Edit | Yuer Lake
出品 | 潮起网「于见专栏」
There are many people who are popular. After the release of Xiaomi Group's first new energy vehicle model SU7 at the end of March, under the impetus of Xiaomi's various marketing actions, hot search topics continued, and some peers were even more "red-eyed", and various exaggerated porcelain touching operations even brought negative effects to Xiaomi cars, so that Xiaomi could not continue to remain "silent".
For example, recently, Zhiji Automobile, a holding subsidiary of SAIC Motor, took advantage of the rising attention of new energy vehicles to release its L6 model, and directly compared the performance with Xiaomi SU7 Max at the press conference. However, at the new car press conference, Zhiji Auto unfortunately "overturned".
According to the comparison data of its press conference, the Xiaomi SU7 Max version uses the electric drive of the front IGBT and the rear silicon carbide module, while the Zhiji L6 uses the front and rear dual silicon carbide electric drive. However, the comparison information was subsequently identified as "mislabeled" by Xiaomi's officials, and a spokesperson for Xiaomi sent three Weibo posts in a row, urging it to make a public apology.
In the end, Zhiji Auto also "got into trouble" because of this, and had to show sincerity and apologize many times to calm down public opinion a little. Industry insiders believe that this "war" without gunpowder smoke is enough to confirm the fierce competition in the new energy vehicle industry.
However, after this "service", Xiaomi Automobile, which was gradually cooling down, also continued to stay on the hot search list, and even became a veritable big winner. On the contrary, Zhiji Auto has a frustration of "stealing chickens does not make rice".
The tip of the needle is on the wheat mang, and the Xiaomi car may be better
According to reports, Zhiji L6 is the product of all in SAIC's cutting-edge technology, and this time it is also menacing. It was equipped with a number of forward-looking intelligent electric technologies such as "Grey Lizard Digital Chassis" and "First-Generation Light-Year Solid-State Battery" for the first time. Moreover, in terms of intelligent driving, intelligent cabin and intelligent control experience, this model is also a carrier for Zhiji Automobile to try to break the industry pattern and open up the upward advancement channel of new energy vehicles.
In addition, its intelligent four-wheel steering system, the whole system is equipped with lidar + NVIDIA Orin X chip + Qualcomm Snapdragon 8295 chip, which takes only 2.74 seconds to accelerate from zero to 100 kilometers, equipped with a quasi-900V ultra-fast charging light-year solid-state battery, CLTC battery life of more than 1000 kilometers and other performance configurations, as well as a pre-sale price of 230,000-330,000 yuan, which is also talked about by the industry.
However, in the face of a series of marketing from Xiaomi SU7 to the market, Zhiji Automobile still seems a little inferior, and even in this public relations crisis, it has lost the "everyone's demeanor" of SAIC.
For example, in terms of the core motor configuration, Zhiji said that the Xiaomi SU7 MaX uses the front IGBT rear silicon carbide module, but according to a Xiaomi spokesperson, the actual situation is that the front and rear motors of the Xiaomi SU7 Max are silicon carbide. Xiaomi believes that this also ensures the excellent performance and battery life of the Xiaomi SU7 Max.
Perhaps for the sake of "rounding", Liu Tao, co-CEO of Zhiji, said through his personal Weibo: "Due to the wrong research results of product information, there was an information error at the press conference. Xiaomi SU7 is the same as Zhiji L6, both front and rear motors use SIC silicon carbide modules, Xiaomi SU7 is indeed our very respected competitive teammate! Here, I sincerely apologize to Xiaomi Auto and everyone. ”
However, Xiaomi's "unofficial" apology for Zhiji Auto and its response to the use of "Xiaomi SU7 is the same as Zhiji L6" are still touching. It is worth noting that a product manager of Xiaomi Auto has previously said that Xiaomi SU7 has a full range of silicon carbide, not only the front and rear electric drives are silicon carbide, but even the on-board charger (OBC) and the compressor of the thermal management system are made of silicon carbide. Therefore, the so-called "same as Xiaomi" of Zhiji Auto is also very worthy of scrutiny.
