During the opening of the Guangzhou Auto Show on November 19, 2021, Sina Auto reporters and other media reporters had a face-to-face in-depth exchange with the leaders of GAC Aon New Energy Automobile. For problems in different fields, GAC Aon New Energy Automobile Co., Ltd. General Manager Gu Huinan, Deputy General Manager Xiao Yong of GAC Aian New Energy Automobile Co., Ltd., and Liang Weiqiang, Deputy Director of the Intelligent Networking Center of GAC Research Institute respectively gave detailed answers. The following is the interview record:
Q: Hello, Mr. Gu, it has been a year since the announcement of independence at this time last year. I would like to ask you to review the changes that have taken place in the brand of GAC Aian in the past year. In addition, we are also very concerned about the follow-up development. In what areas will it continue to work?
A (Gu Huinan): Speaking of the brand, everyone knows that when Aian announced its brand independence last year, the stocks rose by the daily limit on that day, which shows that everyone still has high hopes for the brand’s independence. Good, but GAC Group is also red after noon, which shows that the capital market still has high hopes for us. The biggest change we have made in the past year is that we have made changes in all fields, including R&D, intelligent manufacturing, industrial chain, marketing services and organizational culture.
Let me give you an example. First of all, the organizational culture. The organizational system of the OEM has started a mixed reform. This is the biggest change in the system and mechanism. It is completely different from a limited company to a joint-stock company. In order to promote the mixed reform, we have reorganized personnel and R&D business with the research institute. The R&D team of Guangzhou Automobile Research Institute has nearly 600 people, and some patented technologies and R&D centers have also been transferred to GAC Aian.
The second thing is that we have also carried out institutional reforms. In the past, the company’s organizational system was based on general manager and deputy general managers, and below were ministers, section chiefs, and department heads. Now there are no cadres with section chiefs and below, and they have all become project management systems, and there are no administrative positions. There is a manager, but there will be no section chief. We have also implemented a three-level approval system, combined with the improvement of digitalization, the overall work coordination efficiency has increased by 90%. This improvement feels unimaginable, right? Our organizational system reform is very efficient.
There are also changes in marketing services. Under the leadership of Mr. Xiao, the marketing department has also made many changes in the past few years. Everyone knows that I have been engaged in technology and do not know much about sales, but I know that Mr. Xiao has innovated a lot of things in the past few years, including online + online, direct sales + distribution, car city + supermarkets, and plans to engage in joint ventures. , In addition, there are reforms with a buy-in price, low inventory, and high turnover. Therefore, we are still leading the industry in the reform of the sales system. Everyone usually thinks of direct operation. Direct operation is not particularly advanced, but now there are many new forces that are starting to do business supermarkets, because it is difficult to open the market by direct operation alone. I have communicated with mobile phone manufacturers. In the past, mobile phone manufacturers did direct operation. , I can’t do it slowly. We are a brand-new model of direct operation + joint operation + distribution. The changes on the product side are even greater. This year we launched an upgraded version of AION (Configuration|Inquiry) S Plus and AION V Plus. Today, the AION LX Plus was unveiled at the auto show. AION Y (Configuration|Inquiry) will also be doing this soon. The promotion will be released soon. Aian is in the area of technology upgrade and iteration. It should be said that we have done a lot of work in the past year. We have done a comprehensive upgrade of the product from EV to ICV. Director Liang and the others have made the most contributions here. You can ask more later. His technology about ICV.
The industry chain also encountered some difficulties last year. The first is the problem of chips, and the second is the problem of cost. Because of the price of raw materials and the issue of limited power, it has troubled a lot, otherwise we should be able to do more sales this year. From the perspective of overall sales, the order volume is very good, staying above 23,000. If you let go, it may be more than that, but the satisfaction is only 50 or 60%. I will briefly report on our past brand enhancements.
Next, we will make some reforms, and we are also discussing them. For more detailed things, when you want to know more, you can ask Mr. Xiao and Director Liang more. Thanks!
