is called “Karakush,” it probably means that they have missed that lucky window, rather than being on the road to greatness.
Of course, there are exceptions.
A survival line unrelated to the context
Last night (August 17th), the 2021 Geometry C was launched, with a post-subsidy price of 129,800 yuan to 182,800 yuan.
This is not the appearance of a non-mainstream brand launching an ordinary annual facelift.
Geometry put on a two-hour live broadcast, taking over the Tmall Auto live broadcast room, with the general manager taking the stage, KOL clapping, more than 50 media outlets streaming, and various promotions, and even remotely connected with fencing goddess Sun Yiwen on the live broadcast.
You can clearly feel its excitement about stirring things up, but also vaguely understand its hidden restraint of not mentioning what it is. It’s like when you really decide to build a career, you won’t spread it everywhere before there’s a concrete plan.
I venture to think that Geometry is holding back its strength and starting over, aiming to deliver a powerful counterattack to the world.
It’s back on track
Many friends probably only have a vague impression of Geometry as “a Geely electric car.” Because over the past two years, it has often been in a relatively passive position and unable to find a breakthrough. Even in the eyes of some peripheral friends, with the deployment of the group’s other electric vehicle brands, Geometry is likely to be strategically abandoned.
This is a bit unfair to its glorious start. Two years ago, Geometry launched its brand in Singapore, demonstrating a vision and scale that looks to the international market, as well as a willingness to invest heavily, revealing Geely’s determination to invest in new energy development. The pioneer of this trick, Lynk & Co, has been quite successful.
Like Lynk & Co, Geometry also bears the mission of upgrading Geely’s brand, and its exact positioning is as an “independent high-end pure electric brand.” Through “hype and action,” Geometry hopes to ascend to the ranks of mainstream electric cars, and more importantly, to “define the direction of new energy vehicle evolution in a new way.” It’s not just an ambition – the first model, Geometry A, was also launched at the same time, with preparation having been made.
Many friends probably still remember the prefix of Geometry A, “the best electric car in the eastern hemisphere.” At that time, Geely New Energy’s total sales volume was 68,500 vehicles, and Geometry set a goal to double that number. However, the reality is that in 2019, Geometry’s brand sales were only about 12,000 vehicles, and in 2020 they were 10,000 vehicles, three thousand behind sales expectations.
There are two main diagnoses for the situation of Geometry in the market:
Firstly, they persisted in the old approach of replacing gas cars with electric ones, resulting in products that lacked novelty, and the company’s fatal inherent deficiency was its inability to properly position high-end models. Secondly, during a difficult time for sales, they attempted to focus on the domestic market by allowing Cao Cao Zhuan Che to absorb the sales volume of Geometry A. However, this short-term operation failed to increase brand awareness and instead hindered the company’s high-end models.
In 2020, the release of the second new car, Geometry C, already showed signs of anxiety. This SUV’s starting price is set at 129,800 yuan, more than 20,000 yuan lower than Geometry A. Although the entry-level configuration has been reduced correspondingly, without a rear radar, cruise control, intelligent connectivity, and LED headlights, the cost-effectiveness of the vehicle is still high. However, due to the platform, there is limited room for improvement in the product’s speed and efficiency.
The real turning point appeared this year. Sales began to soar in April; by July, Geometry had delivered over 5,000 vehicles and received 7,127 orders, a year-on-year increase of 318%. Apart from the product, the adjustments made by the backstage team played an even more critical role.
Firstly, the leadership team. Led by Lin Jie, the team has worked hard on breaking down barriers between departments, integrating the original marketing, public relations, channel, and sales departments into three centers: user operations, user development, and product planning.
The goal of this fashionable structure is to flatten the organization and management, break down the barriers between users and research and development, and enable user feedback to be quickly passed on and implemented. This structure is basically in place as of April and will, therefore, be able to respond flexibly to market demand, providing more precise products that align with current market competition.
The other aspect is to improve marketing and distribution models and shift the focus from the government-run ride-hailing market to the retail end.
