Author: Tian Hui

In 2021, China’s new energy vehicle market has exploded, with annual sales expected to exceed 2.5 million units.

In this rapidly growing market, many competitors are vying for dominance. Among them, one stands out with its independent brand and “Cat Series” pure electric products. Although seeming unconventional, the brand has followed the success rules of new-generation internet products.

This brand is Ola, founded in 2018, it has quickly risen to become a top five new energy vehicle manufacturer in 2021. In just three years, Ola’s brand and sales have risen to the top of the industry, creating a brand and product that are now the object of study for many competitors.

How did such a unique brand and product category come about?

Swift Sales and Terminal Reservations over 10,000 for Multiple Months in a Row

In 2021, China’s new energy vehicle market has exceeded expectations.

From January to May, China’s new energy vehicle sales totaled 776,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 235.7%. However, due to factors like chip shortages, the growth rate has slowed down. The cumulative increase from January to May decreased by 67.2% and 37.3% compared to that of the first three months and the first four months respectively.

Despite the slowdown in the industry’s growth rate, Ola’s momentum has not slowed down, and its growth rate far surpasses the industry as a whole. From January to May 2021, Ola’s cumulative sales reached 41,756 units, with a year-on-year increase of 514%, making it one of the top five electric vehicle brands.

Especially for the Good Cat model, once its production capacity increases and sales are released, it will help drive Ola’s rapid growth. In the presale stage alone, the order volume for the Good Cat has exceeded 5,000 units. As delivery continues, the number of orders is still increasing, and terminal reservations have exceeded 10,000 units.

Ola’s other model, the Black Cat, has also been doing well, with a cumulative sales volume of 25,486 units from January to May 2021, ranking sixth in total sales for new energy vehicles and having the highest sales volume among similar models.

Looking at the sales volume for the first five months of 2021, Ola’s terminal sales data has been in a stable growth trend, with a significant year-on-year increase. It is believed that Ola will set a new sales record in 2021.

“Love” Marketing

How to tap into the huge female consumer market is a topic of research for car manufacturers.

Ola has found a breakthrough point by catering to female fans, becoming “the world’s favorite women’s car brand” through “love” marketing.In the process of brand marketing, Ora did not adopt overwhelming advertising methods, but worked with female consumers to create the brand together.

As an example, Ora named its products through co-creation with female consumers, finding the most suitable names for its products by jointly choosing colors.

Regarding dissemination channels, Ora tends to choose social platforms with more female users for social interaction. Ora has its own promotion space on platforms such as Little Red Book and Douyin. At the same time, Ora has teamed up with numerous trendy brands for joint brand promotion activities.

Currently, Ora has cooperated with over 100 trendy brands, and more brands will join in the future.

Ora’s love for female consumers goes beyond brand promotion. In response to the pursuit of self-expression, independence, and personality among new generation women, Ora has closed the distance between itself and female consumers through sponsoring marathons and other activities.

Recently, Ora held an event called the “Good Things Research Institute” to collect female self-made products and display them on the Ora platform, allowing the Ora brand to participate in female social activities.

Ora’s success lies in its brand’s integration into the social life of female consumers, becoming a brand that female consumers can trust when they purchase a car.

Product Matrix

A single tree does not make a forest, and a single product does not make a category. Ora is also enriching its product system.

From its early days to now, Ora has been pushing out new products at a rate of one car per year to enrich its product system. Currently, Ora has three cars for sale: the Black Cat, White Cat, and Good Cat. It has also launched other models such as the Punk Cat and Lightning Cat, covering from A00 to B-class and priced between 50,000 to 250,000 RMB.

Black Cat and White Cat fill the gap in the small car market that lacks smart and reliable three-electronic technology.

In the 100,000-150,000 RMB electric car market, Ora Good Cat has a product power that surpasses its competitors in terms of appearance and aesthetics.

