May 3 1, 2065438 I still remember that it was the day when the first Weilai car was delivered, and it has been more than 800 days today.
Like most traditional car companies, the first owner of ES8 is Li Tianshu, an internal employee and engineer. However, even as an employee of the company 00 1, I don't think he could confirm when the company would live.
However, it is such a pure new force to build a car, which has broken the suspicion of "PPT building a car" and removed many people's colored glasses for electric vehicles. Although it can't be said to be "riding the wind and breaking the waves", it can also be regarded as "stumbling". Today.
In these more than 800 days, I bet with He that Weilai could deliver more than 10,000 yuan that year, and it was successfully realized, followed by the release, market delivery and hot sale of ES6, and the listing of the brand-new ES8. At the recent Chengdu Auto Show, the Weilai EC6 with coupe SUV shape was also announced.
During these 800 days, of course, we can't forget many stories, such as various fires in ES8, the listing of NIO American stocks, the high financing in Hefei, the roller coaster-style stock price decline, and so on. The cumulative sales volume of Weilai ES8 and ES6 also exceeded 50,000 vehicles, leading a new force in car making.
So, is Weilai a real luxury brand today? Is the best-selling Weilai ES6 a luxury model? If you are still a big fan of gasoline cars or want to buy a luxury SUV, we hope you will continue reading. Next, I look forward to reading and welcome to discuss.
What are luxury brands made of?
In most people's cognition, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, Rolls-Royce, Maserati, Porsche, Bentley and Maibakh are all luxury brands, while Volvo, Cadillac, Jaguar, Land Rover, finidi, Acura, Lexus and Lincoln are all second-tier luxury brands.
The reason seems to be inseparable from several factors:
Brand awareness, brand history and background, product pricing, power, configuration, safety attributes, technical capabilities and technical reserves. In the earliest concept, luxury cars were actually luxury goods? The literal translation of a car usually refers to a D-class car with a wheelbase of more than 3,000 mm. But as time goes by, the concept of luxury car becomes more and more vague, and even some brands take "good is expensive, expensive is good" as the most direct interpretation. But a few advertisements are not enough to make consumers pay for this luxury.
We can also see the rising path of independent brands: Great Wall WEY is positioned as "China luxury SUV brand", Link Motor is advertised as "new era high-end brand", and FAW Hongqi originally hoped to become "independent high-end automobile brand". However, in the intuitive feelings of many consumers and the embodiment of sales, independent brands have to add a lot of effort.
Therefore, when Weilai entered the "luxury list" with an average bicycle price of about 400,000, when some consumers were willing to give up the traditional BBA and choose ES8 and ES6, when the new energy vehicle market grew bigger and bigger under the influence of Tesla, especially when Weilai's concept, sales volume and user praise accumulated to a certain extent, I believe the opportunity of "China luxury" came.
Pure electric SUV? In the ranking of insurance quantity in July, Weilai two cars ranked first? 1, top 5, ES8 and ES6 are also the products with the highest average transaction price, and only the second place has exceeded 200,000.
If we can't see Weilai's competitiveness from the field of pure electricity, let's take a look here: among the medium-sized SUVs with a guide price of more than 300,000, ES6, as the only product made by China boss, China brand and China, has entered the top 7 of the list. The top three are the first-line luxury brands BBA we know, and the fourth to sixth places are only the second-line luxury brands mentioned above, such as Wo Wo, Katie and Lei Che.
Finally, look at the list of medium and large SUVs with a price of more than 400,000 yuan where ES8 is located. Weilai, surrounded by Japan, Germany, the United States and Britain, is still fearless.
Test drive Weilai ES6
We happened to have a Macan when we drove the ES6? S's test drive, colleagues in the editorial department "think it's too big to watch the excitement", saying that they should take the two cars out for a walk together. Our colleagues have also expressed their love for this Porsche SUV before: "This car has given me the craziest wind and the quietest sea".
To be honest, I have no feeling about the color of this ES6, especially in a green Mamba metallic Macan. Next to S. But of course, Weilai, which is good at satisfying the preferences of car owners, will definitely have more colors to choose from, including my favorite "morning fog green".
The family-style X-Bar design on the front face, the straight window line on the side of the car, and the LED "heartbeat" taillight design on the back combined with the mobile turn signal still make this car have a high degree of recognition and movement.
Sitting in the car, the ES6 doesn't really give people the feeling of "luxury". In some ways, it even has a warm color style that is more "indifferent" like the Nordic brand Volvo: simple, simple and practical.
Weilai ES6 center console
Volvo XC40 center console
Undoubtedly, as a medium-sized SUV, the body size of ES6 is 4850* 1965* 1758mm, and the wheelbase is 2900mm, which also brings good space for the interior space. Integrated sports seat, queen co-driver, queen cosmetic mirror, etc. They are all configurations that can say "really fragrant" after practice.
