From knock-off old-man's electric vehicles to industrial giant

Chapter 198 is over. We've failed again!
Yu Nian was truly convinced.

Why post a video now of all times?

If you can't find anywhere else to film, go to Chengdu.

But deep down, he still harbored a sliver of hope.

What is the male-to-female ratio of new orders?

Yu Nian asked a question.

He is very worried now.

The girls had a lot of complaints before because they couldn't get the orders.

You can see complaints on platforms like Xiaohongshu and Weibo, including their Xingchen app's community.

I wonder how many units the female users managed to snag this time.

"Male car owners account for 97.8%..."

In a word.

This plunged Yu Nian's heart into despair.

"It's over, our plan to expand into the women's market has failed again..."

He vividly remembered Mr. Xu's teaching: in the future small car market, female car owners and male car owners will almost share the market equally.

This can be seen from the current gender ratio of their Star Mini owners.

Female users accounted for nearly one-third of the total, indicating that there is still a lot of room for growth in this segment.

However, when it comes to these kinds of order-grabbing and limited-time flash sales, the girls' fighting power is still far behind.

"Although all eight thousand units have been sold, Mr. Xu must be disappointed."

He felt very uncomfortable.

It's only right that this share be sold.

However, it did not achieve the desired effect and instead produced significant deviations.

For our lovely ladies to finally drive their dream pink car, we'll probably have to wait for production capacity to increase further.

……

……

"damn it!!"

"Why was this Star Cars event so successful?!"

Jiang Ze stared intently at the new round of pre-sales for the Starry Mini Ultimate Edition, his eyes practically spitting fire.

This is the flame of jealousy!
Among all brands, Wuling pays close attention to the microcar market.

no way.

They can't break into the mid-to-high-end market either.

Years of hard work and a solidified market image.

Their R&D reserves and combat capabilities are only sufficient to support a price range of 100,000 yuan at most.

Models priced over 100,000 yuan will perform poorly in the market.

Since sales were slow and few people were willing to accept it, Wuling eventually came to terms with it.

Selling at low prices is quite comfortable.

Who would willingly step out of their comfort zone?
The dual-credit policy implemented this year is actually a major benefit for Wuling.

Their Wuling Miniev has achieved a decent market share. Based on current sales, they have not only made up for the negative fuel credits, but also have some surplus that they can sell to others, since their engine displacement is not large.

Under the dual-credit system.

If the credit score is negative, the domestic government will impose penalties such as suspending the application for high-fuel-consumption vehicles by car manufacturers and halting the production of high-fuel-consumption vehicles.

In other words, if an automaker has negative credits, it will be suspended from production and from submitting applications for new models, and will only be able to produce older models.

With the implementation of this policy alone, Wuling's EV series has become the next strategic focus.

The only problem now is.

Sales have picked up somewhat, but profit margins have remained stagnant.

Despite the policy subsidies as a safety net, the gradual reduction of subsidies is an inevitable trend. At most, by the end of this year, next year's subsidies will be reduced by another level.

"Why is it that the product manager of Xingchen can come up with such a good product positioning? Why is it that, even though both are pink-themed models, Xingchen can sell for 60,000 yuan, while our Wuling can only sell for 40,000 yuan..."

Jiang Zezhen couldn't understand it.

Let's not even talk about Polaris batteries; they simply can't produce them.

But can we say that the 20,000 yuan premium is solely supported by the battery?

Everyone's battery life is the same.

Wuling has also made many improvements to the appearance.

Just because it has cat ears? Plus the interior and remote control?
...

"Director, we've finalized the definition for our premium version. The marketing is almost identical to the limited edition of the Starry Mini, with the addition of cat ears, a new interior, and remote control functionality. We plan to price it at 49,800 yuan."

Those who couldn't snag the Starry Mini limited edition will definitely come to see our products.

"We have an extra 5km of range, so we're trying to differentiate ourselves in the market. If we perform well, we'll aim to sell another 3,000 units next month."

Product Manager Qu Haiyang said.

With successive price cuts, the low-end, high-end, and premium versions of the Wuling Mini have reached the price range of 34,000 to 40,000 yuan, which is an average price difference of 8,000 yuan compared to the Star Mini. There are also frequent interest-free promotions.

They immediately "marked" it after StarCraft released a new version last month.

They're making cars.

It's nothing more than benchmarking and copying each other.

It's not just Wuling; other brands are the same.

Who told you to sell Xingchen so well!

usually.

Small cars have a much faster model update cycle than large cars, but it's usually not that fast.

It's the norm for manufacturers to update their models annually and adjust prices every six months.

But now.

The presence of Xingchen Automotive has inexplicably stirred up the market, and the cycle of model updates and price reductions has become faster.

Jiang Ze often thought how wonderful it would be if this market didn't have Xingchen.

How comfortable must they be living in Wuling?

This has caused him to get quite angry whenever he hears the words "differentiated competition"!
"Can't we have some ambition? The limited number of 8,000 units for Xingchen was snapped up, and we, with almost the same configuration, are only aiming for 3,000 units and still have to see how the market performs?"

"Is the cost of our new model very low?"

Jiang Ze's expression darkened slightly, and his tone turned cold, bringing an invisible pressure to everyone's hearts.

He was most upset about the cost.

Xingchen Battery, motors, and electronic controls are all self-developed and self-produced.

