What's wrong with me being a rich man?

Chapter 669 Competitors (4k)

Starting from May 1st, GAC's ten-day marketing campaign kicked off on the 10th.

—The GAC Trumpchi GS7 is coming soon!

Within GAC Group, there is considerable optimism about this six-seat extended-range vehicle, which is comparable to the carbon silicon Kyushu model. Although some of its design and powertrain are modified from the GA5 REV sedan, this represents progress based on experience gained.

Before the silicon carbon group's range-extended vehicles hit the market, GAC had already tried using range-extended technology on the GA5, but it quietly failed to make any waves.

However, with Kyushu's astonishing sales, the range-extended electric vehicle, which was not yet completely dead, was urgently rebranded and brought out to compete with silicon carbide.

This is quite remarkable. Not only was the response speed exceptionally fast, but the internal resources were also in place. Ultimately, everything from design to development to testing to application went smoothly. For this, they even borrowed the GS7 team that had already been established internally.

The previous range-extended vehicle was placed under the name of Trumpchi's pioneering product, the GA5, with the REV logo added to indicate its identity. This time, targeting the carbon silicon market, it was directly named GS7. The original GS7 was considered to be a derivative model of the GS8 launched this year, which was a smaller version.

GAC Trumpchi has a short history. GAC Passenger Vehicle Company was established in 08 and launched the GA5 in 10. G stands for passenger vehicle, A for sedan, S for SUV, and the numbers indicate the vehicle's positioning.

Because it was competing with Silicon Carbon Group for market share, and considering the other party's price, GAC initially planned to use "GS9" to indicate its high-end status. However, this was met with strong dissatisfaction from the GS8 team. In the end, the range-extended vehicle team gave in and used "GS7", intending to use it as a series of new energy vehicles in the future.

The GS8 is a product that GAC Trumpchi attaches great importance to this year. It was just unveiled at the Beijing Auto Show in April, and pre-sales will begin in August, with official sales starting in October. It is a product that GAC Trumpchi has poured its heart and soul into developing, and naturally it does not want to be overshadowed by new energy vehicles that have emerged out of nowhere.

Meanwhile, the original GS7 development team was tasked with creating derivative models based on the GS8, with most parts being interchangeable. Ultimately, this meant that the range-extended vehicles were essentially taking over the resources of the GS7 in an attempt to gain market share in the market pioneered by carbon silicon.

The all-new range extender GS7, based on the need for rapid deployment, still retains some of the design and parts that are common to the GS8. However, due to cost considerations, the range extender does not use the 1.8T and 2.0T engines that the original GS7 wanted to use. Instead, it uses the 1.5T engine that is equipped in the GA6. The battery is a 37kWh lithium iron phosphate battery pack from Wanxiang Group.

GAC believes that these disadvantages in configuration compared to Kyushu are acceptable to consumers, after all, their own prices are 100,000 yuan cheaper.

In addition, the Trumpchi GS7 has actively learned from the carbon silicon Kyushu in terms of interior design. It also has six seats and is equipped with a TV. As for the refrigerator and sofa, they are also optional.

To reiterate, with a price difference of at least 100,000, don't ask for too much more.

—Trumpchi GS7, a new choice for extended range.

—A true automaker, a true flagship.

— 19.8-25.8.

GAC Group's position in the industry goes without saying. Its nationwide network of 4S stores can generate buzz as long as it is willing to invest resources. This time, it is willing to spend money not only on offline advertising but also on online advertising.

As the vice general manager in charge of the promotion and marketing for this project, Xiao Yong worked until midnight every day before the 10th, determined to achieve great results in the new energy field.

He studied the promotion and launch of Silicon Carbon Group last year in depth, and followed suit this time, adopting the method of launching and pre-selling immediately, instead of waiting several months for a real action like with GS8.

Online advertising mainly relies on GAC's reputation in car manufacturing, while offline stores counter with a sharper approach in advertising, clearly positioning the vehicle as a six-seater extended-range family car.

Xiao Yong believes that the niche positioning of carbon silicon has a very clear effect and is still worth learning from.

That afternoon, Xiao Yong was called to a meeting by General Manager Yu Jun to discuss the publicity and response to the GS7.

"Many media outlets have been spontaneously helping us promote our company. GAC Group is not comparable to silicon carbide companies."

"Dean Zhang's design this time is excellent, and our positioning is also very accurate. Users can choose whatever they want. President Yu, I am very confident now."

Xiao Yong was full of confidence. The initiative to launch pre-sales today was announced to all stores at the end of last month, and it has indeed received a good response in ten days. Today, as long as you convert a small deposit into a large deposit, you will receive cash discounts and launch gifts similar to those offered by Silicon Carbon Group when it launched its new car last year.

He felt that he had absorbed enough essence.

