Author: Feng Jingang

A few days ago, I participated in the test drive activity for the NIO ES6. I drove the ES6 Long Range version to the activity, and a NIO friend took the opportunity to try it out. Afterwards, we both evaluated the car from the perspectives of a new and an old car person, respectively. To my surprise, we had a major disagreement on this car.

From my perspective as a new car person, the ES6 Long Range version is not pure, or “outdated”. Although it is a new energy vehicle, its product development logic still revolves around traditional gasoline cars, from the center console layout to the auxiliary driving hardware logic settings, etc.

As for my friend, he viewed it from the perspective of an old car person, and said that the ES6 Long Range version is easy to use, including the layout of some functional keys. Additionally, the atmosphere created by the high-end car is also quite good.

Therefore, how to evaluate the product strength of the ES6 Long Range version depends on what perspective you look at it from. For NIO, this kind of evaluation difference may have been ignored, or at least not been taken seriously. In fact, this issue is quite important for NIO’s development, as the root cause of all problems can be explained by insufficient product strength.

The root cause of the difference in external evaluation of the product strength of the ES6 Long Range version lies in NIO’s failure to accurately grasp the connotation of “new car manufacturing”.

The so-called “new car manufacturing” is often simply defined as new car forces, such as new forces like NIO, Xpeng and NIO. However, this understanding is biased. New car manufacturing is not only a new force, but also a car manufacturing methodology: that is, to take the electric car user’s demand as the core, to comprehensively review the car manufacturing logic, and even the definition of the product.

Regarding the connotation of new automotive manufacturing, in Tesla’s words, it means following the first principle. It should be noted that making electric cars is not a monopoly of Tesla, but a monopoly of products.

Currently, new car manufacturing is no longer just a simple engineering means, but has become one of the reference points for measuring the product strength of intelligent electric vehicles, as those who delve deepest generally run the furthest. Especially with Tesla, NIO and other brands’ strong impact, many users’ driving habits and evaluation criteria have been greatly influenced.

However, different companies have different understandings of new car manufacturing, and many companies measure it by taking lessons from Tesla. In the industry’s opinion, XPeng is most like Tesla in terms of corporate layout, but in terms of car manufacturing methodology, Ideal is the most like Tesla, and it seems to surpass Tesla.

Of course, there are currently many car companies that cannot truly understand and implement the connotation of new car manufacturing, besides NIO.It was just a few days ago that I went to a Geely 4S store to take a look at some cars. While chatting with the salesperson there, she mentioned that “It’s hard to understand why the low-end version of the Geely G6/M6 still has manual seats. Automatic seats should be standard by now.” Indeed, with voice commands gradually taking over all functions in the car, that means automatic features should be standard, making manual options seem awkward.

For traditional car manufacturers such as Geely, this “problem” is not hard to understand. “Manual for low-end models” is deeply ingrained in their automobile manufacturing principles and thinking. To rewrite the manual for manufacturing electric cars not only requires courage but also perseverance.

As a new brand, it’s understandable that Voyah is exploring and adjusting. However, it’s important not to forget to review, reflect, and stay true to initial intentions. For instance, if one chooses to enter the new energy field, shouldn’t they design cars based on the needs of new energy users?

Voyah was born to lead Dongfeng’s electrification transformation, making it undeniably important. Doing well would serve as an example for the entire group, but doing poorly would create uncertainty for Dongfeng’s future. The pressure for Voyah to enter the market for electric cars is high.

Many new car manufacturers are facing operational difficulties lately, and it’s easy to see that these kinds of news will continue. Although most traditional car makers have strong backing and their short-term capital chain won’t be broken, the electric car business is equally bleak. Crisis could be just moments away.

For both new and old forces, the only breakthrough path is to increase sales volume. However, achieving this goal requires meeting the real needs of new energy users and truly designing cars that suit them.

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.