Yes, after Jidu, Xiaomi, OPPO, and Foxconn, another brand has officially entered the field of new energy vehicles.
Looking around the team of car makers, someone is holding a blue flag with “NiuTron” written in Chinese and English.
Yes, the man who made two-wheeled electric vehicles has finally announced that he is making cars after experiencing several rounds of rumors.
It’s only at this point in time that he enters the field, so he definitely needs some experience.
Two wheels and four wheels are not the same
When it comes to Niu’s new energy, Li Yinan must be mentioned. He is often referred to as a “genius”.
At the age of 15, he was admitted to the Youth Class of Huazhong University of Science and Technology (now Huazhong University of Science and Technology). In the second year of his postgraduate studies, he entered Huawei as an intern and became Huawei’s executive vice president at the age of 26. During his tenure at Huawei, he helped increase Huawei’s revenue from 400 million yuan to 20 billion yuan. He was once rumored to be the “crown prince” of Huawei.
In 2008, Li Yinan became the CTO of Baidu and led the development of Baidu’s “Aladdin” project and other programs. Subsequently, Li Yinan served as the CEO of 12580, a subsidiary of China Mobile, and a partner of GSR Ventures. Finally, in 2014, he founded Niu Electric Technology and entered the transportation industry.
During the seven years of Li Yinan’s silence, Niu Electric Technology’s products quickly appeared on the streets and alleys of China and went overseas in a big way. According to Niu Electric Technology’s latest third-quarter financial report, Niu’s global sales reached 397,000 units in the third quarter, an increase of 58.3% year-on-year.
As of now, Niu Electric Technology has more than 2 million global users, with a cumulative global ride distance of 10 billion kilometers. The number of franchised stores in China is 2,686, and the international sales network has expanded to cover 41 dealers in 49 countries.
Many people confuse Niu Electric Technology with Niu New Energy, even referring to them as “Little Niu Electric”. This is certainly incorrect. In a media interview on December 15, Li Yinan directly responded, “The two companies are completely separate, the brands are also different, and they are different in this category.”
He even went so far as to say, “The complexity of the automotive industry is not on the same order of magnitude as that of two-wheeled vehicles. It’s not just two orders of magnitude, it’s three orders of magnitude. So even if I’d like to borrow (two-wheeled vehicle experience), I couldn’t really do it.”The clue about Li Yinan’s car-making can be traced back to 2014, when Li already had the idea of making cars, estimating that $3 billion USD would be needed to complete the project in its initial phase.
From November 2018, they started preparing for car-making. Now, three years later, on December 15, Niu Chuangxin Energy officially announced the English name “NIUTRON”, the Chinese brand “Ziyoujia”, and their first high-end SUV product, the Ziyoujia NV. The vehicle is around 5 meters long, has 5 seats, and comes with both extended range and pure electric power systems. The whole car is built with an upper steel and lower aluminum body and is priced above 300,000 RMB. It will be available for pre-order in the first half of 2022 and delivered in September of the same year.
Below, we will reveal all the information we currently know about Niu Chuangxin Energy.
About the Ziyoujia NV
This is a mid- to full-size SUV with a length of about 5 meters and 5 seats. It comes in both extended range and pure electric power systems and is priced above 300,000 RMB. The vehicle is built with an upper steel and lower aluminum body.
The range will use the CLTC standard but is still being measured, and the battery pack is purchased from a third-party supplier, which has not been disclosed by Niu Chuangxin Energy.
Exterior
According to the official statement, the Ziyoujia adopts the Urban Exploring (UE) design concept, aiming to create a “city-off-road fusion style”. In Li Yinan’s words, “it is primarily a city vehicle, but it also has some exploring capability.”
Yang Jingyi, President of Niu Chuangxin Energy, said, “in the future, the passing [ability] will be better than the models currently available on the market, and the customers will be able to perceive this performance through several parameters.” This means that it mainly meets the requirements for comfortable commuting and can cope with mild off-road conditions.
During the visit, Niu Chuang did not allow photography, so we can only describe the exterior design in words. The overall lines are relatively tough, the headlights are circular rings, and the dot-matrix light strip runs through the front face. The taillights are also dot-matrix-style and run through the tail lights, and there is a luggage rack on the top of the vehicle. The color of the display car is a dual-color design, and in the first version, it will include a dark green color.
Interesting to note is that the charging port is located at the rear, with refueling and charging ports on either side, and five rectangular light bars on the C-pillar to display the charging status.
