Introduction: Facing the complexity of the automobile industry, ZHU Jiangming and LINGPAI are still young and inexperienced, and need more precipitation and evolution.
Recently, a friend said that under pressure, another leading battery manufacturer has issued a “notice letter” stating that the battery price will increase by a maximum of 20% next year. Therefore, it is not difficult to foresee that the new energy market will usher in a wave of price increases, especially in the fragile pure electric small car market.
On December 28th, the 2022 LINGPAI T03 was launched with a price range of 68,900-84,900 yuan after subsidies, which is much higher than the price range of the old model, which was 59,800-76,800 yuan. The T03’s price hike can be said to be the first shot fired in next year’s car price increase wave.
Whether to raise prices or by how much has become an issue that everyone must face. Of course, the impact of price increases on different brands is not the same. For luxury brands like Nio, short-term price fluctuations will not have a significant impact, while for brands like LINGPAI that focus on mainstream markets, price increases will bring a series of side effects.
Firstly, the price system collapsed. Compared with the old model, the price of the new T03 has increased by a few thousand to 10,000 yuan, and the price has increased by 10-20%. Such price increases have basically changed the product power of the T03.
In fact, for consumers, the key factor determining whether to buy is not simply the price increase, but whether the product power has improved. If the price increases and the product power improves, that is understandable. In May of this year, the mid-term facelifted IDEAL ONE was launched. Although the price increased by 10,000 yuan, all configurations were improved. In November, IDEAL ONE sold more than 13,000 units, which shows consumer recognition.
As for the T03 of LINGPAI, the opposite of IDEAL ONE can be used to describe its price hike and deteriorating product power. Taking the entry model as an example, the old T03 was priced at 59,800 yuan, with the core performance parameter of 41 kWh and a range of 403 kilometers. The new T03 entry model is priced at 68,900 yuan, with the core performance parameter of 31.9 kWh and a range of 301 kilometers. Looking at the price for the entry model with L2 intelligent driving assistance, the old T03 is priced at 75,800 yuan, while the new model only has the top-level model equipped with assisted driving, and the price has increased to 84,900 yuan.
You have to admit that the tag of “price of 50,000 yuan, L2 assisted driving, 403 kilometers of range” – king of value-for-money in the small electric car segment, has already been torn off by the 2022 T03.
Regarding the embarrassing product power of the new T03, it may not be entirely accurate to attribute it to LINGPAI’s declining product definition ability; it is more due to the multiple pressures from subsidy reductions and rising battery prices from suppliers.The product strength of the new T03 has been reversed, which has brought tangible pressure to the marketing department of Leapmotor. Therefore, the dissemination slogan of T03 as the king of cost-effectiveness has become a high-end intelligent pure electric vehicle, and it is forced to follow the high-end, boutique, and intelligent route.
In the long run, going high-end and boutique is necessary, but whether the current T03 of Leapmotor can be called high-end and boutique remains a question mark. Regardless of Leapmotor’s brand strength, the new T03’s product strength and product accumulation, the new T03 and high-end boutique cars are far apart, making it difficult to form a brand and product power premium of about 10,000.
Of course, perhaps high-end and boutique is a false proposition for the new T03, but it still has advantages compared to competitors. Especially after Euler experienced the “charging door” incident in mid-year and the “chip replacement door” incident at the end of the year, it is still deeply trapped in the chip replacement incident and unable to extricate itself. Users’ concerns about the Euler brand naturally shift the focus of choosing electric cars from Black Cat to T03.
As for the NETA V Pro, due to the existence of a customized version priced at over one hundred thousand, the increase in price of the new model is not significant. After the price increase, the main selling price of T03 is directly comparable to that of NETA V Pro. The original cost-effectiveness advantage is almost gone. With the same core performance and SUV position, it can be said that NETA V Pro is the most direct beneficiary of T03’s price increase this time.
The rise of T03 is based on cost-effectiveness. Now that the cost-effectiveness has disappeared, it remains to be seen if T03 will be submerged in the near future. With T03’s strong performance this year, Leapmotor has “risen from the dead” and squeezed into the ranks of second-tier new forces. But it is clear to everybody that relying on cost-effectiveness to establish an advantage in the highly unstable price system of the new energy market will never be sustainable.
For Leapmotor, the greater hidden danger lies in the fishing-style and ever-changing sales policies formulated to grab new orders, which have angered users and even triggered rights protection. T03 to C11 are not spared.
In the end, facing the complex automotive industry, both Leapmotor and Zhu Jiangming are too young and have a little lack of experience. They both need more precipitation and evolution.
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.