Each city will establish a standard user center and multiple supermarket stores, narrowing the user service radius and promoting image upgrades, at least by making the decor more attractive; at the same time, they will select “city operation managers” for the top 20 key cities where new energy vehicles are most popular, who will be responsible for product marketing, user experience, and other tasks in the city, each city with its own strategy, and user satisfaction will be included in the assessment criteria.
This sounds simple in theory, but in practice, there are many challenges at the execution level. For example, Jiang Xiaohua, a spokesperson for the company, mentioned that facing poor sales in individual stores, how to motivate sales and service personnel to create a hopeful sales environment and help customers feel the brand’s earnestness is a challenge to overcome.This is not a problem that can be solved by slogans or ideas. A salesperson sells only two or three cars a month with little commission, and poor sales mean that the 4S store cannot and has no ability to raise salaries. Put oneself in the shoes of the working-class, under this vicious cycle, the excellent ones cannot be retained, and those left behind only want to lay flat, expecting customers to appreciate any small gesture?
Ganjiaye proposes the concept of “Big Employee,” in which Geely provides subsidies to 4S store employees to ensure reasonable income and encourage them to provide better service.
In terms of results, the user-centric approach resulted in a business logic with a strong human touch, aligning the demands of the company, employees, and user benefits, resulting in the maximization of the user experience. The brilliance of this approach is that it covers not only Geely’s direct employees but also necessary employees of upstream and downstream partners. Although there is an increase in short-term expenses on paper, reviving a brand that outsiders saw as doomed makes perfect sense.
Entering the Comfort Zone
Of course, products are still the core competitiveness.
Marketing can boost sales, which partly proves Geely’s judgment that there is no issue with the product or its positioning. The 2019 release of Geometry A was an excellent product, but unexpected external circumstances proved too challenging.
At the same time, there is a significant cognitive gap between media observations and actual consumer demands. For example, the “gas to electricity” conversion has been criticized for cost-cutting measures and a lack of sincerity. This is also reflected in the product, such as limited space for battery installation, and the range is usually not impressive.
As for Geometry C, it offers two range versions of 400/550 km, which remain the same for the 2021 model. Despite a lack of advantages on paper, the marketing slogan is still “really able to run.” In the live broadcast last night, old car owners confirmed that it could indeed run. They spoke highly of Geometry C’s reported mileage, claiming that the display only dropped by 200 km after driving 200 km or decreased by only 180 km after traveling 150 km even in the middle of a desert.
Female car owner BeiBei said that she saw Geometry E while shopping at the supermarket and fell in love with Geometry C at first sight. She spent 30 minutes buying it on the spot. I can’t explain it; I just have to say that Geely is too good.
In the end, the 100,000-200,000 yuan market is where Geely excels. Although the power system has changed, consumers in this price range still prioritize style, luxury, and convenience. Geely knows how to provide these things to their fullest.
For example, the 2021 model of Geometry C features the brand-new GKUI EV In-car Connectivity System, with a thoroughly upgraded interface and newly added music apps that effectively address common user needs.
Moreover, the L2+ Driving Assistance Package introduces the remarkable RPA Magic Mode, which enables users to operate the vehicle remotely via a mobile app even when the engine is off–perfect for automatic parking, including parallel and perpendicular parking.
Aside from impressive configurations that speak for themselves, such as the 540°AR bottom perspective, Head-Up Display, traditional CN95 filtering system, and BOSE sound system, which are exclusively available for the top model priced at no less than 180,000 dollars.
Geometry’s focus remains on forging connections with car buyers based on friendly interactions. They also provide a range of policies designed to win over customers, such as a 1000 yuan deposit that reduces the car payment by 6000 yuan, electricity subsidies, free charging stations and installation, a lifetime guarantee on the power system, and complementary basic maintenance for the car’s entire life.
Some people may wonder whether these features are revolutionary, but Geometry’s latest update represents a significant warning signal. Henceforth, Geometry will be built on Geely’s in-house SEA electric platform, which aims to serve the mass market, particularly knowledgeable consumers in major metropolitan areas whose income ranges between 100,000 and 200,000 dollars per year.
This is the beginning of what may prove to be once-in-a-lifetime sales surge, where Geometry will be better placed to assert itself as the best EV in the Eastern Hemisphere.
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.