Compared with the first-generation brand-new lithium battery technology that Zheng Li came up with, the one used by Da Mi Auto is at best 1.5-generation.
Kechuang Biotechnology’s upgrade of lithium battery technology has not yet been fully completed.
Only partially optimized the micro-distribution design of the lithium metal cathode and graphene coating, allowing it to achieve a certain improvement in battery capacity than before.
But this did not meet Zheng Li's expectations for product upgrades.
The upgrade of a product is definitely not achieved by a simple improvement of one dimension.
Like Apple, if you change the CPU every year and make the notch smaller, it will be considered an upgrade. This kind of upgrade consumes the loyalty of fans.
"At the beginning of this year, the rice car has been finalized and is in the final testing and preparation stages for launch."
"At that time, Tesla started to cut prices on the market, and we all felt a lot of pressure internally."
"At that time, Tesla fired the first shot of price reduction, and then domestic new energy brands followed suit."
"Under this general situation, can rice still be able to impress people's hearts and be priced kindly?"
"Will consumers buy it? Rice is entering a new field, a market with more fierce competition than the mobile phone field."
In the ten years since the rise of the mobile Internet, the competition in the mobile phone field was no less than that of the automobile market.
It is only in the past five years that the mobile phone market has slowly stabilized.
Only domestic mobile phone brands OPPO, VIVO, Dami and Honor have survived.
There are no new players entering the market. Even after paying off his debts, Lao Luo dare not and cannot find investors willing to gamble with him again.
The current new energy market is just like the mobile phone market in 2015 and 2016. The old forces still have some power and the emerging forces are competing for the throne.
"I was very confused at the time. When I am confused and confused, I especially like to find people to chat with."
"Basically, I have talked to all my entrepreneur friends in Yanjing, and they all said that there will be no problem in making cars out of rice."
"With more than ten years of hard work in the electronics supply chain field, I will definitely be able to create products that satisfy users."
"Everyone knows that Zheng Li is the richest man in China and one of the most successful entrepreneurs in recent years."
"Then I have a very good relationship with him. Even when he is in the Lion City, we often exchange views on some issues."
"So before the rice car was launched, I went to Zheng Li to ask his opinion."
"Although Zheng Li is very rich, he doesn't have his own car and doesn't like driving."
"At that time, Zheng Li told me in the Lion City that it was difficult to build a rice car. In the end, it still depends on product strength."
"The attention brought by the mobile phone field can provide Rice with its first batch of users, but if Rice Auto's product capabilities are not strong enough, this will be a one-time deal."
"Zheng Li said that he thinks rice cars can be built, but you have to experience them to know whether they can be built."
"So this time when he returned to China, I specially took him to experience the rice car at the rice branch in Jiangcheng."
"After Zheng Li experienced it, from the perspective of someone who had never driven a car, he felt that DaMi Auto's products were powerful enough."
In fact, Lei Jun really wanted Zheng Li to be the spokesperson of DaMi Auto. But after he proposed this idea, Zheng Li rejected it without hesitation.
Zheng Li, Li Miaomiao and some senior executives of Kechuang Biotech were all sitting in the audience.
Li Miaomiao asked curiously when he heard this: "Have you really experienced a rice car?"
"That time my senior brother asked you to visit Rice. So he asked you to help him test the car?"
Every time he met Mr. Lei, he would tell Li Miaomiao not to call Mr. Lei but to call him senior brother.
The same is true for Zheng Li.
Zheng Li: "Yes."
Li Miaomiao continued to ask in a low voice: "How do you feel after experiencing it?"
"To be honest, do you really think Da Mi Auto is good, or are you just trying to deal with him at the time?"
"Dami Auto has been polishing it for four years. According to the strength of Rice, it will definitely be no problem to make a good product."
"But the problem is that if they want to take the cost-effective route, they must give up some things."
Zheng Li explained: "I have never driven a car, so I have no reference for comparison."
“The rice car is okay to drive.”
Li Miaomiao complained: "It makes no difference whether you said it or not."
"It seems that the rice car has no bright spots."
"Senior brother's rice car wants to use you to help him market it."
"The richest man in Asia said that rice cars are good, so you should hurry up and buy them."
"Senior brother is such a thief. When I asked you to speak for me, you didn't agree. I let you speak for me indirectly through this method."
Zheng Li smiled and said, "Just be indirect."
"It's normal to mention a few words about me in interviews and press conferences."
"Don't you always mention me at the Futureverse press conference?"
Li Miaomiao: "No, no, no, this is different."
