While focusing on the new forces that are still building cars in the whirlpool, it is undeniable that they have just experienced the first half of the good news and the death knell. The successive downfalls of Lindsay, Bojun and Baiteng once again prove the real arrival of the reshuffle moment, while Weilai's successive financing and ideal IPO and Tucki listing are just around the corner, which also indicates that some head car companies who really want to build cars and make a difference in this market segment are getting better and better.
Therefore, "differentiation" has become the most profound theme in 2020. As for those players who are still in the Central District and their future is not fully determined, the choice is firmly in their own hands, whether to continue to catch up with the top three or fall into the abyss. As we all know, Weimar Automobile, which is still in crisis, has quietly become a member of the above-mentioned groups and stood at the crossroads of choice because of its continuous mistakes in the past.
Mutations start from within.
Weimar, as the first car company among the new forces to invest in the new energy wave, has won more market dividends because of its certain first-Mover advantage. The founder, as a professional manager who has been in the car circle for many years, is different from the Internet people in cross-border car making. The former is indeed more experienced in supply chain management, cost control and vehicle manufacturing. However, this background also led to the relative solidification of his thinking, lacking the courage to try to "break the circle", which laid a hidden danger for the follow-up.
On August 5th, Beijing time, according to the report of Future Auto Daily, Lu Bin, co-founder and chief travel officer of Weimar Automobile, has left. Weimar confirmed the truth of the news, and said that Lu Bin's departure was a personal reason, and also thanked him for his contribution. At the same time, public information shows that in 20 15, Lu Bin and Freeman Shen, president of Weimar Automobile, co-founded the company. The former is responsible for strategic planning and implementation, and has established business systems such as product planning, marketing, sales channels, customer management, public relations, after-sales support and travel services.
Before joining Weimar, Lu Bin also worked for Shanghai General Motors, Geely Automobile and Chery Automobile. It is reported that during his stay in Geely Automobile, Lu Bin served as the deputy general manager of the sales company and was responsible for implementing the brand strategy of "returning to a Geely".
2065438+In September 2009, Freeman Shen announced in the internal letter of the company that Lu Bin, senior vice president, would be the chief operating officer of travel, leading the travel department to deepen the field of travel and accelerate travel and to? B business development, report directly to yourself. As we all know, B-side business is an important part of Weimar's survival, and Lu Bin was entrusted with a heavy responsibility, which shows the company's attention.
However, on July 28th, Beijing time, according to the relevant news of enterprise investigation, Zhejiang Weimar Automobile Sales Co., Ltd. experienced industrial and commercial changes, including (executive director), Lu Bin (manager) and Zhou? Patrick? Peng (supervisor) withdrew from the main personnel; Key personnel Yuan Tao (supervisor) and Zhou Chen (manager and executive director) were added. At the same time, the legal representative of the company was changed from Lu Bin to Zhou Chen.
This move may also indicate that a sudden change is beginning within Weimar. After all, less than a year after the above appointment took effect, Lu Bin chose to leave. The reason behind it, speculation is still related to Weimar's adjustment of the focus of travel business. Prior to this, Liu Liqun, the former general manager of the Travel Division, chose to leave in February this year, and Qi Liren, who became the chief retail officer in September last year, also left in April this year.
It is undeniable that the strategic focus "from B to C" is a good thing for Weimar at this stage to some extent. It's just that what makes up more is the reverse pulling effect caused by the previous tendency to B-side business on independent brands. According to related news, Weimar will be officially listed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board this year. At this critical moment, the co-founder chose to leave, and the senior management team constantly changed, which once again cast a shadow over its future development and prospects under the "internal friction".
The "pain point" is impressively listed.
In the past July, according to Weimar's official data, it delivered a total of 2,036 new cars, nearly doubling year-on-year, achieving "five consecutive increases" from the previous month, once again refreshing the monthly sales record in the year. Among them, since the delivery of Weimar EX5 in September 2065438+2008, the cumulative sales volume has exceeded 30,000 units, and it continues to be the champion of new power bicycle sales.
As for the main reason for the recovery, its official said that with the stabilization of the epidemic, the expansion of Weimar Automobile has also been significantly accelerated. Last month, Weimar added 18 stores nationwide, and the number of new stores has reached 64 this year. It must be admitted that Weimar is still in the head echelon of the new forces only from the delivery level. However, under the surface, it seems glamorous, but in fact it is full of dangers, and its "pain points" have long been listed.
First of all, the unavoidable problem is product innovation. As can be seen from the passenger flow of this Chengdu Auto Show, due to the launch of its third mass production model EC6, Weilai's booth has already become crowded. On the basis of releasing the modified G3, Tucki continued to promote Tucki P7, which also gained high attention. On the other hand, Weimar booth, with a significantly smaller audience, exposed the lack of attention to its products, and the pace of listing new cars was obviously slower than the first two.
In a few days, its official will launch Weimar EX6. Plus six-seater models. However, as a medium-sized SUV trying to dominate the C-end market, except for the overall appearance, its wheelbase and body width have not changed much compared with the EX5, only increasing by 12mm and 4mm respectively. As for the interior and power part, it is similar to EX5.
Although equipped with a "diesel battery heating system", NEDC? The endurance performance of about 500km makes its product strength and competitiveness not as high as expected. As the second production model of Weimar, the surprise to the end consumers is very limited. So EX6? For Weimar, the biggest role of Plus may only be "supplement", not "antidote".
