Author | Tian Hui
Editor | Qiu Kaijun
In addition to traditional and new forces in the automotive industry, a new force of intelligent electric vehicles is rising up.
The leader of this new force is GAC Aion.
In April 2022, Aion’s monthly car sales reached 10,212, surpassing all new car-making forces and ranking high on the total sales list from January to April.
Unlike BYD, the representative of successful transformation of traditional car companies, and Wey XPeng, a new force in car making, Aion was incubated on the basis of traditional car companies and emerged as a third type of car company by drawing on the management model of new car-making forces.
Aion has created a new development path, the Aion path.
Aion’s leading sales have stamped the success of the Aion path.
The emergence of Aion path poses many questions to observers, such as why Aion path emerged, why it succeeded, and how to view it.
The answers to these questions are hidden in the changes of competitive patterns in the intelligent electric vehicle industry – intelligent electric vehicles are incubated by traditional forces and born by new car-making forces, and will enter ordinary households with the participation of ecological giants.
Different stages require different competition strategies and models, and the times call for heroes and new models.
Aion “Monkey Lightning”
“Monkey Lightning” in Cantonese means very sharp.
It is not an exaggeration to describe Aion as “Monkey Lightning”. Its sales speak for themselves, with accumulated sales of 55,086 from January to April, far surpassing its counterparts.
Aion’s sharpness lies first in its technological level.
In 2020, Aion announced its independent operation as a brand, giving the outside world a new understanding and expectation.
In 2021, Aion launched new technologies such as magazine batteries, super high-speed batteries, and sponge silicon negative electrode film batteries.
In 2022, Aion officially launched the first pure electric vehicle with a range of more than 1000 kilometers, the AION LX Plus.
On April 26th, Aion’s power battery technology group won the highest science and technology award in the technology category at the CCTV Annual Automotive Ceremony, and was awarded the top evaluation of “Top Contributions, Top Missions; Top Dreams, Top Glory”.
Aion’s numerous innovations and the CCTV award are a recognition of its efforts in the research and development of the three electric technologies, and in the field of intelligentization, Aion’s technological strength is also outstanding.ADiGO Intelligent Connected System is an intelligent connected system independently developed by Ean, and through continuous iteration, it is currently able to support advanced features such as continuous voice input in the field of intelligent car machines. Its NDA intelligent navigation assistance system and long-distance call parking system launched in 2021 are leading the industry in both technology and user experience.
In addition to technical reserves, Ean has made sufficient preparations in terms of capital investment, team building, and mechanism design.
On the capital level, Ean’s mixed reform work is steadily advancing, and it plans to start series A financing in the third quarter and actively seeks a split listing in the future.
On the team level, Ean completed the share reform, distributing shares to the core team, and enhancing the team’s combat power.
All of these have laid the foundation for Ean’s sustained success.
The Third Path
In the smart electric car race, various players rush forward, competing fiercely to become the leader.
If viewed from the air, three routes can be clearly seen.
The first is the new forces of car manufacturing. They are light and fast, with innovative models. However, either they lack support or their directions are in constant flux, or their foundations are not solid. Although a few, like NIO and XPeng, have achieved good results, most start-ups “are vulnerable in the middle of their entrepreneurship”.
The second is traditional automakers. In order to meet industry management requirements and meet standards, they often adopt the mode of oil-to-electric vehicle transformation and rely on existing sales channels. Although they may sell well for several years by amortizing the costs, their products are not strong enough, and their models are old. As competition intensifies, they have to start over.
The third is the most unique. They are traditional car manufacturers who plan ahead, invest in research and development, and launch independent brands for independent operation at the appropriate time. The representative among them is Ean.
This approach combines the strengths of the first two routes while avoiding their weaknesses.
As a subsidiary of Guangzhou Automobile Group, Ean had ample funds and technical support in the early stages, so its approach was determined, focused, and steady. Ean did not need to focus on financing or rushing to produce results in the early stages, but instead focused on developing its technology. Moreover, it planned early on to focus on intelligent and electric driving, with firm conviction. In terms of tempo, Ean did not have to consider subsidies, market fluctuations, and could proceed solidly.
Moreover, Ean is an independently operated enterprise. From its own survival and development perspective, Ean cannot rely on the group for a long time and must create competitive products and innovative models, or even match them with an appropriate organizational structure. Therefore, Ean is not hesitant like traditional car manufacturers when producing electric vehicles. Instead, it is faster and quickly encounters new car manufacturing forces, ultimately proving its competitiveness.
One of the most prominent examples of Ean’s advantageous approach is its pure electric platform.According to the development model of traditional automakers, they usually build automotive production platforms, such as Toyota TNGA, Volvo PMA, and so on, as a prelude to car manufacturing. Cars can be produced on these platforms according to predefined plans.
The competitiveness of car products essentially comes from the competitiveness of automotive production platforms. The competitiveness of production platforms directly determines the competitiveness of car products, as evidenced by the sustained sales of multiple hybrid cars under the Toyota TNGA architecture.
However, in the field of electric cars, traditional automakers have not built a competitive automotive production platform, and many new car makers are also unable to create new platforms, therefore they use popular platform to modify.
On the other hand, the GEP2.0 pure electric vehicle platform built by AIWAYS is specifically designed for electric cars, reflecting unique performance and functional advantages of pure electric vehicles. The GEP2.0 platform has facilitated AIWAYS’ leading sales.
