Author: Yang Haiyan

Introduction

Ideals not only help range-extended electric vehicles regain new life but also influence other new forces to work towards extended range models. It can be said that they have nurtured an industry. Now, Ideals are welcoming a follower, Niu Chuang. This is not a shameful thing, but whether to express “following” as “not knowing one’s own business” is a matter for discussion.

As early as the beginning of this year, there were reports that Niu Chuang would cross the border into car manufacturing through the BAIC New Energy Changzhou factory, but this news was denied by Niu Chuang. However, recently, Niu Chuang’s electric passenger car brand, Niutron, declared that they had officially entered the new energy market.

The sudden arrival of Niu Chuang surprised many people, and the core information released by Niu Chuang and the location of their factory made a certain car company feel uneasy. Looking at it, Niu Chuang’s opening story is not so perfect, and there are even many controversies.

On December 15th, Niu Chuang Automobile held its first media communication conference in Changzhou, and released the car brand Niutron, which is named Ziyoujia Automobile in Chinese, and also announced some core information.

At the press conference, Niu Chuang founder Li Yinan announced to the outside world that they had formally entered the automobile industry. Previously denying it vigorously, they announced this heavy news at a simple communication conference, indicating that Niu Chuang Automobile’s rhythm control ability is still somewhat immature.

As we all know, car manufacturing is a money-losing business. William Li, founder of Nio, said a few years ago, “Without 20 billion yuan, you can’t do it.” Now, talking about the threshold for car manufacturing, he said, “Maybe you can’t do it without 40 billion yuan.” William Li explained that 40 billion yuan refers to the capital reserves required for a company to become competitive, sustainable, and have risk resistance.

Looking at the newly added Niu Chuang Automobile, the total amount of Series A financing is 500 million U.S. dollars, which is significantly less than other new forces’ leaders’ total amount of hundreds of billions of financing. Of course, this is only the first round of financing. With the progress of follow-up financings, Niu Chuang’s accumulated financing will further expand. However, how about the follow-up financing situation? It may not be easy to say because the new forces’ pattern has already been established, leaving Niu Chuang with limited opportunities and time windows.

The Niu Chuang Automobile brand headquarters is located in Beijing, and a research and development center is established in Shanghai. A modern intelligent manufacturing base covering an area of 770,000 square meters is located in Changzhou, Jiangsu. This place used to be the factory of Dayun Auto. Now it has a new owner, Niu Chuang. According to Qichacha, the addresses of Changzhou Niu Chuang and Jiangsu Niu Chuang companies were changed to No. 563 Jinlong Avenue, Jintan District, Changzhou on August 6th.Since 2019, the recruitment of executives at NiuChuang Motors has been finalized. As of now, NiuChuang Motors’ core R&D team has nearly 1,000 employees, all from mainstream top-tier automotive companies both domestic and international, with an average work experience of over 20 years.

In the era of “involution”, new forces in the automotive industry each have their own characteristics, culture, and stories. In the case of NiuChuang Motors, if defined with traditional perception, it would be an absolute outsider. But through Li Yinan’s interview, it seems that NiuChuang Motors is an “outsider’s outsider”.

During the communication meeting, what Li Yinan said the most was: “never thought about it”, “don’t know”, “not necessary”, and “no comment”. When asked about what advantages self-nomadic family has compared to other new brands, Li Yinan’s answer was, “To be honest, I really can’t say for sure. In any case, we just need to do our own thing well.”

On the surface, Li Yinan displays a “straight male” attitude that doesn’t seem to care, and some media have interpreted it as “not selling emotion”, while straightforward people actually gain everyone’s favor.

However, there is another interpretation, which is that Li Yinan doesn’t really understand it, which is the most intuitive. Supporting this view is that the information disclosed by NiuChuang Motors at this communication meeting is essentially the same as that of Ideal Motors.

This communication meeting is mainly reminiscent of Ideal Motors for the following reasons: 1. The factories are all located in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province; 2. The positioning of both is mid-to-large-sized SUVs, with extended range and pure-electric products; 3. The way the media was welcomed outside the entrance of the communication meeting is similar to the way Ideal held its press conference; 4. The brand positioning is both cars and homes.

It is reported that NiuChuang Motors’ Changzhou base is only 40 kilometers away from Ideal Motors’ Changzhou base. In addition, insiders revealed that NiuChuang Motors’ new car is still at the prototype stage, and its size and dimension are very similar to Ideal ONE, positioning in mid-to-large-sized SUVs, and both are extended range models.

So, is NiuChuang Motors copying from Ideal? Is Li Yinan learning from Li Xiang? The answer is not yet known. However, according to Ideal employees’ disclosure to DONGXI, NiuChuang Motors’ influence on Ideal indeed exists, including employee conversion and external recognition, after all, they are both in Changzhou, and they both produce extended range electric vehicles, and their boss’ surnames are Li.

On the spot, someone asked if self-nomadic family wants to directly target Ideal. Li Yinan himself said that they did not deliberately target any car companies or products. In his car-building philosophy, competition is not the primary task. Providing users with better products is.To say that there is also a deep connection between Li Xiang and Li Yinan. In the process of seeking investment, Hu Yilin, who was originally planning to create Xiaoniu Electric, met Li Xiang, and later through Li Xiang’s introduction, Hu Yilin met investor Huang Mingming, and then through Huang Mingming’s introduction, Hu Yilin and Li Yinan got to know each other.

Through this relationship, Li Yinan may have already been familiar with Li Xiang’s idea of making cars. For Li Yinan, who was not in the automotive industry, his first experience in the industry was profound and would naturally impact his car-making plans.

It is reported that the first model of NIO’s automobile, called “Ziyoujia NV,” will be launched next year. With the success of Xiaoniu earlier, Li Yinan’s ambition to create NIO into another phenomenal brand is not impossible, but the difficulty is also extraordinary.

More and more tech companies are joining the ranks of car-making, but making new energy vehicles is much more complicated than making small electric vehicles. Based on the information and corporate situation that has been disclosed, Li Yinan is prepared.

During Li Yinan’s first entrepreneurship, he said on Weibo, “No matter how disappointed one is with many things, there is no reason to be disappointed with the best times. Primitive instincts tell me that it is time to do something that makes me excited. I am willing to put my heart and soul into creating the most impressive electric car in China, using the best materials and cutting-edge technology. After a long period of deliberation, I am willing to restart from scratch and embark on the road once again.”

With Li Yinan leading NIO, backed by strong capital, and many strong core teams, will NIO’s future overlap with its ideals? It’s hard to say. But one thing is beyond doubt, Li Yinan and NIO’s arrival have made the entire industry of new car-making more interesting.

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.