Author | Kimo Jiang
Editor | Chuxian Zhou
September 15th is a remarkable day for Aiways. In the future stories of the Aiways brand, this day will undoubtedly be frequently mentioned.
Let’s take a look at the two major events of Aiways on this day – the brand logo renewal and the release of the high-end brand Hyper “Haobo.”
For Aiways, which has gone through five years since its registration and establishment in 2017, this is a watershed moment because it has set a goal of “top three electric vehicle brands in the world” and has a new pace. However, judging from the market feedback, this is definitely a controversial day. The first model of the high-end brand Hyper “Haobo,” the Hyper SSR, with a starting price of 1.28 million yuan, has caused surprise and questioning, similar to “Aiways, why”.
Although the questions asked by the media during the interviews were relatively polite, such as, “Where does our confidence come from in providing a car with such a price?” The doubts from the market cannot be concealed.
Obviously, the leaders of Aiways who received the questions were also prepared to answer this question. There are only two key points:
“In the era of electrification, as Chinese automobile people, we really shouldn’t waste this era.”
“Master the core technology truly in our own hands, and walk on two legs.”
Aiways under the new logo
Why did Aiways design a new logo?
“The story behind it is quite long,” said Gu Huinan, general manager of GAC Aiways New Energy Automobile Co., Ltd. “Before 2020, our vehicle had the logo of GAC Trumpchi, and in 2021, the logo of GAC Aiways was used. Today, we can finally realize our dream, and it will be Aiways on our vehicle from now on.”
Looking closely at the words of Gu Huinan, he replaced “GAC Aiways” with “Aiways”. In the view of “AutocarMax,” this means that after five years of establishment, Aiways, which already has four models under its belt, has officially become an independently operated high-end electric brand.
Although it was announced in 2020 that it was operating independently under the name of “GAC Aiways,” in terms of technical and resource support, it still has a close relationship with GAC Trumpchi. After five years of establishment, Aiways has accumulated a certain amount of thickness in product layout and technological accumulation, and it has come to the time when the brand is truly independent.After all, the pace of high-end brand operations such as Voyah, Zeekr, Avita, etc., which operate in the market, is much faster than expected. “In the future, we will stick with Aeolus and also carry our AI label.” Gu Huinan said that after more than a year of soliciting opinions and getting dizzy from all the feedback, the new logo for Aeolus has finally been settled.
The dust has settled on the new logo, marking a new beginning for Aeolus and also bringing many new challenges. One could also say that what does Aeolus want to become under the new logo?
When answering this question, Xiao Yong, Vice President of GAC Aion New Energy Automotive Co., Ltd., was as direct as ever. “We want to become a world-leading, high-end, intelligent, and pure electric enterprise.”
To achieve this vision, he has given two evaluation criteria. “First, we need to achieve a certain scale and rank in the top three in the world; second, brand and product values need to enter the mainstream or high-end price range.”
What is the global sales volume of the top three?
As of now, BYD and Tesla rank first and second in the global new energy sales list. In terms of 2021 sales data, Tesla completed 930,000 units, and BYD’s new energy vehicle sales in the first half of 2022 reached 641,400 units, surpassing Tesla for the first time and becoming the top-selling new energy vehicle globally.
From a data perspective, Aion, with cumulative sales of 123,700 units in 2021, still has a large market space to work hard. However, the market performance from January to August this year has given Xiao Yong a lot of confidence.
“The first eight months of this year were probably around 150,000 units, and our order book is still quite thick.” Xiao Yong said that under the limitations of production capacity, the delivery volume in August was about 27,000 units, “surpassing the sum of WmAuto, Xiaoli, and the theory of three individuals, which is about 24,000 units combined.”
A factory with a capacity of 200,000 units, running three shifts for two rounds a day, and producing for 22 hours a day with a capacity utilization rate of 160%. These data have allowed Aion to raise its annual sales target from “maintain 200,000 units and challenge 250,000 units” at the beginning of the year, to “maintain 250,000 units and challenge 300,000 units.”
