Author: Feng Jingang
Introduction: In order for intelligent electric vehicles to stand up completely, there will inevitably be a battle with traditional fuel vehicles.
Intelligent electric vehicles must have a direct confrontation with traditional fuel vehicles in order to completely stand up.
While NIO broke through the BBA barricade and successfully captured the 400,000 yuan intelligent electric vehicle market, XPeng chose to focus its strategic efforts on the 200,000 yuan intelligent electric vehicle market. This means that the direct competitors of XPeng Automobile will be mainstream mid-to-high-end vehicles such as Camry, Accord, and Passat.
After G3 and P7, XPeng launched its third car, the P5. On July 17th, the P5 officially opened for pre-sale with a price range of 160,000 to 230,000 yuan, which is indeed very close to the price range of traditional mid-to-high-end vehicles.
The Deputy General Manager of XPeng Automobile’s Product Planning Department, Jiang Weizhong, told me privately a few days ago that the direct competitor of the P5 will be the Camry.
For a long time, 200,000 yuan has been the ceiling for Chinese brands. However, this situation has gradually been broken in recent years with the rise of new Chinese high-end brands such as Lynk & Co, WEY, and Start. However, aside from Lynk & Co, which receives continuous support from Volvo, the momentum of the other two has started to decline.
The reason why the mid-to-high-end vehicle market has become an unattainable Chinese brand market is that this market not only requires first-class product quality, but also extremely solid brand strength. It is a high-level competition that tests the comprehensive strength of enterprises, and even global top five automobile groups such as Hyundai-Kia are finding it difficult to establish a foothold in this market, as can be seen from the high requirements.
When even leading independent brands such as Geely and Great Wall find it difficult to establish a foothold in the mid-to-high-end vehicle market, the chances for other brands seem even more slim. Therefore, it can be seen that the possibility of Chinese brands breaking through the barriers constructed by Camry and others in the traditional fuel vehicle market is very low.
Excitingly, we are currently in the era of the rise of new energy vehicles, which means that everything is being restructured, including the market structure. When Chinese brands are still unable to establish a foothold in the mid-to-high-end vehicle market, will intelligent electric vehicles achieve this feat?
The answer is yes.
Three years ago, Li Bin said that NIO entered the intelligent electric vehicle market because the traditional fuel vehicle market had already been saturated, and the chances of success for NIO would be very low if it entered that market again. Therefore, it chose the still-blank high-end new energy market.
Although NIO’s development has been very rocky, it has ultimately persevered and become the leader in the intelligent electric vehicle market for vehicles priced above 400,000 yuan. NIO’s success has amazed all Chinese automobile industry players, and has also inspired other traditional automakers to learn from it, resulting in the emergence of high-end brands such as Polestar, Voyah, IM, and Jidou.
As for XPeng, because of the existence of G3, although the company is not well-known for high-end vehicles, P7’s success has already made XPeng “half” a high-end brand. Many people do not know that the best-selling version of the P7 is the 360,000 yuan “Pengyi Edition.” From the perspective of intelligence alone, the P7 can be called the pinnacle of Chinese intelligent electric vehicles.NIO and XPeng’s success are sufficient proof that China’s intelligent electric cars can thrive in the mid-to-high-end and even high-end markets, where Chinese gasoline cars cannot.
Therefore, we have a positive outlook for the upcoming assault of P5 on the Camry and other models.
P5 is not the first intelligent electric car in the 200,000-yuan market, but it is the strongest so far. This is not only because of the success of P7 and G3, but also because of P5’s benchmark presence in both electric and intelligent core product capabilities.
In terms of electric properties, P5 has a range of 460/550/600 kilometers, which is at the mainstream level in the market. However, don’t forget that XPeng also has the most comprehensive ultra-fast charging network among domestic brands, which makes P5 basically bid farewell to range anxiety.
In terms of intelligent configuration, P5 is the world’s first mass-produced intelligent electric car equipped with laser radar, with leading intelligent driving levels of XP2.5 and XP3.5. Coupled with the highly praised Xmart OS intelligent system, P5’s intelligent configuration is extremely powerful.
Combined with excellent electric performance and powerful intelligent configuration, P5 can be called the benchmark for the new generation of intelligent electric cars after P7, and the key is that it’s still cheap.
In fact, for an internet-famous car that was aggressively marketed with laser radar earlier, the pre-sale price of P5 should be lower than many people’s expectations. Therefore, we see that it has achieved good pre-sales results.
According to XPeng’s data, P5 received 5,000 orders in 7 hours of pre-sale period, which is quite popular.
It is worth mentioning that the top (second) configuration model equipped with dual laser radar accounts for 70% of P5 orders, which shows everyone’s favor for P5’s intelligent technology. The more popular P5’s smart technology is, the higher its chances of success are.
Gu Hongdi, Vice Chairman and President of XPeng Motors, predicts that “by 2025, XPeng will achieve a market share of more than 10% in the intelligent electric vehicle market. In some specific sub-markets, XPeng’s market share will be far greater than 10%, and this is our goal.”
As for P5, which seeks to establish a foothold in the mid-to-high-end brand of intelligent electric vehicles priced above 150,000 yuan, it can be said to be XPeng Motors’ “lowest-end” model. Therefore, in addition to bearing the mission of XPeng’s exploration of the intelligent electric car market, it also has the heavy responsibility of obtaining sales volume.
Will P5 succeed? Time will tell us the answer.
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.