After only three years of establishment, GAC New Energy has a tendency to catch up from behind in the new energy vehicle market.

Amid the overall decline in the new energy vehicle industry, GAC New Energy sold 4,100 vehicles in May, a year-on-year increase of 110%. The cumulative sales from January to May were 16,231 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 100%.

On July 2, the annual upgraded model of GAC New Energy Aian S, the best-selling new energy vehicle of China’s own brand, was officially launched. The 2020 Aian S brings users "three major evolutions" in terms of battery life, technology, and services. The price after subsidies starts at 139,800 yuan.

The 2020 Aian S launches the new NEDC Mei 580 and Xuan 580 series models with a range of 460km, realizing the evolution of battery life; all series have been upgraded with an openable panoramic sunroof, reversing image, 6 speakers, PM2 as standard .5 filter element and remote one-click antivirus, the technological evolution is full of sincerity; at the same time, the 2020 Aian S also provides three-electricity lifetime warranty service (non-operating first owner, less than 30,000 kilometers per year), service evolution, so that GAC New Energy has become the only car company in the industry that provides lifetime warranty for all products of electric vehicles and electric vehicles.

Not long before the upgrade of Aion S, GAC New Energy released the world's first 5G car - Aion V, which became the focus of the industry. "It's useless to be first-rate. To lead, you must be one step ahead. If you don't innovate, you will become a dinosaur of the times." Gu Huinan, general manager of GAC New Energy, said. "Our goal is very clear: to be Huawei in the field of smart car manufacturing in the future." Xiao Yong, deputy general manager of GAC New Energy Vehicle Co., Ltd. also mentioned.

The seamless connection between renewal and new products has ensured that GAC New Energy has never been short of traffic. It is precisely because of the "fierce operation" that GAC New Energy's every move has attracted the attention of the industry. focus.

Rapid Rise

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From the beginning, GAC New Energy wanted to establish a new high-end brand image of new energy vehicles in the industry.

So since its establishment in 2017, GAC New Energy has cut the brand distinction from the previous Trumpchi New Energy. From product styling design to intelligent platform factories, they are almost all operated independently, making it impossible to see the shadow of traditional car companies.

GAC New Energy is one of the earliest companies in China to carry out customized production. According to GAC New Energy, the Aion S car has more than 16,800 customized combinations for consumers to choose from, including body color, wheel shape, personalized seat signatures, and configuration additions and subtractions.

In terms of marketing, GAC New Energy is also laying out its layout according to the route of new car-making forces. GAC New Energy has not chosen the traditional 4S store service model, but has created a new store model - —25hours experience center, not only for car viewing and repair, but also for business, parties, parent-child and other activities.

GAC New Energy launches new cars at a very fast pace. For example, it has launched three new cars in the past year or so. In April last year, the first car, the Aian S, was launched; in October, the Aian LX was launched. In June this year, GAC New Energy Aion V was also officially released.

Aian V is very aggressive, claiming to be the "pioneer of the next generation of smart cars" with six major technologies. Its competing products are all models priced between 150,000 and 200,000 yuan.

To a certain extent, Aian V is indeed confident in saying this in terms of configuration. Currently, the NEDC cruising range of pure electric models under 200,000 yuan is mostly 400 to 500km. Aian V has It has a 600km battery life, and it is also the world's first 5G car with L3 autonomous driving level, which is very cost-effective.

Sales data also proves the strength of GAC New Energy.

Against the backdrop of a sluggish market for independent new energy vehicles in the first half of this year, GAC New Energy has demonstrated its strength. In May of this year, GAC New Energy’s Aian S ranked second in the sales rankings of pure electric vehicles in May after Tesla Model 3.

Doubts while running

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Although it has achieved good results in the market, GAC New Energy seems to have not been able to achieve stability.

First of all, although GAC New Energy launches new cars at a fast pace, as a new brand, its product line is still slightly thin.