Xiao Yong also shared another piece of news. In October, the second factory will be renovated and put into production, which can alleviate the current production capacity pressure.”In the coming three months, from October to December, we will aim to reach a monthly sales goal of over 35,000 units, even up to 40,000 units,” said by Xiaoyong, showing confidence in challenging the goal of selling 40,000 units per month, but the pressure is also evident. He pointed out that the main issue now is the production and supply, and the deputy general manager responsible for procurement is still chasing orders.
However, this somewhat boastful statement cannot disguise the pressure that needs to be tackled urgently by Aiways.
For example, Aiways’ brand voice is not as loud as Lynk & Co, and there is even some gap in discussion volume with Zeekr and Avita. The wish to change from “Little Lynk” to “Aiways” has not been fulfilled. Moreover, looking at Aiways’ current models, it is AION S and AION Y, priced between 150,000 and 250,000 yuan, that bear the workload of reaching high sales volume. The sales performance of the AION LX series, which has a higher price, is somewhat underwhelming.
These two realities cannot be eliminated simply by changing the logo, and more chips need to be put on the table. Meanwhile, Aiways is also attempting to change the impression of “ride-hailing” through sales, which is a legacy of its over-reliance on the B-side market.
Of course, as the helmsman of Aiways, Gu Huinan has given enough time to achieve the development goals of Aiways in the future. “We should strive to achieve Aiways’ development goals within 5-7 years.”
Aiways has chips.
In fact, when Xiaoyong publicly criticized SAIC Chairman Chen Hong’s “soul talk” before, he was already showing off Aiways’ inner chips.
Xiaoyong criticized the cooperation with Huawei, saying that “we basically have no bargaining power” as the price was beyond their control. Qinghong, the general manager of GAC Group, had also complained that he was “working for battery companies.” Currently, the lack of software and hardware technology in the automotive industry may easily result in being “at the mercy of others” in the supply chain.
How did Xiaoyong criticize Chen Hong’s “soul talk”? He used “walking on two legs” to overturn Chen Hong’s “soul talk” and express Aiways’ determination to conduct self-research and development. To put it in a popular way, it is “downplaying the competition.”
“If we want to enhance our competitiveness in the future, and truly master the core technology, we need to walk on two legs. On the one hand, we undertake open external cooperation, and on the other hand, we need to practice our own internal skills, such as the core technologies of three electric powertrains, ICV (Intelligent Connected Vehicle), domain controller, intelligent cabin, etc.”
Aiways’ R&D model consists of “GAC Research Institute + in-house R&D at Aiways.” GAC Research Institute is responsible for vehicle development, while Aiways focuses on the construction of core capabilities of “EV (pure electric vehicle) + ICV”, adhering to self-research, development, and industrialization, and has formed a self-research team of nearly 6,000 people.Currently, Aiways is accelerating its evolution of the GEP platform to its third generation, with the mass production of new models set to be launched in 2023, covering sedans, SUVs and MPVs. The third-generation platform, based on the Starlight architecture, achieves L4 level autonomous driving capability, and the entire range of models is planned to be released with swappable battery versions.
In addition, Aiways has independently developed and launched its new magazine battery system technology, investing nearly ¥1 billion in battery research, development and production, and will continue to invest ¥336 million to build a power battery mass production line.
By spending big on R&D and battery technology, Aiways hopes to keep control of the core technology. However, Xiao Yong also revealed a data point: 70% of Aiways’ future plans could be from market procurement and partnerships, with 30% being self-developed. Compared with the new forces that shout “full-stack self-development,” their self-development efforts may not be strong enough.
Turning our attention back to another highlight of the launch event, the high-end brand Hyper Haobo.