In terms of exterior design, Ora Good Cat champions the “retro” design trend through the use of multi-color bodies and circular headlights, creating a stunning appearance favored by female consumers. It is also a heavy-weight model in Ora’s product lineup.

Ora’s future products will focus on meeting the needs of segmented female consumers.The Lightning Cat car, set to be launched in 2022, is positioned as a supercar easy for women to drive, allowing princesses to also hold the steering wheel of a supercar.

Equipped with personalized sports features such as frameless doors, hidden door handles, and automatic lifting tail wings, the Euler Lightning Cat takes only 3.5 seconds to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h.

But having supercar performance and personality alone is not enough. The Lightning Cat focuses on intelligent care for female consumers.

In terms of intelligent driving assistance systems, the Lightning Cat will be equipped with an L3+ intelligent driving assistance system that supports the popular fully automatic parking function that is beloved by women.

At the same time, the Lightning Cat is also equipped with multiple considerate “princess” features, such as the “Princess temperature” function, with heated seats and steering wheels, as well as constant temperature automatic air conditioning.

The Lightning Cat is expected to be launched in the third quarter of 2022. The Lightning Cat, with a supercar-level power and a starting price of only around $30,000, lets the public also enjoy the fun of driving a supercar.

Another product, the Euler Punk Cat, is positioned as a retro car that meets the travel needs of the high-end social class.

In meeting market demands, Euler Haomao will launch personalized models such as the Haomao Cyber Edition and Haomao GT to cater to consumers who demand technology and sports models.

In its products, Euler does not adhere to traditional rules or define cars solely based on length or wheelbase, but rather uses the user + scene approach to define products, reflecting Euler’s forward-looking mindset towards future car products and an industry-leading product definition method.

Intelligent technology brings consumers closer

Intelligent technology is Euler’s core competitiveness in defeating its competitors.

Euler not only focuses on technological research and development in intelligent technology, but also accelerates landing in the application of intelligent technology in various scenarios.

In terms of intelligent cabins, Euler’s intelligent voice interaction technology creates a neural network model that restores changes in emotions during women’s work and living scenarios with voice, lip reading, eye contact, and body movements, and provides personalized experiences.

Using the neural network model, Euler’s intelligent cabin can bring personalized functions to car owners based on changes in the environment or weather. For example, during the spring blooming season, Euler’s models can intelligently activate a pollen filtration system.

In terms of intelligent driving, Euler has launched the first AI-Feed automatic driving system for female users.

In terms of hardware, Euler will be equipped with the world’s highest computing power Qualcomm autonomous driving chip, with a computing power of 700T, and will load 39 autonomous driving components.

Meanwhile, Euler will also be equipped with the world’s most advanced mass-produced Flash LiDAR. In actual tests, the detection range of this radar with a 10% reflectivity can reach up to 250 m, with a measured horizontal resolution of 0.08 and a vertical resolution of 0.07, which is three times better than the current industry standard.

In terms of intelligent application scenarios, Euler will promote the development of “butler”-style scenario intelligence, supporting all-time self-testing, remote home control, facial payment and other application scenarios.

In the direction of intelligent electric vehicles, Euler provides a more intimate driving experience for female consumers by creating different functions and experiences.

Marketing Solutions for the New Generation

How to win the new generation of intelligent electric vehicle consumers is a common concern for car companies. However, only Euler seems to have found the answer.

In terms of brand positioning, Euler accurately grasps the intersection of intelligent electric vehicle consumption and female consumers, and focuses on this in marketing. The increasing sales after the epidemic have proved that Euler’s positioning of a female electric vehicle brand is very successful.

As a result, more and more brands in the industry regard Euler as a research object, and its brand and marketing innovations have become a trend in the industry.

In May 2021, Euler ranked first on the Brand Competitiveness Index released by the China Business News Think Tank and the School of Business at the top of the list, surpassing traditional brands such as Hongqi and Chery, as well as new forces like XPeng. This affirmation from a third party proves that Euler has already reached a high starting point and has the opportunity to advance towards becoming a well-known brand.

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.