Author: Qiu Kaijun, Tian Hui

As new car brands are heading towards high-end development, NETA is forging ahead on the path of intelligent electric vehicles for the people with great determination.

There is much controversy over whether a good intelligent electric vehicle can be made for 100,000 yuan or even 70,000 yuan? NETA’s response in November was to deliver 10,013 vehicles and enter the 10,000-vehicle club, forming the first echelon of new car forces with “Yu XiaoLi Na”.

NETA is very different from “Yu XiaoLi Na”. It does not follow a high-end path, nor does it have a “celebrity” leader with inherent topicality. However, NETA does have its own character, it is pragmatic yet unwilling to be ordinary. By introducing down-to-earth products, NETA has made intelligent driving accessible to ordinary people, becoming the most typical case of popularizing intelligent vehicles.

On the marketing side, what is the demand for intelligent electric vehicles in the 100,000 yuan segment? Will A0 and A-class cars usher in a wave of intelligent electric vehicles? How to sell quality intelligent electric vehicles at a low price? And how to provide good service?

For this reason, “Electric Vehicle Observer” interviewed Zhou Jiang, President of NETA Car Trading Company and a speaker at the 2022 Electric View Conference, to hear his answers.

Monthly sales of 10,000, within expectations

Earlier this year, Zhou Jiang predicted that the monthly sales of the second half of the year would exceed 10,000.

Since the industry trend was positive in the first half of this year, and the order volume for NETA V, which went public on November 3 last year, continued to rise, the sales of NETA U Pro, which went on sale during the Shanghai Auto Show, were also particularly good. Therefore, it was expected that monthly sales in the second half of this year would definitely exceed 10,000.

After sales exceed 10,000, the scale effect will gradually be released. For NETA Car, which adheres to the self-built factory, this is a much-needed competitive advantage.

In terms of specific sales, currently NETA V is the main product, accounting for about 70% of sales. It is an intelligent electric vehicle priced at about 60,000 to 120,000 yuan, with two versions of 301 km and 401 km range.## Intelligent Configuration and Advanced Driver Assistance of NIO ES6

The newly released NIO ES6 Pro features advanced intelligent configurations such as keyless entry through a smartphone, AI voice interaction, 4G vehicle networking, and V2H home interconnectivity. As for advanced driver assistance, the upgraded model, NIO ES6 Pro, is equipped with standard L2 level intelligent driving functions, such as full-speed ACC adaptive cruise control, LKA lane keeping assist, and AEB automatic emergency braking.

In the intelligent electric vehicle market, Wuling Hongguang MINI EV’s prices are generally higher, while NIO’s purchasing costs can even reach 400,000 yuan. The huge product price difference means that NIO has a larger consumer base, and consumers who can afford NIO ES6 are significantly more than Wuling Hongguang MINI EV’s potential customers. However, in terms of terminal sales, NIO’s sales have only just caught up with Wuling Hongguang MINI EV.

Regarding this, Zhou Jiang said: “Currently, NIO is also affected by the shortage of semiconductor supply chains, and some orders have not been delivered yet.”

“If the supply guarantee can be supported, NIO’s monthly sales will exceed ten thousand units two to three months earlier than now. The two product series currently on sale, including NIO ES6 and NIO U Pro, had an order volume of more than 16,000 units in November this year.” Zhou Jiang said, “Our delivery volume this year has increased three to four times compared to 2020. The delivery volume in 2022 is expected to have a relatively large increase based on 2021, and sales may double.”

Fairness in Technology

Some founders of new automakers have said that intelligent electric cars cannot be made for less than 150,000 yuan, but Zhou Jiang does not agree.

Zhou Jiang said that NIO adheres to technological fairness and makes cars for the people, and strives to make good cars step by step. In the execution process, NIO focuses on resources and gradually covers intelligent technology in every segmented market.

Firstly, NIO U Pro was equipped with advanced driver assistance technology earlier, and with the development of technology, NIO gradually extends intelligent technology downwards, proposing that cars worth 100,000 yuan can also be equipped with intelligent technology.

It sounds simple, but it is not easy to implement. Currently, intelligent configuration is still a high cost threshold. How did NIO create intelligent electric cars in the 100,000-yuan range?

