PART 1 Weekly Index
PART 2 Weekly News
① Volkswagen CEO Said They Will Face a Fate Like Nokia If They Don’t Speed Up Reform
After Volkswagen’s global board meeting last Thursday, Herbert Diess told senior managers at Volkswagen that “it will be very difficult if we continue to develop at the current speed.”
In addition, Herbert Diess also mentioned that cars are no longer just means of transportation, and car manufacturers are no longer just car manufacturers. The era of classic car manufacturers has ended.
Quick comment: If Tesla’s success is just an exception, then the entry of giants marks a change in the direction of the entire industry. From Diess’s words, one can see that Volkswagen has reached a “crossroads” in its fate and has enough attention and thinking about the precedents of other industries.
Facing the global energy revolution, the advantage of new forces lies in flexibility and adaptability, while traditional car manufacturers have a solid foundation in overall vehicle development. Who will win? Let’s hand over the “microphone” to the market.
② Tesla Replaces Tencent Maps with Baidu Maps
On January 17th, Tesla announced that “Tencent Maps”, which previously provided map data for vehicles, will be replaced by “Baidu Maps”, and this update will also add more entertainment functions.
Quick comment: To quote a map APP product manager, in essence, maps are a complex product. If you are not an industry insider, it is difficult for users to understand the complex relationship between data, base maps, and navigation engines.
Without professional knowledge, users can only classify responsibilities to corresponding companies through the LOGO displayed on the screen, so the usability of car maps depends on the joint efforts of car manufacturers and map suppliers.
Compared with other aspects of the vehicle experience, Tesla’s car map has always been criticized by car owners. We believe that Tesla has found the problem through cooperation with Tencent Maps.##期待其早日能在下一阶段的更新中真正解决用户的痛点，为用户提供更好的驾驶体验。
③ BYD Han is expected to be launched in mid-2020 and will be equipped with “blade battery”.
Recently, the application drawings of BYD Han DM/EV models were exposed, and the two new models are expected to be launched in mid-2020.
The DM model (silver) continues the design language of Dragon Face family, while the EV model (red) has a more aggressive appearance, adopting a fully enclosed front face design. The drag coefficients of the two models have not been announced yet.
The pure electric model has two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive. The front-wheel drive model adopts a single motor drive, with a maximum output power of 163 kW. The four-wheel-drive model adopts the configuration of front and rear dual motors, with a total maximum output power of 363 kW.
In addition, on January 12th, Wang Chuanfu revealed at the 2020 Electric Vehicle One Hundred People’s Conference that the pure electric Han will adopt BYD’s latest achievement in the battery field, the “blade battery”, with a range of up to 600 km and the battery type being lithium iron phosphate.
Quick comment: From the choice of announcing at the Electric Vehicle One Hundred People’s Conference, it can be seen that BYD’s “blade battery” is equally important as the new car release.
Looking at the development of the whole industry, 2020 will be the beginning of the “post-range era”. In this year, there will be more and more models with a range of nearly 500 km, and consumers will gradually ease their anxiety about range.
Then, can the “blade battery” become the ticket for BYD to enter the post-range era? Let’s wait and see.
④ XPeng G3 mid-term test results are released and the overall score is good
On January 14th, the collision test results of XPeng G3 were released. The scores of the four major projects are as follows:
- Collisions resistance and maintenance economics: P (poorer)
- Occupant safety: G (excellent)
- Pedestrian safety: G (excellent)
- Vehicle-assisted safety: G (excellent)
The China Insurance Industry Association initiated the establishment of the mid-term test. Insurance companies will directly refer to the collision test results of the mid-term test while setting the insurance price of the vehicle. The tested vehicles are also independently purchased by the mid-term test. Therefore, compared with the C-NCAP, the test results of the mid-term test are more referential.
Two versions of vehicles participated in the test this time. The 2020 520 Yuxiang edition, i.e., the low-end version, attended in the first three tests, and the 520 Zhixiang edition, i.e., the mid-range version, attended the test of vehicle-assisted safety.In the 2020 Electric Vehicle Hundred People Conference, He XPeng, Chairman and CEO of XPeng Motors, stated that in 2019, 92% of G3 models sold were equipped with assisted driving, which means that 92% of the models were mid-range or high-end.
Quick comment: The collision test score is an important indicator of car safety. Previously, the industry has always had doubts about the car-making capabilities of new forces, and safety is the first object of suspicion.
Although the testing level of XPeng G3 this time did not reach perfection, it was sufficient to illustrate the attitude of XPeng towards vehicle safety. In this market environment where safety is increasingly emphasized, it is believed that such achievements will help XPeng establish a better brand impression in the minds of consumers.
⑤ WM Motor launches “WM Direct Purchase” sales mode
On January 16th, WM Motor officially launched a new direct purchase sales model, which can be simply described as addressing the problem of high initial purchase costs, inconvenient charging, and low residual values of electric vehicles through three major measures: half-price pickup, travel contract package, and repurchase guarantee. At present, the “WM Direct Purchase” mode is only for the WM EX6 Plus 400 Light Enjoyment edition, and WM will comprehensively consider promoting it to all WM’s products according to the market situation in the future.
Quick comment: There is such a saying circulating in the used car market: “I would rather buy a third-hand fuel car than a second-hand electric car.” Due to the influence of early technical limitations, new energy vehicles have left the market with a fixed impression of slow charging and low residual values, and one of the key factors that has formed these impressions is the life cycle of the power battery.
In response to this, the country has introduced relevant regulations on power battery quality assurance, and major enterprises are constantly seeking innovation in their own ecosystems, providing consumers with more flexible and changeable car purchase plans.
For car companies, a lower starting price can indeed bring better data on the balance sheet in a short period of time, but it also poses new requirements for the company’s financing, scrap equipment processing and recycling, etc. It is believed that this will also become a new challenge for WM.
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.