For SAIC, Zhiji Automobile is a proper "prince", and it comes with its own aura and is highly anticipated.
Investment from SAIC, Ali and Zhangjiang Hi-Tech recently reached RMB 3 billion, with a valuation of RMB 30 billion.
At the presentation of SAIC’s 2022 semi-annual report, Zhiji was a "major strategic innovation project" of SAIC, and it was also mentioned in the semi-annual report that Zhiji Automobile was an important starting point for SAIC’s "upward development of independent vehicles".
At the beginning of the year, during the worst epidemic in Shanghai, SAIC tried its best to allocate resources to ensure that key new products such as Zhiji L7 went on sale. Zhiji Automobile has also been emphasizing the background of SAIC.
However, the sales of Zhiji L7 are not satisfactory. Since the delivery in late June, the delivery volume is not good. According to the data disclosed by the Association, in September, Zhiji L7 sold 1,019 units, and in July and August, it sold 816 units and 1,007 units respectively.
In the past, there were competitors such as Weilai, and behind them, there was a "direct biography" brother Feifan Automobile, which was about to go public. At that time, it would also seize the resources of SAIC. Can Zhiji afford to be the prince of SAIC?
In January, it sold for 1000 yuan, but it was difficult for the prince to win public support.
In September, the auto market improved.
Recently, according to the latest automobile sales data released by China Automobile Industry Association, the automobile sales volume in September was 2.61 million units, up 9.5% month-on-month and 25.7% year-on-year, maintaining a high-speed growth momentum. Among them, the sales volume of new energy vehicles reached 708,000, a year-on-year increase of 93.9%, and the market share reached 27.1%.
Tesla’s ModelY sold 51,802 units in September, holding the top spot. The top 30 models have sold more than 5,000 vehicles per month. Among the new forces making cars, Ideal L9 sold 10,123 units. In the pure electric vehicle market with a price exceeding 400,000 yuan, the sales volume of Weilai ET7 in September was 2,928.
"ZhiJi monthly sales of one thousand, must be failed. Although it is said to be a high-end positioning of around 400,000, it will take thousands of units a month, which is similar. " Mr. Zhou, an insider of the car circle, said.
The sales volume is bleak. Besides the brand has just started and its popularity is not high, Zhiji’s investment in channel construction is not strong, which is also an influencing factor.
According to the statistics of Lujiu Business Review, Zhiji has about 40 experience centers and about 35 delivery centers in China. This kind of coverage network is somewhat inadequate.
Taking Beijing as an example, Lu Jiu’s business review learned that Zhiji has only four experience centers in Beijing. Among them, Beitou Shopping Garden Store has just opened on National Day. In contrast, LI has 18 stores in Beijing. Weilai Automobile has 21 stores in Beijing.
Not only that, in terms of distribution channels, Zhiji is also relying on SAIC. During the visit, Lu Jiu’s business review found that several Zhiji sales points in Beijing were made by traditional 4S Buick dealers.
For example, Wangfujing APM store, Zhiji automobile and Buick dealer Gadalai cooperate. Take the mode that Zhizhi pays to rent the storefront, and the dealer hires people to be responsible for the management.
This is somewhat similar to Huawei’s channel vendors, but slightly different. The M5 and M7 sample cars displayed in Huawei Experience Store are all purchased by the store owner himself. The sample cars in Zhiji’s store are directly provided by Zhiji, and dealers do not need to pay for them themselves.
Users book cars online, dealers take sales commissions, and deduct employees’ sales commission and marketing expenses, which is their own profits.
"Zhiji is like this, in order to reduce the pressure on dealers. If you pull the dealer alone, the cost will be invested. If the sales volume does not come up, it will be very troublesome later. " Mr. Zhou said.
When some car companies push new products, they will "apportion" the dealers, and at the same time, they will take some newly pushed models while entering those models that sell well. Mr. Zhou believes that Zhiji’s approach is somewhat similar to this method.
In addition, Zhiji is also conservative in brand investment. "SAIC is a state-owned enterprise, and its budget is very strict, so there are fewer advertisements." The sales staff of Zhongguancun exhibition shop told Lu Jiu’s business review.
If the sales volume does not come up, the turnover of sales staff will be great. "The basic salary of sales is 4,000 yuan. We can probably get 800-1000 yuan when we sell a car. Especially in the past few months, sales have not yet started. Some salespeople can’t sell cars, so they get a basic salary. The pressure in Beijing is great. He left without moving." The sales of Liu, who led the exhibition at Heshenghui, said.
In view of the current sales situation, what further measures does Zhiji have? Lu Jiu’s business review asked Zhiji’s official about this, but as of the time of publication, he didn’t get a reply.
02 35-400,000 range
The prince’s tough battle is not easy to fight.
As the "No.1 Project" of SAIC, Zhiji Automobile has high hopes. SAIC hopes that the Prince will fight hard and attack the independent luxury car market that the Group has not been able to win.
SAIC defines Zhiji as a high-end luxury brand. In the company’s 2021 annual financial report, there is such a description: through the listing of new products such as Zhiji, SAIC Audi and Cadillac, the product camp of luxury brands is further strengthened.
In terms of vehicle size, price and configuration, the target of Zhiji L7 is Weilai ET7. The models with two configurations of Zhiji L7 are priced at 368,800 and 408,800 respectively; The price of Weilai ET7 is about 450,000 to 530,000.
"Wisdom has more control and performance. We call this car the control involution king, which is a bit niche and biased towards those who like to play with cars. " A sales person surnamed Ren told Lu Jiu Business Review.