CabinIn the cabin area, the core of the Zeekr 001’s interior is the 12.3-inch instrument cluster and the vertically oriented 15.6-inch central touchscreen, which replaces traditional ignition buttons with a lever-shift design.
Below the central touchscreen are a row of physical buttons that integrate functions such as defogging, driving mode selection, and hazard lights. The center console features a double-opening design, and at the rear of the armrest there is a dedicated rear screen to control the independent air conditioning settings for the back seats.
Turning our attention to the steering wheel for the primary driver, it features a design with one scroll wheel on each side, and has no other physical buttons. However, we noticed that the rearview mirror adjustment controls are located on the door panel armrest and operate using dedicated buttons rather than assigning additional functions to the steering wheel’s wheels, as is the case with Tesla.
One interesting design element is the small horizontal air quality display screens placed on the air vents for both the primary and secondary AC outlets.
However, the overall design of the smart cockpit layout is similar to that of the P5. At present, the preferred layout is to focus on physical buttons surrounding the car’s interactive systems (touchscreen, voice) for a holistic design concept. However, we need to wait for an opportunity to experience the actual interaction to see how this will be implemented.
Regarding the actual riding experience, the seat’s support is adequate, but it remains to be seen in the production version. The legroom in the front passenger seat is noticeably compromised by the intrusion of the wheel arch. Upon inquiry, a representative of the manufacturer stated that this was done for safety reasons, and that the placement of the longitudinal beam affects the space, but this will be changed in the future.
Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems
As for the ADAS section, Zeekr has defined its own specifications and partnered with a Tier 1 supplier to deliver level L2 assistance. We learned that this ADAS system architecture may be based on Freetech’s intelligent system, developed using the Horizon Journey 2 chip, and will not feature sensing hardware such as lidar.
Many people may not have heard of this company, but Freetech was founded in 2016 and has made technical breakthroughs in algorithms and computing platforms. In the fourth quarter of this year, their first-generation domain controller will undergo SOP and achieve level L2.5 driving assistance.Currently, new forces in the automotive industry are focusing on developing advanced cruise control and even city navigation capabilities. Faced with strong marketing campaigns from industry leaders regarding their advanced driver assistance systems, if the upcoming XYOVA NV adopts the aforementioned strategy, it will not be enough to compete with the top L4-equipped new forces in terms of assisted driving capabilities. However, if XYOVA NV can optimize and improve the user experience of the L2 system when it begins shipping in the second half of next year, it will be a more reliable option.
So far, XYOVA NV has completed three rounds of engineering trials, accumulating over one million kilometers of research and development test mileage. The first round of winter and summer tests has already been completed, and the second round of winter tests is currently underway. With the reconstruction of its manufacturing base, XYOVA NV is expected to begin small-scale production in March 2022, with the first batch of vehicles to be delivered to users in September.
Other information
In this section, we will introduce the production plans of the factory, the current status of the team, and the sales mode and user operation.
Factory
Currently, the Suzhou factory rented by XYOVA from Didi is expected to be bought outright next year, becoming an authentic proprietary factory. The factory, with an area of 770,000 square meters, is currently undergoing renovation and is expected to be completed in March next year. After the completion of the factory construction, it can support an annual production capacity of 180,000 vehicles, with a maximum capacity of 200,000 vehicles, and can produce four models on two platforms.
We had the privilege of visiting the factory that is currently undergoing renovation. The ABB seven-axis robot in the stamping workshop has been installed and can complete 12 pieces of work per minute. There are currently 344 KUKA robots in the welding and assembly workshop, and the number will increase to more than 360 after construction is complete.
Team status and financing
XYOVA currently has nearly 1,000 core R&D personnel, with the brand headquarters and most of its talent located in Beijing, responsible for the development of advanced driver assistance and intelligent cabins. A research and development center has been established in Shanghai, which is currently mainly responsible for design work. The engineering and manufacturing departments are located in Changzhou. Li Yinan mentioned that the main recruitment of senior executives was completed in 2019.
Currently, XYOVA has received USD 500 million in series A financing, with participation from global well-known institutions such as IDG Capital and COATUE.
Sales mode and user operation
XYOVA will adopt a direct sales mode for promotion and sales. As for user operation, a team is already responsible for KOC promotion and the establishment of a point system.
Conclusion## About Car Manufacturing Time, Is It Late to Enter the Game?
