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

Chapter 287 Now I have no choice but to study.
Since its launch, the Lynk & Co brand has enjoyed strong sales momentum.

Moreover, last year Geely reached an agreement with Proton to officially acquire Lotus Sports Cars, integrating a lot of foreign technology, which made Geely's foray into the high-end market with its "racing genes" even more legitimate.

To become a car company with a story to tell.

"SUVs with refrigerators, TVs, sofas, and range extenders have won sales, but in the long run, they lack technological depth."

"The concept of the Jike brand is consistent with that of Lynk & Co., and it has racing attributes. We need to first capture our existing audience who support us."

Li Shufu said these two sentences at the meeting.

JK was originally Lynk & Co's attempt at new energy vehicles, but considering the risk of failure and the issue of shareholding ratio with Volvo, they simply started a new project called JK.

He didn't completely rule out the possibility of anything.

"If we do a good job with our first new energy sedan, we can always make a high-end SUV later. We can sell it for a higher price and sell it better than the Starry Sky."

Li Shufu has this confidence.

Geely and CATL are currently in in-depth discussions regarding cooperation, including customizing 811 ternary batteries and establishing a joint venture factory.

The energy density of the 811 ternary lithium battery is astonishing.

It can surpass the Easily Polaris battery.

He also noticed the shortcomings of Star Auto.

That is, although Polestar batteries are very safe and have excellent performance indicators, they cannot avoid the physical limitation of low energy density of lithium iron phosphate batteries.

That's why they only produce "excessive products" like range-extended vehicles.

Since it is a "transitional product", the market prospects for range-extended vehicles are still uncertain after new energy vehicles have become fully popularized in two years.

They collaborated with CATL to directly create the pure electric vehicle with the highest energy density and the strongest performance!
First, we need to capture the high-end pure electric vehicle market!

Instead of trying to boost sales in the short term by offering range extensions.

This is true foresight!
"Mr. Li, we should probably take a closer look at the Xingchen mobile phone project. I feel it's not as simple as what's being said online."

An Conghui, as the main person in charge of the new brand Jike, also pays attention to the intelligentization of new energy vehicles.

Geely has a new in-vehicle infotainment system to launch this year, which is the result of a strategic investment in a separate company called ECARX, which began in 16. The first-generation GKUI system was launched in Sanya, Hainan this year, which originally had a very interesting story to tell.

However, when the infotainment system of the Xingchen L7 was launched, their so-called "advanced infotainment system," which they had been polishing for two years, immediately paled in comparison.

In terms of functionality, UI aesthetics, and smoothness, they are products of two different levels.

"It's said that the Starry Sky's in-car infotainment system was initially customized by Meizu, leveraging the resources of the mobile phone manufacturer and even poaching talent from them to make it so smooth..."

We're stuck in a rut, thinking like we're only good for car infotainment systems. Xingchen, on the other hand, is approaching their systems like they're for smartphones, which is why they're doing so much better.

As soon as these words came out.

Li Shufu was slightly taken aback: "You mean, we should also go to Meizu for customization?"

Back in 16, they did have this idea. At that time, Meizu claimed that based on the YunOS ecosystem, it would be the first to support interconnection with SAIC Roewe RX5, including remote control capabilities such as unlocking the car with the phone key, sending maps to the car navigation system, and opening the trunk.

This can be considered the earliest ecosystem-level collaboration between the domestic mobile phone industry and the car manufacturing industry.

It's worth mentioning that Li Nan was the one who spearheaded this project.

Geely, however, wanted a fully controllable and complete vehicle infotainment system, which is the bottom line for major manufacturers' business ecosystem, and that's how ECARX came about.

"No, no, since Xingchen can do that, I think we can totally follow suit. Their car infotainment department has poached a lot of people from Meizu, so we can also set up a car infotainment R&D department and poach some people from Meizu?"

"In fact, if the Starry Sky phone really succeeds, we might as well make a Geely phone too?"

"That's unlikely, but just in case!"

An Conghui offered advice on the soul.

Successful competitors are role models for the industry! Xingchen's in-car infotainment system is so successful; they have no choice but to learn from them!

Yes.

Geely has finally set its sights on Meizu.

However, given Meizu's current size, it has abandoned the idea of ​​acquisitions, and poaching talent has become the most effective method.

-

It is no coincidence.

BYD's internally developed "DiLink intelligent network system" is based on the Android architecture.

Yang Dongsheng was in charge of developing this system. Originally, the atmosphere was very orderly, and BYD had its own rhythm.

Moreover, for internal heavy machinery and electrical engineering, the development of the system software is sufficient.

However, with the rapid development of the industry...

Gradually, I began to feel pressured.

It's like everyone is at the same level, and suddenly a top student joins the class.

While raising the cut-off scores, it also occupies other resources, forcing everyone to get involved!

After in-depth imitation and development, we realized how difficult it was to learn Xingchen's system. It was not something that could be easily replicated. As a car manufacturer, we experienced for the first time the pain of optimizing a mobile phone system.

First of all, their system is built on Linux, and using the Android architecture inherently puts them at a disadvantage, not to mention supporting traffic light navigation algorithms and various entertainment functions... The in-vehicle chips currently used by BYD are so outdated that they're enough to give you a headache!
How to chase?
The gap in software is even more daunting than the gap in car manufacturing hardware!
“President Wang, we are short of people for the development of smart cockpits and smart vehicle systems. I think we need to recruit more people from outside, otherwise we may not be able to keep up with the progress…” After thinking it over, Yang Dongsheng came to the office alone to submit a report.

"You're in charge of the car infotainment system anyway. Just decide how to recruit people and how many more slots to add. You don't need to report to me separately," Wang Chuanfu said naturally.

"Isn't there a rumor online about Xingchen making mobile phones..." Yang Dongsheng suggested.

“We have conducted in-depth research on Xingchen’s in-vehicle system and it does have similarities to Meizu’s system UI, but it is now done better. In the early days, they hired people from mobile phone manufacturers to do this, but now it is more like they have merged the mobile phone manufacturers’ personnel into the in-vehicle system department.”

These words gave Wang Chuanfu much to think about.

BYD used to have its own pace of research and development, but when it comes to Star Auto, it has to pay close attention.

Yang Dongsheng: "Mr. Wang, I want to recruit some people from the mobile phone industry to work on the system. They have more experience with UI and Android kernel calls."

In fact, BYD also has R&D personnel who previously worked in the mobile phone industry and then switched to developing in-vehicle systems and smart cockpits.

But that's normal personnel turnover in the industry.

Now, however, I actively seek to develop in this direction.

"Okay, we did overlook this aspect before. The mobile phone industry has so many talented people, we can't let Xingchen poach them all!"

After careful consideration, Wang Chuanfu immediately made a decision.

He didn't care whether Xingchen made mobile phones or not.

However, at the vehicle infotainment system level, we really can't let it continue to be so far ahead!

compare to.

BYD's in-car infotainment system is like something out of caveman mode!
As both are independent new energy brands, Xingchen L7 has already set a precedent. When they make cars priced above 300,000 yuan in the future, they can't be too far behind in this aspect, right?

Consumer market support and sales figures proved the feasibility of this approach, forcing him to take it seriously.

Despite this situation, Xingchen's in-vehicle infotainment division is still expanding!

Who can withstand this?

Continue iterating.

That's truly terrifying!!
(End of this chapter)