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

Chapter 138 Xingchen Motors Receives Approval for Dual Vehicle Manufacturing Qualifications!
at the same time.

The attention of other competitors.

"This Star Car is too flashy."

"This is no longer a simple car sales pitch; it's a marketing brainwashing operation!!"

"That's right...it stinks! Look at what people are saying under the comments, saying that if a CEO with that kind of net worth opens the car door for you, you'd be willing to give up the car!"

……

Wuling Group Headquarters.

A group of senior executives are gathered together, holding an internal meeting.

When I saw this video from Star Auto.

My first reaction was to condemn it!

They vehemently condemned Xingchen Motors and Xu Yi.

Such despicable marketing tactics are chilling to even their peers!

Simultaneously.

I feel very helpless.

A strange feeling arose spontaneously.

How……

Are they all "tricks" I've never seen before?
...

"This generation of netizens is too brainless; ordinary people don't even have the ability to think and discern independently."

Li Chaochun, deputy general manager of Wuling, shook his head in criticism.

"In any case, the desired effect has been achieved. This Xingchen Motors... has the technology and is also very good at marketing. It has established itself after only releasing two models," another executive sighed.

They all watched the Star Auto press conference.

It's no use being resentful in your heart.

In other aspects, as traditional car companies, they are quite calm, with a sense that it's nothing special.

But when they saw the large Polaris single-cell battery, they were completely dumbfounded.

Recently.

Wuling's internal attitude towards the development of the new energy vehicle sector has undergone a significant turning point.

From initial indifference and hesitation, to now almost developing it as the next major strategic goal!

There are two main reasons.

The explosive rise of Xingchen Automotive in the micro pure electric vehicle market, coupled with the rapid growth of the market share of new energy vehicles since last year, has made many competitors envious.

Secondly, there is another, even more crucial, core factor.

Two months ago, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology updated the specific guidelines for the implementation of the dual-credit system this year.

For new energy vehicles with a pure electric range of 100km-150km, an average of 1 basic credit point is earned for each vehicle sold.

New energy vehicles with a range of 150km-250km can earn 1.5 basic credits.

You can only earn 2 points if your range is between 250km and 400km.

New energy vehicles with a range of over 400km can earn 3 points.

……

As traditional gasoline car manufacturers, we are subject to national requirements that if a gasoline car exceeds the fuel consumption standard, it must be offset with positive credits. Most car manufacturers are under pressure to have negative credits, because exceeding the standard will result in real fines.

Besides that, they saw another way.

That means selling a large number of small new energy vehicles, which can not only offset the negative credits of its gasoline vehicles, but also make money!
Currently, small new energy vehicles can definitely be considered "credit harvesting machines".

Don't be fooled by the fact that new energy vehicles with a range of over 250km offer high subsidies and a lot of carbon credits.

But this thing has high production costs and high selling prices, so what is its market share?

Conversely, the pure electric Mini models priced at tens of thousands of yuan can not only receive subsidies but also earn carbon credits.

He easily sold over 100,000 units in a single year.

So when it comes to the year-end settlement, it can not only offset the pressure of negative points, but also increase the company's net profit by more than one billion yuan.

Therefore, Wuling Group has been vigorously promoting the Wuling Mini EV for the past quarter.

But what about the results.

A lot of resources were wasted.

Sales are stuck at 10,000 units, and they just can't seem to go any higher!

In contrast, the Star Mini's sales have been soaring, consistently averaging over 20,000 units per month.

This is really disheartening!!

Wuling is clearly the king of entry-level cars!
In the new energy vehicle sector, they're being crushed by a new energy vehicle startup, and it seems like they can't turn the tide!

To understand why the Starry Mini is so popular in the market.

Wuling Technology Engineering Institute even specially obtained several Star Minis and conducted a comprehensive reverse engineering and research on them.

The results were shocking.

The Star Mini is surprisingly excellent in terms of design, materials, and technology!

This is not at all what a startup car company should be capable of!

Take interior space as an example. Wuling is already a leader in the small car market, so they naturally know how to maximize space utilization through design.

However, after some measurement and comparison, the interior space utilization rate of the Star Mini is even higher than that of the Wuling!
In terms of electronic control and driving energy consumption, the Star Mini is also slightly better than them.

Secondly, the energy density of the battery and the weight of the entire vehicle are also factors to consider, and these are even more important.

It seems that each aspect is not much stronger.

But in reality, when you consider all the factors, it's far superior!

The engineering team was dumbfounded.

(No) It's just a car worth tens of thousands of yuan, why are you putting so much effort into it?
...

Due to insufficient product competitiveness, coupled with the fact that the Wuling Mini experienced a series of setbacks in the first few months after its release.

As one side gains and the other loses, the gap in reputation between the two has widened significantly.

The fact that sales have been able to exceed 10,000 units is a result of Wuling Group's efforts in expanding its distribution channels.

……

"This time, we launched the Wuling Mini Premium Edition, targeting the Star Mini. It has undergone multiple optimizations in terms of design, materials, and product capabilities. Even the range is 30km longer than the Star Mini. This time, it will definitely be able to win back reputation and sales!"

Deputy General Manager Li Chaochun spoke up.

They decided to launch a premium version of the Wuling Mini with a 210km range to officially challenge the Star Mini!
As for the Wuling Mini with a range of 180km that is currently on sale, it has actually been officially reduced by six or seven thousand yuan in order to seize the market.

They still advertise it as 48,800 yuan, but in reality, the discount for picking up the car at the store is already around 41,000 yuan, and they also offer interest-free loans.

"Yes, if we can take the top spot in microcar sales, selling more than 200,000 pure electric Minis a year, the carbon credit revenue alone will be several billion."