According to the evaluation of many car enthusiasts, compared with the Zhiji L6, Xiaomi's advantages are obvious. For example, the first press conference and launch conference of Xiaomi SU7 focused on Xiaomi's full-stack self-development, especially integrated die-casting, which can be described as a major highlight. It is understood that the one-piece body has no welding points, and the crash resistance and cushioning performance and safety are relatively better. In addition, there are no problems such as loose parts, and the frequency of abnormal noises is reduced.
Although the concept was Tesla's first to complete market education in the early days and bring it to consumers, it is also popular with "rice noodles" inspired by "born for fever" when used in Xiaomi cars.
"Miserable marketing", "pixel-level imitation" vs. textbook-level PR marketing
As we all know, since the day of its birth, Xiaomi has regarded the "fan economy" as the guideline, so everywhere it goes, it exudes its congenital Internet celebrity physique and temperament. Xiaomi, which is good at creating marketing topics, can often get higher attention and exposure at a lower cost.
Aside from Xiaomi's announcement of Xiaomi SU7 from shallow to deep, very rhythmic marketing planning, Xiaomi's performance in dealing with this "benchmarking incident" of Zhiji Automobile is also remarkable. For example, in urging Zhiji to apologize, Xiaomi posted three Weibo posts in a row in a very rhythmic manner, and made Zhiji Auto have to formally apologize.
According to media reports, a spokesman for Xiaomi said that Zhiji Company mislabeled the key parameters of Xiaomi SU7 Max at the press conference on the evening of the 8th, causing an extremely serious negative impact. In order to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the company and protect the user's right to know, Xiaomi has stated three main points:
One is that the front and rear motors of Xiaomi SU7 Max are silicon carbide is an objective fact, and other companies are not allowed to play right and wrong.
The second is to express dissatisfaction with Zhiji Auto, which is backed by SAIC, believing that such a fallacy is either due to its lack of professional ability, or deliberately spreading rumors and smearing, and when a large number of netizens publicly reminded that the information may be fallacious, Zhiji Auto did not correct it in time, so Xiaomi believes that such behavior damages the reputation of SAIC Group, and even deviates from the values that the group has always adhered to, which is puzzling.
The third is that Xiaomi's attitude towards industry competition is very clear: healthy competition is welcomed, but it is strongly opposed to distorting facts or even smearing opponents. In addition, Xiaomi said that it has completed the collection of evidence and is ready to use legal weapons to protect its legitimate rights and interests, and urged Zhiji to immediately make a public clarification and formally apologize to the public who were misled by it.
Through Xiaomi's handling of the incident, it can be seen that Xiaomi, which was originally negatively affected by friends touching porcelain, did not let Zhiji Auto get its wish. The incident also ended with two official apologies issued by Zhiji Auto.
Source: Screenshot of IM Zhiji Auto's second apology Weibo
As for the success or loss of this marketing and public relations war, although Zhiji Auto has increased its popularity, the negative impact on its brand is also immeasurable. On the contrary, it is Xiaomi, not only because of its official statement, correcting misinformation. And because of this incident, the competitiveness of its products has been further strengthened. It is foreseeable that after this market public relations, Xiaomi Auto will further attract fans.
In stark contrast to Xiaomi's various topic marketing, Liu Tao, co-CEO of Zhiji, exaggerated the various hardships of employees in developing new cars at the Zhiji L6 press conference, and was complained by netizens as "singing the praises of suffering" and selling miserable marketing.
It is understood that in response to the incident, netizens said on social media: This year's young people are no longer "popular" to sing praises of suffering. Under the related posts, netizens expressed disdain for Zhiji Auto's use of employees' "privacy" and "hard work" to win sympathy, and various divine comments were sneering at Zhiji Auto's "miserable" marketing.
Source: Screenshot of a social media
In addition, according to a set of Zhiji L6 promotional posters shared by netizens, it is almost the same as the Xiaomi SU7 poster, which is also accused of "pixel-level imitation". So far, the marketing skills of Xiaomi and Zhiji are higher or lower, and they are also superior.