GAC New Energy only has compact pure electric SUVs, medium-sized pure electric SUVs and A-class sedans. Although most new car-making forces have not launched many models, many mature traditional car companies have launched no less than ten models. Models, and models at various price points are scattered. If you want to stand out in the new energy market, the plate must be large enough. This is a problem faced by GAC New Energy and new car-making forces.

Precisely because the product line is slightly thin, the sales volume of GAC New Energy is now almost exclusively carried by the Aion S. For example, the overall sales volume of GAC New Energy in May reached 4,100 vehicles, but the Aion S The sales volume of the car was 3,892 units, accounting for more than 90% of the total sales. At the same time, the sales volume of Aian S includes the sales volume of online car-hailing services.

Under the "outstanding" sales volume, the Aian S car is also facing the pressure of market doubts.

Although GAC New Energy has always used its leading technology layout as its selling point, for example, through the Aian S car, GAC New Energy has initially established a "high endurance" label, but this label has not been widely used. Few people questioned whether it was "mixed with water".

At the end of last year, car owners in Hunan, Shenzhen and other places reported that the Aian S’s cruising range had a “false mark” in winter. The cruising range advertised by 4S stores can reach up to 510KM, but the vehicle mileage has become significantly shorter after winter, causing dissatisfaction among users.

Aion S has two models, 530 and 630, which means that the 60km/h constant speed range is 530km and 630km respectively, but the NEDC comprehensive cruising range of the car is 410km and 510km respectively. In daily driving In China, car owners are basically unable to drive at a constant speed, so they use the "constant speed" method to promote their cars, which makes many consumers complain.

In addition, the recent fire accident of Aian S is currently under investigation by GAC New Energy. However, it is undeniable that the fire accidents of GAC New Energy and other brands have once again put the new car into question. The discussion of safety issues of energy vehicles has been placed in a prominent position.

Can leading technology be implemented?

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If the above doubts are problems that every new energy vehicle brand may encounter, then can the technological breakthrough claimed by GAC New Energy make it possible? Does it establish the character of "one step ahead of others"?

GAC New Energy recently announced the latest results in the development of graphene batteries. They announced a very impressive data: charging to 85% in 8 minutes, the charging time is equivalent to the refueling time of a traditional fuel vehicle.

Sounds like this technology is awesome. There is no doubt that graphene batteries can improve charging efficiency, but graphene’s volume energy density is low, making it difficult to make a vehicle battery. More importantly, according to the current market conditions, the price of single-layer graphene is thousands or even tens of thousands of yuan per gram, which means that the price of electric vehicles equipped with such batteries will not be low, which is different from the current price. Going against the trend of reducing the cost of electric vehicles, will consumers pay for it? Many experts believe that graphene is currently unlikely to be used as the main material for power batteries. Guo Shouwu, a professor at the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, said that if the graphene battery in the vehicle does not add lithium ions, there is no way to change the cruising range of the power battery. At the same time, although GAC New Energy Aion V has L3 level autonomous driving assistance capabilities, due to factors such as the difficulty of defining the division of responsible entities behind L3 level autonomous driving, the law on L3 level autonomous driving has not yet been implemented.

"In the final analysis, it is about benchmarking against Tesla." Gu Huinan once said.

But at present, GAC New Energy is still far behind Tesla, which is directly challenging it. Although the sales volume of GAC New Energy Aion S in May was second only to Model 3, from the sales volume Judging from the data, Aian S only accounts for 35% of the sales volume of the domestic Model 3.

As Gu Huinan once mentioned, the competition in the future automobile industry will not only be the competition of product strength, but also the all-round competition in R&D, intelligent manufacturing, and services. With the entry of new technologies and new companies one after another, industry competition has reached deep waters. How to move forward steadily in the research and development that is trying to "one step ahead of others" is what GAC New Energy must stick to next.

This article comes from the author of Autohome Chejiahao and does not represent the views and positions of Autohome.