Zhou Jiang said that automobiles are a scale economy, intelligent technology is also developing rapidly, and the overall cost of intelligent configuration is gradually decreasing. In addition, with the increase in sales volume, scale benefits begin to show.Given various factors, NETA Automobile’s NETA V Pro model has achieved L2 level intelligent assisted driving capability at a price of around 80,000 yuan.

Users demand intelligent functions

After a year of sales, NETA V has completed over 100,000 OTA upgrades, and the OTA upgrade rate has reached 82%.

Zhou Jiang shared a set of data in communication. The average number of times NETA Automobile’s intelligent voice assistant wakes up per vehicle is seven times a day, indicating strong demand from car owners for intelligent configurations.

Whether to ignore or meet users’ demand for intelligence reflects the values and management philosophies of automakers.

Adhering to the value of technological equality, NETA Automobile has achieved returns.

Models such as NETA V and NETA U Pro have successfully captured the hearts of young consumers. Over 65% of NETA V car owners are post-85s young people, and 60% of sales come from first and second-tier cities.

Young consumers and first- and second-tier city consumers are willing to try new things. They will inevitably accelerate the promotion of intelligent electric vehicles while enjoying the benefits brought by intelligent cars. Car companies that seek breakthroughs in intelligent technology will eventually achieve greater returns.

Taking NETA Automobile as an example, NETA U Pro car owners are generally young, which means that NETA Automobile has already taken a lead in occupying the hearts and minds of users in the next few decades. NETA V’s hot sales in first and second-tier cities will obviously help drive market penetration in third and fourth-tier cities.

NETA has laid out early in intelligentization and achieved some results, but the future still needs time.

Zhou Jiang agrees with this view. He said that although some people are daring to try new things, there is still a part of users who have not had the opportunity to come into contact with intelligent vehicles.

“This indicates that we still need to do a lot of consumer education work and increase promotion efforts to allow more users to experience intelligent electric vehicles.”

Mixed operation of direct sales and distribution

NETA Automobile’s sales model is quite special, including both direct sales and dealer systems.

Zhou Jiang said that NETA Automobile’s direct sales are mainly used in first and second-tier cities, while dealer systems are mainly used in third to fifth-tier cities.

Currently, NETA Automobile has more than 310 stores nationwide, with direct sales as the primary sales model in more than 30 cities.

The mixed sales model of direct sales and dealers has many advantages.

## Zhou Jiang: “I have entered into a great industry”
Zhou Jiang believes that operating company-owned stores can enable NETA Motors to directly embrace customers, have great interaction with them, and listen to feedback such as suggestions on next-generation products, along with managing the entire customer car usage cycle.

Establishing a dealer network in 3 to 5th tier cities can fully utilize the local dealership resources to speed up store construction and sales.

In actual operations, NETA Motors collects feedback from customers through its first and second tier company-owned stores to establish corresponding standards and completes service guide work. These standards are then used to train dealers in order to ensure consistent service standards and processes when facing all vehicle owners nationwide.

Furthermore, regardless of company-owned stores or dealerships, car owners can always maintain direct contact with the manufacturer through the NETA Motors app. NETA Motors will not repeat the mistakes of traditional car companies but instead have direct access to customers with interactive feedback.

Zhou Jiang has worked for various multinational car companies, such as PSA. He considers himself fortunate to have entered the intelligent electric car industry because it has allowed him to enter into a great industry.

According to Zhou Jiang, creating and developing a new brand in such a large automobile market like China is a rare experience, “Most importantly, the product we offer is intelligent pure electric vehicles, which are cutting-edge and emerging.”

Zhou Jiang believes that the intelligent electric vehicle industry is the biggest difference when compared to the traditional automobile industry. The industry defines the automotive product as the protagonist, transitioning from being an engineer to being a user. “Working at NETA Motors, and communicating with users on the design, function, and service of vehicles, I can hear direct feedback, which is something that my previous work experience lacked.”

Zhou Jiang stated, “Rather than being engaged in automotive marketing work, it is better to say we are co-creating automobiles with users.”

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.