Yu Jun nodded, relieved, but still said, "We won't talk about matching silicon carbon this time. If we can get half of its figures, that would be pretty good, and we'll be able to give an account to all parties."

The all-new GS7 was launched under pressure. Its length is based on that of the GS8, whereas the original GS7 was shortened to highlight its class positioning. Now that the two are the same, there are concerns that the GS8 will be impacted.

Both are GAC, both are Trumpchi, both have the same length, use the same parts, and both have the halo effect of selling so well with their carbon silicon Kyushu products. If the GS7 becomes a hit, what about the GS8...?

Xiao Yong said earnestly, "President Yu, I believe we have the potential to sell 10,000 units per month. If Kyushu can sell that many, there's no reason why we can't. We can definitely do half of that."

The fact that carbon and silicon are both viable technologies is a key reason why GAC Group developed the Trumpchi GS7.

Similarly, this is also a major reason for the industry's enthusiasm for new energy.

Yu Jun stubbed out his cigarette and waited for the data to be compiled. The data from the Silicon Carbon Group in 24 hours back then was there: 5426 small orders and 913 large orders. The GS7 had already received 1930 small orders in the previous ten days. It all depended on today's efforts to convert them into sales.

New competitive trends have emerged in the industry, and the official debut of GAC Trumpchi has also attracted the attention of Silicon Carbon Group.

However, Yu Xing only checked on the competitors' situation after he finished dealing with his business that evening.

He briefly watched the car launch event and then carefully reviewed the data.

After a moment, Yu Xing said somewhat blankly, "Didn't you say you were going to benchmark against us? This length isn't benchmarked at all."

Vice President Cui Zhiyu said with a smile, "Well, President Yu, maybe they think it's enough. After all, the Highlander is less than 4.9 meters long."

The Trumpchi GS7 is 4810mm long, the Highlander is 4890mm long, and the Kyushu is 5050mm long.

All three models have a six-seat layout, with the longest being the Kyushu and the shortest being the GS7.

“We’re already struggling to make six seats with this length. We have to push the seats forward a bit. Even so, everyone’s still saying we should make the car 5.2 meters long and make a more comfortable family six-seater.” Yu Xing was puzzled. “Theirs is even shorter than the Highlander. Without actually testing it, the space will definitely be cramped.”

Kyushu has been trying every possible way to maximize interior space, but the GS7 is inherently short, so it doesn't seem like an accurate competitor.

Cui Zhiyu thought for a moment and said, "Maybe they think television is more important, since it's a standard feature."

Yu Xing shook his head slightly, glanced at it a few more times, and then searched online for information about the Trumpchi GS8 that had been previously leaked.

As expected, the GS8's length is indeed 4810mm, as revealed at the Beijing Auto Show.

“Hmm, look, this isn’t comparing it to Kyushu, it’s comparing it to the GS8.” Yu Xing pointed to the results on the screen and showed them to Cui Zhiyu. “They’re off the production line so quickly, it seems like this is a converted gasoline car.” Using the design of the GS8 to quickly launch a range-extended model, and possibly even using common parts, this idea isn’t strange. BYD’s hybrid and gasoline cars also have similar designs.

Ultimately, using common parts can significantly reduce costs.

only……

Yu Xing felt that he had never heard of any new energy vehicle models that had been successfully converted from gasoline to electric.

Cui Zhiyu stared at the screen in surprise, never expecting that this length was a factor in the GS8's design.

He couldn't help but admire his boss; no wonder he was a big short seller, his mind worked so fast.

“If it’s really a conversion from gasoline to electric, this timeframe probably isn’t enough for proper optimization,” Yu Xing pondered. “The chassis, engine compartment, and frame of gasoline cars are all designed according to the three major components. If you cram them in like this, plus the weight of the battery, there will be many more handling issues.”

Converting gasoline vehicles to electric has inherent drawbacks. In addition to design issues such as interior storage space and rear floor height, the increased weight alone leads to problems such as greater body roll, brake dive, reduced shock absorption, and even excessive steering play, which are difficult for people to accept.

These all require careful tuning. After all, the suspension, brakes, and steering of a gasoline car are tuned according to its original weight. Adding 300-500kg would make it uncomfortable to drive.

Cui Zhiyu nodded and said, "President Yu, they didn't use CATL's batteries, they used Wanxiang's batteries."

Yu Xing looked up at Cui Zhiyu in astonishment, his face full of question marks.

Cui Zhiyu said with certainty, "They didn't mention it in their publicity, and I even had someone ask them. It's true that Wanxiang Group is the sole supplier, and it's not a mixed supplier."

“Well…” Yu Xing has recently been pushing for a joint venture with CATL and has also initiated a high-end breakthrough project for lithium iron phosphate batteries. He is quite familiar with the situation in China. “The consistency problem of Wanxiang batteries is not so easy to solve.”

