AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)10/09 Report--

Following the Norwegian market, Xilai Motor has once again expanded its European footprint. In the early morning of October 8th, Beijing time, the NIO Berlin 2022 event in Berlin announced that it had simultaneously entered four European countries, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden, and launched three new models: ET5, ET7 and EL7 (ES7 in China). Among them, ET7 will be delivered on October 16, ES7 and ET5 will start delivery in January and March 23, respectively. In addition, Li Bin, CEO of Xilai, said products under the internal code-named ALPS project will also enter the European market. Li Bin pointed out that at first, the second brand code thought of Qomolangma and the Himalayas, but they all felt too cold and finally chose the warmer Alps. Li Bin stressed that the Alps is only a project code, not the final brand name, and the brand has not yet been officially named.

The internal code-named ALPS brand was first exposed online in July 2021, with a pricing range of 200000 yuan to 300000 yuan and is expected to be mass produced in 2024. Li Bin said at a user communication meeting in June 2022 that Xilai is speeding up the research and development of more than 200,000 models and will launch a new car brand for the mass market, which will compete with Standard Tesla Model Y and Model 3, but the price is about 10% cheaper than Tesla.

The Alps project has attracted a lot of attention since the exposure of the Alps project, and as a new brand, the brand will also undertake the volume task of Lulai in the future. Qin Lihong, co-founder and president of Xilai Automobile, said: "from the name of the project 'Alps', we can see that it is a global brand."

Looking back on the highlights of NIO's entry into the European market, apart from the introduction of Quan Xin sub-brand to Europe, the biggest highlight is the new sales model-subscription model launched by Lulai Motor, and the price is not cheap. What is different about many traditional car companies entering the European market, such as BYD and SAIC Mingjue, is that European users cannot directly buy the newly released models of Lvlai. The three models of ET7, ET5 and EL7 have been launched in the above four countries in a new sales mode-"subscription model", that is, "rent but not sell".

The "subscription model" is divided into two options: short-term subscription and long-term subscription. "We will not enter the short-term rent (daily rent) market, but only offer monthly rent and long-term rent 'subscription' for 12 to 60 months," Li said. " The minimum lease term is 1 month and the longest is 5 years. Short-term subscribers can cancel the current month's subscription at any time two weeks in advance, and can change their subscription vehicles at will, and the monthly subscription fee will be reduced with the increase of vehicle age; while long-term subscribers can only choose a fixed model with a subscription period of 12 to 60 months, and users will enjoy a lower and fixed subscription fee. If the user does not terminate the subscription after the subscription expires, Ulai will renew the subscription automatically in accordance with the flexible subscription terms.

In an interview with the media, Li Bin said bluntly: "We will not sell cars directly, flexibility will become a new premium factor." As to why NIO has adopted the "subscription model" sales model for entering the European market, Li Bin explained that it is to help Xilai enter the European market more quickly and increase the gross profit margin of vehicles. In addition, the European market has a high acceptance of the "right to use" and "subscription model".

In fact, the "subscription model" is very common in the European market. Before Xilai entered the bureau, car companies, including Volkswagen, Volvo Polar Star and Geely's Lecker brand, had implemented a "subscription model" in the European market. Among them, Lectra released its "European Strategy" in 2018; Lectra 01 entered the European market in September 2020. According to statistics, the number of "subscription" members of the nine Lecker experience stores opened in Europe so far exceeds 150000.

However, after the launch of the "subscription model", the high subscription price has also attracted a great deal of attention. The price of a car subscription for Xilai is generally between 1000 euros (6700 yuan) and 1500 euros (10399 yuan) per month, but it depends on the subscription method, model configuration, battery capacity and so on.

Take the monthly rental fee of Lulai ET7 (from 458000 yuan in Chinese market) in Germany as an example, the short-term subscription price is 1549 euros / month (equivalent to about 10739 yuan / month); the long-term subscription price is 1199 euros / month (equivalent to about 8308.71 yuan / month, which means 100000 yuan / year, in other words, if you rent the ET7 in Germany for 5 years, you can buy a brand new ET7 in the Chinese market). For other European competitors, the price of Lulai car rental is also on the high side. For example, the price of Tesla Model Y, which is similar to the price of ET5 in the domestic market, is about 600 euros, while the price of Mercedes-Benz EQB, which is a little lower, is less than 500 euros, and the higher rental price is almost the same as Porsche Taycan, which sells for more than one million yuan in China.

In this regard, Li Bin said: "We and Mercedes-Benz, Porsche's price is actually reasonable, to let the product back to the nature of the price." We are all-inclusive at one price, others are just simple car prices, and many prices need to be calculated separately. " Qin Lihong also explained that the "subscription model" promoted by Xilai Automobile in four European markets, including Germany, explores a new business model of "all-inclusive at one price", which is different from the "subscription model" launched by other car companies. Subscription price "all-inclusive" in addition to the electricity charges in the process of car ownership, consumers no longer have to pay additional fees, "including ice and snow tires changed in winter." As for why the Chinese market does not implement the "subscription model", Li Bin responded: "this [leasing] model does not work in China because there are not so many licenses."

Welcome to subscribe to the WeChat public account "Automotive Industry Focus" to get the first-hand insider information on the automotive industry and talk about things in the automotive circle. Welcome to break the news! WeChat ID autoWechat