Wanbo from the Co-Pilot Temple

Reference of Intelligent Vehicle | AI4Auto WeChat Official Account

Change the front face, change the rank.

It’s not someone else, but the XPeng Motors who completed the first delivery among the new car-making forces in 2021.

During previous research, we asked why people bought XPeng.

Because of its “intelligence”.

Why not buy XPeng?

Because it’s “ugly” – mainly referring to the G3, and “uncivilized” – which specifically refers to the name.

But does ugliness and uncivilizedness really have an impact on sales?

The annual delivery data has been released, and while it seems that December’s turnaround has reversed the trend, the trail behind points to one thing –

Changing the appearance can completely change the situation.

XPeng Motors topped the new car-making forces for the full year 2021 with the help of G3i.

It was G3i’s strong rebound since September that played a key role during the P7 model’s brief slip.

As we all know, besides the name, the biggest change for G3i compared to G3 is the “front face”.

Therefore, taking a lesson from history, why not change the product name for a brand new look in the new year, XPeng?

Top Five New Car-Making Forces of the Year: Xiaoliyeweiling

On January 1st, 2022, the final competition results for 2021 were released on the delivery volume of new car-making forces.

WEY, XPeng, and Li Xiang are still in the top group.

The difference is that XPeng Motors, which lagged behind, overthrew WEY with 16,000 deliveries in December and 98,155 deliveries in the whole year.

The long-term delivery pattern of WEY, XPeng, and Li Xiang is rewritten as XPeng, Li Xiang, and WEY.

Let’s start with December and take a closer look.

XPeng Motors continued its hot streak from November and delivered 16,000 new cars in December 2021, a year-on-year growth of 181%.

This has also made XPeng the first in the monthly delivery of new car-making forces since October.

Li Xiang ranked second, still consolidating data advantages with the “Li Xiang ONE” model.

In December, it delivered 14,087, a year-on-year increase of 130%.

Although WEY, ranked third, held onto its place, it did not continue to increase in delivery volume after a rise in November.

It delivered 10,489 vehicles in December, slightly lower than the previous month.

From rags to riches, it seems too early to say. This year, we need to focus on WEY’s ET5.

In December, NETA, ranked fourth, delivered 10,127 vehicles.

YoY growth of 236%, but only a 1.14% increase from November, with a slight weakness.

The other two in the second-tier, Leapmotor ranked fifth with 7,807 deliveries in December, while WM Motors ranked sixth with 5,062 deliveries.

This is the delivery pattern of the new carmakers in December 2021.

From the results, the basic pattern of the new carmakers in November did not change much.

XPeng, NIO and Li Auto still firmly occupy the first tier of the new forces’ positions.

The difference is that XPeng’s delivery advantage has “further widened” from other new carmakers.

While NIO, as the goalkeeper of the first tier, is narrowing the gap with the second tier.

NETA in the second tier still leads with an absolute advantage, with only a difference of more than 300 vehicles left from the first tier.

Looking at the cumulative delivery in 2021, XPeng, NIO and Li Auto are still the unchanging first tier.

The biggest change is that NIO finally lost its advantage in inventory in December 2021 and was strongly overtaken by XPeng.

Data shows that XPeng delivered a total of 98,155 vehicles in 2021, ranking first among new carmakers.

NIO ranked second with a total of 91,590 deliveries in 2021, nearly 7,000 fewer than XPeng.

Li Auto, ranked third, delivered 90,491 cars in 2021.

In the second tier, NETA ranked fourth with a total delivery of 69,674 vehicles in 2021, while Leapmotor ranked fifth with a total delivery of 43,121 vehicles.

WM Motors ranked last with an annual delivery of 39,887 vehicles.

From the monthly delivery changes, XPeng’s growth was the most interesting:

Closely following for a long time, the strong counterattack happened suddenly.

Why did XPeng catch up with and overtake NIO?

XPeng’s counterattack against NIO began in September of last year.

Before that, XPeng had been behind NIO for a long time.

Its growth curve also overlapped and tangled with Li Auto, making it difficult to separate.

However, things changed abruptly from September.

First, XPeng Motors met the delivery goal of 10,000 vehicles per month, overtaking NIO.

They left their rival IDEAL far behind.

Moreover, they delivered 10,138 vehicles in October, despite the pressure from the supply chain, maintaining their lead.

On the other hand, NIO failed to reach their delivery target in October and IDEAL struggled to grow with only limited support from a single car model.

Behind XPeng Motors’ strong growth lies the company’s ability to withstand the pressure of the supply chain shortage, as well as its rapid expansion of its product matrix by launching new car models from July to September 2021, which generated the momentum for delivery growth.

Firstly, there’s the updated car model of XPeng G3, the G3i.

As XPeng’s first car model, the G3 was initially labeled “ugly.”

With the launch of competing car models, the G3’s market potential was almost exhausted. By August, just before the official delivery of the updated G3i, only 1,049 vehicles were being delivered, with the P7 being the main contributor to the delivery figures.

After the G3i was unveiled in July 2020, deliveries started in September.

The G3i’s styling was inspired by the XPeng P7, with a streamlined design and improved appearance. The front end design of the G3i was even a direct copy of the P7. It’s been rumored that the designer of the G3 model was from Mazda, while the P7 was designed by the Mercedes-Benz team. Therefore, the P7’s design is naturally better than that of the G3.

However, the changes to the G3i were not only in its design, but also in its smart technology and marketing strategies.

With the experience gained from the P7, XPeng Motors was able to improve the G3i’s intelligent systems to the greatest extent possible. The cabin is equipped with Xmart OS 2.0, a vehicle intelligence system based on the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 820A chipset as the P7.

The G3i also features an intelligent driving assistance system, XPILOT 2.5, which operates under the G3 platform architecture.

In terms of marketing strategies, XPeng used the concept of “sportiness” and NBA co-branding to transform “cost-effectiveness” into “youthful trendiness,” giving the G3 a new layer of meaning as a car in its price range.“`

After all, if it’s just because of its high cost performance, it will really fall into the dilemma of Redmi.

After various changes, the newly upgraded G3i quickly became the growth engine for XPeng delivery promotion.

The data shows that the delivery of XPeng G3 series in September increased rapidly from 1049 in August to 2626. In October, the delivery of G3 series reached 3657 — an old model, ushering in a renaissance.

More importantly, in the critical “Golden September and Silver October”, XPeng’s P7 model faced challenges and sales declined, but ultimately with the help of G3i, XPeng stabilized the market and cash flow.

After this battle, the new model XPeng P5 also started delivery in October, completing the relay.

By December, deliveries had reached 5030, providing support for XPeng’s overall advantage in expanding delivery quantity.

Therefore, behind XPeng’s annual championship, it is naturally inseparable from the intelligent product strength. However, if we really look at the details, the redesign of G3i is extremely critical.

As XPeng’s first mass-produced model, the small changes have led to big improvements, making it a classic.

For other intelligent car manufacturers, it is also worth learning from. At least the ideal new model ONE for 2021 is like this.

However, there is also a strong public demand that has not been met for XPeng–

Shouldn’t we also consider changing the name? (manual dog’s head)

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.