The first model, Hyper SSR, has a starting price of ¥1.286 million, which Aiways claims is China’s first supercar, “Hyper SSR is self-designed, self-developed, and self-manufactured, with competitors all priced at ¥5 million or more.” To put it lightly, the price range of new cars is quite frightening when bench-marking against competitors, with many costing over ¥5 million.
Xiao Yong also shared some of the self-developed components in the Hyper SSR.
The electric drive is self-developed by Aiways, not provided by any global giant. The self-developed “four-in-one” dual-motor integrated motor, with 1225 horsepower electric drive and 12000 Nm of torque. Meanwhile, in order to maintain the performance of the supercar, Aiways continues to optimize battery technology and drive technology, including lightweight tires and bodywork…all the while working on every aspect.
As the first model after the Aiways’ refreshed logo, the Hyper SSR has some outstanding parameter settings: 1225 horsepower in comprehensive power, two-gear four-in-one high-performance electric motor, 1.9 seconds of acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h, and 100% carbon fiber outer covering…
“It is high-end, high-value, and brings brand-new, upgraded, and more valuable Aiways products to everyone.” Xiao Yong hopes that, starting from Hyper SSR, the market and consumers will feel the brand changes of Aiways.The starting point is understandable, but the range from previously 1.5 to 2.5 million yuan priced models to the starting price of 1.28 million yuan for the AutocarMax appears to be too steep of a jump. For breaking into the high-end market, Aiways seems to be “anxious”.
Does Aiways have enough chips to support this premium pricing power? Of course, even if Hyper SSR is not for volume production but to shape Aiways’ high-end branding image, this difference cannot be filled with just a feeling of “Don’t let down this era for us Chinese auto people”.
Models, technology, and more are needed, as well as time. Gu Hui’nan also admits that from the beginning of Aiways’ establishment, both the group and themselves have been thinking about how far the future Aiways can go. “To be honest, we have always been planning.”
As for future plans, Aiways hopes to reach a certain scale in terms of sales volume and become mainstream. The value of the product and price range should be mainstream as well. “To put it more aggressively, Aiways is invincible in the 100,000-250,000 yuan range. Next, we need to enter the market of 250,000 yuan or even 300,000 yuan and form a certain difference with existing Aiways products.” Xiao Yong’s answer is always direct.
As for entering the 250,000 yuan or even 300,000 yuan market, this heavy responsibility falls on the high-end brand Hyper Haobo. The Hyper product will first use a new LOGO. The existing product will not change the LOGO temporarily, mainly to form a product differentiation in the market.
After all, to compete for the top three in the world, sales volume must reach a certain scale. Hyper Haobo, undoubtedly, also bears the burden of sales volume. Therefore, Aiways still needs high-end models with more product strength. What product series will Hyper Haobo have in the future is the key.
“The first model we release is a supercar, which is equivalent to the boss, appearing first. The following series of 300,000-yuan level sports cars – Hyper GT, large five-seat SUV – Hyper SUV, and Hyper MPV, along with today’s Super Supercar SSR, will all be invested next year.”
Xiao Yong also made a statement, promising the delivery of Hyper SSR in October next year while also making a dig at Tesla, “Your words are not reliable” by saying, “Two or three years ago, they said the so-called supercar will be mass-produced, and they still haven’t seen mass production today.”
However, joking aside, some realities still need to be faced. Multiple high-end models require more research and development investment and more money. Aiways, which lost 2.7 billion yuan in three years, has yet to have the power to self-generate funds.
Although Gu Huinan said that EAON, which has completed the shareholding reform, has no shortage of money and is full of momentum, and there are plenty of stories to tell in terms of innovation such as the evolution of power battery technology and platform iteration to impress the capital market, breaking through the high-end market from the bottom up has always been a very difficult thing to do, and improving profitability is much harder than increasing sales.
When will EAON, with its money on hand, fulfill its wish? Judging from the reality that Tesla and We Xiaoli have gone through, EAON still has a long way to go before achieving success.
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.