Writing by: Wu Jingtao
New goals, new tactics, new strategies!
The annual Spring Festival holiday has ended, and everyone has returned to their work to set sail again for the new year’s goals.
Here, I wish everyone a smooth year at work and, especially, fewer worries in life, so that they can focus more on work and achieve new successes in the new year.
As the saying goes, “the year’s plan starts with spring”. At the beginning of the new year, we always envision new visions, set new goals, and look forward to new achievements. “New car-making” companies are no exception.
From the first day back to work after the holiday, various “new car-making” companies have been releasing internal letters, sending New Year greetings, clarifying goals, and making demands. Two days ago, the “Electric Car Boss” brought us the “internal letter” of Ideal Cars.
Today, I will bring you the “Opening Speech” of GEEKLY Car, which also had an equally impressive performance in 2022.
The speech is written by An Conghui, Chairman of Geely Automobile Group and CEO of GEEKLY Intelligent Technology. He outlines 5 tasks for the new year, which give a more specific understanding of GEEKLY’s product planning, sales targets, and tactical strategies.
Products and Sales
Although “Opening Speech” always takes a macro perspective and mentions various aspects, as a car-making enterprise, the most critical issue and the core goal must be products and sales.
“In the era of intelligent electric vehicles, terminal delivery is the core indicator reflecting systematic capabilities. Without the support of terminal delivery scale, everything is just empty talk.”
This is An Conghui’s view on this core issue in the letter.
Returning to objective and specific numbers, GEEKLY’s full-year terminal delivery target for 2023 is 140,000 vehicles.
In 2022, GEEKLY’s total terminal delivery was 71,941 vehicles. The delivery target for the new year is almost twice that of last year. Measured by absolute numbers, this target is undoubtedly “a big step forward.”
As the second full delivery year of the brand, the key to achieving the goal of breaking 100,000 deliveries and doubling sales lies in the product. Delivery of the only JingKe car model, the “001”, began in October 2021 and continued until the end of 2022, accumulating a delivery amount of 71,000 vehicles.
Starting from 2023 (this month), with the start of deliveries of the JingKe 009, JingKe officially ends its period of only one car model delivery, which has a positive effect on achieving higher delivery goals.
Moreover, JingKe will also launch two new car models this year to enrich the brand product line.
An Conghui stated in a letter, “In 2023, we will not only have the strongest JingKe 001 in the same class, and the luxury flagship JingKe 009, which is about to begin scale deliveries, but also two new products will be launched. The combination of a strong lineup of products will comprehensively ignite the high-end pure electric market and will serve as the touchstone for the strength of the Jingke system.”
On January 30, various social media platforms uploaded a spy photo of the third JingKe model, temporarily called Jingke 003 in overseas testing.
The new car’s internal code is “BX1E”, and it is a small pure electric SUV, built on the same SEA vast pure electric architecture as the Volvo EX30 and the Smart Sprite #1.
Based on the spy photos and reference to the Smart Sprite #1’s body size, the length of the new car is expected to be about 4300mm and the wheelbase is about 2800mm.The appearance of the car was designed by Stefan Sielaff, the design director of Geely, and the internal team of Geely Design Center in Gothenburg, Sweden, continuing the overall style of GEELY GE11.
In terms of pricing, on the day when spy photos of the new car were exposed, Yang Xueliang, senior vice president and spokesman of GEELY Holding Group, stated on Weibo that “according to the positioning of GEELY’s high-end pure electric vehicles, there will be no products priced below 200,000 yuan ($30,830). The positioning of subsequent products will also be higher and higher.” Based on this estimation, the starting price of the new car will not be less than 200,000 yuan ($30,830).
As for another model, GEELY hasn’t announced any information yet. However, there are rumors online that the other model may be a sedan, smaller than 001, and most likely a medium-sized pure electric sedan.
Since October last year, GEELY GE11 has delivered more than 10,000 units for three consecutive months. In 2023, with the delivery of GEELY GE09 and the launch of two new models, GEELY aims to achieve an annual terminal delivery target of 140,000 units, which seems quite feasible according to the current situation.
Specific Tactics
To establish the direction of the new year’s goal, there naturally needs to be specific “tactics” guidance. In a letter called “Starting Words” (开工寄语), An Huicong put forward two “tactical guidelines”.
The first is the product direction, to “breakthrough with intelligence and become the industry benchmark”.
“In the second half of industry competition, intelligence is the main battlefield. GEELY has established an unparalleled global technology ecosystem and a leading R&D team in the industry, and has an absolute advantage in intelligent architecture and intelligent driving.”
