For a car that has been visited by the Premier twice in a year, this achievement has even come a bit late. When the Premier visited Baidu's Yizhuang office area in March this year and the Beijing Auto Show at the end of April, he visited Jiyue. At that time, Jiyue's sales were not optimistic.

Author | Yang Ming

Editor | Liu Shanshan

"Guess, can I successfully sell a car today?"

On the second day of the National Day holiday, Jiyue CEO Xia Yiping came to the Jiading South Impression City store in Shanghai to work as a "part-time salesperson" and successfully sold 2 cars that day.

This is a typical scene of major automakers striving to sell cars during the "Golden Week". The "golden September and silver October" combined with the holiday effect and the "trade-in" policy effect have heated up the auto market.

Judging from the "war reports" released by various automakers recently, the sales champion undoubtedly falls to Pingshan, Shenzhen - BYD. Wenjie, Lixiang, and Lingpao all performed well, and "King of Traffic" Lei Jun of Xiaomi posted a message confirming that Xiaomi SU7 had locked in over 6,000 orders during the "National Day" holiday...

It is worth mentioning that Jiyue, with its CEO personally taking on the role of "salesperson", has received over 3,000 orders during the National Day holiday with its two models, Jiyue 01 and 07. This means that since July, Jiyue's sales have maintained a leapfrogging upward growth trend for several consecutive months, gradually gaining a foothold in the fiercely competitive market.

For a car that has been visited by the Premier twice in a year, this achievement has even come a bit late - the Premier visited Jiyue in March this year during a research trip to Baidu's Yizhuang office area and at the Beijing Auto Show at the end of April. At that time, Jiyue's sales were not optimistic.

So, after half a year, how did Jiyue break through the Surrounding Circle ?

01

Why do users choose Jiyue

"The price range of 200,000-300,000 yuan is a must-fight territory in China's auto market." As Li Bin, the founder of NIO, said, this price range, which caters to the rigid demand for improved vehicles, is the first choice for many consumers and the most competitive segment. It is the main arena for automakers to compete in technology and products.

Currently, this market resembles the Warring States period with various feudal lords vying for power. For example, in the pure electric sedan segment alone, Jiyue 01 and 07 must compete with vehicles like Zhijie S7, Zeekr 007, Xpeng P7, Tesla Model Y, Lynk & Co Z10, and Xiaomi SU7. Being able to break through this competition indicates that Jiyue has gained market validation from consumers.

"Between Jiyue 07 and Xiaomi SU7, I ultimately chose to be friends with Jiyue 07." Wang Feng, who considers himself a "rational Mi Fan," said.

His TV, router, phone, and surveillance equipment are all Xiaomi products. When it came time to buy a car, he had originally planned to get a Xiaomi SU7, but after watching Lei Jun's press conference and subsequent actions, he decisively abandoned that plan. While details like appearance, storage, and phone holders may appeal to some consumers, they were not enough to convince him to make a purchase.

Appearance is just the shell; intelligence is what concerns Wang Feng the most. In terms of crucial intelligent driving functions, Xiaomi SU7's urban navigation-assisted driving (NOA) capabilities have yet to be demonstrated. This was also evident in Lei Jun's live broadcast test, where scenes like negotiating with surrounding vehicles, unprotected left turns, mixed traffic of people and vehicles, and lane changes in heavy traffic were not showcased.

By chance, Wang Feng encountered Jiyue 07. Whether it was the sleek "fastback" design, the highly responsive voice interaction, or the intelligent driving experience that allows it to navigate anywhere in Beijing, Jiyue 07 captivated him. "This is technological innovation at its finest," he said.

Another user, Shuangshuang, also hesitated for a long time between Tesla Model Y and Jiyue 07. "Tesla has a strong brand, but its interior is unacceptable. What's worse, the optional enhanced Autopilot feature costs 32,000 yuan, which is not only expensive but also has its Full Self-Driving (FSD) capability restricted in China," he said.

In contrast, Jiyue's interior is more technologically advanced, and its optional features are among the most affordable in the industry. Moreover, it offers a rare "price protection" in the domestic auto industry. "The ASD high-level intelligent driving system with L4-level autonomous driving capabilities, backed by Baidu and ERNIE Bot, is on par with Tesla. Now driving feels very relaxed, and even in heavy traffic, I don't feel tired," he said.

The intelligent driving experience is a major reason why many users choose Jiyue. One user bought a Jiyue 07 as a repeat customer - he was already an owner of a Jiyue 01 and bought a 07 for his wife. He only went for a test drive three days after placing the order. "My wife thinks this car is very smart and looks good," he said. Even their two sons have grown fond of Jiyue, calling the in-car assistant SIMO "little buddy" every time they get in the car and asking him questions.

"Buying a car is not about buying popularity," said another car owner who had looked at many vehicles, including those in the 400,000-500,000 yuan range, from gasoline-powered to hybrid to pure electric. He chose Jiyue because he believes that Jiyue 07 is a very well-thought-out car with forward-thinking design and a willingness to break with traditional concepts. "Manufacturers are moving forward, and consumers need to look ahead as well," he said.

"The frequency of Jiyue on the streets is indeed gradually increasing," said an employee of a major internet company. His office is located in Beijing's Yizhuang area, and he has noticed that the brand is increasingly being chosen by more users.

02

Unexpected, but reasonable

For Jiyue, which has gone through many dark moments, the current "low opening and high closing" situation may seem surprising to many, but it is also reasonable.

