Ideal ONE Exceeds 10,000 Monthly Sales Goal

Outing 100 Media, a subsidiary of Outing 100, focuses on the evolution of the automotive travel industry chain.

Author: Roomy

After the facelift of the Ideal ONE, Li Xiang set a goal of “selling over 10,000 vehicles per month.”

At that time, Li Xiang’s goal was widely questioned. “It’s hard to exceed 10,000 vehicles. A single model may not reach that number until 2023.” This comment has gained many recognitions, indicating the skepticism.

In fact, whether it’s Li Bin, He XPeng, or Li Xiang, they are all aware of one thing: selling 10,000 vehicles per month is a necessary threshold that they must overcome.

“Achieving 100,000 car sales per year is the premise of all future possibilities.” He XPeng said that, which is also Li Xiang’s goal of endeavor.

At that time, few people believed Li Xiang’s goal of “selling over 10,000 vehicles per month” because Ideal Auto’s biggest weakness compared with Nio and XPeng was “having only the Ideal ONE.”

In addition, Tesla’s constantly-making headlines in the electric car market with its actions. The chip shortage and power shortage have created a tense atmosphere. It seems that the new forces of car manufacturing are facing bottlenecks.

Each has its difficulties. However, past experiences frequently remind us that human imagination is always limited in the face of new things.

Just like ten years ago, Wall Street never thought that Tesla’s market value would exceed one trillion dollars 10 years later, and Musk would become the world’s richest man, missing the $2 billion valuation of Tesla.

Perhaps, analogies cannot be equated, but there are still similar trajectories to follow. The highly praised questioning of “2023, or may not exceed 10,000” was ruthlessly broken in the late autumn of November.

This is an unexpected and expected set of data. The Ideal ONE delivered 13,485 vehicles in November, a 190.2% increase from November 2020. From January to November this year, Ideal Auto delivered a total of 76,404 vehicles, and the gross profit margin in the third quarter was the highest among the three companies. Since delivery, the cumulative delivery of Ideal ONE has reached 110,001 vehicles.

With a cumulative sales volume of more than 100,000 for a single model, Ideal ONE became the first Chinese brand with a single-vehicle sales volume of more than 10,000 in a month for models priced above 300,000 yuan. This model also has the highest delivery volume of any single model in the new automotive manufacturing industry… What do these achievements represent?The achievement did not come easily and it brought surprises. “From zero to ten thousand, truly a lot of emotions. For most car manufacturers, this is a small goal, but for us, it was really difficult,” said Li Xiang, who is not afraid to dream. In May, he set a goal of “selling over 10,000 cars per month”. Half a year after the launch of the updated version of the Ideal ONE, the goal was achieved. Ideal Auto broke through the barrier of 100,000 vehicles in only 708 days.

The Ideal ONE has set many records and achieved great speed. But what does good sales volume signify? What is the logic behind it?

Ideal is telling us something.

Awakening to one’s destiny is decided by the time

The trend of the electric vehicle market was sparked by Tesla. In 2014, Musk handed Model S keys to the first batch of Chinese users, and Tesla appeared on the scene in front of Chinese consumers as an innovator.

A series of technology-related terms began to be frequently mentioned in the automotive field, such as FSD chips, Autopilot software, big data, vehicle operating systems, and overall vehicle electronic architecture. This new star from Silicon Valley presented many advanced product concepts and ideas, which challenged the traditional ways of the automotive industry, which had always been orderly and systematic.

Autonomous driving has become the goal of both car manufacturers and technology companies. People believed that Tesla, which had already seized the opportunity before traditional car manufacturers’ awakening, would become the next Apple. At that time, including Volkswagen and Toyota, the giants were still competing for the global sales crown, and no one expected such rapid innovation.

