Volume, can be regarded as a major keyword in the Chinese car market in 2023.
From the price war that runs through the whole year and is filled with gunpowder, to the marketing war that is surrounded by various traffic; From the flourishing of terminal products and intense competition, to the accelerated iteration of intelligent technology, traveling thousands of miles in a day; From the first time that the market share of independent brands has exceeded 50%, and then to a new high penetration rate of new energy vehicles... Accelerating the frenzy and continuing to shuffle, the main tone of the automotive market has been laid.
The 200000 yuan SUV race track, as a battleground for military strategists, has seen increasingly fierce competition among manufacturers this year: the front and rear of the Catfish Tesla Model Y are heavily guarded, followed by BYD's star models, Huawei's Wenjie M7, and other vehicles, as well as the former joint venture Evergreen Tree Oil Car. It is not easy to stand out from them.
However, in this niche market, a dark horse has emerged - the Xiaopeng G6. This car was born in June last year, and the bayonet became popular. With its own strength, it emerged from the flames of war and has been selling well all the way. In the era of internal competition, if a product wants to break through the encirclement, it will also test its value. What is the way for this car to win?
"The Xiaopeng G6 is to Xiaopeng, just like the iPhone 4 is to Apple"
The Xiaopeng G6's performance after entering the 200000 yuan SUV market is characterized by its debut as a popular model, pre-sale as a popular item, and delivery as a popular item.
It is reported that the Xiaopeng G6 has maintained a high popularity since its pre-sale on June 9th last year. After its launch, the popularity of the Xiaopeng G6 continued to rise, and its production capacity quickly climbed. In September, October, and November of last year, it achieved delivery results of 8132, 8741, and 8750 vehicles respectively, achieving month on month sales growth. It also led the sales chart of domestic pure electric SUVs with a price tag of 200000 yuan for three consecutive months, becoming a benchmark product for the new generation of intelligent pure electric SUVs with a price tag of 200000 yuan.
"The Xiaopeng G6 is to Xiaopeng, just like the iPhone 4 is to Apple, it is a critical point of accumulation to qualitative change," said He Xiaopeng, Chairman of Xiaopeng Motors, at the launch conference of the car. Describing the Xiaopeng G6 as a product that once swept the world, created an era, and was a milestone for Apple and even the smartphone industry, it shows that He Xiaopeng is optimistic about this car.
Now it seems that this statement is not false when it comes to the performance of Xiaopeng G6.
The Xiaopeng G6 comes with a hot selling physique, which is supported by its seamless product strength and ultimate cost-effectiveness.
As the first strategic product under the SEPA2.0 rotary technology architecture, the Xiaopeng G6 is not only the only mass-produced intelligent pure electric SUV in the industry, but also equipped with XNGP full scenario intelligent driving assistance. It is also equipped with technologies such as 800VSiC silicon carbide high-voltage platform, front and rear integrated aluminum die-casting, and CIB battery body integration.
Among them, in terms of intelligent inclusiveness, the Xiaopeng G6 is equipped with the industry's only mass-produced advanced intelligent driving assistance system XNGP, based on BEV+Transformer technology architecture. It has 31 high-performance intelligent driving sensors, including LiDAR, and a dual Orin-X chip with a total computing power of 508TOPS. It can perceive every detail of the road and obtain the best driving path in milliseconds, representing the highest level of advanced intelligent driving assistance capability in the industry.
In terms of intelligent cockpit, the G6's first intelligent multi scenario cockpit can set environmental perception such as time, location, and temperature as triggering conditions, creating scenarios that can be executed with one click or automatically. It realizes the free adjustment and combination of over 350 functions, allowing users to have "advanced customization for thousands of people and faces", continuously unlocking new scenarios for intelligent travel.
At the same time, its Xmart OS 4.0 in car intelligent system performs even more stunning, equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon SA8155P automotive grade cockpit chip and a 14.96 inch floating touch central control screen as standard. With a GPT like brain, it creates a more "humanoid" intelligent cockpit and emotional interactive experience.
G6 has proven through practical experience that only by firmly grasping the core needs of users, achieving intelligent inclusiveness with extreme cost-effectiveness, and taking the lead in creating a high-end experience for the next generation of intelligent electric vehicles in the price range of 200000 yuan, can we ultimately win tangible votes in the market.
The essence of the jungle rule: there are no shortcomings
To forge iron, one needs to be hard on their own. In fact, the underlying logic of all phenomena mainly lies in their own strength.