"Jiyue's product strength is absolutely not a problem. Jiyue 07, with its intelligence, design, craftsmanship, quality, safety, and performance, is fully capable of competing with the strongest models in the 7-series segment, such as Xiaomi SU7 and Xpeng P7i," said multiple automotive industry observers in their exchanges. Jiyue benefits from Geely's renowned SEA Grand Architecture for vehicle manufacturing, Baidu Apollo's support for intelligent driving, and now CATL's Qilin battery. "Such a powerful collaboration in vehicle manufacturing is a first in the industry," they noted.

Jiyue's biggest issues are its brand power and marketing capabilities. Due to complex and objective reasons, Jidu, which had been established for two years, launched the new Jiyue brand in August last year, targeting users. This led to a lack of brand recognition among users despite the product's strong capabilities. In contrast, Xiaomi had Lei Jun personally and frequently promoting the brand from the start, reaching its peak of popularity even before the product launch.

This directly impacted sales. Before May this year, Jiyue's sales had not seen a significant boost, leading some media outlets to describe Jiyue as being in the "ICU." Even CEO Xia Yiping, when discussing this period, choked up with tears.

Starting in May, Jiyue accelerated its marketing reforms, with Xia Yiping personally participating in live broadcasts and reviews. "Basically, there's a live broadcast every week and a short video every day, sometimes even four or five short videos a day," he said. "In August, Jiyue overall posted 13,000 videos with over 100 million exposures. We aim to turn 300 Douyin accounts into verified ones."

Xia Yiping has become known as "Xia Yipin," widely recognized as the most diligent CEO at present. While his live broadcasts and short videos are mostly "hardcore" content focused on Jiyue's technical architecture, extreme testing, and user experience, lacking the popularity of Lei Jun or Zhou Hongyi, and without the humor of Li Bin, Jiyue's brand and products are gradually becoming better known to more users.

On September 27, Xia Yiping conducted an 18-hour live broadcast of Jiyue 07's range test - from 8 a.m. to 2 a.m. the next morning. Nearly 3 million netizens flooded into the live broadcast room in the wee hours, waiting for the vehicle to "stall." Xia Yiping was the only person who did not rest during the broadcast. This was a first in the industry.

Driven by Xia Yiping, the entire Jiyue team exhibits a "Huawei wolf spirit." "I take customers for test drives during the day and shoot and edit videos after work," said a Jiyue salesperson. With the boss working so hard, employees have no reason not to do the same. "From the boss to frontline employees, we all know where Jiyue's weaknesses lie," he added.

The continuous breakthrough in brand power has had a direct and significant impact on sales, proving that the car visited by the Premier twice in a year is increasingly delivering results. At the Jiyue 07 launch event, Xia Yiping believed that the sales growth was the best proof: "We sold over 440 units in June, delivered over 1,000 in July, and then 2,117 in August."

The ability to exceed 3,000 orders during the National Day holiday is also directly related to the continuous output of brand power. "Many people who came for test drives and placed orders had watched the boss's live broadcasts. They feel that with a boss like that, the product should be trustworthy," said the manager of a Jiyue store in Chongqing.

03

Accumulating strength for the future competition in intelligent driving

Automobile manufacturing is a marathon that requires long-term endurance and a long-term strategic approach.

While significant traffic can indeed bring short-term sales breakthroughs, such as attracting some early adopters, building a lasting business undoubtedly requires core technological competitiveness.

For example, in the mobile phone industry, brands lacking core technologies once relied on "hunger marketing" to become the domestic leader. However, as the market returns to rationality, they have only ranked fourth or fifth in recent years. The brand that has consistently ranked first in the Chinese market for the past three years was initially inconspicuous but eventually surpassed its competitors by continuously focusing on "imaging" capabilities, firmly establishing itself at the top of the mobile phone market.

The automotive industry is no exception. For many players in the industry, although sales may be temporarily boosted by traffic and marketing, it is often difficult for users to identify the core competitiveness or unique technologies. In an era where high-level intelligent driving will inevitably become widespread, this lack of a moat can be problematic.

In contrast, as a member of the first tier of high-level intelligent driving, Jiyue and Tesla are the only two smart car brands globally that have achieved pure vision-based high-level intelligent driving. Just as mentioning "imaging" now evokes the thought of Vivo, Xia Yiping may hope that mentioning "intelligent driving" will evoke the thought of Jiyue.

Persistence has paid off. While other carmakers were competing in areas like comfort, fridges, traffic, and marketing, Jiyue took the lead in intelligent driving - a move that was met with much skepticism at the time. But now, with Huawei and DJI also launching pure vision solutions, and NIO and Xpeng shifting to this segment, Jiyue's approach has been validated.

Jiyue's future potential extends beyond China. In October this year, Jiyue will conduct ASD tests in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Xia Yiping stated that in the future, Jiyue's ASD will not only cover the entire country but also the world, enabling Jiyue vehicles to be driven "anywhere in the world."

All of this has made Jiyue's frontline employees more optimistic about the future. "A steady and gradual rise is much better than a sudden surge, which is more beneficial to the brand and our personal development," said the manager of a Jiyue store. She had worked at Tesla for many years before leaving in May this year to join Jiyue.

In her view, the work experience is entirely different. "During Tesla's growth period, from 2018 to 2021, it felt promising, but the growth rate flattened out from 2022 onward, and my career prospects felt like they had reached their limit," she said.

However, at Jiyue, she feels like she has returned to Tesla's entrepreneurial spirit from its early days. "Jiyue is a brand-new company that requires more investment in innovation. It needs more versatile talents who can do everything and be good at everything. Although it's hard work, it's also more rewarding," she said, noting that Tesla requires specialized talents, while Jiyue needs versatile ones. "So I often tell my employees to just follow the boss, and things are getting better and better," she said. If the current upward trend continues, who would dare to deny that Jiyue won't continue to improve?","END","Producer: Huang Qiangqiang