Q: Mr. Xiao, today’s AION LX Plus has many memorable figures. It has a pure electric battery life of 1,000 kilometers, an acceleration of 2.9 seconds per 100 kilometers, and NDA city pilot assisted driving. The value of these technologies is for many consumers. It feels amazing, but how to tap its charm, for example, in which scenarios it can be applied, consumers may not have thought about it. What measures are there to dig deeper into the charm of these technologies? The second question is when will this car be launched, and can the price be revealed?
A (Xiao Yong): It should be said that Mr. Gu has already introduced in his speech. This year’s AION series products, except for the new release of AION Y, basically S, V, and LX are all upgraded with Plus. Ann’s Plus is real money. More confidently speaking, our Plus is a well-deserved Plus. AION V Plus and AION S (configuration|inquiry) Plus in front of us all give everyone a completely new feeling. I believe that all media teachers have this feeling, including the market is currently very recognized and popular.
When it comes to the flagship model of AION LX, AION LX Plus, I think I can also confidently say that it is also a genuine Plus. The new upgrades are mainly reflected in the EV and ICV aspects. We have made an iteration, a very high iteration. In fact, Mr. Zhou himself has already talked about the highlights of our upgrade, but I still want to talk about it. You are very concerned about the problem of the scene and the problem of user perception. To be honest, our Plus upgrade this time is aimed at the pain points of customers. Regarding electric vehicles, there are pain points and desserts. On the one hand, it solves the pain points and on the other hand makes the desserts sweeter and makes everyone feel better.
So it’s very simple. In terms of cruising range, we should say that we have used GAC Group’s self-developed battery and the application of sponge silicon negative plate battery technology. It can run 1000 kilometers on a single charge, and the measured data is 1,008 kilometers. Basically, it can be said. For commuting in the city, if every day is about 30 kilometers, electric vehicles have entered the era of monthly charging. Our fuel vehicles are refueled almost every week. Now think about it if an electric vehicle enters the era of monthly charging, it can basically say goodbye to the further competition of new energy vehicles for pure electric range. It is a subversive revolution.
The other is the acceleration problem. We often say that within 4 seconds is a supercar, which is a million-level supercar. The previous AION LX is 3.9 seconds. This time it is also the ultimate in EV, with high-performance two-gear dual motors. The application of the “four-in-one” integrated electric drive allows the AION LX Plus to accelerate from 100 kilometers to 2.9 seconds. This is a charm that users can perceive. As for the upgrade and renewal of the appearance and interior.
In terms of appearance, you can see that it has become more fashionable and technological. At a glance, it is a pure electric SUV. The biggest change this time is in the interior. Welcome all media teachers to visit our booth when they are free to take a look at our launch. The version, the grade induction is very strong, it is definitely the level of a million-dollar luxury car among the brands with a price of between 300,000 and 400,000. I can tell you that our interior benchmark is Bentley’s level.
So where is the customer’s sense of value and experience? It is here, the charm of manipulation, the resolution of anxiety, the resolution of desserts, and in terms of ICV, I would like to introduce to you, emphasize that the black technology of this SUV is very powerful. Of course, if you are interested, Director Liang Can introduce more. We have made a big improvement in NDA, that is, intelligent driving. We can basically say that it represents the most advanced level of the entire industry. We can all talk about this. Why? Because it can be seen from the lidar that when the first-generation lidar was just in mass production, our second-generation was already invested, and this refers to the industry. Our LX directly invested in the second-generation intelligent zoomable lidar. Three second-generation lidars are arranged on the vehicle. The second-generation is definitely better than the first-generation. I will not expand on the specific advantages. . In addition, our over-the-horizon call-to-park and smart cockpit have been fully upgraded.
