Author: Michelin

If an “Annual Big Mouth Award” were to be awarded to the automotive industry in 2022, the competition may be more intense than the selection of the best car model.

Among the candidates are those who have the “naming rights” award like Richard Yu, as well as the hot newcomer of Weiyuan Xiaoli and the leaders of independent brands, and even big shots like Musk and Akio Toyoda in overseas branches.

However, if I had to choose a champion, I would probably choose Liu Tao, the joint CEO of IM Automobile. After all, while the “big mouths” of others may only differ in whether they end up being slapped or hitting others, Mr. Liu has done “trial by fire” when it comes to taunting, becoming the first in the industry to suffer from verbal backlash.

I don’t know when it became the norm for new forces, traditional car companies, independent brands, or cross-border car makers to take a “shocking language” approach. But whether one succeeds in taming the skill or ends up being backfired by it can lead to vastly different outcomes.

“No Distinct Features, No Cars Made?”

Once, a person in charge of a domestic brand complained to GeekCar: Why do we get criticized when the others can say “the best under 5 million RMB”, and “million-class luxury cars” and still remain in the circle?

Before this incident, they had just held a somewhat exaggerated press conference, attracting only criticism from the automotive industry. Then, there was no more splash. They received criticisms, but it was far from the expected amount of spread and impact.

This person is not the only one with such confusion. Maybe Liu Tao, the co-CEO of IM Automobile, can relate to it too.

When it comes to being a “big mouth,” too little can lead to insipidity, while too much can lead to self-destruction. Perhaps no one has experienced this two-faced feeling better than Liu Tao himself.

In the beginning of November, the Tesla brake incident occurred. As an executive of an automotive company, Liu Tao posted a related Weibo. The internet users who were watching the show had hoped that a professional could stand up and talk from a technical perspective, a professional perspective, and an “insider” perspective. However, upon closer inspection, Liu Tao’s Weibo was devoid of content on technology, and was filled only with emotion.

Tesla’s Brake Criticism “Costs Lives” Fades Away

The heat generated from Zhang Yazhou’s criticism of Tesla’s brakes has established a “straightforward” public image for him in the minds of netizens. However, the traffic generated by this image has not been converted into sales for IM L7 cars. Instead, netizens have dug up “black materials” from several months ago when he was caught speeding.

Meticulous netizens noticed that in a promotional video released by IM in June, CEO Liu Tao demonstrated a series of operations such as acceleration, lane changing, and supercar mode while driving on the highway, but the mosaic omitted the speedometer reading of 137km/h, and a math expert calculated with the time of the video and the length of the lane that the maximum speed reached in the video was 154km/h. In addition to speeding, there were also occasions of using the emergency lane for parking, crossing solid lines, and changing lanes without giving turn signals.

Exposing these irregular actions, it is feared that Liu Tao’s driving license will be suspended since his twelve points have not yet been deducted. At the same time, his criticism against Tesla’s unsafe brakes no longer holds much water. As expected, after the incident was exposed, Liu Tao deleted his Weibo posts that bashed Tesla and issued a public apology.

Perhaps due to the “fierce” backlash generated by his criticism, Liu Tao’s follow-up criticisms were much milder after the apology.

In a recent interview, when evaluating the Ideal One and the Nio ET7, Liu Tao said that he would not choose the Ideal One because “driving it is like driving an old GL8; it’s just a mobile “Daddy” car.”

This snippet was uploaded to social media after editing, but again, it was criticized by car bloggers as “unable to hit the nail on the head.” Indeed, it seems a bit powerless to criticize a product that positions itself as a “Daddy” car and whose attributes as such have been recognized by the market and consumers.

This feeling is like the Internet popular memes integrated into the sketches of the Spring Festival Gala. We understand those memes and see that the veteran artists are trying to integrate the Internet, but we viewers cannot be amused and even feel a bit chilly watching the sketches. According to the entertainment industry’s “black and red is still red” law, this kind of cold field may be more embarrassing than being scolded.## English Translation

In the car circle, taking the route of talking big is like stir-frying sugar for braised pork: too little heat will make it insipid, too much heat will make it burnt. How to control the heat to the finest point has become a new problem for old cars people like Liu Tao, who has been immersed in the auto industry for 25 years.