I believe many people may ask if it’s too late to enter the game. During a group interview, Li Yinan’s answer is quite interesting. He admits that “We are definitely late, no need to talk about it,” but also said: “Time tells the only correct answer.”
Is it really late to enter the car manufacturing industry now?
It seems so, since the top three leaders’ sales and product lines are expanding rapidly, and their advantageous resources have already been gathered.
However, is the timing really that late?
Jidu, Xiaomi, and even Apple’s cars are still not in mass production yet, and the product categories in the new energy market have not been fully filled, and the market is still calling for more imaginative people to enter.
So, how is Li Yinan’s car? We really need to give it some time and “let time tell the correct answer.”
Summary of the Group Interview
The following is a selection of the content of the group interview. You can feel Li’s unique charm between the conversations:
Interviewees:
Niou (New) Energy Founder Li Yinan and Niou (New) Energy CEO Yang Jingyi.
Li: Our overall design is called “Urban Exploring.” From our perspective, from day one, we are very clear that we are designing this car according to an electric car, whether it’s the platform architecture, appearance, or interior.
Whether it’s extended range or pure electric, the exterior is exactly the same. The exhaust pipe for the extended range is completely hidden, and you can’t see it eight meters away. We jokingly call our extended range a “conversion from oil to electricity,” which means it was moved from oil to electric.
Q: What did you prepare for the three years of car manufacturing? How will the capital usage be assigned when the previous statement was “billions of dollars to create a car”?
Li: Indeed, we started in November 2018. I think that throughout the process, there was not a single day of laziness, nor a single day of missing money. Everyone thinks we are quite slow, and I also think we are not fast enough, but I think a good product is polished out.
Any product, I think cars are simple, the process is very clear, and you must follow these processes to do it. However, it has many details, involving both balancing and countless details, involving a large number of designers’ work, as well as a large number of engineering work. I think we are pressed for time, this is what I want to say, but maybe others are much better than us.
Regarding time and financing, I think cars are also a high threshold for capital. Without a doubt. I believe that this is why others ask why you didn’t make cars before, and now you want to make cars. In 2014, I judged that I could not raise $3 billion to do this, but now I think I might be able to raise that amount of money to do it.## Q: What is the positioning and target audience of ZYO and how does your team manage and allocate talents?
Li: First of all, I think the biggest characteristic of the automotive industry is that there is no shortage of comparable models, and there are many products on the market. People also ask what our target audience is. I think we don’t want to define our target audience. As we have been saying, we are about exploration, refinement, and joy, that is our slogan.
I think we must at least explore: can bachelors buy our car, can couples buy our car, can families with three or four members? I think all are possible, I do not want to define our customer group, I do not want to define our age group, we do not have this idea, we do not want to compare with anyone. But the most important thing is whether those who buy or drive our ZYO can feel proud, of course we cannot guarantee that our car will have no problems, no car is problem-free. It is an industrial product, and in the production process such a complex industrial product will inevitably have various problems and recalls, although we try to do it well.
But overall, can we make most of our users proud to own or drive this product? This is what we care most about. We do not care who we compare with.
As for talent, if you are making a car, the main talent needed is related to the car, including our development of automated driving and intelligent cockpit is in Beijing, and design is mainly in Shanghai, engineering is actually all done by the team in Changzhou. The time we started recruiting people, the time when management began to recruit people was in 2019, at that time I thought it was not difficult to recruit people, and I thought we did not encounter any problems. Of course, should Jingyi add anything specific?
Yang: I think it is basically the same, because I myself also met Nam when it was early 2019, and when I first met him, he had already decided to make a car. So there was not much idle talk, we went straight to talk about products, and Nam’s personal charm, combined with this practical focus on products and brands, attracted a large number of solid and motivated middle-level employees in the industry to join our team, so this team was mainly recruited in 2019 when there were relatively more talents.
Q: What are your core development strategies and philosophies for car-making? What are the highlights of ZYO NV in terms of intelligence?Li: To be honest, the first question stumped me. As I mentioned earlier, our development strategy is mainly focused on bringing happiness to our customers and making them proud owners of our products. That is our starting point, and we strive to provide a better experience for our potential or imagined users. We do not have a specific direction in mind.
Regarding the intelligent cockpit, we developed it ourselves, and we rely on our own definition and cooperation with partners for the development of autonomous driving.
Q: What details in the Zhiyoujia NV embody exploration, refinement, and joy? How capable is the Zhiyoujia NV in practice?
