The auto show has become a true 'promotion auto show'.

The 'promotion' flavor of the Chengdu Auto Show has always been strong. Most auto companies choose to release new models here or announce the official guidance price for previously pre-sold new cars. The presence of heavyweight new car launches is relatively rare.

This year's Chengdu Auto Show appears even more desolate compared to previous sessions.

On the one hand, well-known luxury brands such as Lexus, Genesis, and Jaguar Land Rover did not participate in the exhibition this time; on the other hand, the participating auto brands failed to bring many heavyweight new cars, which inevitably made the audience who originally planned to visit the exhibition feel that their exhibition experience was greatly reduced.

Source: BYD Auto Official

Dianchetong found that the desolation of this year's Chengdu Auto Show is not its only feature; it seems to have also returned to the true essence of the auto show – selling cars. Scenes of auto companies announcing promotional benefits are everywhere. Most of these auto companies are not the best in the top tier. Some auto companies are fulfilling previously set sales targets, while others are on the verge of elimination. They increase promotional efforts to gain more market bargaining chips for themselves.

No more playing with traffic! New forces have become more pragmatic

When it comes to making a splash at the auto show, one has to look at the new forces. At the Chengdu Auto Show in the past few years, Dianchetong could not only see the debut of new force new cars but also some emerging brands making their debut, such as Jiyue Motors and Yuanhang Motors, which debuted at the 2023 Chengdu Auto Show.

Nowadays, the camp of new forces has gradually stabilized. Although PursueMy has officially announced its entry into the auto industry recently, it is still unknown when it will participate in the auto show. The new force brands that participated in the exhibition unanimously chose a low-key and pragmatic promotional approach.

NIO showcased the Ledo L90 seven-seater version and the Firefly Nomadic Melard version. These two new cars are essentially modifications based on the current Ledo L90 and Firefly. More attractive are the news of 'NIO's entire lineup comes standard with a 100kWh long-range battery pack' and 'comprehensive opening of the battery swap routes along the western Sichuan ring road and the Yunnan-Tibet route within the year'.

Source: NIO Auto Official

Leapmotor announced at the auto show that the Leapmotor B10 Morgan Pink new car paint worth 2,000 yuan will be given away for free for orders placed before 24:00 on September 30.

Li Auto released the latest progress and future plans for the VLA driver big model.

Xiaomi didn't make any big moves and only showcased its latest product lineup; XPeng announced its latest market achievements and disclosed breakthroughs in the three-electric system and intelligent assisted driving fields; the relatively lively new force seems to be only HarmonyOS Intelligence, which achieved 'five worlds launching simultaneously' for the first time at this Chengdu Auto Show. However, the new cars such as Xiangjie S9T and Shangjie H5, which debuted for the first time, have already started accepting pre-orders before the auto show, so strictly speaking, they are not 'heavyweight new car launches'. The significance of 'five worlds launching simultaneously' is far greater than the debut of new cars themselves.

Source: HarmonyOS Intelligence Official

New forces are no longer purely pursuing traffic but focusing on selling cars themselves. This is certainly a result of intensified competition in the new energy vehicle market. However, Dianchetong believes that this does not fully reveal the full picture of new forces' pragmatic shift. The real answer may be hidden in the latest financial report data.

Li Auto, NIO, and XPeng have all released their latest second-quarter financial reports. Dianchetong noticed that all three new forces are under considerable pressure.

NIO set the goal of 'achieving profitability in the fourth quarter' very early. In the second-quarter financial report, NIO's quarterly revenue and deliveries hit new highs, but the net loss reached 5.046 billion yuan, narrowing by 16.7% year-on-year and 2.7% quarter-on-quarter. Following this trend, it is still unlikely to achieve profitability in the fourth quarter, which requires NIO to further increase deliveries and reduce costs as much as possible.

To this end, NIO gave the highest-ever single-quarter delivery and revenue guidance for the third quarter, with a delivery guidance of 61,000 to 63,000 units and a revenue guidance of 19.11 to 19.67 billion yuan. With the launch of new cars such as the Ledo L90 and the all-new NIO ES8, NIO seems to have greater hope of achieving this goal.

In a previous media exchange meeting, Li Bin said that NIO has many ways to reduce costs, such as supply chain cost reduction, increasing platform reuse rate, and R&D cost reduction. Among them, R&D cost reduction requires relatively large upfront investments but high returns in the later stage, such as the development of lightweight technology, chips, intelligent systems, seat platforms, and other technologies.

According to Dianchetong's observations, NIO's core technologies have basically been implemented in its cars, and the large-scale upfront investments have basically ended. Now, NIO only needs good sales data to have a chance to turn things around, which explains why NIO has become more pragmatic.

Source: XPeng Auto Official

XPeng Auto's second-quarter loss narrowed further to only 480 million yuan, compared to a net loss of 1.28 billion yuan in the same period last year and a net loss of 660 million yuan in the first quarter. With the newly launched XPeng P7, XPeng G7, and other highly popular new cars, XPeng Auto has a good chance of achieving quarterly profitability in the second half of this year. Under such circumstances, XPeng Auto will only pay more attention to the actual market demand, and XPeng will release the extended-range version at the end of the year, entering the extended-range vehicle market for the first time and requiring more communication resources.

Li Auto remained profitable in the second quarter, but Dianchetong noticed that compared to the second quarter of last year, this year's revenue and net profit have declined. Combined with current sales, extended-range vehicles mainly from the L series are still the basic sales volume. However, the pure electric vehicle market has not yet received significant returns. Although the subsequently launched Li Auto i6 is more likely to be the main force of the Li Auto i series, Li Auto i8 can only gain popularity to give Li Auto i6 a greater chance of best-selling. Therefore, it is more necessary to increase the promotion of Li Auto i8's selling points at this Chengdu Auto Show.

