When describing Zhang Yong in the past, you might have seen the adjective “introverted”.

A rather introverted student, a more silent manager… These are all descriptions that have been used for Zhang Yong, but in fact, after getting to know him, you might find that the term “undercover agent” might be more appropriate.

In 1998, Zhang Yong graduated from a major related to automobile design and manufacturing, and worked in automobile research and development in Shandong for two years. Afterwards, in 2000, he joined Beiqi Foton.

From working in automobile research and development in Shandong to becoming the general manager of Beiqi Foton, it took him 8 years to transform from an “introverted person in my impression” to a professional with exceptional business capabilities. Moreover, he also created a set of “wolf tactics”.

Like a wolf lurking near a lion, they create a market from gaps and pull teeth out of a tiger’s mouth.

In his twelfth year after graduation, Zhang Yong joined Chery New Energy Automobiles, which marked the beginning of his new energy career path. Here, he met Fang Yunzhou. In 2014, Fang Yunzhou left Chery to establish a joint venture in new energy automobiles, and Zhang Yong returned to Beiqi, bringing them one successful achievement after another. Four years later, holding a magnificent report card, Zhang Yong was no longer satisfied with simply repeating his previous achievements.

In early 2018, Zhang Yong received an invitation from Fang Yunzhou to join the joint venture. He took on this olive branch and the significant challenges that came with it.

New energy automobiles are a gaming table, a racecourse, and a world.

Epics in Chinese historical fiction depict various chivalrous heroes who, through fate and coincidence, transcend themselves, achieve their goals, and experience a lot of sword fighting scenes. This is not only Zhang Yong’s favourite type of fiction, but also the way he perceives the world of new energy automobiles.

Zhang Yong and NETA are like the “protagonists” in novels, fearless of old rivals and taciturn, accumulating knowledge and skills in silence, always ready to become a true master.

In October 2014, Fang Yunzhou established a joint venture new energy auto company, becoming one of the earliest players in this field in China.

Joint Venture represents the power of people working together and bringing together disparate aspects to form a greater whole.

In 2018, Zhang Yong left his well-established position in Beiqi to join the joint venture. Being in a state of having nothing might be a difficult problem for common people, but it was exactly what Zhang Yong was eager to face. Adventuring in the world requires feedback from the outside world, such as questioning technology, questioning capital, and questioning experience, but these only motivate NETA’s growth. Fang Yunzhou’s technology coupled with Zhang Yong’s marketing experience constantly surprised everyone.

“How can one product survive with 600 people?” Zhang Yong asked himself.

The answer is: to tap into the lower tier market.Without money, resources, people, or products, to survive, you must control costs and provide cost-effective products. There are not many “heroes” in the sink market, and with familiarity with the market, NETA found a space for survival. He told the reporter from “Electric Momentum” that “United New Energy’s overall strategy is to stick to the basics and make a difference.”

In October 2021, NETA Auto delivered a total of 8,107 new cars, an increase of 294% compared to the same period in 2020, breaking through Wei Xiaoli’s “Iron Triangle” and becoming a dark horse that ranked second on the China’s new car force delivery list in October. In 2021, NETA’s results have grown exponentially.

In May of this year, NETA Auto delivered 11,009 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 144% and a month-on-month increase of 24.9%. Among them, the NETA V series delivered 7,884 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 131%; and the NETA U series delivered 3,125 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 184%. From January to May 2022, NETA Auto delivered 49,974 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 213%, and a monthly average delivery of 9,994.8 vehicles.

Regarding NETA’s achievements, Zhang Yong felt that they were far from enough. “Our brand positioning was originally in the mass market, and it is reasonable to sell more than others.” He believed that the current brief achievement was due to the fact that NETA is a company that understands technology and products from its essence, and is able to make products well in one go, in addition to lean production, strict control of research and development costs, and production costs, which is the key.

In addition to controlling costs from all sides, NETA has a special feature, which is not to engage in arms races. “Some people always say that our intelligent configuration is low and there is no deep hardware pre-embedded. We think that the hardware level carried by our current models is more moderate and sufficient to meet customers’ travel needs for three to five years. If you want to talk about L3 or above, V2X technology, then upgrade on hardware is indeed needed. However, if we pre-embed this part of the hardware in the car now, it will inevitably be a cost that users need to bear partially. Technologically, we can definitely do it, but I don’t think it’s necessary.”

To summarize Zhang Yong’s deployment of NETA in one sentence: Do what should be done and not what shouldn’t be done.

On June 1, 2022, it was the fourth anniversary of the establishment of NETA Auto. In the past four years, NETA has changed tires while driving, from the initial difficulty in surviving to becoming a dark horse in the first tier. The number of NETA’s users has reached 150,000, and the team has grown from 600 initially to over 6,000 now.

However, despite this, Zhang Yong did not slack off, and even put forward the goal of “surviving” by 2025. Although the new energy sector is making strides, we are still in a process of “surviving,” like the early Spring and Autumn Period, but nowhere near the Warring States Period.

“Before 2025, NIO motors must reach the threshold of selling 500,000 cars per year,” said Zhang Yong, co-founder and CEO of NIO. “2025 is an important time node. If we can’t achieve sales of 500,000 by then, we may be eliminated. If we can, we will be able to qualify for the ticket. We are still on the road, so that’s why I say NIO is only just alive now. NIO can only really establish its position when it reaches the threshold of selling 500,000 cars per year.”

Zhang Yong believes that the first step is to reach the scale of 500,000 cars before 2025, with a market share of 8 to 10% in the early stages of a market, which is relatively difficult, but as long as you have this volume, you will be able to stand on your own.

However, the comparison of scale depends on the efficiency, low-cost operation capability, and user insight of the enterprise. At the same time, technology should also be given priority, and companies should accumulate their own expertise in intelligent technology, rather than blending in with the crowd.

Thirdly, the personality of the brand also needs to be given more attention and is having an increasing impact. The younger consumer group is forming more independent thoughts and is expressing itself in different ways. Brands need a different label, and while cars will no longer be just toys for the wealthy in the future, they should still reflect people’s personalities.

“We are preparing to enter the city,” Zhang Yong said. “Wei Xiao, who holds the golden key, started in the central market. We started with the grassroots in the sinking market. Next year (2022), we will launch in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, and Jiangsu.”

When discussing the 2022 strategy internally, the initial proposal was two words: upward and overseas. The so-called upward means that the product, brand, and target market are all upgrading, while overseas means strengthening exports and seizing overseas markets.

The system engineering of user insight, product definition, supply chain management, production and manufacturing management, channel construction and distribution management, and service segmented the market with the best cost performance, which is what Zhang Yong pursues as a tech equity.

“Tech equity is our philosophy, and making cars for the people is our original intention. Any car produced by NIO will definitely be a smart car, no matter how low the price. NIO cars aim to use the power of technology to bring some of the performance and user experience of luxury and high-priced cars to relatively low-priced models, serving ordinary people. We are making every effort to move in this direction,” Zhang Yong said.The two words mentioned by Zhang Yong, “people” and “customers”, can reveal his chivalrous spirit and the same spirit as Ne Zha, through his practical actions.

“Of course, the pursuit of the company’s scale and market value is the top priority. But secondly, I have a little aspiration, which is to make a good car for the common people. This was difficult to achieve in the era of gasoline vehicles, but it is possible in the era of intelligent electric vehicles. It’s about serving the common people, not making toys for the rich.”

Can the nobles uphold their integrity? Holding onto the initial faith, in the future, Ne Zha will go further.

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.