With the deepening of the marketing model of new automobile retailing, various brands have laid out their own stores in the areas with the largest regional human flow. Undoubtedly, this not only enhances the brand image but also greatly facilitates the user experience of purchasing a car. For Wuling, the opening of LING HOUSE can also enhance its influence in these two aspects.
However, in April of this year, Shanghai imposed purchase restrictions on pure electric A00-level vehicles, and models ranging from the KiWi EV with a price above 80,000 yuan to the MINIEV with a price below 30,000 yuan were all affected. This inevitably makes me wonder, what is the significance of the opening of the Wuling global brand center LING HOUSE@Shanghai flagship store located in the Nanjing West Road commercial area in Shanghai on November 24th?
An Investigation
To solve this puzzle, I came to LING HOUSE@Shanghai to investigate.
As an automotive media person, I have visited many automobile showrooms, and without exaggeration, LING HOUSE is the one that is least like a showroom. Why do I say that? Let me show you what’s inside the store first.
Walking into the store, what caught my eye was actually a coffee bar, with a very simple decoration style and not a small variety of coffee. Out of curiosity, I ordered a cup of the currently popular coconut latte, and I was not expecting much until I took a sip and found that the taste was surprisingly good.
After communicating with the staff, I found out that the coffee and cakes were not prepared specifically for this event, but they will be available for everyone to taste in the future. It is worth mentioning that the desserts and coffee of this showroom are open to the public.
Now that we have our coffee in hand, let’s take a look at the cars. But surprisingly, the closest thing to me was not a car, but a flower shop.
Similarly, this florist is also open to the public. As for the price, do you think it’s too expensive?
By now, you should understand why I said that LING HOUSE is the least car-like dealership I have ever seen. The store incorporates more of a youthful and trendy atmosphere in its decoration, which fits the lifestyle of Shanghai’s petty bourgeoisie. As for cars, the three-color KiWi EV was in the store during my visit.
Finally, the Car
In the center of the showroom, there is a recently released high-end fashionable gold version of KiWi EV, priced at 89,800 yuan, which is 11,000 yuan more expensive than the previous top-of-the-line artist version due to the differences primarily in the interior.
If you are familiar with KiWi EV before, you will notice that the interior has become more refined as soon as you step inside. First of all, the originally all-black interior is replaced with white, and more leather wrapping is added, significantly enhancing the feeling of texture and visual quality.
At the same time, 64-color ambient lights, a mobile phone holder, and a storage box are added. It is indeed an admirable thing to add ambient lights to such an A00-class small car.
However, 11,000 yuan already takes up 15.7% of the price of an entry-level KiWi. Therefore, for such a small car, the “interior upgrade package” for 11,000 yuan is not cheap, and if combined with the 8,000 yuan intelligent driving package, the price of KiWi is already close to 100,000 yuan. When it comes to this price range of 100,000 yuan, there are actually many products to choose from, generally larger in size with even better performance in A0-class or even A-class products.
The price range of 70,000-80,000 yuan is currently a price ceiling for mini pure electric vehicles in this segment. KiWi EV is also eyeing this differentiated market to evolve itself. Providing users with a certain range of endurance and more personalized choices, even as a means of transportation, it must have a more exquisite user experience. If you want to see more about the test drive experience of KiWi, you can check out this article, “Can a Car for 80,000 Yuan be called a ‘Car’?” – Garage 42.
Significance of Opening
In fact, the high-end fashionable gold version KiWi EV in the store is LING HOUSE’s ART’N KiWi Urban Adventure Art Exhibition, which will run until December 22. It is said that other car models will be replaced to hold different events in the future, but they will all be open to the public.
LING HOUSE’s positioning is very clear. It is not like NIO House, where many services are only provided to car owners. Instead, it is a place where ordinary people can come in and buy a cup of coffee and take a look at the cars.
It is not like Mercedes Me, which makes people feel somewhat unreachable. People generally do not casually walk in when they are shopping. Although it also provides food, activities, and exhibitions to the public, it mainly targets high-end consumers.
But compared with new retail, this store does not have sales services. After April this year, Shanghai also suspended the registration of A00-level pure electric vehicle models. Currently, according to Zero Run’s sales channel, it is not possible to place an order for the T03 model in Shanghai.
So why did Wuling open its first global brand center in Shanghai? And why did it move some teams from Liuzhou to Shanghai?
When I asked this question to the staff, they expressed confidence in Shanghai’s policy. This may be a signal that the A00 pure electric vehicle model in Shanghai can be registered again, but the absence of any government document does not necessarily mean that the registration policy will change.Another point is that Wuling wants to enhance brand awareness and change its brand image through LING HOUSE. The Wuling brand has already established a solid foundation in second-, third-, and even third- and fourth-tier cities. With the increasing demand for quality small new energy vehicles in first-tier cities, Wuling also wants to use this as an entry point to move upward. At the same time, relocating the team from Liuzhou to Shanghai also confirms Wuling’s determination to develop this market.
Source: Wuling Motors official website
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.