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Among domestic brands, Aion, which has been closely following BYD in sales and scale for many years, is losing its status as the "eternal runner-up". Under the premise that high-end brands are unpopular and the B-end market is shrinking, AION V, which originally accounted for only 5% of sales, has begun to become the "critical minority" for whether Aion can win the turnaround battle.

Text丨Zero Sauce of Zhijia.com
Editor: Langlang Mountain and Mingzhi Mountain

"As soon as the price was announced, dozens of orders came in..."

After Xiao Yong, deputy general manager of GAC Aion, announced the price of the second-generation AION V Aion Tyrannosaurus Rex ranging from 129,800 to 189,800 yuan, a dealer sitting in the front began to laugh while holding his mobile phone.

This price is 20,000 yuan cheaper than the previous generation model, which is worth celebrating for dealers who are eager to place orders.

Although General Manager Gu Huinan, sweating profusely, repeatedly asked the media on site to wait and patiently listed eight selling points, price is still the most concerned aspect of the market. This is especially important for Aion, whose sales have been declining since January this year.

Although Zeng Qinghong, chairman of GAC, had sparked a major industry discussion on price wars in early June, the company has already been dragged into it, and Xiao Yong had to admit:

“The new AION V has a lower price, aiming to gain a larger market share”

Xiao Yong and Aion have big goals:

"We want to be one of the top few in the 130,000-190,000 yuan pure electric A-class SUV market, or even the leader."

Unlike the chairman's hesitant attitude, this is a direct challenge to BYD.

After the press conference, the official released the "Order Report" without any surprise:

Within one hour and 20 minutes of its launch, orders for the second-generation AION V exceeded 10,000 units.

Aion’s sales have been declining for half a year, and it still needs a low price to return.

01.
The 5% critical minority

"V" is a letter that has represented victory since World War II. British Prime Minister Churchill used his big fat hands to implant the meaning of "VICTORY" into the world.

The first-generation AION V, which was launched in June 2020, obviously also contained Aion's attempt at "victory".

Looking through Aion's product series, apart from the negligible double-digit sales of LX, AION V is the highest-priced series among the three series on sale: "S, Y, and V". However, compared with the monthly sales of S and Y of tens or twenty thousand, the market did not give AION V enough "V" response.

In order to deal with this situation, Aion chose to create a more high-end branch line, allowing Haobo to help Aion get rid of the stereotype of online car-hailing, thereby raising Aion's product pricing across the board.

On July 3, 2023, the 20 millionth new energy vehicle rolled off the assembly line in my country.Haobo GT（parameter丨picture) on the head.

That’s prominent enough.

But it was not until the farce of giving and not giving with Guangdong Hongyuan that Haobo, who was born with a halo, became popular for the first time.

The sales volume of only a few hundred per month proves that Haobo’s failure is almost certain.

The headaches don’t end there.

According to the monthly production and sales report released by GAC Group,From January to June this year, GAC Aion's total sales volume was 126,329 units, a decrease of 39.65% compared with the first half of last year. Halfway through 2024, only 18% of the original annual sales target of 700,000 units has been achieved.

High-end product lines are not popular, the online car-hailing market is saturated, and sales targets have been achieved by less than 20%...

One bad news after another has forced the "king of online ride-hailing" that holds "S and Y" to once again fight in the already seamless C-end market.

The AION V, which sold a total of 8,582 units in the first half of the year and accounted for an average of 5% of the total sales each month, has become the key minority in Aion's success.

02.

C-end market = smart driving

Unlike the simple product line of PRO/MAX/Ultra, the SKUs of the pure electric Aion Tyrannosaurus Rex when it was launched were as complicated as the ordering page of a popular coffee shop:

520 Smart Edition: 129,800 yuan

520 Zhihao Edition: 139,800 yuan

520 Zhizun Edition: 149,800 yuan

650 Zhihao Edition: 149,800 yuan

650 Zhizun Edition: 159,800 yuan

750 Zhizun Edition: 179,800 yuan

650 LiDAR version: 189,800 yuan

It is easy to guess why Aion divides SKUs in this way: splitting key configurations as much as possible under the premise of price priority. Let's put the other configurations aside and first talk about this one, which is more attractive in terms of size and length."650 LiDAR Edition".

At the launch of Xiaopeng MONA M03, He Xiaopeng responded to netizens’ questions:

"Who are taxis designed for? They are definitely for passengers. The experience of taxi drivers is weaker than that of passengers. We (Xiaopeng) are more concerned about the intelligent driving experience of the driver's seat."

To sum up, He Xiaopeng’s core point is that Xiaopeng Motors strives to develop an intelligent driving system for drivers, so:

Smart driving = no taxi version.

Aion, who attempted to tear off the label of "online car-hailing", followed suit and skillfully deduced:

C-end market = smart driving.

So before the second-generation AION V Tyrannosaurus Rex was launched, Aion played a big game:

A non-map NDA public beta test has been launched in 28 core cities around the world (including Bangkok, Thailand).

The new car is equipped with a smart driving system called ADiGO PILOT, which has 5 millimeter-wave radars, 11 high-definition cameras, and a new generation of solid-state variable-focus lidar. Its computing platform is based on the NVIDIA Orin-X chip.