Let’s go back seven years ago, to 2015 when Liu Tao, who was the Marketing Director of the Roewe brand, said in an interview with the media, “We must try to keep up with the trend of mobile internet.” In the same year, Li Bin and Li Xiang, who “retired from their achievements” in the Internet field, had just joined the auto industry; Yu Dazui was still in the consumer electronics field, setting the flag that “Only three mobile phone manufacturers will exist in the future.”

When it comes to proficiency in the internet and talking big, it is a bit like novices challenging experienced players.

Looking back at the blowing and pulling brands like “Million Level Luxury Cars,” “Below 5 Million,” “Defeat Tesla in One Year,” “ET5 exceeds 3 Series”…, they are essentially centered around their own products or brand. Blowing and pulling are enjoyable for oneself, and interesting for netizens, and their own new products have a rise in popularity among the netizens. This is the “traffic password” of the car circle blowing and pulling.

When a series of prominent remarks focus only on the CEO and ignore the brand and product behind it, the traffic password becomes ineffective.

Blowing and Pulling that cannot bring success to IM

As mentioned earlier, a related person complained to us: “Can’t we just build and sell cars well without standing out?”

Yes, but it is probably not enough for today’s IM Auto.

In November, IM delivered 608 vehicles, and since the large-scale delivery began in June, a total of 4,310 units have been delivered.

The field where the IM L7 is located is not a “blue ocean” where they can fool around; instead, it is the most competitive field 35,000+ intelligent electric vehicle brands are aiming for, including Nio ET7, Ji Ke 001, Avita 11, and even the opponent BBA selected by Liu Tao himself; all are fully equipped in terms of configuration, functionality, and even service.

Perhaps that’s exactly what smart cars need to do, make some noise and attract more attention in the market.

To be honest, on paper, the smart L7’s strength is not weak: 90kWh tri-cell battery, 615/675km range, 4-wheel drive with 725N·m of torque, Momenta’s IM AD intelligent driving system, 39-inch double lift screens, 8155 cabin chips, and so on. But there always seems to be a sense of disunity in this brand: innovative yet traditional or perhaps a traditional car core under the trendy exterior.

For example, the smart L7, despite its high level of intelligence, has chosen the “driving control” tag for itself. In the words of smart CEO Liu Tao, “when it comes to luxury brands and driving control, this is a practice that has become the norm and fits well with the core values of automobiles.”

And this “practice that has become the norm” is a rule established by gasoline vehicles over the past century.

While the entire intelligent electric vehicle industry is striving to create concepts to “overtake on the curve,” focusing on the three-electric system, intelligence, the third space, and even the fuel economy of hybrid cars, the smart L7 has pulled the race back to the fuel-based vehicle’s strongest domain. The team made an intelligent electric car with a “German car feeling,” described by Liu Tao as the “high-level tuning of the Williams team.”

Even without these “conventions,” “driving control” itself is a niche and difficult-to-unify standard. Chassis tuning, suspension technology, tires, turning radius—every detail affects the driving experience, and everyone’s experience with driving control is different. There are people who are willing to pay for a better driving experience, but when someone considers the driving experience to be the primary condition for payment, their requirements are much more stringent.

Besides product positioning, IM has many “tricks up its sleeve.” From the angel round user benefits introduced at the release of L7, to the Originstone Valley co-creation plan that incorporates blockchain technology into the automotive industry, IM has nearly tried them all. Unfortunately, the execution has been far from satisfactory. Despite the popular internet concepts “angel round,” “Originstone Valley,” “blockchain,” and “user co-creation,” collecting 6800 origin stones was not enough to exchange for an upgraded lidar, as an additional ¥10,000 in cash was required. Moreover, the “rare and noble” angel privileges of the first 3000 users were diminished.

Although Liu Tao generously stated that “being criticized by users is also a form of co-creation,” at this critical early stage when “word-of-mouth” is vital, it undoubtedly hurt the hearts of the users who had paid real money to buy the car. How many people are willing to participate in such “co-creation”?

Finally

“L7 is a powerful treasure vehicle that will one day become popular.”

At the Chengdu Auto Show six months ago, Liu Tao described IM L7 as such.

In this era, no one doesn’t want to be popular or become an internet sensation. However, as a product, “mouth marketing” and “internet celebrity” tags are just icing on the cake. Although traffic will put a person, a product, and a brand on a bigger stage, what is ultimately attractive and retains the audience willing to pay is the product itself.

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.