NIUTRON Launches Its English Brand; Chinese Brand Named Ziyoujia
NIUTRON, a new energy vehicle technology company, announced the launch of its English branding and the naming of its Chinese brand as Ziyoujia. The company also announced that its first product, the Ziyoujia NV, will be available for pre-order in the first half of 2022 and will be delivered to the first batch of customers in September of the same year.
Ziyoujia, With Over 1,000 Core R&D Personnel, Has a Production Capacity of up to 200,000 Vehicles per Year
Ziyoujia’s headquarters is located in Beijing, with a research and development center in Shanghai and a modern intelligent manufacturing base that covers an area of 770,000 square meters in Changzhou. The overall design capacity of the factory is 180,000 vehicles per year with a peak of 200,000 vehicles per year. The factory is currently undergoing pre-production modifications and calibration and is expected to be put into operation in March 2022.
Ziyoujia Offers Both BEV and EREV Technologies
Over the past three years, Ziyoujia has decided to pursue two technological approaches, BEV (Battery Electric vehicle) and EREV (Extended-Range Electric Vehicle) in parallel. The company has developed the Gemini twin platform, and the first product launched on this platform is the Ziyoujia NV, a mid-to-large sized high-end SUV that provides users with both pure electric and extended-range powertrains to meet different needs for inter-city long-distance and daily commuting. The vehicle is expected to be available for pre-order in the first half of 2022, with small batch production starting in March 2022 and delivery to the first batch of customers in September 2022.
Key Points of the Interview with NIUTRON CEO Li Yinan and President Yang Jingyi
Team and Funding- The work on the automobile industry began in November 2018. Throughout this process, we never took a day off, nor did we lack money. The outside world may have perceived our progress as slow, and I myself felt it was not fast enough. However, good products are polished over time. We followed the process and worked on the details extensively, while also facing tight time constraints.
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Regarding the team, most of the talent works in Beijing, involving the development of autonomous driving and intelligent cockpit. Design is mainly handled in Shanghai, with engineering based in Changzhou. The main executives were recruited in 2019.
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In 2014, the judgment that we can achieve a $3 billion USD project in making cars is still believed to be feasible.
Product
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The appearance of the range extender and pure electric models are the same, both designed under the theme of “electronics”. The range extender can be understood as “electrically modified oil”.
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The car market does not lack benchmarks among competitors, but we do not define our target audience. We explore the feelings of joy and pleasure, not limited to one or two people, even four-person families. The most important thing is whether one can feel proud while using the product.
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The design philosophy is “urban exploring”, not focused on hardcore off-road capabilities, but it should perform better in terms of passability.
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Many luxury brand techniques, such as embroidery and polished shift knobs, are used for the details of the interior.
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NIU and NiuChuang are completely independent brands, operating separately.
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The NV model does not have lidar because there are multiple reasons for its exclusion. However, it is the best option for ensuring user experience and safety as top priorities.
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The product is positioned as a high-end one.
User operations and sales strategy
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A team is responsible for user operations, including the excavation of KOC (key opinion customers) and the establishment of a points system.
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Brand operation takes time.
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Direct sales system is adopted for sales.
Others
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I have average intelligence and rumors circulate easily within the industry.
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What if the enterprise fails? Should I commit suicide? I would repay the suppliers and employees for outstanding payments, and ignore everything else.
Source: NIUTRON
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.