Under the GEP2.0 platform, a variety of models have emerged, including A-level sedans, B-level SUVs, and so on. Four models of the AION series share some components, and the platform is compatible with different types of power batteries such as ternary lithium and lithium iron phosphate batteries. The platform’s drive layout can also meet different power modes, including both two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive.
By combining different power batteries and motors, the GEP2.0 platform endows the AION series with comprehensive competitiveness.
For example, almost all AION models have longer wheelbase compared to models of the same grade, thus providing more spacious seating.
Moreover, almost all AION models have longer cruising range compared to models of the same grade, because pure electric platforms can arrange more batteries and safely use higher energy density batteries.
Another example of AIWAYS’ advantage is its marketing and service ecosystem.
In terms of sales channels, AIWAYS has both traditional 4S dealership models and new auto retail models based on the characteristics of electric vehicle market, such as direct sales stores.
In terms of user service, AIWAYS has built a user service system based on an APP and operates it through new force car makers’ operation methods, such as user points and event promotion.
Through its operation of proprietary charging stations, AIWAYS has formed an ecological closed loop. In major transportation hubs such as Beijing Capital Airport and Shanghai Hongqiao Airport, AIWAYS’ proprietary charging stations not only provide services for car owners, but also provide parking services for customers, and give feedback on services to users.Better Like A New Force Than New Force Automakers
On user ecosystem operation, Aiways is not only entertaining itself, but also getting close to users, creating a satisfying ecosystem. The fact that it obtains both fish and bear paws proves the innovation advantage of Aiways’ development. Since then, some automakers have also been taking similar patterns.
Upgrade To Fight Back
What should automakers do if Apple makes cars?
With foresight, automakers must consider this question and prepare countermeasures.
Intelligent terminal manufacturers such as Apple, Huawei, and Xiaomi have all entered the intelligent electric vehicle industry. Their advantages lie not only in being excellent intelligent terminal manufacturers, but also being the creators and operators of intelligent ecosystems.
Their entry may mean a downgrade for the automotive industry.
Therefore, automakers must also be prepared for an upgrade fight.
How to upgrade?
First, it is not enough to just make electric vehicles, but also intelligent vehicles.
Aiways has adhered to the EV (electric vehicle) + ICV (intelligent connected vehicle) technology from the beginning, which is a rare brand that can achieve breakthroughs in both fields. In addition to EV, Guangzhou Aiways has also created the ADiGO smart driving system which covers core technologies such as intelligent driving, intelligent cockpit, big data, and cloud platform. Currently, it has developed to ADiGO 4.0.
At the end of 2021, Guangzhou Aiways will launch the latest generation of intelligent variable focus laser radar globally, and will jointly produce L4 autonomous driving with Huawei by 2023.
All Aiways vehicles have the most advanced intelligent connected functions.
Second, it is not enough to only produce intelligent electric vehicles, but also to create a sales and service system.
Aiways takes the initiative in new retail, creating city experience centers such as 25-hour experience centers. In terms of services, all users place orders through the APP and businesses aggregate users through services such as communities to operate users.
Third, it is not enough to just create an intelligent electric vehicle system, but to use intelligent electric vehicles as a terminal entry to create a rich ecosystem. This is an inevitable trend after companies such as Apple, Huawei, and Xiaomi enter the battle.
In this aspect, Aiways is committed to creating a “sustainable energy utilization + smart travel + business model” three-closed-loop ecosystem. In terms of sustainable energy utilization, Aiways has launched the “charge-complement-fast” energy complement system to promote ultra-fast charging and quick replacement network construction, aiming to achieve “charge and replace”, “ultra-fast”, “automatic”, “zero-carbon”.
On April 21, Aiways also launched an initiative to build over 1000 super charging and replacement centers in Guangzhou by 2025, with a radius of 1.5km, making Guangzhou the world’s first “super charging capital”.
In the field of intelligent transportation ecology, Aiways adopts the approach of building a vehicle from scratch, cooperating with internet and technology enterprises such as Tencent, Huawei, Baidu, Didi, 51Yunrui, Xiaoma Zhixing, and iFLYTEK to create intelligent driving and cabin services and content.
In terms of the business model ecology, Aiways’ marketing new ecology has already entered the 2.0 era. By creating “online + offline” integration, covering “commercial supermarkets + automobile cities”, using a “direct sales + dealership” dual-track model, Aiways not only connects with users but also reaches many marketing and service cooperation partners.
By building these three major ecologies, Aiways has also achieved reserve for upgrading. When intelligent ecological enterprises such as Apple enter the competition, Aiways will no longer be fighting alone but will confront ecology with ecology and take advantage of the first-mover advantage.
Aiways’ route guards the foundation of large-scale manufacturing with rich advantages in the automotive industry’s production and manufacturing, seeks breakthroughs through continuous technological innovation, and in combination with capital, organization, mechanism construction, and the ecological system of “sustainable use of energy + intelligent transportation + business model,” prepares to upgrade and confront enterprises such as Apple, Xiaomi, and Huawei, and creates the third road for the development of intelligent electric vehicles.
In essence, Aiways’ route is to guard the foundation, actively change, have defense and offense, and consistently innovate. The final outcome of intelligent electric vehicles is far from being formed, and only by continuously learning and growing can one smile in the end.
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.