It was originally an interaction with the theme of safety, but Ding Lei unexpectedly became the protagonist of the day.
From the simple addition of a few sentences at the beginning, to the end where he couldn't help but stand up and answer directly. He said with emotion that he had always faced business problems in the past, but today he could finally show his technical side.
Most of the circle’s understanding of this new car founder rests on the glorious resume of traditional OEMs such as General Motors, but few people know that he graduated from Fudan University with a major in atomic and nuclear engineering and also studied solid state physics. Master's degree.
So don't be "confused" by the image of a cadre in a suit. This is actually a pure science and engineering man.
In Ding Lei’s own words, if you are good at physics, you can do anything, because there are scientific laws behind it. It is said that this sentence successfully impressed the interviewer at SAIC when he graduated from graduate school.
While following the rules, he also tried to break some rules.
Ding Lei, who briefly left the automotive industry in 2014, participated in Tesla's domestic production in China as the deputy mayor of Shanghai Pudong New Area, and this experience also inspired him.
When Ding Lei experienced the performance limits brought about by electrification for the first time and saw the disappearance of physical buttons on the Model S, he judged that the future automotive industry chain and product form would usher in a huge change. .
It is precisely based on this that the story of him, Chinese Express and Gaohe came into being today.
Ding Lei said that with my experience, even a fool would succeed, but at the same time, he also said that others cannot learn from me.
About two ways to use experience
On the morning of January 19, 2022, the 5000th HiPhi X officially rolled off the production line.
Prior to this, Gaoheyong completed the delivery of a total of 4,237 vehicles in 7 months, covering 196 cities across the country, and became the first Chinese company to win the monthly sales champion of the luxury car segment with more than 500,000 yuan. brand.
But looking back at this "car-building movement", it was actually far from smooth as Ding Lei imagined.
Even though he has the impressive performance of taking the top spot in domestic sales four times in six years at the helm of SAIC-GM, going from 0 to 1 is a completely different set of logic.
Ding Lei recalled the scene when he came to Beijing in early 2018 to visit a senior media veteran: compared with the "three intelligences" (smart cars, smart transportation, smart cities) and "three definitions" he proposed (Scene-defined design, software-defined car, creation-defined value), the other party only cares about where the factory is, whether there is money, and when the car will be built.
“I was stunned at the time and could only move forward little by little.”
From the perspective of the industry, from the announcement of the establishment of Human Horizons to the official release of HiPhi In the two and a half years since it started producing cars, the concepts such as "vehicle-road synergy" and "future urban travel solutions" that this new car company has continuously spread to the outside world are more like castles in the air.
In that era when PPT car building was rampant, Ding Lei was also labeled as a big liar.
“To this day, when our new car is unveiled, some people still question whether it can be mass-produced. After it is mass-produced, they question whether it can be delivered. After it is delivered, they question whether it can sell more than a thousand a month. Even though I am now The production capacity has already exceeded 1,000, but some people will still ask when it can exceed 10,000."
His helplessness is ironic but also realistic.
Since you choose to stand in the spotlight, you must learn to withstand harsh scrutiny, and even ridicule from friends that "high-end brands are never defined by opening doors."
Ding Lei’s way of resolving stress is very simple: keeping his six roots pure, making firm plans, and having the spirit of No Fear.
He said that cars are not commodities but works. "I am not afraid to share this Know-How, because it cannot be learned. Cars are the biggest fashion."
Perhaps the word fashion is a bit over the top for that generation of car people, but in Ding Lei's eyes, he hopes to re-create the car-making experience of the past decades in the new era.
"There are two ways to use experience. One is that you dare not break through because of experience, and the other is that you dare to do this thing precisely because of experience."
Gao He will himself The brand concept is defined as "exploration, freedom, and creation." Ding Lei believes that the most critical thing is creation: because there are so many mediocre products in the world, we must create new categories if we want to do it.
Moats and New Choices
This should be one of the few new forces that dares to claim that they are not short of money in the initial stage.
At that time, Ding Lei once announced to the outside world, "I would not do this if I did not have sufficient funds, because I cannot accept the model of having to look for money everywhere for half of the work."< /p>
He even tactfully expressed his different views on the 20 billion car manufacturing threshold not long ago. The implication is that at this stage, Chinese Express cannot use that much money at all.
In Ding Lei’s words, this all stems from Chinese Express’s unique advantages in the supply chain.
Take HiPhi ”
Why? Ding Lei said there are two major reasons.
First, 9 of the top 10 suppliers in the world provide support for Chinese Express, and they do not regard Gaohe as a new brand; second, they have more than 20 years of cooperation experience with these suppliers. , so both the price and terms are very reasonable.
However, having enough money in the initial stage does not mean that the company will not need money in the future.
In November last year, Human Horizons reached a strategic cooperation with the Shanghai Branch of Bank of Communications, and the latter will provide comprehensive credit support of RMB 5 billion to Human Horizons.
In addition, according to the latest news from foreign media, Chinese Express is also considering an IPO in Hong Kong as soon as this year, with plans to raise no more than US$500 million.
Correspondingly, on the 17th, Human Horizons announced the signing of a cooperation agreement with Qingdao City and the establishment of a Chinese headquarters. While establishing Gaohe Automobile Sales and Service Corporation, it also established Chinese Horizons Investment Co., Ltd. The legal person of the company is Ding Lei.
Among the many new power brands, Gaohe has broken the price ceiling of Chinese automobile brands with an average transaction price of over 700,000 yuan per bicycle.
After successively launching two flagship models, HiPhi
These steps look very much like Tesla.
Written at the end
In the company, many employees call Ding Lei Lao Ding. In fact, he also has an English name David.
"But I told them that they must not call them boss. I am the founder. After the founding is completed, the company belongs to everyone."
Ding Lei said that among all his business plans, the only one What I didn't expect was the new crown. Everything else is moving forward quickly according to the established time points.
In his eyes, the 30-year joint venture and cooperation did not exchange the market for real technology, but it exchanged a large number of talents.
"I hope that young engineers will no longer experience joint ventures like us. Now we are on such a platform to challenge the world's advanced level and usher in belated respect for the Chinese automobile industry." Ding Lei said.