As for the follow-up plan officially announced not long ago, Q3 took the lead in launching a family-oriented six-seat SUV this year. After that, another SUV model will be released in the first half of next year, and the high probability is the Weimar EVOLVE that was unveiled before. Concept. In addition, the car launched by 202 1 is Maven, which was unveiled at the Weimar Imagination Day just held. NEDC has a cruising range of 800km under comprehensive working conditions, and can realize L4-class automatic driving.
On the whole, the market segments where the three new cars are located have long been "overcrowded". In the context of increasingly fierce competition in this terminal, the chances of winning Weimar still depend on the specific market performance of the corresponding models after they really land. After all, the automobile manufacturing industry needs to pay attention to the "scale effect", so it is urgent for Weimar to launch new products as soon as possible. After all, only rely on the EX5-Z after a small change, and the EX6 with less product differentiation? Two models of Plus maintain sales, and it seems that it will soon reach the "bottleneck".
Secondly, the pain points focus on the brand volume and marketing level. If we want to give a concrete corporate image to several new forces in our minds at the moment, Weilai will gradually establish high-end and luxury through customer first; Through continuous efforts, Tucki has gradually established its own barriers in software and autonomous driving; The ideal is to build a new energy vehicle that knows more about domestic users at a lower cost through completely different technical routes and strict cost control.
Then we can't help but ask, what is Weimar's first impression on us? In other words, what is the longboard of its brand image? After thinking for a long time, I didn't find the corresponding answer. Because Weimar has its bright spots in service, technology and cost performance, but it has not achieved the ultimate, which leads to its vague advantages.
At the marketing level, whether it is the gambling between Freeman Shen and Mei Tuan Wang Xing at the end of last year or the Diss against Tesla on Weimar Imagination Day this year, I don't know why it always seems too extreme, and from the final effect, it doesn't bring more voice to the whole brand.
Therefore, the current situation of the new head forces in China is more like that Weilai gradually approaches Tesla in popularity through continuous accumulation. Ideal and Tucki are slightly inferior, but through the blessing of Internet thinking and constant action in the capital market, they gradually "go out of the circle". As a "starter", Weimar lacks effective and novel marketing methods, which makes it successful in "detonating" the sound volume.
At the same time, there is also a "brand up" node that cannot be ignored. After all, for the new forces, only high-end may be the best way out. Specifically, since its establishment, Weilai and Ideality decided to take the mid-to-high-end SUV market as a breakthrough, while Tucki tried to seize the share of this market segment through P7, while Weimar focused on the range of 65,438+0.5-200,000 yuan on EX5 and quickly spread the turnover, trying to use EX6? It seems difficult to explore the positioning of one plus model, which once again leads to the topic of "effectively" pushing new topics as soon as possible.
In addition, the pain point is concentrated on the financing level. It must be admitted that when new forces choose to go public one after another, the reason behind it is not only that the overall capital market environment has become better and the wind has dispersed, but also that the problem of "how to obtain new financing" has become more and more prominent. The high operating cost, R&D cost and manufacturing cost required to build a car have brought pressure to most new car-making enterprises under the background that self-hematopoiesis cannot be realized.
On March 8, last year, Weimar announced the completion of the C round of financing with a total amount of 3 billion yuan, which was led by Baidu Group, and Taihang Industrial Fund and linear capital participated in the investment. After last year, 1 1, Rupert, Chief Strategy Officer of Weimar Automobile? Mitchell has revealed to the outside world that the company is currently seeking to obtain a series D financing of 654.38 billion US dollars (about 7 billion RMB), which is expected to be completed in the next six months. But as a result, the financing was not put in place as scheduled after half a year.
"Last year, the D round originally planned to raise funds overseas, but it ran into Christmas, China Spring Festival and epidemic in succession, so things were delayed." This is an exclusive interview with the bid, and his explanation for the delay in the D round of financing. During the epidemic, Weimar announced that due to the unfinished KPI target, it decided to cancel the year-end bonus payment, and the original salary 13 was postponed to June.
Although it is understandable that the decision to cut expenses and survive is impacted by the epidemic, various signs also reflect from the side that relying solely on financial investors and local governments is not enough to support corporate consumption. It has indeed become the best way for Weimar to solve the "bottleneck" of funds. One more question, can Freeman Shen successfully ring his first bell?
Finally, share a netizen's comment on the recent situation of this new force: after so many years of "overtaking in corners" to develop new energy, today, when independent brands are constantly seeking "brand up", what about a Tesla model? 3% of domestic brands instantly return most of their own brands to the original shape and return to the low-end consumer market below 6.5438+0.5 million yuan. On the contrary, only a few new brands are struggling on the frontal battlefield. Seeing with sadness and emotion, Weimar is also a member of these frontal battlefields. The adjustment of structure and financing strategy is also to fight with better combat effectiveness.
Indeed, since 2020, we are inevitably shrouded in too many negative emotions, and we still hope to hear more positive news in the future. As for Weimar, I hope that the sudden changes and pain points it faces at the moment can be overcome and solved as soon as possible, and catch up with the progress of the top three at a faster pace.
So that someone asked me something like "Weimar, how are you?" When you have a question, you can directly reply: "Everything is fine."
Text/Cui
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This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.