Undoubtedly, “intelligence” is the strongest point that GEELY needs to strengthen in our inherent impression. In the field of intelligence, whether it is manufacturers, consumers, or the media, the main focus is on “smart cockpit” and “assisted driving”. Because these are the two major categories that all parties will frequently touch and are easy to perceive.
In the past year of 2022, Zeekr has made impressive investments and achievements in two areas: upgrading the 8155 chip for old car owners with a budget of 300 million, exploring self-driving technology with Waymo, and continuing to develop its own advanced driving assistance systems while maintaining cooperation with top suppliers like NVIDIA.
As for the layout of Zeekr in the “intelligentization” track in 2023, An Conghui, CEO of Zeekr, described it in a letter: “Our goal for intelligentization in 2023 is to lead in all aspects, focusing on breakthroughs in intelligent cabins to create industry benchmarks; dual intelligent driving to win the smart driving track. This year, our high R&D investment will enter the harvest period, and all teams should accelerate the landing and rooting of technologies to ensure the leading position in key areas.”
Secondly, regarding the work mode, “improving efficiency and avoiding internal friction” were proposed in the letter as the overall plan to improve the work mode: “The core of enterprise competition is the competition of efficiency, and inefficiency is the greatest waste. In 2023, Zeekr must increase efficiency by transforming from extensive growth to high-quality development.”
As for how to “eliminate internal friction and continue to increase efficiency”, the letter also made specific requirements: “Department walls should be removed to prevent factions; insisting on process reform to drive organizational functions to sink, allowing people who are closest to the market and users to participate in decision-making; all staff should implement refined operation, doing small things in detail, and doing detailed things thoroughly; all business should be standardized and digitalized, measured by data and results.”
Since its establishment, Zeekr has been a global technology company. Therefore, concerning the direction of the 2023 brand strategy, the letter proposed the strategic direction of “landing the European strategy and starting the globalization pace”.
“In 2023, Zeekr will take the lead in entering Europe to create and export value in the most mature automotive market in the world, proving our ability to create a global luxury electric smart brand.”“`
At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in early January, An Conghui clearly stated the strategic goal of “entering Europe”.
In fact, 2022 can be called the “first year of Chinese new energy vehicles going global”. Whether it is a traditional automaker or a new vehicle brand, they are all stepping into the overseas market one after another. The momentum of China’s new energy vehicles “going global” this year is obviously stronger than in previous years.
Europe, a “broad world” with a mature market and rapidly growing sales of new energy vehicles, has naturally become the first-choice destination for many new car brands in the first echelon.
According to the current plan, the first model of JiKe’s entry into Europe is the previously mentioned 003 model. The new car is expected to be released at the Shanghai Auto Show in April and then introduced into the European market. And JiKe’s current best-selling model in the domestic market, the JiKe 001, is also expected to enter the European market this year.
As a shared architecture, the vast architecture has been applied to Geely Group’s Volvo, Lotus, smart and other brands, and these brands have accumulated a wealth of experience in fighting in the European market. I believe that for the JiKe brand, this is a very valuable wealth of experience.
Listen to complaints more and compliments less.
At the end of the “Message,” An Conghui made such a hope:
“I hope that every JiKe student can listen to complaints more and compliments less. In 2022, which is now at a high-speed pace, I have seen many users’ complaints, involving product quality, delivery, after-sales, and other aspects. Not afraid of user complaints, afraid of users being voiceless.”
“We need to face criticism and “look in the mirror”, ensure product quality, fulfill sales promises, improve service processes, and make every link in the chain strong.”
“`Rather than calling it a “message of hope,” it is better to say that this is an important realization that XtremeKr brand has gained through firsthand experience in 2022.
From the doubts about the brand’s “intelligence” raised by users and the media, to the overnight reversal of the entire public opinion, becoming a “model” for the industry to listen to user feedback.
On July 11th last year, the “XtremeKr Evolution Night” not only delivered the powerful financial strength of the XtremeKr brand to spend three hundred million to upgrade the 8155 chip for old users but also faithfully practiced “not afraid of user complaints, but afraid of user silence”.
The new round of price wars since the beginning of the year has been constantly reminding us that the competition in the new energy market in 2023 will be even more “brutal”. For each “newly manufactured car” company, “higher-order challenges” in the near future are already foreseeable.
However, from the “message” letter, the clear brand goals, specific tactical designs, and macro strategic planning for the new year, it is not difficult to see that XtremeKr is ready to face the challenges of the new round.
Because XtremeKr knows who they are, where they are, and where they are heading.
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.