Going-out Media Focuses on the Evolution of the Automotive Travel Industry Chain

Author: Kuang Ji

Where there are people, there is a community.

In the past week, there have been many important incidents related to the automotive travel field, which once again verify the aforementioned saying by Jin Yong (a famous Chinese novelist).

During this week, there were heroes lending aid to the relief efforts of the flood-stricken people of Henan province, with numerous automotive and travel industry enterprises donating funds and resources.

During this week, there were also disputes among heroes, as Ningde Times sued CATL for patent infringement, and the BYD Han EV collision test vehicle was not confirmed to have caught fire, causing public opinion to continue fermenting.

During this week, with the listing of FF, Jia Yueting, who had been silent for a long time, re-emerged as a hero, and boasted of overturning the traditional ultra-luxury automotive brands such as Maybach, Ferrari, and Bentley.

There are many things that require urgency. In the context of an era of transition, despite the chaos, we still need to uphold the principles of media professionals, investigate the facts, and join hands with the times. Without further ado, let’s start with this week’s automotive events.

Starting from July 17, there has been continuous precipitation throughout various cities in Henan Province. On July 20th, the heavy precipitation led to over 3 million people being affected, with many casualties and missing persons. In response to this disaster, many automotive and travel industry enterprises have taken action, actively donating money and materials to be used for emergency relief and post-disaster recovery work. Some of them have even specially launched rescue, inspection, and repair services for car owners and users in the affected areas.

During this aid effort, we have identified a few key points:

Firstly, newcomers in the automotive industry like NIO, XPeng, and Ideanomics, who have internet genes, responded the most quickly. They all issued announcements on July 21st to donate money and materials, and they live up to their words.

In comparison, joint venture automakers respond more slowly due to longer internal processes, and even end up making jokes. For example, Dongfeng Peugeot’s rescue service was announced but not put into effect in a timely manner due to poor internal communication, leading to mockery from users and netizens, and even making the hot search charts.

Secondly, traditional automotive behemoths like Mercedes-Benz and Geely, while responding a bit later, have more systematic approaches.

For example, Mercedes-Benz has a fixed public welfare partnership with the China Youth Development Foundation, and BMW with the China Education Development Foundation. BYD, Geely and other independent automakers or founders have their own charitable foundations, and have fixed donation channels.

Moreover, their forms of aid are more diversified. For example, Wofei Aerospace, a subsidiary of Geely Technology Group, donated three industrial-grade unmanned aerial vehicles specifically for flood control emergency command and disaster investigation, as well as providing technical guidance.### Part III

Thirdly, some brands have suspicions of leveraging marketing, which is understandable, but be sure to grasp the methods and limits. Otherwise, it may go too far and may be counterproductive. This can be seen from the twists and turns encountered by sportswear brand, Anta Sports.

On July 21st, CATL was officially sued by Ningde Times for patent infringement, and the scope of infringement involved all its products. Ningde Times stated that relevant departments have accepted CATL’s patent infringement case. If the lawsuit is successful, CATL’s entire product line may face suspension of sales.

On the same day, CATL issued a statement denying the alleged infringement of Ningde Times’ intellectual property rights. “CATL has always regarded independent research and development and technological innovation as the foundation of its existence. We conduct a comprehensive risk assessment of our products with a professional intellectual property rights team to ensure that we do not infringe on the intellectual property rights of others.”

Established in 2007, CATL’s products cover two major systems of ternary and lithium iron phosphate, and the company has a professional research and development agency dedicated to the research and application of key technologies of power batteries, creating a lithium-ion surge technology innovation platform with global influence. At present, CATL’s planned production capacity is 300 GWh+, and its installed capacity in the first quarter of this year was 1.4 GWh, with a year-on-year growth of 976.9%, ranking among the forefront of domestic power battery suppliers.

The official website shows that CATL’s business covers the passenger car, commercial vehicle, energy storage and special application markets. Some models under GAC Aion, GAC Toyota, Geely, and Changan Motors use CATL’s battery products.