The story has been told many times. Even though Model S and Model 3 were still in a loss-making state and were experiencing delivery difficulties, Musk had begun to create new rules. But it wasn’t the traditional car manufacturers who first responded. At a time when the debate about “Internet + Automotive” and “Automotive + Internet” was still being discussed on major forums, Li Bin, He XPeng, and Li Xiang, all from Internet backgrounds, felt the “awakening” time was right.

There is a saying that everyone has an awakening period, but the timing of the awakening determines their fate. Li Xiang’s awakening was somewhat different from that of Li Bin and He XPeng.

Musk once said, “The world is not short of startups that manufacture electric vehicles, but many of them go bankrupt before they start mass production.” In fact, the electric vehicle race has always been crowded, and the boundary between life and death lay only in the balance. To walk towards success amidst adversity requires the ability to grasp the wind.

The right direction always comes before effort.# In the fierce promotion of the slogan “pure electric vehicles” in the new force of car manufacturing, Li Xiang’s calm personality began to play a role. He was thinking about what kind of path should the ideal car choose in this trend of electrification?

Go with the flow or pursue a unique style? After experiencing some setbacks in the start-up period, he quickly found the answer. After conducting extensive market research and practice, Ideal Auto found the “necessities” consumers have for the electric car market.

“Mileage anxiety, space, and driving experience” are among the top factors.

While Tesla defined autonomous driving, Nio defined user marketing, and XPeng armed itself with technology, Ideal chose to take a different path.

After careful consideration, Ideal positioned the Ideal ONE accurately, creating an extended-range electric vehicle that combines the advantages of both fuel-efficient and pure electric vehicles. Furthermore, Ideal hopes to make the six-seat electric car a standard in the industry.

Based on these two distinct goals, Ideal Auto began to create user personas: for those who need a practical, high-value, high-end household vehicle. With these requirements in mind, features such as charging, range, large vehicle size, and intelligence were subsequently revealed.

Li Xiang has always been telling the team to understand who Ideal is competing against and how to compete. “As an automotive brand, everything will eventually be presented to users in the form of a product, presented to consumers. Everything else is useless.”

Choosing the extended-range route not only reduces the cost of car ownership but also guarantees range. The decision to create a six-seat model was also based on survey results.

Research found that there is a dire need for a third row in family vehicles. Previously, BMW X5, Mercedes-Benz GLE, and Audi Q7 also had seven-seat versions. However, due to their longitudinal structure, these large SUVs have taken up a lot of interior space.

Intelligent and high-configured models that can comfortably accommodate the entire family are scarce and expensive on the market. In this predicament, how to combine the trend with practicality became Ideal’s main focus.

“I want to provide a very good driving experience, like a six-cylinder engine for middle and large-sized SUVs for families. I found that the only technology we can choose is range extended, which is our angle for choosing users and competing in the market. Our technology was developed after these things were determined.”

So, this is the original intention of Ideal ONE to create a new electric six-seater model for urban and long-distance power generation. It not only effectively solves the mileage anxiety and space usability of household users, but also firmly establishes its foothold in the market with its differentiated car-making strategy.

“All efforts are aimed at locking in our target users and making Ideal ONE the best and most cost-effective choice for them when they spend their money.” Based on this, Ideal ONE has a clear positioning as a six-seater, mid-to-large size luxury electric SUV equipped with range extender system and high-end intelligent automotive solutions.

This is Ideal’s first step towards awakening.

The philosophy of product development lies in making choices

Perhaps the sales volume of tens of thousands each month has already demonstrated that Ideal ONE is becoming the “choice” of many households. However, the goal of Ideal Automotive is far from just being the “most cost-effective and best choice”.

Ideal has two goals: the first is for Ideal ONE to become the industry standard of the sub-segment market; the second is for Ideal Automotive to become the leader of China’s intelligent automobile industry.

Previously, industry insiders had praised Li Xiang for being calm and low-key, but not content to remain behind, as can be seen from Ideal’s choice to adopt the range extender route for Ideal ONE. “Ideal is taking a leading path,” they said.

