Poem by Du Debao

Two years ago, I met Zeekr 001 (previously known as ZERO concept) for the first time at the Beijing Auto Show. It was still a concept car and hadn’t yet broken away from the traditional narrative of “pile materials”. At that time, Wei Xiaoli and Zhu Yu were the pioneers in the new race track and the darlings of the stock market. As a product of the transformation of the traditional automobile industry, Zeekr instead had the color of a follower.

However, this does not prevent the fact that two years later, the meaning of this guy has become very rich. For example, Zeekr 001 has become the sales champion of the 300,000-level luxury pure electric vehicle of Chinese brands in August, with a cumulative delivery of 40,000 vehicles. The large-scale orders (non-refundable deposit of 5,000) have broken 10,000 for two consecutive months, and delivery speed has been refreshed three times, with an average order amount of over 336,000.

When we talk about new energy sales data, we should use a “classification system”. Absolute data still has visual impact and represents the company’s situation, such as the other independent leading automotive company. But “classification” represents the quality, such as the 300,000-level luxury pure electric vehicle, which may impact the high-end or sniper Tesla, but in any case, it has achieved the dream that the previous fuel vehicle camp could not achieve. On the other hand, the high starting point that the company has taken out also shows that some people like to play high-difficulty moves.

Starting in the 30+ level market, Zeekr has left room for imagination to the outside world. Generally speaking, the higher the starting price of the main model, the greater the extension space up and down, especially when copying Tesla’s tactics. However, Zeekr’s adventure to the luxury market has just begun. For example, with the breakthrough in sales volume, Zeekr CEO An Conghui stated in the “internal letter” to internal employees that the success of a single product cannot bring sustained development of a brand. The diverse needs of users require us to quickly complete the product layout from a single explosive product to multiple products.

Looking at the rise and fall of the SUV market in recent years, Zeekr has also established an enterprise DNA that avoids excessive dependence on the trend from the beginning. Zeekr 001’s sales data also shows that the hot sales of EV products are not necessarily related to product types or even the market recognition obtained from long-term layouts. Of course, each successful sales strategy is evaluated by sales, but every successful example also applies to its creator. Zeekr’s path may not be suitable for other manufacturers, and it may not be enough time-wise, but at least it has separated itself from the fixed winning formula that has been binding since the birth of new forces.

And this rebellion is not only reflected in the unique model types (such as the Extreme Ore 001 being a hunting type, while the 009 targets the luxury MPV market – as previously analyzed in our wonderful article, not elaborated here); it is also reflected in the corporate structure.

This is what Extreme Ore CEO An Conghui previously referred to as the “Third Track”. This means that even if everyone ends up fighting in the Colosseum of ancient Rome, the training teams may not be molded from the same pattern.

For example, the collaboration model adopted by the new forces in the industry, the internal incubation model of traditional car companies, and the self-reliance model adopted by Extreme Ore. Of course, self-reliance is just a metaphor. Behind Extreme Ore is the car-making heritage and technological resources of Geely and Volvo, but from decision-making to marketing experience, it has gone through the process of “from zero to one”.

This is called “technical dependence”, like a child being thrown out for training since birth, so the DNA is not necessarily the same as the parent’s, and the parent only provides resources. As for how to do it, it’s up to the child.

The style of work, market perspective and values are all unique, which is different from the internal incubation approach of traditional car companies. The latter is always affected by genetics, good or bad, and problems can only be slowly corrected afterward, while the former directly connects with the needs of target users and grows under market hammering.

As long as traditional automakers are willing, they can completely create a company with more advantages than “traditional new forces”, and with the same flexible organizational structure.

Time can smooth out many things, including seemingly difficult-to-converge gaps between old and new forces, which are not fundamental differences. For example, Ford also chose to split its traditional business and new energy product business this year. Of course, when you go out to do things, you will surely pay a price.

For example, the confusion surrounding the pre-order of Extreme Ore 001 when it was just launched.

Regarding the viewpoints on this event, everyone surely has their own opinions, but the root cause is that Extreme Ore wanted to pamper its fans, but later found out that the fans were too enthusiastic. For example, during the “WE version price increase storm” of Extreme Ore 001 in the beginning, the manufacturer’s benefits were too generous, and the fans followed suit, leading to full capacity in 2021 and uncertain subsidy policies in 2022, so they had to stop, resulting in a controversy.

This event must have taught Extreme Ore a good lesson. In the future, it will have a better sense of proportion in marketing decision-making and communication. Sometimes, a small setback is not necessarily a bad thing. After all, the most important thing is the product’s reputation, which is different from how celebrities in the entertainment industry deal with public opinion storms. From a positive perspective, the first work of a “start-up” brand can have such charm, and the sincerity of the product is also indispensable.- And in July this year, Jidu Auto, also made great progress from being a rookie to a skilled worker, by investing 3 billion RMB to upgrade its Qualcomm 8155 intelligent cockpit chipset for new and old users. The benefits brought about a completely new vehicle system, which apart from marketing considerations, were made possible by having adequate financial support.