Real gold is not afraid of fire, how is the condition of Xiaomi SU7?
Compared with Zhiji Automobile, which labels itself as a "super smart car", the market competitiveness of Xiaomi SU7 is also obvious to all. Coupled with the massive fans that Xiaomi has accumulated over the years, it was popular with many "rice fans" when it just opened the pre-sale. The day after the release of the new car, Xiaomi Auto officially announced that the Xiaomi SU7 was on the market for 24 hours, and the number reached 88,898 units.
Source: Xiaomi SU7 Dading poster
Obviously, compared with the decision-making cost of only a few thousand yuan for a mobile phone, consumers who pre-order Xiaomi SU7 with a starting price of more than 200,000 yuan are not just "generating electricity for love".
It has been observed that the Xiaomi SU7 is highly recognized by the market for many reasons.
One is its outstanding appearance. No one will deny that it is now an era of "appearance economy", and good looks can be described as the first competitiveness of new energy vehicles. I have to admit that Xiaomi's design resembles the Porsche Taycan, and at the same time has high-end elements such as elegance, sports, fashion, and passion, which is what young consumers are most concerned about.
Moreover, before the launch of Xiaomi cars, Xiaomi has done enough to pave the way for the promotion of its new cars, known as "the first car for young people", therefore, to meet the needs of young consumers, it can be said that Xiaomi cars are different from traditional new energy vehicles.
The second is that the performance of Xiaomi SU7 is not inferior to its peers. For new energy vehicles, power and endurance are two important performance indicators, and the Xiaomi single-motor version has a maximum power of 299 horsepower and a 0-100km/h acceleration time of 5.28 seconds, while the dual-motor version has a maximum power of 673 horsepower, a peak torque of 838 Nm, and a 0-100km/h acceleration time of 2.78 seconds.
In terms of cruising capacity, even the low-end version of the lithium iron phosphate battery has a capacity of up to 73.6kWh, and the CLTC range is 700 km, which is very competitive compared to its peers. The long-range version is equipped with a CATL ternary lithium battery with a capacity of 101 kWh, and the CLTC range is 800 kilometers, which also performs well among competing products.
Third, compared with other new power car companies, which need many suppliers to piece together to complete the whole vehicle, Xiaomi's supply chain advantages also allow it to do whatever it wants in terms of smart chassis and accessories customization. Therefore, the adaptability and driving experience of the SU7 vehicle are not inferior.
On the whole, Zhiji Automobile seems to have only a few commendable "selling points" such as SAIC endorsement, while Xiaomi not only has the traffic advantage brought by the Internet celebrity attribute, but also has Xiaomi's technical strength, supply chain resources and other advantages.
Therefore, even if Xiaomi has suffered some negative effects due to the marketing of Zhiji Automobile, from the endgame of the incident, Xiaomi is still an out-and-out big winner.
epilogue
As a new energy vehicle brand backed by SAIC, SAIC's advantages as a traditional fuel car company cannot be ignored. At the very least, the company already has a mature production line.
For example, technologies such as integrated die-casting and manufacturing similar to Xiaomi are not unachievable in Zhiji automobiles, and they are even gradually being implemented. It's just that, compared with Xiaomi's new entry into the game, Zhiji Auto is more like carrying a burden into battle, and it is not impossible that the tail will not fall.
Therefore, when the integrated die-casting of Zhiji Automobile begins to land, it is necessary to comprehensively weigh the input-output ratio and the actual effect in reducing costs and increasing efficiency. After all, judging from the current pre-sale product prices of the two, Zhiji Auto will also face cost pressure.
In addition, Zhiji Auto's backing on traditional car companies was originally an advantage. But in the car market for young people, being too traditional may become a disadvantage. And Xiaomi's original brand tonality with the characteristics of "fever" is obviously difficult for Zhiji Auto to catch up with just by "rubbing hot spots" and touching porcelain-style marketing.
It is expected that after this "battle", Zhiji Auto will be able to see the truth of the market, understand the real needs of young consumers, and understand the background and strength of its own brand, so as to successfully break back in the fierce market game in the future.