Now, we can say that one goal has been achieved.

“For the first time, Chinese luxury brands have achieved monthly deliveries of more than 10,000 units,” “Ideal ONE is the first model of China’s new forces to achieve monthly sales of more than 10,000 units,” and “the first new car-making product of new forces to produce more than 100,000 units of a single model,” these data make that low-key Ideal unable to remain “low-key” any longer.

From another set of data provided by Ideal, we can also see the changes that Ideal ONE has brought to China’s automobile brands and high-end electric vehicle market.

Some people say that “this change is inspiring,” and I agree with this view.

Among the top ten old car brands that are being replaced by Ideal ONE, luxury brands account for 40%. Among them, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi users who are replacing their vehicles with Ideal ONE are obvious, accounting for 23% of all brands.

Luxury brands are replacing their vehicles with Ideal ONE, mostly B-level and C-level luxury cars priced between 300,000 and 500,000 yuan, with users of BMW 5 Series, Audi A6L, Mercedes-Benz C-Class, BMW 3 Series, and Audi A4L accounting for the majority.

A very clear conclusion is in sight.

“Ideal ONE not only attracts more household users, but also has many luxury brand replacement users,” which is a very important revelation. The monthly sales of Ideal ONE is not just a cold number. The significance behind it is that Ideal has the ability to compete with luxury brands in the gasoline car market.

This is what Li Xiang has always been looking forward to, as well as a watershed for the new forces in car manufacturing to mature.

He has mentioned more than once, “Although electric cars are growing, the growth is not enough for us to survive. We must compete with fuel cars and figure out how to grab the market from them. This is the most important thing.”

With the Ideal ONE, which sold over 100,000 units in just 708 days, Ideal can provide some insights to the industry. This new car manufacturer even becomes a phenomenon in the entire luxury car brand, and it has invisibly set some standards in the market.

The first standard is the revolutionary electric mode that generates power from both city and long-distance driving, making Ideal ONE the preferred luxury car for Chinese households. This “preferred” has solid data support. 88% of consumers think that Ideal ONE is a new energy vehicle when buying a car, mainly because the driving experience is more like a new energy vehicle.

The second standard is making six-seat electric mode become the mainstream trend in the industry. With the ability to carry three generations, Ideal ONE has gained recognition from family users. The data shows that the new Ideal ONE car owners are mainly “dads”, more than 85% of car owners have children, and 40% of car owners are second-child families. “The 6-seat mode layout is the most practical”, which has received the most praise.

In the current new energy vehicle market, product strength and intelligence are almost at the same level. What often determines the position in the market is the brand and product, which bring added value to consumers.

One of the major added values of Ideal ONE is “Promoting the holistic voice interaction and multi-screen solution”, which is gradually becoming a standard in the industry.

Currently, Ideal ONE’s multi-screen interaction solution and diversified application software make 92% of users more willing to stay in the car for a longer time in non-driving situations, and this ratio is much higher than Tesla and NIO.

By using a combination of “space, intelligence, interaction, and experience,” Ideal ONE has achieved monthly sales of over 10,000 units and cumulative sales of over 100,000 units, which is expected.

Although sometimes Ideal’s low-key style may cause us to overlook “Ideal Speed”, we have to admit that Ideal ONE achieved monthly sales of over 10,000 units from its birth, which is over 2,000 days faster than Tesla.

“We are very grateful for the user’s recognition of Ideal ONE’s product strength to achieve such outstanding results,” said Shen Yanan, co-founder and president of Ideal Automobile. As long as we believe it is valuable to users, Ideal will strive to achieve it.

Behind the product is the comprehensive management ability of the enterprise. The logic behind Ideal ONE’s monthly sales of over 10,000 units has two points worth referring to for traditional car manufacturers during the transformation period.# Don’t Waste Time

First, it is better to address practical usage issues instead of relying on long-term charging facilities or breakthroughs in battery technology.