"We are cheaper than ET7. ET7 is mainly expensive in its service, because they have power exchange service. These are all costs, which will ultimately be reflected in the price of the car." He said that at present, Zhiji L7 has no power exchange service, so the price is cheaper than Weilai.
Compared with Zhiji, Weilai started early, has a strong brand influence, and relies on the unique positioning of "car as a service" to form a strong user stickiness.
In terms of sales volume, there is also a considerable gap between Zhiji L7 and Weilai ET7. Weilai ET7 sold 2,928 units in September and 4,349 units in June.
The prices of two products of Zhiji L7 have reached the price range of BBA. According to public information, only Weilai can occupy a place in the market segment of 350,000-400,000 yuan.
Hi-Tech Intelligent Automobile Research Institute believes that this road of Zhiji is very difficult. The top matching of Zhiji L7 with a price of 408,800 yuan is the model range of BBA, and the general effect will not be very good if the top matching is used to play the low matching of joint venture brands.
Tamia Liu, CEO of Zhiji Automobile, once said: "It is miserable and helpless for users who spend more than 400,000 plus tax close to 500,000 to buy BBA."
Today’s Zhiji car, the differentiated competition has not been shown, but the price and positioning have kept up. This kind of unsynchronization has the most intuitive appearance in sales volume. Although relying heavily on the brand and production and supply resources of SAIC, as an independent luxury brand, Zhiji lacks sufficient persuasion.
Can brothers still sit still when they are competing for the crown prince?
In the past, there were independent brands such as Weilai and many joint venture brands. Behind them, Zhiji Automobile also faced the resource competition of another brother, Feifan Automobile.
Feifan Automobile is an R brand wholly owned and operated by SAIC and its employees, and it is also a brand within SAIC. In contrast, Feifan car is more like a "prince" than Zhiji.
In the planning map of SAIC, it is Zhiji Automobile and Feifan Automobile that promote the development of independent brands. Moreover, Feifan Automobile, like Zhiji, is also a "major strategic innovation project" of SAIC.
Tamia Liu, co-CEO of Zhiji Automobile, has served as an important manager in various positions of SAIC, and has served as product manager, director of market operation department, director of product planning and deputy general manager of quality and economic operation department.
Wu Bing, CEO of Feifan Automobile, has 20 years working experience in SAIC. According to public information, Wu Bing has successively held important positions in several subsidiaries of SAIC-GM, Shanghai Automotive Group Insurance Sales Co., Ltd. and Xiangdao Travel.
Backed by SAIC and endorsed by SAIC is the basic strategy of Zhizhi. In Zhiji’s sales store, the words "Ali makes cars, SAIC quality" are particularly eye-catching.
In manufacturing, Zhiji also relies on SAIC platform. "SAIC has many resources, including the rear wheel steering technology of the car, the design of the chassis, chips and hardware equipment, all relying on SAIC’s supply chain." Ren surnamed sales of Zhongguancun exhibition shop said.
On September 22nd, SAIC announced that it will jointly invest with China Petrochemical, China Petroleum and Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited to establish Shanghai Jieneng Zhidian New Energy Technology Co., Ltd., and will build charging piles at 50,000 gas stations nationwide.
Zhiji characterized this news as good for car owners, and all sales points made publicity signs: "Zhiji’s energy replenishment system will be expanded again, and relying on Jieneng Zhidian, a subsidiary of SAIC, we will fully promote the strong upgrade of the charging network."
Flying every car is the same strategy.
Wu Bing, CEO of Feifan Automobile, was also deliberately highlighting the resources of SAIC in an interview. It has always been emphasized that Feifan Automobile does not start from scratch, "but is carried out on the basis of SAIC’s huge resources".
On September 22nd, SAIC cooperated with PetroChina, Sinopec and Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited, and Feifan Automobile also served as its own resource. Moreover, compared with Zhiji, Feifan and Jieneng Zhidian have a closer relationship.
"SAIC is in a difficult time now, and it is in urgent need of independent brands to do it as soon as possible. In the past, independent brands had a habit of having more brands, having more children and fighting, and the east was not bright and the west was bright. " Mr. Zhou said.
Although Wu Bing has been saying that Fei Fan and Zhi Ji do not constitute competition, in fact, the competition between them is inevitable.
The first is the competition for resources.
Feifan automobile is positioned at the high end, and Zhiji automobile is positioned at the high end. However, the price difference is not very big. The price difference between Feifan and Zhiji is about 50,000 yuan. As two independent new energy brands under SAIC, there is inevitably competition in the undertaking of SAIC brand resources.
In addition, the positioning of the two brands will overlap in the future.
The news learned by Lu Jiu’s business review is that Zhiji will launch a B-class car next year, which is the model that the company wants to take. This B-class car will have direct competition with Feifan.
"In fact, the L7 car is not a real car, it is a brand car. The real car is the B-class car released next year, and the company plans it like this. " "Just like Tesla, the earliest model started at 800,000, and then there were 300,000 models up and down," said Ren, a salesman at the Zhiji exhibition store.
Sales staff revealed that the B-class car released by Zhiji next year will be marked with ET5, Mmodel 3 and other models, which is Zhiji’s brand strategy.
Feifan R7 will be delivered at the end of October, and when the market runs away for some time, especially next year, Zhiji will launch a B-class car, when the two brands will directly fight.
If Feifan’s car sales are improving, SAIC will have to adjust its resource allocation in the case of tight resources.
To prove that he can be a "prince", Zhiji’s time is running out.