It is learned on December 13 from Electric Planet News, on December 12, NIO president Qin Lihong delivered a speech at a face-to-face meeting with the media.
Significance of being in the right trend
Qin Lihong said that when discussing many things, there must be an origin. As far as the development of the automobile industry is concerned, this trend must be mentioned. “Without this trend, our dojo in a screw shell will not be able to achieve a great climate.”
He believes that electric vehicle companies have concentratedly started to stand out, started to stand in the first camp of the global auto industry. This is the trend.
Standing on this trend, NIO has done a long-term thinking, including investment in technology, construction of contact points, multi-brand operation strategy, etc.
Qin Lihong revealed that under the category of pure electric high-end brands, NIO’s market share is already 77%. In other words, it is more accurate to say that NIO’s share of the smart luxury electric car market of more than 400,000 has reached 77%.
Why NIO produces many models
One of the criticisms that many people have on NIO is that there are already many product lines, compared with Tesla and other new force carmakers such as XPeng or Li Auto etc.
In this regard, Qin Lihong’s response is that each model has a different historical mission. Some models need to increase the richness of the brand, and some models may need to be mass-produced and more practical. And if we want to establish ourselves as a high-end brand, appropriate richness is needed, “This is one of our experiences.”
In his view, “The higher-end various consumer products, the more abundant you may need. The more practical the market, the more focused the capabilities may need to be. “
For example, when you go out wearing clothes, you are not afraid of bumping into your shirt if you wear Uniqlo, but if you wear big-name clothes, some people will mind.
Qin Lihong said that some people say that in the era of smart electric vehicles, we should make explosive models instead of making many lace models. But in the high-level market, the only solution is to maximize the platform in terms of system thinking. But in the interface with the user, the richness should be enlarged appropriately.
Head-to-head competition with the BBA
When the total national annual sales of about 20 million units remains unchanged, where does the growth of pure electric and NIO come from? Of course, it is the fuel vehicle market and the high-end fuel vehicle market.
Qin Lihong explained the market situation in Shanghai in the 48th and 49th weeks, and said that the number of NIO ES7 insurances in Shanghai in the past two weeks was more than 250 units, which was more than that of BMW’s X5L. ET7 was slightly less than the BMW 5 Series in total in the past two weeks. As for ET5, the last two weeks of November was basically slightly more than the BMW 3 Series.
Although nationally speaking, BMW 3, BMW 5 and X5L are still an order of magnitude higher than the three models of NIO, However, Shanghai, as one of the leading cities for automobile consumption, can easily find this point.
What’s more, there are not a few NIO models that surpass BBA in developed cities in East China and Southeast China. As for other places, “I think it will take some time for distribution and market accumulation.”
NIO’s lidar layout
The main sensors of NIO’s second-generation platform models are “three horns from the top of the head, in a watchtower-like layout”, including the current 775, and also including the 866 that will be fully upgraded to the second-generation platform.
Qin Lihong said that this is NIO’s first initiative, and it has some obvious advantages. But it is difficult for others to learn, because to learn it, the whole series of cars must be like this, so it is valuable with the consistence.
Otherwise, for two different cars, this lidar is on the top of the head, the next lidar is on the waist. “How to do the adaptation? Is the closed-loop data from past runs still useful? Can the closed loop of road test data of billions of kilometers in the past still do this? “
Significance of strategic vision
Qin Lihong said it is very important to stand with the trend forward-looking. You have your own vision, believe in it, and practice and iterate it for a long time. “Instead of going east today and going west tomorrow, it’s the opposite. Pulling the drawer at the end is the biggest waste of a company.”
Seven key changes in 2022
Qin Lihong said that NIO’s changes in 2022 can be summarized in seven points.
1. Actively expand the capital market;
2. Firmly and comprehensively self-research;
3. Start the vertical integration of the industrial chain;
4. The whole system is replicated and implemented in Europe;
5. Open the subscription model and the iteration of the business model;
6. Planning and preparation of new car brands;
7. Start to consider new products and categories around cars.
The focus is expected to be on the second and third points, which are concerned about NIO’s investment efficiency, gross profit and its growth boundary.
When will become as profitable as Tesla
When answering “When will China’s new force carmaker brands be as profitable as Tesla?”
Qin Lihong said that the discussion of this issue cannot be separated from the latitude of time. Tesla was established in 2003. “Don’t let a 20-year-old fight with a 10-year-old.”
Importance of vertical integration
If you look at the financial report, you will find that the money earned by Tesla and BYD is mainly on batteries.
“If they didn’t have self-developed and self-made batteries, neither company’s financial report would be like this today.” Qin Lihong said that this is also a question NIO has been thinking about recently.
His conclusion is that some core components need to be vertically integrated to a certain extent, and we must insist on the way of walking together on two legs that are made by ourselves and external suppliers.
But, “Very frankly, today’s judgment will determine everyone’s good or bad, life or death ten years from now. “
R&D investment
This is also the essential reason why NIO announced that its R&D investment will reach about 3 billion each quarter in the future.
3 billion per quarter, 12 billion a year.
“Everyone can take a look at the annual reports of each company. The R&D investment of RMB 3 billion in a quarter is the work of a company that is many times larger in volume and delivery than us. In the size of NIO, basically I think we have tried our best. “
Why need to invest so much
Because the market structure has not reached the inflection point, and the technological development has not reached the inflection point, the technical iterations for mass production of several large tracks have not been completed.
Qin Lihong said that the inflection point of the car itself is easy to judge, from steel to steel, aluminum mixed to peptide-magnesium alloy. But now it is smart electric vehicles, which are the coincidence of the three trillion-level tracks of intelligence, new energy and automobiles.
There is a new formula for a battery, should you follow?
LiDAR has suddenly undergone intergenerational changes, can it keep up?
Computing power, follow?
As far as NIO is concerned, their losses have been almost equal to R&D investment. But now it is a big track with an annual output value of trillions of dollars that has just started.
“It’s just starting to trend. Objectively speaking, there are still at least ten years before this track reaches its peak. At this time, we are eager to draw a clear boundary and start pursuing profit maximization. We think it is not necessarily the best value judgment. “
“Globally, there is still a bigger market waiting for us to do, as well as vertical integration of components and key technologies…We feel that the space and imagination brought to us by the smart electric vehicle industry will not allow us to stop. “
Surprising detail
At the meeting , Qin Lihong also revealed a particularly surprising detail.
He said that in August 2014, when he and Li Bin met to talk about NIO’s entrepreneurial project, Li Bin opened an Excel sheet he had made to show him.
“Everything. 80% of what I said today is in it. He has already calculated the cost of replacing the power station, the electricity fee, the average number of guards at each station, the labor cost after ten years, including the square meters of NIO house, the number of personnel, and the per capita salary. “
Qin Lihong said that looking back today, 80% of the things on the Excel sheet are being done in the direction. From a numerical minimum of 50%, there is no deviation of plus or minus more than 20%.
New sub-brand Alps
Qin Lihong revealed his expectations for the new brand, which is internally known as the Alps brand.
He said that Li Bin talked about the Alps at a communication meeting with investors not long ago, and also talked about the monthly sales of 50,000 units of the main model.
With respect to battery swap, the new brand’s models will be technically interoperable with the NIO brand models in terms of battery replacement.
“What we want to do is to make cross-brand battery swaps as common as possible. This is what we want to do.” Qin Lihong said.
He said that how to use higher efficiency and lower cost to be compatible with today’s NIO chassis system and size is a challenge. As for user services, it is possible to flexibly decide whether different brands of user exchange stations can be opened or not.