Wuling CEO Chen Hong nodded in agreement.

There wasn't much discussion.

When major national policies are implemented, businesses have no choice but to follow suit.

Large-scale manufacturing industries, in particular, cannot go against the general trend of environmental protection.

Therefore, whatever the country needs, Wuling will build it!

...

"Director Jiang, what are your thoughts on our new product launch campaign?" Chen Hong couldn't help but look to the side.

As a member of the management team responsible for market sales strategies and new car strategic channel layout, Jiang Ze has remained silent throughout this incident.

"Mr. Chen, I think we should pay more attention to online marketing."

Jiang Ze took a deep breath.

"According to market research, since the press conference, the foot traffic at Xingchen Mini stores has increased by at least five times compared to usual. It is expected that another sales surge will occur, all thanks to online operations."

He wouldn't have said that 10 years ago.

At that time, we relied on offline channels to make a difference.

Now, the live streaming industry and video websites are quite developed.

This trend was already quite evident in 14-15.

Online popularity, community forums, car enthusiast circles, and celebrity influence can often affect the level of attention a car receives.

"How can we take this seriously? Aren't the efforts of car reviewers to generate traffic and advertise enough?"

"Well... I haven't decided yet."

Jiang Ze said somewhat dejectedly.

They may seem to have remained silent, but in reality, they've run out of options.

Having experienced the previous two setbacks, he now seems to feel a strange sense of powerlessness when facing Xingchen Motors.

“President Chen, I have a plan,” a senior executive suddenly said.

Chen Hong: "Tell me about it."

“Since Xingchen Motors can hold a car delivery ceremony for car owners, we can also hold a similar new model delivery event. We can get such good traffic just by bending down and opening a door for the car owners. Why not?” the executive said.

He completely forgot how he had just cursed Xingchen Motors for its stench.

Chen Hong frowned: "Trying to ride the wave of traffic? That's not a good idea..."

Why would you ask a CEO of a traditional car company to handle these things?

I'm a little embarrassed to admit it.

"Mr. Chen, the market research team just mentioned that the customer traffic at Xingchen Mini has increased almost fivefold compared to before... Take a look at these online comments, see what they're saying."

"They say Xingchen Motors is the most affordable car company..."

"They also said that other car company executives would never open the door for customers. If they really did that, even if it was just for show, they would still be willing to pay. This shows that consumers still crave respect. Wuling can totally do that..."

The executive took out his phone.

When it comes to coming up with new marketing and promotional plans, what's faster than copying and pasting?
Business competition can sometimes be this simple and straightforward!
How will you know if it works if you don't try?

After hearing this explanation, the management members present all showed a slight hint of interest in their eyes.

Just do it!

……

soon.

It only takes a few days.

Under tight organization, the first delivery ceremony of the Wuling Miniev Premium Edition was held.

CEO Chen Hong made a grand entrance, accompanied by a team of senior executives!
A grand car delivery ceremony was held, and in order to "strive for authenticity," a group of real car owners were specially invited.

then.

As a result of this operation, a number of videos of "Wuling's CEO bowing and opening the door for the car owner" have been circulating online.

But unexpectedly, this time it was met with widespread criticism.

"Why did they open the car door for the owner in this Wuling?"

"Hypocritical and pretentious!"

"It feels like they're just trying to sell cars; it doesn't feel like what Mr. Xu is all about."

"Yes, the CEO and executives of Wuling had fake smiles on their faces, not a bit sincere. Couldn't you be a little quicker? The car owner was getting impatient waiting for you to open the car door."

"Even Xingchen Motors sends flowers and commemorative silver medals, how come Wuling is so stingy? They only send a small gift box, and we don't even know what's inside?"

"You spend all day doing this useless stuff; you should be spending that time working on the product!"

The online response was very negative.

……

The next day.

The Wuling executives, who had been busy with the delivery ceremony all day, are all well-known figures in the industry with considerable wealth. However, they worked like cattle and horses, opening car doors for car owners under the scorching sun and cameras, providing them with warmth for several hours.

They eagerly opened online reviews and market research.

Then they discovered the sky had fallen!

"No, why are all these insults?"

"Opening it is problematic, but not opening it is also problematic!"

I'm truly impressed!

...

CEO Chen Hong's face turned as black as charcoal; he almost coughed up blood and fainted!
This is...why is it so different from what I expected?
These netizens are going back on their word!
You promised you'd support it even if it was just a show?!
Industry insiders.

Seeing Wuling's imitation, many other car companies' initial enthusiasm waned.

Everyone was stunned!

Good guy.

This is a classic case of trying to steal a chicken but losing the rice instead; it seems Xingchen Automotive can't just blindly follow marketing tactics.

……

the other side.

Xu Yi paid little attention to the external turmoil.

For the entire Xingchen Automotive, a very important and memorable day has arrived.

Ten o'clock in the morning.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has released the latest batch of announcements regarding road motor vehicle manufacturers and products.

The key information in the document is that it approves the establishment of Shandong Xingchen Automobile Manufacturing Co., Ltd. as a pure electric passenger vehicle manufacturer.

This means that Xingchen Automotive has passed the entire national filing and review process and obtained "dual qualifications" approved by the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

At the same time, it also became the first new energy passenger vehicle company in Son Dong province to obtain the national "Announcement of Road Motor Vehicles and Manufacturers" independent qualification.

—Exclusive in the province!!

This makes it the 11th company in China to officially obtain the qualification to produce pure electric passenger vehicles approved by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology!

Once the message is sent.

The entire industry fell silent!

……

(End of this chapter)