Finally, I want to summarize for your media teachers’ reference. AION LX Plus can basically be said to be the terminator of the cruising range competition. Basically, this is over. We don’t think it is necessary to make a longer than 1,000 kilometers, but in In terms of ICV, AION LX Plus represents a new starting point for high-end intelligent driving. It can even be said that if you can’t reach our level of transformation, don’t say that you are a smart car. I think the confidence of AION LX Plus is still necessary.
Q: Good for Mr. Gu. On October 29, GAC announced that GAC Aeon will build its own battery trial production line. Mr. Gu also said that our independent battery cell production line will be completed by the end of next year. What is An’s accumulation in the self-production and self-research of battery cells, what level of technology has it reached, and what plans does it have in the future? Will it self-produce and self-research battery cells? Will such battery cell technology be sold externally, thank you!
A (Gu Huinan): Regarding self-developed batteries, talk about the future occupation of core technology. Our thoughts are, first, we will adhere to external cooperation, but the more important way is the dual track of cooperation + self-research parallel. Regardless of whether it is EV or ICV, adhere to independent and controllable R&D and industrialization, that is, core technologies include three electrics, including ICV-related, and the electronic and electrical architecture launched by GAC Research Institute. Related industries will be independently controllable, but will also cooperate with external parties. , Two roads walk side by side.
Going back to the battery cell, the battery cell is definitely the core technology and the most important part that needs to be controlled independently. The GAC Research Institute has already begun to study the battery cell 5 or 6 years ago. After the mixed reform, the corresponding technology will be transferred to Ean. We are now building the relevant battery line and strive to be completed by the end of next year, right here in the Aian factory, where we used to have a vacant land. Mass production will be possible next year. The initial production capacity will be relatively small because the land is not large enough, but we will also find a place outside the factory for construction. That factory will be 1-2 years later than the factory in our current automobile factory. By 2025, we hope to have a certain percentage of self-sufficiency in the field of batteries and batteries.
What corresponding technology do we have? First of all, what everyone sees on the AION LX Plus is the sponge silicon negative plate battery. The energy density of the whole package reaches 205Wh/kg or more, which achieves a large battery power of 144.4kWh, which can achieve performance improvements. Everyone knows that there are both performance cars and practical cars. Operating vehicles need to be durable and the mileage is not necessarily that long. However, many users need different cars for performance, acceleration performance, and endurance performance. The current mass-produced batteries are mainly batteries that meet the needs of high-end performance. This is already available for mass production. At the same time, the engineers of our research institute have already stocked the corresponding ones, including lithium iron phosphate and ternary lithium batteries on the market. Corresponding technologies are also well-reserved, and semi-solid batteries are also well-reserved. The next work to be done is to continuously iterate and accelerate the improvement of industrialization. I probably say this, thank you!
Q: Hello, Director Liang, because we also saw a lot of discussions about the electrical and electronic architecture at the auto show today. We saw that GAC’s Protoss architecture has already been proposed. From a technical point of view, where is its lead? There is another question. , Which is related to the difficulty of development, where are the user perceptions, and where are the technical barriers to Aian?
A (Liang Weiqiang): Thanks to this teacher for the question. GAC’s new energy architecture has been developed since 2019. GAC Xingling’s electronic and electrical architecture should have been independently developed from the earliest first model, from 1.0 to 2.0 to the present. For 3.0, we named it Protoss Architecture. In fact, we are doing an upgrade of the architecture completely from market demand, because with the advent of big data, high bandwidth, and 5G communications, people’s requirements for cars have undergone a lot of changes, and the shape and form of the car itself has also undergone a lot. Changes, so we launched the Protoss architecture. This architecture is a platform that allows our cars to achieve continuous value-added. Our entire car adopts SOA service-oriented design. In the future, we will launch a series of technical sub-brands. For example, in terms of technical language, a development platform means that the future of our car is a sustainable definition, so that our functions and services can be continuously developed with users. In the past, we developed a function that may be updated to the car in units of months, but with the support of the Protoss architecture, we changed from months to seconds to form a rapid iteration of this function, so everyone said rapid iteration.
