Author: French Fry Fish
On the first day of our acquaintance, Teacher Chang shared with me a secret that he had learned from years of experience in the media industry:
“Typing words is never difficult; thinking is the soul of a creator. Look at me, I still owe four or five articles, yet I’m still here chatting happily because I’m still thinking.”
I thought it was an art of language, but I didn’t expect it to become so relevant so quickly.
On June 1st, DENZA held a small but high-profile online D9 product tasting event, with Zhao Changjiang, the General Manager of DENZA Sales Department, attending in person.
On June 11th, I finally started typing down these words.
This is the article that has taken me the longest to finish since I started working in this industry. On the one hand, I am amazed that DENZA, with its strong traditional automotive genes, has erupted such strong media affinity under Zhao Changjiang’s leadership; on the other hand, I am also thinking about what the DENZA D9 means for this year’s fiercely competitive MPV market.
Electrification = Smoothness
2022 is a big year for domestic MPVs.
Embarrassingly, I have written this sentence many times myself, but just like how you can’t get away from the basic 1+1 in math problems, when it comes to this year’s MPVs, this sentence is the most appropriate.
This appropriateness can be seen in two aspects. First, many domestic brands have launched new products to attack the middle and high-end MPV categories; second, the new energy wave has begun to wet the MPV market, and the new curtain of electrification for MPVs has been drawn.
When these two “new” overlap in the MPV market, the “stacking” of domestic brands and the electrification of innovation can achieve a revolution in the experience of new energy MPVs.
The most direct revolution in the experience of new energy MPVs lies in the driving sensation.
If you drive a traditional MPV in the traffic jam on the Third Ring Road in Beijing, even a traditional high-end MPV, you will surely understand the pain of “stepping lightly and not moving, stepping deep and surging”.
This is not simply due to insufficient engine power, but more because of the low torque output characteristics of the engine and the negative effects of the large body size of an MPV.
Electrification for MPVs provides a solution to this problem, and electrification happens to be the strongest point of DENZA D9.## Translated English Markdown
Backed by BYD, the electrification of DENZA D9 can be divided into two routes: DM-i super hybrid technology and e-platform 3.0 technology. The former corresponds to the hybrid version of DENZA D9, while the latter corresponds to the EV version. We won’t go into the technical details of these two routes, but they both point to the same goal – the big motor.
As for the pure electric version, let’s not say much about it. Even in terms of energy saving and endurance, which are the biggest selling points of the DM-i super hybrid version, it is equipped with a larger motor parameter than a regular HEV model.
“Our revolutionary DM-i is a very good solution,” said Zhao Changjiang confidently when summarizing the DM-i technology.
Meanwhile, high-power motors have two characteristics that are particularly suitable for large and heavy MPVs: one is the obvious torque advantage of the motor, and the other is the fast response, which immediately produces the maximum torque.
“In simple terms, the large torque is used to overcome the heavy vehicle weight, while the fast response is used to respond to power demand anytime,” explained a spokesperson.
These two characteristics comprehensively mean that DENZA D9 will achieve “instant response” and “power-on-demand” performance within the commonly used speed range. These seemingly ordinary words can actually bring a completely different MPV driving experience to ordinary people.
Creating a “Luxury” with Configuration
“Smart new luxury brand is our positioning,” said Zhao Changjiang, who has a very clear definition of DENZA’s brand.
When it comes to luxury, the vehicle configuration cannot be ignored. The high configuration is a “traditional virtue” of domestic independent brands, but DENZA D9 not only inherits this tradition, but also adds more of DENZA’s own understanding. Don’t forget, since the birth of DENZA, its genes have carried the luxury of Mercedes-Benz.
With electric side doors opening, the panoramic sunroof with a standard area of 1.1 square meters gives enough light inside the car, presenting the NAPPA leather seats in front of you. With multiple electric adjustments, electric leg rest, ventilation heating, and 10-point massage, your back will feel and appreciate the value of these configurations once seated.The electric sliding door gently closes, and the double-layer soundproof glass, which is also a standard configuration for the entire series, first isolates you from the hustle and bustle, creating a small world of your own. The significance of the seven screens spread throughout the car is not in quantity, but in the fact that you can find the screen suitable for your own angle whether you are in the front or back row.
Then, pick the content you like, and your ears will be greeted by the Denon HiFi-level audio system, your peripheral vision will catch a glimpse of the 128-color dynamic light screen in accompaniment. With a slight movement of your nose, you can also smell the faint fragrance from the intelligent active fragrance system.
I don’t know if these words have outlined a picture in your mind, but I understand that what Zhao Changjiang and DENZA D9 want to express is not limited to high configuration.
