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Another independent high-end new brand has been launched. On October 24th, the first production car of the ARCFOX polar fox brand of BAIC New Energy was officially launched, focusing on the medium-and high-end pure electric vehicle market. The brand not only undertakes the task of BAIC New Energy entering the high-end market, but also will help BAIC New Energy change unable to break away from the middle and low-end market and the travel market.

The first mass-produced model of the ARCFOX polar fox brand is the new SUV--ARCFOX α T, with five models in three battery life versions, with NEDC mileage of 480km, 600km and 653km respectively, with a subsidised price range of 24.19-319900 yuan.

The ARCFOX brand, which was launched as early as August 2016, is a mid-and high-end brand under BAIC New Energy that focuses on the production of pure electric vehicles, and unveiled a pure electric supercar concept model, ARCFOX-7. In January 2019, the vehicle factory jointly built by BAIC and Magna was settled in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province, where ARCFOX products were put into production.

In terms of the new car, ARCFOX α T uses a unique design language, the overall shape is very simple, the front of the car presents an "X" shape design, using a closed grille and dart-shaped daytime driving lights, and the front of the hood is the brand LOGO.

The new car uses a suspended roof design, the roof slopes backward from the B column, the rear part uses penetrating taillights, and the lower honeycomb panel design is also unique. In terms of size, the length, width and height of the new car are 4788/1940/1683mm and the wheelbase is 2915mm.

The interior of ARCFOX α T is mainly composed of straight lines, and the large-size touch screen replaces the traditional key layout. The new car is a four-screen interconnected system consisting of a 20.3inch central control screen, a 10.1inch touch screen, a 12.3inch LCD instrument and an 8inch windshield HUD. It also has face recognition, gesture control, voice interaction and other technologies. ARCFOX α T also adopts double-spoke multi-function steering wheel, through-type air conditioning outlet and other design methods.

In terms of power, the new car is equipped with a dual-motor four-wheel drive system. The maximum power of the front and rear motors is 218Ps and the peak torque is 360N ·m. In terms of power batteries, the new car uses a battery pack made by SK in South Korea and provides two battery packs with 67kWh and 93.6KWh capacity, which have a range of 480km and 653 km respectively under NEDC conditions; in addition, the car also launched an H four-wheel drive performance model with NEDC mileage of 600km.

As an independent high-end new brand, its main selling price range is 20-300000 yuan, so the competitive models of ARCFOX α T include GAC NE Aion LX, BYD Tang, Weima EX6 and so on.

For a long time, BAIC New Energy relies on the procurement of travel companies to achieve sales growth, which is relatively weak in the private consumer market. Therefore, when entering 2020, the centralized procurement of travel companies basically stagnated, which makes BAIC new energy affected greatly. Data show that BAIC New Energy sold 2245 vehicles in September 2020, down 77.57% from 10009 in the same period last year. Cumulative sales in the first nine months were 21086, down 78.57% from 98382 in the same period last year.

Therefore, in the results report, BAIC explained the main tasks of operation in the second half of the year, including improving marketing power, reducing costs and increasing efficiency, and deepening mechanism reform. In the second half of 2002, BAIC New Energy will mainly promote the ARCFOX high-end electric brand, break through the private market, promote the public business market (including timeshare, long-term rental business, power exchange business, etc.) and so on.

It means that BAIC New Energy intends to solve the dilemma of weak private consumption market through the high-end path of electric vehicles. Liu Yu, general manager of BAIC New Energy, also pointed out in an interview with the media that at present, BAIC New Energy does have a large proportion of major customers, but the proportion of private users of the company is rising rapidly. "We will definitely increase our efforts in the private user market in the second half of the year to enhance our attractiveness in the private market."

In the domestic new power car enterprises, NIO, Xiaopeng, Weima and other challenges have experienced delivery pressure, financial difficulties and other challenges in order to gain a foothold in the market. As a new brand, ARCFOX will face greater challenges to join the competition at this time. What's more, with Tesla's price-cutting competition and the rapid layout of new energy vehicles by traditional car companies such as BYD, Guangzhou Automobile and SAIC, the space for independent creation of new brands to enter the market will only become narrower and narrower.

With the backing of BAIC, the ARCFOX brand does not need the financial support of the capital market, but the brand development and market competition can not be avoided after all. As a driving force in the high-end new energy market, the ARCFOX brand is endowed with high hopes by BAIC New Energy. As to whether ARCFOX can be recognized by consumers, it still needs to be tested by the market.

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