Therefore, in Dianchetong's view, although the deterioration of the external environment is an inducement to the pragmatic shift of new forces, the more critical factor is their internal development needs, which are ultimately reflected in their marketing actions during the Chengdu Auto Show.

Are the highlights of new energy vehicles becoming 'stereotypical'?

That being said, there are still newly launched new energy vehicles, but it seems difficult to arouse the audience's interest.

The Hyperion brand debuted its all-new mid-to-large sedan, the Hyperion A800, at the Chengdu Auto Show. The new car will be launched in the fourth quarter of this year, with the biggest selling point being the integration of Huawei's Kunlun Intelligent Driving ADS 4 and HarmonyOS Cabin HarmonySpace 5.

The Lantuo Chasing Light L also made its debut at this Chengdu Auto Show, similarly positioned as a mid-to-large sedan and also equipped with Huawei's Kunlun Driving Assistance System and HarmonyOS Intelligent Cabin.

Source: Lantuo Auto Official

The smart brand launched its first plug-in hybrid model, the smart #5 EHD, which is essentially a plug-in hybrid version of the current smart #5.

More heavyweight new energy vehicles such as the Zeekr 9X and the FANGCHENGBAO Tai 7 have already been unveiled. The all-new Gaoshan 7 made its debut at this Chengdu Auto Show, but its size parameters are basically the same as those of the old Gaoshan. Combined with the selling points of Gaoshan 9 and Gaoshan 8, it is basically possible to guess that the all-new Gaoshan 7 will be equipped with the group's latest intelligent technology.

Joint venture brands presented even fewer surprises – Dongfeng Nissan only launched a new limited color for the Nissan N7; Buick released the assisted driving technology brand 'Xiaoyao Zhixing'; the debut Ford Zhiqu Liema can achieve high-level assisted driving; new energy vehicles such as the new BMW i4 and Volvo XC70 made an appearance, and that's it.

Source: Weibo @Dongfeng Nissan

Since last year's Beijing Auto Show, the development trends of plug-in hybridization and intelligence have already emerged. More than a year has passed, and similar trends are still present, which is indeed uninspiring. However, it has to be admitted that plug-in hybridization and intelligence are the 'sales passwords' of the current auto market, which is why many auto companies are competing to imitate them.

At the end of last year, Guo Shougang, Deputy Director of the Equipment Industry Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, mentioned, 'While vigorously developing new energy vehicles, we should simultaneously promote the development of internal combustion engine technology.' Under the official appeal, many new energy auto companies that only launch pure electric vehicle models have already planned hybrid models, such as Avatr , XPeng, IM Motors, etc. With the basic support of the Geely Group, it is entirely expected for the smart brand to launch hybrid cars.

There is no need to say more about intelligence. Consumers' perception of cars is no longer just a pure means of transportation but an intelligent mobile terminal, and the demand for intelligent configurations has increased. Moreover, electrification has the characteristic of low latency. Compared to pure fuel vehicles, new energy vehicles have an easier time taking the lead in intelligent technology.

It is worth mentioning that Huawei insists on not making cars. But precisely because it does not have the burden of 'making cars', it can thrive in the automotive field. In addition to equipping the latest technology on HarmonyOS Intelligence models, brands such as Lantuo, Changan, and FANGCHENGBAO also have in-depth cooperation with Huawei. During this Chengdu Auto Show, Hyperion also integrated the latest Huawei technology, further expanding Huawei's 'circle of friends'.

Source: GAC Hyperion Official

So many auto companies cooperating with Huawei is indeed a recognition of Huawei's technology. However, from the standpoint of an audience, Huawei technology is no longer anything new. Hyperion A800 using Huawei as a selling point certainly does not have as good a communication effect as new cars such as Deep Blue S09 and Lantuo FREE+. Audiences will pay more attention to the design, space, configuration, and other hard powers of the Hyperion A800 itself.

To boost sales, even if these selling points are no longer interesting, auto companies are unlikely to abandon them. However, the market also puts forward higher requirements for auto companies: to create differentiated advantages that better meet consumer needs.

Perhaps you will say that with the development of the auto market to this point, the issue of homogeneity is already very serious. What differentiated selling points can auto companies still create?

Combining the latest auto company dynamics, Dianchetong believes that there are still many such differentiated selling points to be explored. For example, the Ledo L90 further explores SUV space, providing a spatial model for other pure electric SUVs; IM Motors LS9 will be equipped with CATL's new-generation sodium-lithium mixed AB battery, competing with large SUVs such as the Li Auto L9 with stronger pure electric endurance, comprehensive endurance, and low-temperature resistance.

Final Thoughts: The auto industry is accelerating the winnowing process

In this way, for friends who want to go to the Chengdu Auto Show to see new cars, this year's Chengdu Auto Show is indeed somewhat 'not worth the ticket price'. However, for consumers who originally intend to buy a car, especially those interested in new energy vehicles, they can buy suitable products at relatively affordable prices at this Chengdu Auto Show.

However, auto companies did not place heavyweight new cars at this Chengdu Auto Show but instead bet their resources on a larger stage later. Many new cars planned for release at the end of the year are likely to appear during the 2025 Guangzhou Auto Show, such as XPeng's first extended-range vehicle and IM Motors LS9.

It is important for auto companies to show off their muscles, but only by doing so at the right time can they maximize their benefits. Competition in the new energy vehicle market will only become more intense. I look forward to seeing new moves from auto companies in the remaining four months of this year.

(Cover image source: HarmonyOS Intelligence Official)

Source: LeTech

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