We test drive the ES6 signature version (top-mounted), equipped with permanent magnet and high-performance induction motor at the same time, with a maximum power of 400kW and a maximum total torque of 725 Nm. At the same time, this version is equipped with active air suspension. The 70kWh battery pack brings 430km NEDC comprehensive cruising range, while the version equipped with 100kWh battery pack can reach the longest comprehensive cruising range of 6 10km.
In the dynamic experience, the performance of ES6 in different power modes is completely different in horsepower, suspension and kinetic energy recovery, and of course there are personalized settings. The advantage of the arrival of smart cars is that we can experience the leap-forward experience from feature phones to smart phones in more and more places.
Drive out together, Macan? S 100 km acceleration time 5. 1 sec. In contrast, the powertrain of the ES6 gave it a 100-kilometer acceleration of 4.6 seconds during the explosion.
Of course, even in terms of directivity, handling, handling of suspension damping and ride comfort, the two cars still have their own advantages, Macan? S is also superior in most dynamic performance, and it is hard for us to think of one thing: the guide price of this Macan is 6,565,438+0,000 yuan, and the price of the optional car is more than 750,000 yuan; Weilai ES6 signature version, online and offline national direct sales, unified retail price of 468,000 yuan.
Weilai changes the power station. Can you change a piece of electricity in about five minutes?
During the week of test drive, we also experienced one-button boot service and Weilai life-long free power exchange. A colleague who is keen on fuel cars also shared his opinion: when consumers can spend 500 thousand to buy a pure tram, it should be regarded as an upper-middle income group. Let's put the battery life aside. Weilai's energy supply method, the delivery of Weilai Commissioner and related services, especially the concept of overall construction, all give them the feeling of surpassing traditional luxury fuel vehicles.
Weilai official one-button boot service, similar to charging on behalf of the driver.
Generally speaking, if the driving experience of the product is purely discussed, Weilai ES6 must be a car that gives the owner a "pleasure", which is reflected in the acceleration performance and intelligent experience. Speaking of "luxury", I believe Weilai's concept, service and owner circle will definitely give this car extra points. Just like many times, we are persuaded by the arrogant sales staff of some luxury brands to choose a brand with better service and reception. This may be what my colleague called "comprehensive feeling".
(Because of time and space factors, about the ES6 intelligent digital cockpit, NIO? Pilot ability test, etc. We will discuss it separately in the next section. )
Future tomorrow
A few days ago, it was reported on the Internet that the autopilot technician Ren will soon join Weilai and report directly to the company. A few days ago, Weilai Q2 financial report was released, and Li Bin gave several summaries: the order growth was strong, the gross profit margin reached a historical high of 9.7%, the operating loss was the lowest, and the operating cash flow increased positively for the first time.
Li Bin also confidently stated that Weilai's sales in the third quarter will climb to more than 65,438+065,438+0,000 vehicles, and BaaS has made great progress in the separation of vehicles and electricity, and Weilai will continue to increase investment in research and development.
Judging from the vehicle positioning, product terminal price, user group, brand concept and distribution of competing products, yes, Weilai is already very luxurious.
However, from the perspective of brand stability, enterprise stability, heritage and vehicle richness, Weilai is not "luxury" enough, but at least it is "luxury upstart", which is also the feeling that more young people are chasing.
Fortunately, such a China brand is emerging in the market.
More than a decade ago, not to mention the labor-intensive, technology-intensive and capital-intensive industries like automobiles, even in the field of mobile phones, we could not compete with Apple and Samsung. Today, with Huawei occupying more and more market share, Xiaomi and OPPO have also made breakthroughs with their own cost performance and ideas.
Although there is no need to talk about the feelings of independent brands, from "national self-improvement" to "domestic self-improvement", it is still from the country to the people, from you to me. We should stick to the idea in our hearts. Today, Weilai, Tucki and Ideality are all facing the same pattern as in those years: Tesla's strong siege.
Not long ago, in 2020, Weilai NIO? The venue of DAY is officially confirmed as Chengdu, and there are many rumors that Weilai will release the first car ET7 here. This is EC6, too? PK？ Tesla model? After y, Weilai will launch a face-to-face model? 3 products.
In July, the production and sales of new energy vehicles were 6,543,800 and 98,000 respectively, up by 654.38+ 05.6% and 654.38+09.3% respectively, which was the first increase this year. The increasingly hot and rising new energy vehicle market and increasing market share are bound to make more and more consumers in this field. Most people who have really experienced electric vehicles are saying "really fragrant". Weilai's tomorrow may be full of hope.
Are you the boss of Weilai? Do you think Weilai is a luxury brand? Will you support the new domestic forces that make cars seriously?
This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.