A compact model of 100,000 yuan has sparked heated discussions, and some owners have complained about its space layout and user experience. What exactly isn't this car doing well enough? Does the price determine the shackles that it is destined to not be able to jump out of?
The price of 100,000 yuan is an important battlefield for car companies to compete with consumers in the low-end market. At this price point, car companies hope to win consumers with better prices, and consumers want to get a better product experience with lower investment. As a result, a tug-of-war of interests has formed between car companies and consumers.
BYD Qin L is one of them. As a 100,000-level compact car, it was complained by some owners in just half a month after it was launched. The space layout and detail design have all become the bullseye of consumers' fire. Although BYD's products have always been praised, Qin L has been pointed out by car owners with a lot of "hard injuries".
The space layout has been controversial, exposing the difficult trade-offs of this price point. Due to cost constraints, Qin L had to make some sacrifices in the rear space. Although the exterior dimensions seem to be the level of a B-segment car, the actual space in the rear is only equivalent to that of an A-segment car. The height of 1.8 meters is obviously not fully stretched in the back row.
Some car owners' complaints about Qin L also reflect the homogeneous thinking deviation of models of the same level. Since it is generally expected that models of the same level should have a similar space layout, some consumers will inevitably feel disappointed and dissatisfied when encountering such a "different" model as Qin L. In fact, under limited cost constraints, models in the same class are destined to fail to have excellent performance in all aspects.
The ability to deal with details is a shortcoming that has been criticized for a long time in domestic cars, and Qin L obviously has deficiencies in this aspect. The design of its cup holder has caused a lot of criticism. The cup holder is too close to the gear handle area, and the gear handle cannot be operated normally after the water cup is put in, which undoubtedly brings great safety hazards to driving. Some car owners even bluntly said that BYD's user experience design has "regressed" in this regard.
In the face of the doubts caused by Qin L, the reactions of some netizens were quite intriguing. Some people believe that the price of 100,000 yuan is destined to be unable to take into account the perfection of space, performance and experience at the same time, and those who complain about Qin L either lack basic understanding of the price, or have high expectations for models of the same level.
Some people also blame Qin L's "shortcomings" on BYD's operating strategy. They believe that the reason why Qin L has made compromises and trade-offs in some places is probably out of consideration for leaving room for the development of his more advanced products. In other words, if Qin L does too well, then BYD's more advanced models are likely to be hit by this.
To some extent, this view is not entirely unreasonable. For most car companies, the echelon division of product lines does need to be extra cautious. The low-end products are too close to the high-end models, which is likely to affect the premium space of the latter. Therefore, when dealing with low-end products, appropriate "suppression" to ensure the competitiveness of high-end products is also a common means of operation.
However, it is a bit too one-sided to attribute Qin L's shortcomings to the operational strategy. Throughout the development process of 100,000-level models, domestic cars are difficult at this price.
The first is the contradiction between costs and expectations. 100,000 yuan is undoubtedly a very challenging price for car companies. At this price point, they have to make trade-offs in terms of performance, configuration, space, and user experience. For example, some of Qin L's "hard injuries" reflect this.
The second is the misunderstanding under the homogenization tendency. For a long time, domestic cars have been overly homogeneous. In the same level of models, whether it is the space layout or configuration scheme, it is similar, and there is a lack of differentiation and personalization. This is also destined to make it difficult for 100,000-level models to show their unique charm under limited cost constraints.
Finally, there is the helplessness of sales. The price of 100,000 yuan is actually a very sensitive node. At this price point, whether the price rises or falls, it may have a huge impact on sales. Therefore, most car companies have to make compromises and balances in many aspects when positioning products at this price point.