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

Chapter 72 The "Exceptional Intelligence" of Our Competitors

The enthusiasm shown in cities with license plate restrictions surprised even the company's senior executives.

Prior to this, they conducted business research on the sales of entry-level new energy vehicles in the same segment priced between 5 and 6 yuan.

Taking Shanghai as an example, the average monthly registration volume of new energy vehicles with a value of 50,000 units is less than 1,000 units.

This is publicly available data from the China Insurance Regulatory Commission.

On the contrary, the more conventional new energy vehicles in the 100,000-200,000 yuan range, such as the BYD e5/Qin and Roewe e550, often have an average monthly insurance registration volume of several thousand units, and at peak times, it has reached 10,000 units.

Now, their order volume in just half a month has already reached the previous monthly average insurance record of 5 yuan in Shanghai.

"The situation is this: we currently have no competitors in the price range of around 50,000 yuan."

Competitors' models, which are priced 10,000 to 20,000 yuan higher than ours, almost never have fast charging capabilities in order to save costs. Some even had the intention of getting government subsidies when they first started their projects.

Fast charging is commonly found only in vehicles priced between 80,000 and 100,000 yuan.

For first-tier cities with license plate restrictions, State Grid's fast charging stations have basically achieved full coverage.

However, due to parking fees and space constraints, the time cost of charging must also be taken into account.

As a young person, would you buy an entry-level new energy vehicle that takes several hours to fully charge just because it comes with a free green license plate?

In first-tier cities, AC charging stations might be harder to find than DC charging stations.

Only those who own a fixed parking space in a first-tier city and have installed an AC slow-charging station would consider buying a new energy vehicle costing tens of thousands of yuan just to get a free green license plate.

Xu Yi had to acknowledge the "exceptionally clever" nature of his competitor.

At this price point, in order to save costs, fast charging has been almost entirely removed.

Without fast charging, it's basically impossible for it to sell well in cities with license plate restrictions.

After all, the time cost of slow charging is almost tied to the availability of a home parking space.

In first-tier cities, how rare are people who have a fixed parking space at home and still install their own AC charging station?

of course.

The main factors that caused this.

This is also because the initial market for new energy vehicles was mainly in third- and fourth-tier cities and towns.

With license plates in first-tier cities being so expensive, who would choose to install them on a new energy vehicle that costs only tens of thousands of yuan?

Logically speaking, this price range for "chopped chili fish head" was not originally designed for first-tier cities.

But who could have imagined that at the beginning of the year, the government introduced a policy of giving away green license plates for free, making "mini cars" an instant hot commodity under double subsidies.

In addition to severe urban congestion, driving a small car is often a much more comfortable experience than driving a large car.

Even if manufacturers react at this point in time, the cycle for new models will still take some time.

Therefore, the market at this price point is currently completely sluggish and undeveloped.

In cities with license plate restrictions, 500 vehicles per month is just the beginning.

"Yes... Actually, our directly operated stores within the province are also performing very well. We had a total of 500 pre-produced vehicles, and they have all been delivered. We also have an additional order of over 1,000 vehicles waiting to be delivered. The market's enthusiasm for the Star Mini is very high!"

Yu Nian's tone was slightly excited.

Only a few days have passed?

Given the license plate restrictions in cities and the significant exposure generated at the auto show, it's understandable that order performance was slightly better.

But to their surprise, their "old customers," who were considered to have average spending power, placed many orders thanks to the promotion they had built up with their existing offline resources.

Many people chose the car immediately after seeing it, even though it cost around 50,000 yuan.

Confusing.

These people who buy electric vehicles for the elderly for 20,000 to 30,000 yuan clearly have very limited budgets.

They actually have such great enthusiasm for the Starry Night Mini, whose price has almost doubled.

"Most people want to buy a better car at a reasonable price, not just a cheap one."

Xu Yi said.

Good products will be widely accepted, no matter where they are.

Although they used some marketing tricks in their advertising and traffic generation, they did not actually deceive consumers.

No matter how you compare them, the Star Mini's current product strength makes it the only choice for entry-level new energy commuter vehicles!

The only "Youth Music" on the market that meets the standards!
Other competitors' products that don't even include fast charging are completely out of the running.

"In addition, we are short of sales staff. Expanding our staff requires rigorous training, including product introduction techniques. Only those who pass the assessment can be assigned to their posts, in order to provide customers with the best in-store service experience."

The biggest difference between brand-owned stores and the traditional dealer 4S model is that the brand can directly manage the market sales end.

Currently, the marketing and sales department divides different cities into separate regions, with each region managed by an assigned store manager. Sales staff must undergo systematic training and product sales skills assessments before joining the company.

The advantage of doing this is that it ensures that even in different cities, customers who walk into the Star Auto Experience Store will receive the pre-set scripted greetings and the same level of enthusiastic treatment.

The traditional 4S store model, because it is operated independently by dealers, has sales staff with varying levels of competence. In addition, dealers usually only consider their own interests, which can lead to random price increases and poor attitudes towards customers during reception and delivery.

Xu Yi values ​​this aspect very much.

Before online marketing and brand image are fully upgraded, the sales side is the direct channel to customers.

When a customer walks into a brand store, the salesperson gives them a sour look, knows nothing about the products, and refuses to let them test drive a car because of their ordinary attire.

That sounds tacky.

In fact, this situation is quite common in the sales industry.

In this situation, even if you pile on the product's best features, you still won't be able to close a deal.

Urban residents, on the other hand, have higher requirements for brands and appearance.

Putting aside the exterior design, the first impression a brand makes at the beginning is very important.

Professionalism and a warm, welcoming attitude may not directly enhance a brand's image, but they can maximize the likelihood of a sale based on the first impression.

As for those who genuinely don't have a good impression of their brand, or those who aren't originally the target audience for "MINI models," Xu Yi doesn't force them; he'll leave it to time.

Moreover, their car pricing and delivery process are standardized nationwide.

There are no arbitrary price increases or charges.

For the industry as a whole.

This is still a relatively cutting-edge business model.

This is also the model that consumers will prefer in the future.

……

(End of this chapter)