Second, lacking personality is even scarier than falling behind.

This is the philosophy of creating ideal products, and it is all about making trade-offs.

No More Time Wasted

Only after firmly securing a place in the market can one start taking the next steps.

“Our first goal is to catch up with our competitors,” says Li Xiang, as Ideal ONE’s monthly sales exceed ten thousand units, and the first goal of the first phase is being achieved.

“Selling 100,000 cars per year is the basis for all future possibilities.” Now, Ideal is searching for more possibilities. Everyone knows that if one wants to seek greater room for survival, they must set their sights farther in the future.

Before the Ideal ONE even entered mass production, Li Xiang said: “Perhaps we will be attacking a mountain, maybe it’s a sea, or maybe it’s a continent. But without a product, how can we attack?”

As the penetration rate of new energy vehicles continues to rise, in addition to Ideal, XPeng, and NIO each producing 100,000 complete vehicles, Ideal’s “there is only one Ideal ONE” needs a new direction of attack and more chips for future competition.

“From a positioning perspective, what is really lacking in the mainstream market is highly competitive intelligent electric products.” To take up this banner, Ideal must focus on electric vehicles, autonomous driving, and assistance systems.

He XPeng and Lei Jun have both stated that the industry elimination game will truly begin in 2025, and the maximum number of brands that can remain on the table is no more than five. No one wishes to be eliminated from the market and Ideal ONE’s achievements only represent a stage of success for Ideal.

Li Xiang has always had a clear understanding, and he believes that Ideal has entered the second stage of its strategic period. New product development and autonomous driving technology are the priorities.

During this period, all competitive chips will be on the table. Whether it’s Tesla’s dominance or traditional automakers all-in on transformation, for Ideal, it is a fierce impact. Only having one Ideal ONE is insufficient to maintain the rising capabilities of the system.

As we all know, the ultimate battle in new energy vehicles is the ability to control the industrial chain. If Ideal wants to break through once again, more chips are needed. In such a constantly innovative industry, Li Xiang has come up with an appropriate solution.# Ideal’s Development Plan

Ideal has set a specific target for its high-speed development phase from 2021 to 2025, which is to become a leading Chinese intelligent electric vehicle enterprise and achieve a market share of over 20%, meaning selling more than 1.6 million cars.

“If we look back on the past routes, we have done reasonably well, but if we look at our future goals, we realize that we haven’t done anything very well,” said Shen Yanan, who stated that the corresponding resources need to be invested to achieve the target five years later.

Ideal is no longer satisfied with its extended-range electric vehicle route and single model, and has started to accelerate the layout of pure electric vehicle route, and decided to invest more resources. The Ideal Ultra High Voltage charging technology, which has been tested with real vehicles, can achieve a 400km range with only 10 minutes of charge. From 2023, Ideal will launch high-voltage pure electric models, and iterate with two new models each year, and allocate more resources to the pure electric route.

Standing on the success of Ideal ONE’s monthly sales exceeding 10,000 units, such a strategic shift requires a lot of courage. Funding, technology, scale, and brand appeal are all influencing factors. How to progress steadily is a challenge.

However, some signs can be seen from Ideal’s financial reports. “20% will be used for R&D of high-voltage pure electric vehicle technology, platform and future models”, and “the R&D cost ratio of extended-range vehicle is 10%”. These two sets of R&D investment data also show Ideal’s development plan.

Increasing the proportion of research and development of electric vehicle models and technology will inevitably require more investment. In addition to fundraising in the secondary market, this also indirectly shows Ideal’s confidence in the future market performance of Ideal ONE.

Obviously, Ideal’s pace is much faster than before. After Ideal ONE’s monthly sales exceeded 10,000 units, Li Xiang became more confident in “becoming a leader in Chinese intelligent automobiles.”

Now, he doesn’t want to waste any more time.

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.