He Xiaopeng has repeatedly mentioned his "long short board" theory. "In the field of smart cars, the next three years will be the most brutal and also the most promising. The core not only needs to establish a few strengths, but also has no weaknesses, and it is a great test of the organization's basic skills in fierce change and rapid development. It is necessary to use extraordinary methods and walk the path of hard work." He wrote on Weibo at the end of last year.
On the Xiaopeng G6, this jungle rule is also revered as a standard. Polishing the product to have no shortcomings and creating a benchmark driving experience is Xiaopeng's answer to the market.
In terms of the most concerning pain points for consumers in terms of battery life, the Xiaopeng G6 not only achieves longer battery life, but more importantly, it does not disappoint. While the 400V platform is still widely used in the industry, most manufacturers achieve growth in battery life by piling up battery life, which not only incurs high costs but also often leaves users troubled by "impressive parameters but unrealistic battery life". The Xiaopeng G6, with its ultra-low wind resistance design of 0.248Cd, standard heat pumps across the range, and more efficient thermal management system, as well as the lightweight body brought by the front and rear integrated aluminum die casting, achieves an ultra long range of up to 755 kilometers and a power consumption of 13.2 kWh per 100 kilometers.
At the beginning of its launch, He Xiaopeng set a flag: as the next generation of intelligent electric vehicles, the choice of the Xiaopeng G6 is to reduce power consumption. "We not only want to be the longest endurance electric vehicle in China, but also the most solid endurance electric vehicle." From the actual performance, the Xiaopeng G6 has indeed fundamentally solved users' electricity anxiety, triggering a wave of following the 800V technology architecture in the 200000 level market.
As a car designed for driving control, the Xiaopeng G6 also adopts a front and rear integrated aluminum die-casting process that is comparable to a million dollar luxury car, making the body integration higher and more stable. The G6 is also equipped with a superior suspension system: front pure aluminum double wishbone and rear five link independent suspension (including stabilizer bars), the front suspension is made of all aluminum alloy material, effectively reducing the unsprung mass; Xiaopeng Motors, together with a top engineering team from Germany, has conducted professional and meticulous tuning on the chassis of the G6, ensuring good high-speed stability and stability without drifting; The steering feels smooth, and there is a slight tilt when turning.
With the support of multi-dimensional leadership and intelligence, the hot sales of Xiaopeng G6 are also transforming into a longer-term brand reputation.
Recently, the Electric Vehicle User Alliance conducted a survey based on 203 real car owners and released the "Xiaopeng G6 User Satisfaction Report". The report shows that the overall user satisfaction of Xiaopeng G6 reached 8.73 points, exceeding Tesla Model Y's 8.71 points. At the same time, the user net recommendation value (NPS) of the Xiaopeng G6 reached a new high of 71.43%, setting a new record for the historical research model of this institution. The research project includes 12 themes, including intelligent cockpit, intelligent driving, quality, configuration, brand, production capacity delivery, owner's rights, after-sales service, etc., which further proves the outstanding performance of Xiaopeng G6 in user experience and owner's reputation from multiple dimensions and comprehensively.
Do not draw pancakes, do not switch concepts
From the perspective of industry impact, in the past, there were few domestically produced pure electric SUVs in the price range of 200000 yuan. The Xiaopeng G6 redefined the benchmark of 200000 yuan pure electric SUVs with its all-around product strength and leading intelligent experience, which has had a phenomenal impact on the subsequent Chinese car market. Looking ahead to 2024, facing the situation of latecomers from competitors and continuous anchoring of benchmarks, under the forward-looking layout of leading one step, the hot selling physique of the Xiaopeng G6 will continue.
Taking the evolution of intelligent driving capabilities as an example, as early as the beginning of 2024, Xiaopeng Motors announced a heavyweight news: the Xiaopeng XNGP intelligent assisted driving system for urban intelligent driving capabilities has added coverage to 191 cities on the basis of 52 cities that have been fully released, with a total coverage of 243 cities. It will officially take effect on January 2.
As urban intelligent driving enters the stage of urban racing, Xiaopeng Automobile's layout pace is quite rapid and leads the industry in pace. At last year's 1024 Technology Day press conference, He Xiaopeng had already bluntly stated: Xiaopeng Motors does not draw big cakes, nor does it steal concepts.