What is called “fast”, and then do a fast iteration in seconds. And when we used to design and define cars, there was a saying called “everything is definable, everything is programmable”. In addition to realizing the development of cars, we can definitely develop related supporting facilities. We believe that it should be a safe and reliable interface for third parties, including our car owners and makers, to build an ecosystem that can be shared and developed.
There is another difficult question that you mentioned just now. This is a good question, because the electrical and electronic architecture is a very large and complex project, big enough to reach the corporate culture, for example, the organizational structure. Architecture development, the research institute, especially the organizational structure including other centers and departments, according to the new structure, from the development model to the change of the developer’s function, carry out large-scale adjustments, from the organizational structure to the development process, Including a product certification system is a brand new process and system. We have already completed this piece, and we are already developing it in this direction.
The other is that the development of electrical and electronic architecture involves all aspects, such as the re-division of functions, advanced communication technology, information security, how big data is integrated, and many new plans are involved, all of which depend on the original vehicle. Does the factory have very deep knowledge and accumulation? If the accumulation is not deep enough, it is difficult to develop a framework suitable for this car company on this basis. Therefore, there is no standardized thing to refer to, so at the same time it brings about a problem. Our vehicle manufacturers will invest a lot of manpower, material resources and financial resources to develop. Because it does not have a unified standard, many of our technologies are in the process of exploration and practice and development in parallel, so in general, because we have seen the development of the global architecture, we are now at home and abroad. The Protoss architecture should be at the forefront of the world.
Q: The consumption of the new energy vehicle market is becoming mature, and new high-end brands of electric vehicles are constantly appearing. I heard you mention a while ago, in what form will Aeon and Huawei jointly launch a luxury car? Is there any one? Time expectations?
A (Gu Huinan): New energy vehicles are gradually becoming mature, but the pace is still accelerating. This maturity does not mean that they have entered the platform. In fact, they are still climbing. There is another mountain after the mountain. There is also the new energy automobile industry. The drive of technology, capital and market policies has not stopped so far. Competition in various countries is intensifying, and new energy vehicles have not yet entered globalization. Regarding the high-end development of electric vehicles, Aian is also following the same path. I think that high-end branding does not mean high prices. We can also sell a car for 2 million, but if we can’t do it, it can’t be sustained, and it’s useless. Throughout the history of automobiles, the history of luxury brands is the history of acquisitions. We don’t want to go this way, because they often can’t survive. Independent luxury brands are very good when the market is very prosperous, but if they encounter barriers, the economy is not good, or when the difficult period comes, they will collapse at once. How are we going? We still have to build a mid-range and high-end car series, but we will build a new series in the high-end car series, including the rebranding that is currently being planned, and launch a new logo and new car series.
Regarding the issue of cooperation with Huawei, because we cooperate with Huawei only to take advantage of Huawei’s advantages in the field of autonomous driving. As an IT company, Huawei has its advantages. We will cooperate with him in this field. But more importantly, GAC takes the road of autonomy. By 2023, we will also launch vehicles equipped with Huawei technology. Market, but most of them are still equipped with our self-developed technology, and the cooperation and self-developed dual-track are parallel.
Q: We have seen that AION’s sales have maintained rapid growth this year. The three fully upgraded models of AION Y have been on the market for half a year and have achieved a monthly sales momentum of over 10,000. I also contributed one of them. May I ask Mr. Xiao, From your point of view, what is the secret of Aian to create explosive models?
A (Xiao Yong): What I want to say is that there is no casual success in this world. Everyone sees the explosion of GAC E’an. Mr. Gu took us and put in a lot of hard work to achieve this result. For such a question, asking a leader in charge of sales is nothing more than product power, marketing power, brand power, and perhaps a little other “power”, although my answer today is the same.