"The person who contributed the most to brain-computer connection VR was You. You, Mi Auto, at best gave some suggestions."
"We are the largest shareholder of Kechuang Future. What does Rice Auto have to do with you?"
"These are completely different things."
Zheng Li: "This is normal. In the future, whatever products Kechuang Biotech has, we can bring him out. Please bring him out more to talk about the next generation brain-computer connected VR launch conference."
The two were joking, and no one really cared that Lei Jun mentioned Zheng Li a few more times at the press conference, and even made fun of him in a positive way.
Lei Jun had already started talking about the parameters, performance, and motor of the rice car on the stage, but Li Miaomiao was not interested at all.
Although she drives a BMW now, she buys it based on the brand, not the parameters.
Zheng Li is even less interested in cars.
"The Mi Auto 1s series is divided into two versions: pro version and regular version. The pro version mainly improves autonomous driving and battery life."
“Let’s see the selling price!”
The official battery life of the rice pro is 2,000 kilometers, while the regular version only has a battery life of 1,200 kilometers. The autonomous driving of the rice pro version should also be more advanced
When Lei Jun said the selling price on the stage, the barrage on all major live broadcast platforms reached a climax.
Because cost-effectiveness has always been the foundation of rice, the first smart phone for young people was first called out by rice.
Consumers are looking forward to the price of the rice car and whether it will become the first new energy vehicle for young people.
"The pro version is priced at 229,999 yuan, and the regular version is priced at 179,999 yuan!"
"This price is the price you get!"
As soon as this price was announced, the rice live broadcast rooms of major live broadcast platforms were filled with barrages:
“Mr. Lei is so kind”
“The price is great!”
“Order offline now”
“Young people’s first new energy vehicle is well-deserved”
"Is this price really good? I might as well buy the latest model of Xpeng P5. Is it not as good as this at the same price?"
"With a range of 202,000 kilometers, what kind of bike do you want at this price?"
“This price is not as good as buying a fuel vehicle from Honda, Toyota, or Volkswagen.”
Some people in the barrage thought it was delicious, while others thought it was a loss to buy a rice car at this price. The voices of both parties filled the entire live broadcast room.
The main reason is that the price of rice cars is not as good as expected. People expected it to be between 100,000 and 150,000, while the regular version of rice cars costs 180,000.
However, compared with domestic new energy vehicles, it is already considered low-priced. NIO costs 500,000 yuan, Ideal costs 400,000 yuan, and Xiaopeng costs 300,000 yuan. In comparison, rice with the lowest price ranging from 100,000 to 200,000 yuan is completely cost-effective.
"Lei Jun's pricing is relatively conservative. This price is not completely cost-effective. It is not the same strategy as when he entered the mobile phone market."
"Yes, in fact, there is still room for lower pricing. For example, the price of pro is set at 200,000, which is completely achievable given rice's control over the supply chain."
"Is it possible to reserve space for subsequent price reductions?"
"No, if the price of cars is reduced as much as mobile phones, then consumers will vote with their feet and abandon the rice cars.
It's very simple. The price reduction of cars is at least 10,000 yuan, while the price reduction of mobile phones is only 300 to 500 yuan.
Price cuts of 300 to 500 yuan have resulted in rice being unable to build its own high-end brand.
If a car behaves like this, even the most loyal rice fans will not be able to accept it. "
“Rice has to wait at least a year if it wants to lower prices, and although Rice has cultivated a large number of users in the field of consumer electronics, they are completely new players in the field of automobiles.
Tesla's price reduction has also gone through a long process and preparation. Even if the price of rice is reduced again after a year, it will be quite irrational. "
In the audience were not only peers in the consumer electronics field, but also executives from some new energy vehicle companies, who had accurate judgments on the cost and minimum selling price of rice cars.
Although the price of 230,000 is not high, with the development of new energy vehicles today, the industry chain has been fully mature, and this price is definitely not the lowest price that rice can afford.
"I guess Lei Jun still doesn't want to set the price too low. Although he set the price below 200,000, it's very cost-effective.
But in the long run, rice will face great difficulties if it wants to rise from the 100,000 level to the 200,000 level.
It is better to make good differentiation from the beginning, set the price of high-differentiation products at more than 200,000, and rely on the low-end version of 180,000 to gain momentum. "
It is more difficult to go from a price of 100,000 to 200,000 for a car than it is to go from a price of 3,000 to 5,000 for a mobile phone.
A pile of cellphones is enough to cross the chasm, but cars are not. Because the brand perception of cars is more ingrained.
