Issue 9

If you take a look at the top ten of new energy vehicle sales rankings in recent months, you’ll find that besides the overwhelming BYD models, only AIWAYS sits comfortably among the top ten.

While the old brands of new forces such as WM Motor suffer from the double crisis of word-of-mouth and sales, AIWAYS has become a dark horse and is now laughing all the way. Just like what Xiao Yong, Vice President of AIWAYS, said at the AION Y PLUS launch event: “We’ve won!”.

Indeed, in the depressed economic situation, AIWAYS’ sales are enviable compared to other brands, especially AION Y and AION S. AION Y, in particular, has been selling more than ten thousand units per month, becoming the first pure electric SUV selling over 100,000 units in the 150,000 yuan price range.

Perhaps it’s cold at the top. On September 27th, AIWAYS, along with Wang Mian and House, proudly opened a heated discussion about the topic of “Do we still need to be the first place?” in its self-produced talk show brand “National Leader Talk Show”. And AION Y PLUS was officially launched in an unprecedented “first place” way through this talk show.

The official guidance price of AION Y PLUS, after subsidies, ranges from 139,800 yuan to 179,800 yuan, including six models with two versions of different ranges: 510 km and 610 km.

As AION Y has set an example, AION Y PLUS is expected to achieve more. Xiao Yong said: “Let’s set a small goal, 20,000 units per month!”.

At present, only Tesla and Wuling have sold more than 20,000 units of a single pure electric vehicle per month. Therefore, Xiao Yong’s “small goal” is not that small.

Fun Magic

Different from the mature route that AION V PLUS took when it was released on August 26th, AION Y PLUS takes a completely youthful route. It takes “fun” to the limit on AION Y PLUS.

Firstly, the colors are fun. AION Y PLUS has a total of 10 trendy exterior colors, 5 interior themes, and 2 wheel styles to choose from. Compared with AION Y, AION Y PLUS has added some elements that connect the visual experience with the emotional world, which make young people interested at first sight. For example, the exterior color named “little peach,” and the interior color named “zero banana green.” It fully taps the effectiveness of homophonic puns and social hot topics, accurately grasps the pulse of young users, and leads AIWAYS’ sales to soar.In addition, users can also choose to purchase co-creation livery, full car color film, and other light modification methods to have a certain sense of participation, so as to establish a stronger emotional connection with the car.

Next is the versatile space. In the talk show, from the beginning of the House to the final Xiaoyong, the topic of “lying” was mentioned many times.

AION Y PLUS is a compact car with a width of 1870mm and a height of 1650mm. However, its body length has increased by 125mm on the basis of AION Y, reaching 4535mm, and the wheelbase has reached 2750mm, with a rear seat space of 1020mm. The front and rear seats can be folded down.

Once combined with the ADiGO SPACE intelligent cabin and the 14.6-inch central control screen, together with a game controller, AION Y PLUS can become a game room. Pick up a microphone and AION Y PLUS becomes a KTV. Folding down the front seats, AION Y PLUS instantly turns into a 1.8m bed that allows for a comfortable sleep during outdoor camping. Coupled with 32-color dynamic beam atmosphere lights, the “atmosphere” that young people pursue is instantly maximized.

The transcendental space gives AION Y PLUS the foundation for users to “win by lying”, while the flexible changes provide users with the capital to “win by lying”.

Finally, the appearance is fun. I believe that those who have seen AION Y PLUS will never forget its iconic headlights. Its headlights are difficult to associate with beauty or ugliness, just simply “fun”. They are like open wings or clearly visible eyelashes. A quick glance at the front end can capture a feeling of playfulness that is unique to young people.

Overall, AEYEON has successfully created AION Y PLUS as a product that can provide multiple-scene comprehensive experience by focusing on the preferences of young users.

However, as a product that leans more towards practicality, a car must not only be fun but also useful. Only when users can see its true value can they support the modest goal of selling 20,000 units per month.

Usefulness is the bottom line.

When hiding the toy attributes and returning to the car itself, AION Y PLUS still has some remarkable aspects.First of all, the AION Y PLUS is equipped with the Eindhoven Magazine Battery, which has always been a pride in the security performance. With the high-density magazine battery, the AION Y PLUS is the only model in its class with a range of over 610km. Less mileage anxiety is believed to gain more trust from users.

In addition, since the installation of the magazine battery, the overall safety of Aiways has also been more firmly guaranteed.

Secondly, there is an intelligent cockpit. Although XPeng boasts strong intelligence, XPeng still needs to call “Little P” to wake up when interacting with voice. The AION Y PLUS can directly give commands, making the interaction more natural and casual.

Finally, it is the power performance. Compared with the 135kW motor of the previous AION Y, the AION Y PLUS comes with a 150kW motor across the board, with a maximum torque of 225N·m. In most cases, such power is sufficient for driving in city scenarios.

Based on the young people’s personalized, changeable but concentrated urban life scenarios, the AION Y PLUS offers flexible and interesting solutions. However, it is regrettable that only the top-end models of 70 and 80 are equipped with the ADIGO PILOT intelligent auxiliary driving system, and other versions do not even have the opportunity to select it as an optional feature.

Electro-Force has something to say

Based on the AION Y, the AION Y PLUS has made improvements in many ways, allowing users to see Aiways’ sincerity. Whether the monthly sales can double to 20,000 vehicles as Xiaoyong wished, still needs further observation.

With the upcoming completion and production of the second intelligent factory of Aiways, the production capacity of Aiways will double from 200,000 to 400,000. It can be seen that Aiways has actually made capacity preparations in advance for the sales doubling of the AION Y PLUS.

In the new energy vehicle market dominated by new forces such as NIO and XPeng, as Aiways and other new competitors gradually rise, the market reshuffling is unpredictable.

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.