• The biggest difference between traditional car companies’ independent businesses and new energy companies is their foundation. The foundation can be classified into many categories, ranging from finances to technology.

• In September 2020, Jidu Auto released its SEA architecture for the first time, which was backed by Volvo’s safety genes. This was one of the reasons why the GeometryAuto A001, a product of the SEA architecture, was trusted. According to Jidu’s introduction, the project took four years and cost 18 billion RMB. Compared to the astronomical amount of funds invested, the project’s development time better illustrates the company’s foresight.

• Time is one of the capital of iteration. Today, the SEA architecture is the birthplace of performance products, such as the smart elf #1 BRABUS performance version, which caused a stir at the Chengdu Auto Show. With its precise weight distribution, intelligent four-wheel drive, and outstanding mechanical refinement, the core evaluation of most test drivers was its outstanding performance, which seems to restore the values of the era of fuel cars. Regardless of the energy transition period or the full-scale popularization of intelligence, mechanical quality should always be an indispensable gene of a car.

• From Jidu’s car-making experience to Volvo’s technology realization, the GeometryAuto A001 is the product of a profound foundation. From the TWB hot forming soft-hard laser welding technology to the FDS flow drill screw technology (from the SEA architecture), the obscure terms and technological content go hand-in-hand. The former is dedicated to welding different strength steels together to ensure that the same part has different strengths so that in the event of an accident, each part can fulfill its duty; the hard parts must be strong enough, and the soft parts must be able to deform slightly. The latter uses heat-melt fastening technology to break through traditional processes, achieving better lightweight effects.

• It is easy to talk about the advantages of the product, such as the GeometryAuto A001, which has not only a roaring zero-to-100 acceleration, but also hardware highlights such as the front and rear suspension, electric four-wheel drive, and front and rear ventilated disc brake systems, all of which users are still interested in. However, at the same time, the embedded vehicle system has also received high praise, especially after the free upgrade to the Qualcomm 8155 chipset in July. This was GeometryAuto A001’s first major upgrade in nine months of delivery, and is no exaggeration to describe it as a qualitative leap.Similarly, Zeekr is not hiding the fact that they were inexperienced in the beginning, especially CEO An Conghui acknowledging that Zeekr is not perfect. However, as evidenced by their data collection, upgrading process, and feedback on efficiency in the previously unfamiliar field of “intelligentization” for the automobile industry, the gap with new forces and the specialization in the field are no longer applicable.

Users have their own priorities, and they may even temporarily sacrifice some of the product’s imperfections for these priorities. What is more important is that the manufacturer can make up for these imperfections in a relatively short period of time. Zeekr’s sale of the 001 model is inseparable from their pursuit of perfection and evolution, and the manufacturer’s harvest is becoming stronger and more mature in the process of continuous exploration and growth, making them better able to meet the needs of their users.

In the “internal letter” to everyone, An Conghui said, “Making a car is a marathon. Only with a long-term philosophy can we look at the present from a perspective of ultimate achievement.” From the current stage, Zeekr has passed its first limit in this marathon. From the perspective of observers, this limit was intentionally set by Zeekr, it was necessary, just like life breaking the cocoon and whether it is self-breaking or with external forces, which fundamentally affects its self-sufficiency and DNA.

Looking back at Zeekr’s development over the past year, it may not be suitable for other manufacturers, but it can serve as a epitome of the current new energy market, highlighting several trends:

1. The so-called second half of the new car manufacturing market only begins after the halo fades, entering the stage of internal strength competition.
2. Even the new energy business of traditional car companies has a different nature in terms of models. This fundamental difference may affect everyone’s future development. After all, from the perspective of independent thinking, the DNA is still different.
3. The differences and specialties between new car makers and traditional car companies are not as clear-cut as initially thought. The two sides can tend to be integrated, but the watershed is intelligentization, which depends on subjective effort, talent, technology, and financial strength.

And now Zeekr 001 has differentiated itself in intelligent driving, that being An Conghui’s proposal of pursuing unique advantages on top of having no weaknesses. The technology’s original intention is to ensure that the product does not necessarily have to slow down when driving on a ramp or making a turn, but to simulate drivers with superior skills to navigate the turn at a certain speed.

This is appealing to a particular scenario because fully autonomous driving has not been fully released yet. However, this intelligent performance in driving is undoubtedly more valuable than other showy behaviors, and this scenario technology opens up further room for imagination for Zeekr.No matter it is for the upcoming 009 or the future, everyone knows that Zeekrxueyuan is a brand with high starting point and good at self-improvement, which is a prerequisite for creating surprises.

With the “Geely + Volvo technology resources as the underlying logic” and based on self-evolution of user travel needs, even forward-thinking technological innovation, and also with a certain scale of Zeekrxueyuan, since we see the solid lifeline of this enterprise, we cannot temporarily define its development boundaries.

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.