Why are NIO’s sales declining and they still not cutting prices? Because the price is easy to drop, but if the brand perception originally positioned at the high end is lost, it will be difficult to rebuild.
"This is also a common method used by mobile phone manufacturers,"
"But relying on these alone will not make it possible to break through in the new energy vehicle market."
"It stands to reason that it took Lei Jun five years, but in fact Da Mi definitely started preparing to build a car in 20 years ago and invested so much money successively.
They have definitely made great efforts to obtain the second-generation super lithium battery technology of Kechuang Biotechnology.
Investing so much is definitely not a joke based on Lei Jun’s character.
This should really be his last entrepreneurial venture. Rice definitely has a backup plan, but we don’t know what it is for the time being. "
"Dami cars are much more reliable than the Hengchi series of a certain brand. I have never seen a real Hengchi car."
"Then Hengchi is definitely struggling. Rice's financial situation is much healthier than that of a major car manufacturer. It has invested tens of billions in research and development expenses. It would be strange that it can't build it."
"I just don't know what Xiaopeng will think when faced with Lei Jun's large-scale entrance. He is a friend turning into an opponent."
“The battles between haha companies do not affect the private friendships between the bosses.
No matter how fiercely we compete with Weilai and Xiaopeng, the bosses will always be amicable when attending events.
Not to mention that Lei Jun is very kind to Xiaopeng, which is much greater than to Zheng Li. "
He Xiaopeng, the founder of Xpeng Motors, was the founder of UC Browser before he founded Xpeng, and UC included Lei Jun in its first round of investment at that time.
Later, in 2008, Lei Jun personally served as the chairman of UC. It was not until the founding of rice mobile phone that Lei Jun stepped down as the chairman of UC.
When He Xiaopeng founded Xpeng Motors, Lei Jun participated in Xpeng Motors’ Series C financing.
In addition, DaMi has become a strategic partner of Xpeng Motors. DaMi mobile phones can be used as car keys, and DaMi will give Xpeng vehicles to employees every year.
But after DaMi announced that it will build cars, and as DaMi cars are about to be launched, the relationship between DaMi and Xpeng Motors has become increasingly subtle. We are direct competitors.
Later, the press conference of DaMi Motors also proved this: the first to be threatened was Xpeng Motors, whose pricing was close to that of DaMi Motors.
After the press conference, the mainstream opinions on the Internet were that it smells good, but not that good.
You can definitely wait and see what happens after others buy it, but if I were to place an order now, I might not choose DaMi Auto so hastily.
Buy first and enjoy first, buy later and get discounts. Most of the rice noodles have this kind of mentality. They will suffer losses if they can't buy it, and they won't be fooled if they buy it.
Even the most loyal rice fans will not easily choose rice when faced with a big item like a car that can easily cost hundreds of thousands.
Lei Jun's countermeasure is corporate group buying, relying on his own entrepreneurial connections to promote the group buying of Rice Auto among different companies.
Lei Jun has spent so many years as an entrepreneur and investor. He personally went to talk to the big bosses, and then followed up on the business of Rice Auto.
A large number of well-known companies that have no direct competitive relationship, such as Kechuang Biotech, Gouchang, Ali, Taikang Life Insurance, DaMi Group, and Kingsoft Software, have all launched internal group purchases of DaMi Auto.
"Dami Motors holds internal trials and group purchases. Those who are willing can sign up first."
"The pro version has a coupon of 30,000 yuan, while the regular version has a coupon of 20,000 yuan." Kechuang Biotechnology's internal labor union issued a union notice in oa.
The internal group purchase price of Mi Auto 1S Pro is 200,000 yuan, which makes it very popular instantly.
"It's really nice to have an MD under 200,000 yuan. I'm a little bit tempted to buy it. I can use the gas car for short trips and the electric car for daily commuting to work."
Oil prices are still at a high level, and electricity bills are much lower than filling up with gas.
"It smells very good. I plan to sign up and go for a test drive."
"I'll sign up too and see the results of the test drive."
Many people in Kechuang Biotech who did not originally plan to buy a car want to give it a try.
Relying on the price reduction of group purchases, the sales of DaMi Auto exceeded 30,000 units in the first month after its release, surpassing Xpeng and ranking second in the new energy vehicle brand list, second only to Wuling Hongguang.
"Lei Jun is too shrewd, and his calculations are too precise."
"This move took too long, and Da Mi Auto was immediately revitalized by him. Da Mi Auto should not be underestimated."