Taking GAC Aion as an example, 90% of its product line uses CATL battery cells, including the main product Aion S. Previously, the Aion S series used Ningde Times’ 811 battery cell products. After several unidentified vehicle fires occurred, it switched to using CATL battery cells.

Regarding the reason for this lawsuit, some people see it as a matter of rights, while others see it as a matter of interests. I believe that as long as it is a legitimate demand, whether it is a matter of rights or interests, this lawsuit should be filed.

As for the result, it is unlikely to be a complete victory. Because in the context of anti-monopoly, even if Ningde Times is a big player, it is not seeking hegemony. It is probably difficult to even choose one in the short term.

Last week, Faraday Future (FF) founded by Jia Yueting announced the completion of a merger with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) PSAC, and the merged company was renamed “Faraday Future Intelligent Electric Inc”. On the evening of July 22nd Beijing time, FF officially listed on NASDAQ under the stock code “FFIE”.# Translation

Regarding this kind of IPO method, it is the first time in the automotive industry. After the market opened, FF’s stock price fell all the way, and some media claimed that FF “went public and broke.” Regarding this, FF’s public relations clarified that this was not a break, because there was no strictly defined issue price for the merger.

The other topic that onlookers are concerned about, of course, is Jia Yueting. Before the IPO ceremony, he and FF CEO Bi Fukang had a live broadcast together, driving an FF 91 from the company’s location to the NASDAQ Stock Exchange. Later, he also participated in the IPO ceremony, but did not give a speech.

Jia Yueting’s English accent, standing posture, and every move have been observed and interpreted by onlookers. When asked if he plans to return to China, Jia Yueting said, “Of course.”

According to the plan, FF’s first mass-produced car, the FF 91, will complete market delivery within a year after its IPO. By 2025, FF will achieve landed production capacity of 100,000-250,000 vehicles per year in China, and will additional capacity of 150,000 vehicles per year in 2026.

Jia Yueting also spoke harshly, “Our current goal is to deliver this car to the top users around the world on time and with high quality, and to subvert traditional super luxury car brands such as Maybach, Ferrari, and Bentley.”

The kingdom may change, but the nature is hard to change. Jia Yueting is still that Jia Yueting, and the arrogance and determination are still present in his words and speech. It is just that the landscape is no longer the same landscape, and the wind and rain have become even greater.

On July 24th, which happened to be Saturday, a pot from BYD fell from the sky.

That night, Dongchedi posted a video titled “BYD Han EV high-speed collision with E-Talent Alpha S—blade battery caught fire!” The media purchased the low-end version of BYD Han EV and E-Talent Alpha S from the 4S store and conducted a whole-vehicle collision test. Surprisingly, Han EV caught fire on its own after being idle for two days.

After the video was released, it caused a sensation in the industry, and there were many different opinions. E-Talent also took the opportunity to promote Alpha S as being unafraid of the flame.

BYD Auto released a statement on its official Weibo on the afternoon of the 25th, titled “Regarding the situation of a certain media releasing a video of a whole-vehicle collision test of Han EV,” stating that there were many doubts based on the information in the video and the relevant background data.BYD believes that the coolant (red, commonly used in the industry, and electrically conductive) of the collided vehicle in the video is completely different from the coolant (purple, unique to BYD, and non-conductive) of the Han EV mass-produced car. After replacing the conductive coolant with the guided coolant, the leaked coolant in the days following the severe collision of the vehicle caused a short circuit in the circuit, which in turn caused a fire.

The statement also stated that the testing standards and methods used in the video are non-mainstream, non-authoritative, and not national or industry standards.

On the evening of the 25th, DCD Automotive analyzed the BYD Han EV/FOX Alpha S collision test in a live broadcast and responded to three questions from netizens. First, the collision test vehicle was not a previously disassembled vehicle. Second, no holes were drilled in the collision test vehicle. Third, the coolant was already red when delivered, and was not replaced.

Han EV is currently one of the hottest models in the electric vehicle market, and this collision test will undoubtedly have a significant impact on its brand reputation and sales.

What is more important is that no matter what the truth of the matter is, this collision test has served as a warning to consumers that battery safety does not equal vehicle safety.

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.