Author: Guo Hehe

On May 7th, LanTu’s second car model, LanTu Dream House MPV, was officially launched. The new car is divided into a seven-seater version with a price range from 3.699 million to 4.399 million yuan and a private four-seater customized version with a starting price of 6.399 million yuan. LanTu Dream House’s two power options, pure electric and extended range versions, share the same price.

In addition, the official also announced three exclusive upgrade packages and limited-time benefits for customers who place orders this year. If you place an order before August 7th, you can receive a 20,000 yuan value intelligent driving package as a gift for the “Family” series, which means you can buy the “Desire” series at the same price as the “Family” series. In other words, the entry-level version is on a limited-time discount of 20,000 yuan. Among them, the 50,000 yuan range extender package is exclusive to 0-carbon (high-performance pure electric) version, which is a larger capacity battery pack that can upgrade the range from CLTC 475km to 605km.

From the comments on LanTu’s Weibo, it is not difficult to find that this price exceeds many people’s expectations. Many people think that starting at around 300,000 yuan would be more reasonable, so is it crazy to set the starting price at 370,000 yuan for an independent MPV?

Actually, before asking this question, I think everyone should ask themselves a question – what is the most important criterion for whether an MPV is worth a certain price? Brand? Comfort? Appearance? I think everyone has their own sub-criteria. Just like the Toyota Alphard, even though its hardware level and foreign price show a serious premium, as long as it does a good job in fulfilling the responsibilities of an MPV, the social identity and social currency it represents will not change, and even if its price reaches one million, it will still be in high demand.

As a new force brand incubated by a domestic brand, LanTu’s brand premium cannot be on equal footing with Toyota, at least not now. Buick’s large investment in the high-end market for the GL8 has had little effect, so brand power is not the main factor determining the pricing of LanTu Dream House. That leaves only the hardware dimension.Let’s start with some data on the Dreamer. The length of the new car exceeds 5300mm, with a wheelbase of 3200mm, larger than Alphard and GL8. It adopts a front double-wishbone and rear multi-link chassis form, CDC and air suspension with magic carpet function, aluminum alloy chassis, L2-level automatic assisted driving, 0-carbon version 0-100km/h acceleration in 5.9S, low-carbon version 0-100km/h acceleration in 6.9S, and many other configurations. There are too many configurations, which can be summarized more directly with a picture.

My point is not that success can be achieved by stacking materials, otherwise domestic cars would have been the world’s number one long ago. Even today, many people still think that no matter how good the material is and how cheap the price is for a domestic MPV, the rich or middle class elites still prefer the GL8 or even the Alphard. To some extent, I understand and agree with this idea, at least for the current market.

But is there a possibility that this situation is not because domestic MPVs are not good enough, but because they don’t have too many options to choose from? Compared with sedans and the popular SUVs, there are very few MPVs that you can name: Odyssey, Elitse, GL8, Saina, and Alphard.

If you count the domestic M8, iMAX8 and others, there are only about 20 options for the entire MPV market, especially when the MPV market is facing obvious consumption upgrades and there are few products that fit both families and business, which has created a situation where the GL8 dominates the MPV market for over 300,000 yuan, while Saina is still hot in sales with a price increase, and Toyota Alphard and Lexus LM are monopolizing the high-end luxury MPV market.

Even so, the high fuel consumption and business image of the GL8 are more used as reception cars, and Odyssey, Saina, and other MPVs for household use lack high-end luxury traits, leaving room for the market of mid-to-high-end luxury MPVs. The pricing of the LanTu is clearly aimed at the mid-to-high-end MPV market, which may seem risky, but compared to the ordinary household MPV market, where the price competition is intense, there are actually fewer competitors in this market.

Actually, from a hardware perspective, the Landtu Dreamer has the qualifications to be called a high-end MPV. At the static level, in addition to the standard dual electric sliding doors, in the focus of the MPV- the second-row seats, the Dreamer’s electric adjustment / heating / ventilation / massage functionality is standard across the entire range. The 70° large-angle electric leg rest and the maximum backward rotation angle of 155° backrest, together with the sleeping headrest, plus the 3200mm super-long wheelbase and long sliding rails, make the second-row seats first-class in terms of comfort. For those who think this isn’t enough, there’s also a higher-end and more luxurious four-seat private custom version. Finally, let’s take a look at the luggage situation with a full load. It’s something that dads naturally understand how strong it is.

Moreover, the Landtu Dreamer is aiming for an unprecedented identity – a new energy MPV. This is not a product of blindly following the trend, but based on the advantages of electric MPVs and even range-extended MPVs, which are perfectly suited to the MPV. You will quickly realize that the key advantages a high-quality MPV must have can be easily achieved by changing the power structure on the more critical dynamic level.

A high-end MPV means excellent NVH performance. The quietness easily created by electric drive is something that a traditional internal combustion engine needs to make a lot of effort to achieve. Without the presence of a gearbox, the motor’s power release characteristics bring excellent responsiveness and smooth driving, and no matter what driving technique is used, the rear passengers will hardly feel uncomfortable. Most importantly, whether it’s pure electric or range-extended plug-in hybrid, the high energy consumption issue of traditional MPVs can be effectively resolved.

Although the hybrid systems of new age automakers like Honda and Toyota can solve the high fuel consumption problem well, it’s difficult to balance with full-power while carrying a full passenger load, and the traditional turbocharged engine of the GL8 may have powerful performance, but its operating costs skyrocket when fuel prices are high. Whether it’s pure electric or range-extended, the Dreamer can perfectly balance these two conflicting issues to some extent.

At first glance, it might seem a bit disjointed to have such strong power in an MPV, but power doesn’t necessarily need to be pouring out at all times. Higher power specifications can allow you to accelerate calmly even with a full load, stay away from danger, and this becomes an additional dimension of active safety.

MPV electrification is definitely the trend of future development, because electrification is the trend of development for all cars in the future. It is a good thing for Dreamer to make early layout, but it is not easy. To create a Chinese high-end electric SUV brand, Dreamer has spent a lot of money, insisted on not adjusting the price, and made a lot of noise. Only today did it stabilize its position, and pioneers will never have an easy job.

According to Lu Fang, CEO and CTO of Voyah, since Dreamer announced pre-sales more than a month ago, it has received more than 4,000 orders. If the monthly sales volume can stabilize above 4,000 vehicles, there is no problem for Dreamer to enter the top five MPV sales.

However, considering that Dreamer’s pricing is slightly higher than 400,000 yuan if even just one optional feature is selected, can such a hot sales volume be maintained? Judging from the situation of Voyah FREE’s high sales opening and low sales later, as the first person to eat crab in the new energy MPV industry, it may not be so easy for Dreamer to have a successful start. Persistence is the best shortcut to success.

Do good things without asking about the future, there is light ahead of the road, don’t forget the initial heart, and may you and I have a beautiful blueprint for the future.

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.