Wanxiang Group was founded by Lu Guanqiu, who is also a Zhejiang businessman, and they had dealt with each other before.

Carbon Silicon once examined Wanxiang's capabilities in batteries. They use super-nano lithium iron phosphate technology, which specifically aims to precisely compress the diameter of lithium iron phosphate particles from the industry's common 200-300 nanometers to 30 nanometers, reconstructing the electrochemical reaction interface to improve low-temperature performance and rate performance.

In other words, this is theoretically a good choice for high power density scenarios.

The problem is that this technology is very difficult to manufacture because nanoparticles are prone to agglomeration, making electrode processing difficult and coating prone to defects such as uneven thickness and pinholes, resulting in poor product yield.

In addition, the difficulty of maintaining consistency in large-scale production is also high, which will ultimately affect the overall performance of the battery pack.

Cui Zhiyu pondered for a moment and said, "Perhaps Wanxiang Group has made some optimizations. We'll know once we have a real car to test drive. But the GS7 has a 37kWh capacity, which means it's basically downgraded in every aspect compared to ours."

Yu Xing shook his head, closed the webpage, opened the file, and decided that the competition for GS7 was no longer a concern.

It's not long enough, has limited space, was converted from gasoline to electric, and has few batteries.

Consumers already have reservations about new energy vehicles, and once these problems are discovered and spread, it's almost impossible for things to change. Price reductions might boost sales in the short term, but these are fundamental flaws, and they certainly won't be accepted in the long run.

Seeing his boss's reaction, Cui Zhiyu laughed and said, "Our competitors are very concerned about our performance in this competition. My old colleagues at Great Wall even called to ask about our preparations."

He said the company wasn't prepared, and was therefore accused of not telling the truth.

Yu Xing paused for two seconds before saying, "Not all range-extended vehicles sell well. Even Kyushu is hesitant to produce carbon silicon vehicles. GAC has indeed lacked sincerity this time."

Thinking back to his time at Great Wall Motors and then to the situation in state-owned enterprises, Cui Zhiyu sighed, "President Yu, the GS7 is probably already quite good. If it were a five-seater version, its product strength might be even stronger."

“Hmm…” Yu Xing pondered, “But it’s meant to be compared to Kyushu. GAC’s advertising and attitude will be compared, and consumers and the media will definitely make a careful comparison.”

Investment enthusiasm has surged in the new energy vehicle market; however, there are still not many actual vehicles on the market, and even fewer range-extended electric vehicles.

With Kyushu making a name for itself last year, and now established automakers coming on strong, how can interested consumers not make a careful comparison?

In situations like this, it's embarrassing for whoever is worse off, and unfortunately, the GS7 has quite a few flaws.

Cui Zhiyu chuckled and mentioned an unexpected little thing: "President Yu, they held a press conference this morning. Before I came, I specifically asked the stores in Shanghai, and I don't know if it's a coincidence, but our orders have suddenly increased."

Yu Xing laughed when he heard this. It was like bad money was driving customers to the side of good money.

To summarize briefly, extended-range vehicles cannot simply rely on a single extended-range system to meet consumer needs. Issues such as space, power, design, luxury, and materials must all be roughly equivalent to resonate with car owners at this stage.

This is not only about comparing strengths, but also about not having any weaknesses.

However, since Silicon Carbon Group has developed its own range extender technology, it has encountered many pitfalls in its design considerations and material usage. Over the past year, it has received feedback from the front lines and has a clearer understanding of the situation. The industry, including GAC Group, is not yet experienced enough.

Call it arrogance or naivety, but without comprehensive learning, they only produced a hybrid that was neither fish nor fowl.

That evening, automotive media outlets ran headlines such as, "GAC Trumpchi benchmarks against Silicon Carbon Group, Lingang falls into uneasy silence," and "Silicon Carbon Group's stock price may be impacted tomorrow, with negative factors increasing again."

Kyushu is facing a direct product confrontation, which has kept the industry quite lively in the evenings. People are talking about it over tea and after dinner, waiting for Trumpchi's pre-sale data.

The following day, GAC Motor, having learned various marketing and promotion strategies, failed to follow Kyushu's approach to data analysis and was slow to release its order volume for the first 24 hours.

Xiao Yong looked grim in General Manager Yu Jun's office; the data for both small and large orders were worse than expected.

The pre-sale accumulated 1930 small orders over ten days, but only 369 orders were added in the past 24 hours, totaling 2299 orders. Large orders were even less than 100, barely 96.

This data and conversion rate are not even comparable to those of Kyushu Carbon Silicon, let alone their own gasoline-powered vehicles.

Why is this happening?

As soon as Xiao Yong received the data in the morning, he immediately dialed the number below to find out the reason, but what he heard made him fall silent.

"Mr. Xiao, many customers who placed small orders said that they would rather spend more money to upgrade to silicon carbide GS7 than this one."

(End of this chapter)