Li: Let me briefly answer the last two questions and leave the first question to Jingyi.
As we discussed earlier, our design concept is Urban Exploring. This means that it is a vehicle for urban travel, not an outdoor vehicle, answering your questions regarding performance. It is a vehicle that meets all needs while also having some exploration capabilities.
Regarding sales channels, building stores is the most important way to make potential consumers aware of a new brand.
Yang: Let me briefly introduce the models we are exhibiting today. As you can see, these two models were frozen at an early stage and were responsible for confirming our color, texture, and fabrics. The degree of reduction to the mass-produced car is almost 100%. You can see many details from the interior perspective such as the use of embroidery techniques, tightening technology, and the parts that customers frequently touch, such as buttons, handles, and switches, which use a black chrome plating technique that most luxury brands also use. The three keywords mentioned earlier are integrated into these details. As the man just said, as a durable consumer product, many details need continuous polishing. This will gradually blend into a brand and product definition.
Furthermore, regarding off-road capability, we have several internal parameters and selection parameters that will be better understood by customers in the market. These parameters will be gradually released as we progress.
Q: What insights did you gain from your entrepreneurship as compared to Niu Technologies?
Li: Honestly, I do not have any insights on this. I am sorry.### Question: Is it too late to make cars now? How to differentiate the two labels of NIO and NIO Power? What is your IQ?
Li: For the third question, my IQ seems to be average, just like everyone else.
For the first question, it’s definitely true that we are late, no need to discuss. How to understand this depends on how you understand it. Let me give an example, of course this example may be completely wrong, and the scenario may be different: Japan is a strong automobile country, and we know that Honda entered the automobile industry 30 years later than Toyota and Nissan. During these 30 years, I don’t believe that no one else in the Japanese industry is doing it, just waiting for Honda to appear after 30 years. Maybe Honda is the last to become a large-scale auto company, and after Honda, there is no more? I think it is highly probable that there were many people during the 30 years.
The situation in Japan is different from that in China. This thing about the rising tides of the Yangtze River, it’s hard to say which wave will work, or which specific wave will work at a certain point in time, maybe it will be clear afterwards. We are in the midst of it, and I think many people may have their own judgments, but this judgment, surely time is the only correct answer, we cannot make it work just because a certain investor thinks it can work, nor do we think we can do it just because someone invested, nor do we think we cannot do it just because no one invested in us. I think we should just try it out, and we are not the first in exploring, we still need to work hard to guarantee it. We’ll see how it goes.
For the second question, our two companies are completely separate, with different brands, and we are also different in this product category.
Question: How was the 5-seat layout of the NIO ES6 designed? Will product development consider parallel development of multiple models? Will the current design style be continued?
Li: For the first question, our NIO ES6 car only has a large 5-seat layout. You might ask, why don’t we make a 6-seat, 7-seat or a 4-seat. I think it is because with our size, we still want to give our customers more comfort and ease. Why squeeze so many seats in this relatively small body? If you are a family with three kids, maybe we are not suitable for you, unless you have multiple cars. If you are the only car in the family, maybe we cannot meet your requirements. We also do not intend to try to meet everyone’s requirements.
For your second question, the automobile industry is a highly personalized industry, and different people have different needs, so it is impossible to satisfy all people’s needs, or the vast majority of people’s needs with one car. Therefore, of course, we are developing many car models at the same time. We say that “refinement” does not mean only doing one car model, we are developing several models at the same time, refinement, I think, only means that you are continuously striving in a particular matter.The third design style will definitely be different, as some cars will continue to adhere to their design style, while others may not be suitable.
Q: Self-Driving Home NV does not have Lidar hardware. However, after it is delivered next year, there will be a large number of competitors in the market with strong hardware. How do you view this?
A: I think autonomous driving is a revolutionary technology for the automotive industry driven by artificial intelligence. However, this revolutionary technology also requires a considerable amount of time to evolve continually. The arrival of new technology must be based on the fundamental prerequisites of improving user experience and providing absolute safety. There are various reasons why we did not choose to install Lidar on the first car, NV, and I do not want to explain them one by one. However, we think it was a good choice for us at this stage. As for our users, if Lidar is a necessary condition for them, we may not be able to meet their requirements. As for competitiveness, I think the least important thing is competitiveness, and the most important thing is what we can bring to customers.
I also forgot the question about user operation, and I can’t answer it honestly.
Q: How do you shape your brand image? Why did you choose Changzhou for the factory?