Wuling sources its batteries from suppliers, while the motors are developed in-house by a partner supplier, but this doesn't save much on costs.

The thought that they were selling for less than Xingchen, yet their costs were higher, made Jiang Ze very angry.

The product manager and other responsible persons in the meeting all looked troubled. This…

It's not that they don't work hard.

In the pure electric vehicle sector, their battery technology is simply too advanced.

no doubt.

Pure electric vehicles represent a new market segment, and given Xingchen Automotive's current brand strength, it may not be considered particularly outstanding in the overall car manufacturing market.

However, it stands out among new energy brands.

Just like most people who buy a washing machine, they will buy from a leading washing machine brand, rather than other leading international brands across all categories.

The fact that Wuling has been able to maintain its second-place position in the sales rankings of pure electric microcars is also thanks to the brand's efforts.

However, its influence is currently less than that of Xingchen.

"Director, I have a plan."

Under this pressure, someone suddenly spoke up.

"How to say?"

Jiang Ze looked at him; this was Xiong Chao, the team leader of their publicity department.

"Since Xingchen's limited sales are so good, why don't we do the same?" Xiong Chao suggested.

"We're also limiting sales? What kind of logic is that?!"

Jiang Ze couldn't help but frown again.

"My thinking is this: the buyers of this kind of car are mostly young people who like emotional value and novelty, so they like the novel appearance. The flash sale event just proves this point. Sometimes when a product is not popular and there is no limit, some people will not rush to buy it..."

Xiong Chao extracted this new viewpoint from Xingchen Auto's "results-based success theory and e-commerce-driven buying frenzy theory".

The company has never lacked people who are good at summarizing.

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone fell into deep thought.

It sounds absurd.

Jiang Ze knew that Xingchen was limiting sales because of battery production capacity issues.

Wuling doesn't actually have any production capacity issues in this area.

But considering the limited-time sales and frenzy surrounding the Starry Mini, it's hard to believe.

A crazy idea suddenly popped into Jiang Ze's mind.

--hiss.

Do consumers really prefer the flash sale method to regular purchases?

or……

Give it a try?

……

They moved very quickly.

The next day, Wuling's app and official website updated their promotional pages and, for the first time, adopted a large-scale online promotion method.

On various platforms, as well as in pop-up ads on app pages.

Pages for the Wuling Premium Limited Edition have appeared on both platforms.

-

A WeChat group named "Starry Mini Car Owners Family".

This is where many owners of the Star Mini car gather.

Many car owner groups are self-organized. Some are based on region, some on shared interest in car modification and discussion of parts, and others on bathhouse culture...

In short, each has its own unique meaning.

Currently, Xingchen Automotive has many small circles of car owners based on its model classifications.

This group is a large, self-organized group that includes not only many owners of the Star Mini who have already taken delivery of their cars, but also many owners who have pre-ordered or repurchased their vehicles.

"Oh my god, Xingchen is playing tricks on us again!!"

"I really can't take it anymore. Last time they said they'd release 5,000 units, and they were gone in a minute. This time they said they'd release 8,000 units, and it took less than a minute? I seriously doubt the accuracy of the official data. If you can't squeeze out production capacity, then don't try!"

"This brand is trash. They only had two cars that were popular before they started limiting purchases. It's really annoying."

"Did you see Mr. Xu's smile? It's the smile of the Monkey King—GIF"

"I've already opened the car door for you, what more do you want? If you can't get the car, just wait patiently."

"Seeing everyone rushing to buy it, and even repurchasing it, is the Starry Mini cat ear version really that good? It's making me itchy too, I'm thinking of ordering one from a scalper."

"At that moment, a customer who was among the first to take delivery of the Star Mini Ultimate Limited Edition passed by..."

……

The chat atmosphere was very lively.

But most of them are "criticisms".

It's clear that everyone is very eager.

Meanwhile, memes featuring "President Xu opening the car door" and "President Xu's mysterious smile" became even more widely circulated.

Many of these people are repeat customers.

Some people don't feel much at all.

But seeing how "eager" everyone was, I couldn't resist going to take a look.

Upon seeing this, a strange feeling inexplicably arose within me.

...

Even on Xianyu (a second-hand marketplace), there have been several posts reselling Starry Night Mini limited edition orders for an extra two or three thousand yuan.

of course.

This resale order refers to the transfer of ownership after vehicle delivery.

Instead of transferring order names at the sales end, this practice is strictly prohibited within Xingchen.

As for what happens after taking delivery of the car.

The transfer of ownership is a personal matter, and even if the internal parties know about it, it's not easy to interfere.

"No matter what you say, this is currently the only model with cat ears as standard. And although it's a bit pricey, its product strength is undoubtedly the best among microcars. Car reviewers have tested it, and even the chassis has been improved. I'm still willing to wait."

"cut."

"I'm not going to fight for it anymore, and I don't want to buy the transfer order from the scalper. I'll go take a look at the pink Wuling. They also have a pink interior, and I can save some money. The Xingchen is now imposing purchase restrictions, which is just wasting the enthusiasm of us car owners."

"That's right. It's just a small car for commuting. Why do you need so many features? As long as it can charge and run, that's enough. Wuling is not bad either."

Several other car owners in the group also expressed their opinions.

I was a little resentful after failing to snag a deal twice.

Row.

So you're playing the purchase restriction game with Starry Sky?

Then I'm going to buy a Wuling van.

(End of this chapter)