But what do I want to say? In these three powers, you may have a different feeling than others or have adopted a different approach. Let me share with you media teachers. First of all, we must talk about the product. What is the core value of the brand of GAC Aeon? What we bring to customers is advancement in technology enjoyment, including products and services. Our corporate vision is to be able to produce and develop and grow, bringing customers a different feeling, which means technology that is one step ahead. But everyone said that if you are making technological products, you may have different ideas. Think about it, what is called a step ahead, that is, new energy vehicles in the world. At that time, when the mainstream was doing gasoline-to-electricity conversion, only GAC Aian To build a pure electric platform with Tesla, in addition to the three dimensions of product power, marketing power, and brand power, there are also issues of responsibility and vision. Why are our products more competitive than others? The platform is very important. It takes risk and courage to build a pure electric platform. The cost is very high. It is relatively easy to change from oil to electricity. If it doesn’t work, you can return to a fuel car without any loss, but if the pure electric platform doesn’t work, there will be no retreat. . There is a very popular saying that “there is no retreat, but the only way”. When others are doing oil-to-electricity conversion, we will be a pure-electric platform. When others are doing pure-electricity platforms, I am already the second generation. We are now in the 2.0 era, so we must stay one step ahead.
Let’s say that when a product is selling well, many auto companies try to squeeze the greatest value out of it, and don’t release new models first. It’s best to sell them after two years. Everyone knows that our most popular models are AION S Plus, AION V Plus and AION Y. On the contrary, AION Y was the first to launch the model year. AION Y was launched in April this year, but it was announced in November that the 2022 model was launched. ,why? I want to take the results of our latest technological development, whether it is EV technology or ICV technology, the results of technological iteration, and let our customers enjoy the charm of technological iteration first.
Many times the traditional thinking is that this product is selling well and the market is not declining. It is in short supply. You really have to wait three months to order a car on the APP, which shows that we are really iterative thinking in the product. For the best-selling products, the more the dividends of new technology and technology must be embodied so that customers can enjoy it. This kind of thinking of building product power is different. I’m not going to start, I just want to say, it is said that the product strength should lead, how to lead? That is, when everyone is unaware, I dare to do it. As long as it is beneficial to the customer, I should do it. Don’t stop doing it because it is good to sell. Wait a minute, there is no such concept.
The second is marketing ability. Many experts are there and think they are marketing experts. We don’t make any decisions, but we want to say that we have made a lot of changes. Don’t think that marketing reform is like the death of 4S stores. Direct sales represent the future. I don’t think so, I don’t think so. I still insist on the marketing model for the next ten years. There is no conclusion about the marketing model for the next ten years. Now some people come to the conclusion that there is one The model can solve all the ecological problems in the future. I think it is nonsense. If I observe it for another three or five years, I think it is not an exaggeration. The 4S store model has some obsolete places, but there are also some desirable places.
In addition, Mr. Gu has already introduced that our marketing is three combinations, online + offline, auto city + supermarkets, direct sales + distribution, we don’t refuse direct sales, but we don’t We will all turn to direct operations. No need. Our powerful resources happen to be unavailable for direct operations. I don’t refuse direct marketing, but don’t put the myth of direct marketing. We are also doing direct sales now. Grandview Plaza has a GAC Aian brand direct sales store, and the effect after opening is very good. But to be more ugly, you can do direct operation in Guangzhou, try it in Shaoguan, try it in the county town of Shaoguan, is it necessary to do direct operation there? Your input and output are not proportional.
So our approach is the dual-track model of direct sales + distribution. Let’s take a look. Don’t rush to conclusions. Sometimes we are radical, sometimes we are more cautious. To be honest, don’t draw conclusions lightly. In addition, our biggest reform this year is a comprehensive APP, which means that all products are implemented at one price and ordered on the APP. This is also the most important performance of this year’s marketing reform, or the most important measure, including our final realization. The low inventory and high turnover are also marketing reforms.