Their hope comes from many “standard configurations” of the entire series, with the first layer of meaning being to elevate the minimum experience of the entire car series; the second layer of meaning is to interpret the luxury beyond high configuration that DENZA understands by elevating the minimum experience; and the third layer of meaning is DENZA D9’s way of delivering such luxury to the level of over 300,000 RMB, launching a “downward attack” named “in gold and silver”.
Still intelligent without rotation
“Intelligent new luxury”, I didn’t just see luxury and skipped intelligence.
In fact, in the picture I described, there are already many intelligent elements, and I don’t want to forcibly separate them too coldly.
Yesterday, Zhao Changjiang personally wrote a related long article on Weibo about the intelligentization of the cockpit.
I just want to talk about one interesting point I think.
When many people see the center console layout of DENZA D9 for the first time, they feel familiar and then unconsciously think that DENZA Link is just a reskinned version of BYD DiLink.
The appearance may be similar, but the soul is far from the same. This applies to both people and cars.
In fact, DENZA has some innovative ideas.
As we all know, DiLink supports the Android ecosystem. In order to solve the problem of adaptability of Android applications on horizontal large screens, BYD’s solution is to add rotation function to the car screen.
However, the rotation method is not applicable to the many screens that DENZA D9 supports for sharing content. In fact, according to the information disclosed by Zhao Changjiang, DENZA will not adopt the solution of rotating the screen in the future.
DENZA’s solution to the horizontal and vertical display problem is “Parallel Window”.
Under the vertical app interface, sliding from the bottom upward can enter Parallel Window function. It not only divides a horizontal screen into two parts, but also intelligently divides the same app into two screens, which can reduce the waste of screen display area under the vertical app interface.
“Parallel Window” is just one point of DENZA Link. In addition, DENZA Link also has customized UI, wallpaper/map dual desktop, 3D control, fusion music, DENZA Share, ONE ID, full-scenario intelligent voice, and 8 functions different from the former employer, which can prove that DENZA Link is not just changing the UI skin, and it is also a epitome of DENZA D9’s intelligent performance.
Starting from more than 20,000 orders
Tested in the market, all-electric, “full-series standard” luxury, and well-designed intelligence constitute the three barriers of DENZA D9.
Of course, the product barriers are intended to protect the orders that users have placed.
According to the data released by DENZA’s Zhao Changjiang, currently DENZA D9 has more than 20,000 orders.
This is not difficult to understand.
For family users, DENZA D9 not only retains the advantages in the second row, but also greatly improves the experience in the front row, so that the owner will not be reduced to just the role of the driver.
For business users, the same price brings higher luxury configurations. Moreover, whether it is the DM-i super hybrid or the EV pure electric version, these letters represent lower daily usage costs. The existence of the DM-i version also dispels the mileage anxiety of business users.
However, the more than 20,000 orders may just be the beginning. “DENZA” plans to build 200+ offline flagship stores this year, initially covering 69 cities and then expanding to 138 cities.
There are three modes for different distribution locations. First is the “DENZA” center located in the car city, which will have functions such as user experience, car sales, car delivery, and full-function after-sales service. Second is the “mini center” located in the city’s financial center or landmark buildings, with functions such as user experience, car sales, car delivery, quick repair, and maintenance. Third is the “experience store,” which has a relatively small area and more flexibility in layout, whether it is in the business district, supermarket, street, or even subway station, it will have functions such as product promotion and car sales.
The establishment of more sales channels is bound to expand the scale of DENZA’s orders. However, what is more pleasing than orders is DENZA’s delivery.
Zhao Changjiang directly announced a clear target: starting from August, completing the delivery of 20,000 orders by October, and expecting to deliver 30,000 to 40,000 by the end of the year.
This delivery speed undoubtedly demonstrates the advantage of relying on BYD’s big tree for a cooler experience. BYD has mastered the core industry chain, with no problems in component manufacturing or vehicle assembly.
The only regret is chips and batteries. Zhao Changjiang admitted that chips are mainly affected by the epidemic in Shanghai, but this problem should be alleviated as Shanghai resumes work and production. As for batteries, even BYD is facing a shortage in the current environment, causing the slightly delayed delivery of EV versions. According to DENZA’s plans, the delivery of EV models may need to wait until November, and in the future, the EV model will also account for 30% of the total order volume of DENZA D9.
Late is not a big problem at all. In the face of BYD’s integration ability, the difficulties have become clear, the thinking has become clear, and to some extent, the solution path has become clear as well.
As Mr. Chang told me at the beginning, the process of thinking is always more important.
“Typing is not difficult, thinking is the soul of creators.”
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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.