A: First of all, building a brand is not achieved overnight; we cannot promote ourselves aggressively and exaggerate ourselves to establish our brand. Instead, it is a step-by-step process that requires us to hone our own products and communicate and interact with the media and teachers fully. At the same time, the most important thing is our users. The actual use and experience of these users with our cars are all intertwined and require a considerable amount of time. It is impossible to achieve it overnight, and we have no idea of achieving it overnight. Since we have embarked on this matter, we have been hammering away for three years without a result. To be honest, I am not in a hurry. Brand building is a more challenging thing than making a car. I think it takes longer to slowly build it.
As for choosing Changzhou, I was already familiar with Changzhou since I had a motorcycle before. So that’s the reason, I have certainly selected many places and seen many places, but since we have chosen Changzhou, there is no need to say more.
Q: What is your corporate culture?
A: Corporate culture is the same for both external and internal, and you cannot have one face outside and another inside. The aforementioned exploration, refinement, and joy are what we adhere to, and we hope that it is the same for our employees. No matter what we do, there are always different possibilities. At least we think about it, and then we do it seriously. And the most important thing is that everyone should be happy whether he is working or not. It is not what we want for everyone to suffer deeply every day and come to work to earn a living.### Question: What is your assessment of the future pattern of new energy manufacturing, and what is the positioning of your company, Zoyte Auto?
Li: First of all, let me answer the second question which is relatively easier. We are definitely positioned at the high-end, there is no doubt about that. However, being high-end doesn’t necessarily mean luxurious and extravagant, we aim to provide customers with a luxurious feeling. But we are not actually in the luxury business, because as everyone knows, luxury brands require a history.
Regarding the first question, I think it’s as follows: everyone in our industry has studied and focused on this question. I don’t have a viewpoint because first, my car hasn’t been launched yet, I haven’t even stepped on the stage, so I am not qualified to say whether I can survive or not. I cannot answer the question of whether I can make it or not, so I’m unqualified to give an opinion. Company A says there will only be three manufacturers remaining in the world, while Company B says there will only be five left, so I don’t want to participate in this debate. However, the automotive industry is a massive industry, and our survival is based on China’s unique supply chain environment. If we imagine that there are only three companies operating in this market, the supply chain will definitely be monopolized by those three, and the fourth company will be very difficult to enter, the fifth company even more difficult, and we can imagine the difficulties of the sixth.
Question: Will Zoyte Auto pursue a fully self-developed stack?
Li: I think answering this question is like answering test questions, sometimes there are many different solutions and conclusions to solving one set of questions. There is not only one solution in the world. It is possible that there are many ways to solve a problem, or maybe other methods won’t work, or it might be the method that everyone thinks is the most reliable and end up failing. I cannot say whether pursuing a fully self-developed stack is necessary or not. What I want to say is that in the autonomous driving industry, we see that many companies are making efforts in different ways. At least 20 companies in China have raised over $400 million and are working on this issue.
Question: What sales strategy will Niu Innovation Energy use in the future?
Li: Our sales model will mainly consist of direct sales stores. This is the only way to go when the brand is still not well-known among consumers.
Question: Can the success experience of Niu Electric be copied to the car manufacturing business?
Li: I have to say, probably not. Because the complexity of the automobile industry is not at the same scale as that of the two-wheeler industry, it is not just one or two levels of difference, but three levels of difference. So, I also want to borrow from the experience, but it’s actually impossible.### Q: Why did you choose to visit the factory and release the brand on December 15th? And how likely do you think your venture will succeed?
Li: We are indeed in the preparation phase, but that doesn’t mean we’re falling behind schedule. All timings have been carefully calculated, so that’s not important. I still believe in the professionalism of the experts. We are here today to release because we have just about finalized all levers. We want to communicate with the media, the voices of our potential consumers who may be interested in us, through the media and respected teachers. This is because any high-value and durable consumer product, such as automobiles, has a very long decision-making cycle for consumers.
I think the timing of the release is almost right. We will deliver SOP to our customers in September next year. It’s about nine months in advance as it is now the end of December. I think it takes about eight to nine months, which is similar to the other industries. However, if I am already a company that is about to launch sales and is particularly mature, I may not need to be nine months ahead. Three months in advance would suffice.
Do you consider how many units will be delivered as a life-or-death issue?
Li: What if a company fails? Should I commit suicide? If we fail, we should first pay back the money to suppliers and employee salaries. We won’t care about the rest.
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.