Therefore, the current distribution has changed the cooperative relationship with the distributor. It used to be a wholesaler agency relationship. Now the relationship with the distributor is really a partner relationship. If you are interested, we will expand it in detail. , What is the relationship from an agent to a partner, I will talk to you when I have time.
Finally, there is the issue of brand power. Aian has established a technological brand image, advanced, trendy, fun, and high-quality. I believe this thing has a refreshing feeling for Aian. Next, we will stick to this road. Yes, keep going. In addition to high-end brands, what is another model? Everyone is talking about young people, talking about trends. When we really do it, we will treat young people as friends from the bottom of our heart and deal with them. Maybe we have to take many breakthrough measures, many of them say to do, but there are many things like this when we land. Not willing to do it, but GAC Eian is still proud to say that we have done it. We have really adopted a variety of new ways to play, including talk shows, including cooperation with Happy Twist, including fashion products, e-sports, and beauty brands. Look at it, we really do it like this, so I Say that our dimensions are still these dimensions, but our gameplay is really different, thank you!
Q: Regarding the mixed reform, the first one would like to ask about the extent of the mixed reform. Then the stock market is very popular. We want to talk specifically about whether there are certain strategic investors, what are the characteristics of the mixed reform, and why at this time The mixed reform, because I want to go from a person who owns Aian products to a role that can be your investment participant in the future. I want to participate in you deeply, and I want to ask about the mixed reform, thank you!
A (Gu Huinan): The topic of mixed reform is a bit simpler, because there are some groups involved, and the group is a listed company with A+H shares. I want to talk about why we have mixed reforms at this time. The current development of new energy vehicles is mainly affected by policies. In fact, policies are guiding the progress of the industry. If the national policy encourages hybrid HEVs, there is no pure technology today. The world is full of electricity. Another power is capital. Capital has a great influence. When stocks rise, hundreds of millions of people will know that there is a brand like you. It is difficult to achieve this through publicity alone. Of course, being able to enter the capital market is also a manifestation of strength, which can add a lot of voice to the brand. The third is the advancement of science and technology, which requires talents. This industry still depends on talents and needs organizational guarantees. For employees, Aian employees can now hold shares immediately, and their enthusiasm will be greatly enhanced.
Q: Today, President Gu said that GAC Ai’an wants to build GAC’s first zero-carbon emission plant. How does GAC Aian accomplish this goal? Are there any specific measures?
A (Gu Huinan): Regarding the topic of carbon peaks and carbon neutrality, the topic itself is very complicated, how to integrate, where to integrate, how should this value chain be counted, and what kind of peak should this peak be. In fact, what do some companies say, the carbon peak in 2030, is it necessary to do more recently, let that peak be done first? Some people have different opinions on how to be a peak, how to make a peak, and how to integrate it. In fact, one or two sentences The words are not clear. Don’t worry about that far, just worry about the moment. This business itself is an industry that contributes to the dual-carbon industry. What should we do if we strive to become a zero-carbon factory by 2023? I already have photovoltaics and energy storage. I can already meet 15% of the electricity consumption. This is clean electricity. I plan to further expand solar energy and energy storage to 30%. Secondly, nuclear, wind, and hydropower will be introduced next. Clean energy must be available, because I can now directly sign contracts with related companies. If I must come in, the cost will be higher, but not much higher. Let’s do this. matter.
The other is that there is still a part of it, such as a small amount of natural gas, and cooking can also be changed to electricity. I can participate in planting trees and afforestation, some of which is directly reduced, and some of which is transferred, which is through other Local, afforestation and conversion, one of carbon neutrality is to accumulate carbon, and forests can accumulate carbon. Then I will be able to achieve zero carbon by 2023. If we can do it, Guangdong Province has taken our company as a benchmark enterprise for zero carbon factories and will assist us in doing so. I don’t know if there is any policy support, but we will look at it first. Our first step is a zero-carbon factory, so many carbon peaks and carbon neutral actions will gradually unfold.