The research report of Guojin Securities once pointed out that the company's intelligent driving is leading and has a first mover advantage. The core selling point of the company's products is intelligent driving. In the previous product cycle, there was a risk of demand mismatch, that is, intelligent driving technology was not clearly perceived by consumers, and consumers were unwilling to pay a premium for intelligent driving. This is an important factor in the company's sluggish sales. But the intelligent driving industry as a whole has entered L3 from L2, with urban NGP promoting healthy competition among various OEMs, catalyzing the gradual maturity of intelligent technology and policy support. Intelligent driving will quickly be perceived by consumers and catalyze their willingness to pay. The mismatch in company demand is reversed, and sales are expected to boost.
This can be seen from the purchasing data of Xiaopeng G6. According to statistics, in the first month of Xiaopeng G6's launch, the proportion of Max model selection reached over 70%, far leading its peers in intelligent strategic layout and technological strength accumulation. Last November, Xiaopeng Motors fully promoted Xmart OS 4.4.0 to Xiaopeng G6 users, becoming the first car company in the industry to fully open up the map free city navigation assisted driving function, covering more than 20 cities. Not long ago, Xiaopeng G6 also launched public beta testing for version 4.5.0 of Xmart OS, opening the second batch of NGP functions in 27 cities. Recently, in the first China Intelligent Driving Competition hosted by First Electric Network, the Xiaopeng G6 also won three consecutive championships in Guangzhou Station Expressway, Shenzhen and Shanghai Station Urban Auxiliary Driving, receiving full recognition from the industry and users.
Dongwu Securities Research Report also pointed out that in the dimension of intelligent driving, Xiaopeng's self-developed XNet2.0 deep visual neural network supports XNGP full scene intelligent assisted driving, which has opened up all road navigation driving in 243 cities across the country, covering various complex scenes and cross scene traffic in core cities, overlapping with core road sections commonly used by prefecture level or county-level city users, and creating true intelligent driving with real strength+real city opening+real speed+real experience, Continuous new products and intelligent driving acceleration are expected to drive a new upward cycle.
Winning a Marathon: Comprehensive Strength
Of course, car making is a marathon like long-distance race, and temporarily leading doesn't mean much. The challenge is how to laugh until the end.
"2023 is a year of nirvana for me," He Xiaopeng said in a previous interview. "To put it metaphorically, we are moving out of a pile of dead people in fierce competition. I think it is a very happy stage for me as we are moving faster and faster now."
In its view, each team should consider several comprehensive strengths, including endurance and acceleration, when running long distances. One important thing Xiaopeng is doing now is to build the entire organizational, product, and technical capabilities. The further he goes, the faster he can accelerate and have stronger resistance to wind, rain, and snow.
Taking technological capabilities as an example, under the relentless pursuit of technology and the expansion of the moat, the value of technologies such as the Fuyao architecture is expected to be realized, which is expected to enable Xiaopeng Motors to continue to win in the future.
It is reported that as the technical architecture for cultivating the Xiaopeng G6, Fuyao Technology Architecture took 5 years of research and development, with an investment of over 10 billion yuan. In the industry's view, this advanced architecture for Xiaopeng, such as TNGA for Toyota and MQB for Volkswagen, has entered the stage of architectural car manufacturing. It not only demonstrates strong market competitiveness for Xiaopeng G6, but also brings broader imagination space for subsequent models of Xiaopeng Motors, with a promising product cycle.
Taking the Xiaopeng G6 as an example, after leading the 200000 level Chinese brand pure electric SUV market for three consecutive months, Xiaopeng Motors is still fully unleashing its advantages and capabilities in the Fuyao architecture. With the continuous optimization of its supply chain system, the vehicle has achieved significant economies of scale and cost reduction. Recently, Xiaopeng G6 even launched a sales policy of offering a limited time discount of 10000 yuan for the entire series, further lowering the prices of its leading technologies and achieving a leap from roll technology to roll prices, benefiting a wider range of consumers.
Starting from 2014, Xiaopeng Motors will enter its tenth year of establishment in the automotive industry, facing a more complex external environment: the automotive industry is in the middle of the game, and with the influx of new players from technology giants such as Huaxiaomei, the Matthew effect in the industry will further intensify. New changes test speed, determination, and more importantly, strength. Through continuous cultivation in the early stage, Xiaopeng Automobile's technology realization, release of benefits from channel supply chain reform, and implementation of systematic car manufacturing will help it go further and more steadily. Now that the 2024 exam has started, Xiaopeng is expected to submit his answer sheet.