Officials said that the intelligent driving system can cover 35 main scenarios and 357 sub-scenarios, achieving a coverage rate of over 99% of urban, suburban, and rural scenarios. Among them, the conventional scenarios can be used for daily scenarios such as traffic light start and stop, overtaking and changing lanes, cut in, centering, and merging; the advanced scenarios include congestion game lane change, collision avoidance lane change, left turn in the waiting area, roundabout, U-turn, etc.

After the press conference, Zhang Xiong, deputy general manager of GAC Aion, added that the reason why Aion was able to launch urban intelligent driving so quickly this time was because Aion had long-term plans very early on.

Aion is now able to do without relying on high-precision maps and adopt an end-to-end perception model. It can provide an intelligent driving experience in urban areas when it is launched on the market and can be quickly rolled out across the country. At the same time, subsequent algorithms will be iterated to the entire large model stage.

According to the plan, Aion Intelligent Driving will first be open to some users in August, and then to users nationwide in September. Users need to pass an exam and accumulate a certain mileage before they can use it.

At the press conference, Momenta and other intelligent driving industry chain suppliers were also present, and LiDAR suppliersSagitarJuchuang even used its own account to broadcast the launch conference of the dragon, which not only declared its sovereignty but also gave Tyrannosaurus Rex enough face.

However, Hodo Technology, which was invested by GAC, did not get the opportunity to show up. It can be said that Momenta made a lot of contributions to the scenes depicted by AION V in the field of intelligent driving.

This is another time that LiDAR has defeated pure vision solutions at this stage.

In response, Xiao Yong said that in his opinion, the current pure visual intelligent driving solution is not mature enough and is not the best choice:

"The LiDAR solution is the best choice at this stage. It is the most practical and the most secure. Aion must provide users with the best。”

This is consistent with the product rhythm that Aion announced at GAC Technology Day, which is to equip Haobo with a pure vision-based intelligent driving solution in 2025.

But it should be noted that if the pure vision solution is really launched as scheduled next year, then we can guess that either Haobo will launch a model below 200,000 yuan, or as an online brand, Haobo's intelligent driving hardware cost will be lower than AION V.

No matter which of the above situations will occur, there will be product/user overlap between Haobo and AION V. How to make a choice at that time will depend on Aion's own decision.

In Aion’s official information, the 650 LiDAR version of AION V is defined as“The only SUV with LiDAR in the industry under RMB 200,000”。

In this regard, Leapmotor C16 probably has something to say. The pure electric intelligent driving version and extended-range intelligent driving version of the Leapmotor C16 previously launched are equipped with lidar + NVIDIA Orin-X chip, which can realize the use of NAC navigation-assisted cruise in urban areas and the use of intelligent navigation NAP on highways and urban expressways.

In addition, Leapmotor’s laser radar is provided by Hesai.

03.

Unite all the "energy replenishment" that can be united

Most online car-hailing car owners operate within a fixed range, which is another difference between them and C-end users who are ready to “go on a whim”, in addition to the demand for intelligent driving.

If Aion wants to provide good services to the C-end, energy replenishment is a topic that cannot be avoided, and "unity" is a key word for Aion Tyrannosaurus Rex in energy replenishment.

The battery capacities of the second-generation AION V are 62kWh, 75kWh and 90kWh from low to high (the capacity will vary slightly depending on the supplier). The entire series uses GAC Aion's 400V lithium iron phosphate "magazine battery" and supports liquid cooling and 3C fast charging.

Guangdong people who know how to do business do not get involved in the debate about whether 800V is real or fake. Aion chose the world's most widely used 400V platform, and achieved charging comparable to 800V supercharging through a series of innovations such as low-voltage silicon carbide technology.

"If you use a tap to pour water into the ground, it's hard to get it in, but if you pour water into the sand, it's easy to pour it in."

Gu Huinan's Guangpu explains this set of principles in a simple and easy-to-understand way.

While reducing costs, AION V can also achieve 125 kilometers of energy replenishment in 5 minutes and 370 kilometers of energy replenishment in 15 minutes on a wide range of public charging piles:

“400V charging stations are everywhere.”

The first thing that Aion Tyrannosaurus Rex united was the 400V public charging piles that were spread all over the country.

Of course, GAC is not planning to just take advantage of public charging stations.

At present, Aion has built and operated more than 1,000 charging stations with a total of more than 7,000 charging piles, and is building at an annual growth rate of more than 150%. The supercharging piles along the highways cover eight national highway arteries including Beijing-Shanghai, Xuzhou-Guangzhou, Changshen, and Shenhai, as well as highways in economic belts such as the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Yangtze River Delta, Greater Bay Area, Chengdu-Chongqing, 100% of the highways in Zhejiang Province, and many other regions.

In addition, Aion has also established a charging alliance with charging partner companies including China National Petroleum Corporation, State Grid Corporation, and China Southern Power Grid, and jointly built charging piles with companies in the alliance. This alliance covers 80% of the charging piles in the country and 90% of the highway charging piles.

It is worth noting that in overseas markets, Aion has also joined hands with many charging service providers to build a seamless charging ecosystem. The alliance has more than 500,000 charging piles, and strategic deployment has covered core regions such as Asia Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East.

At the press conference, Xiao Yong praised NIO's battery swap system without reservation. Of course, this was based on the premise that the two parties had signed a strategic cooperation agreement on charging and battery swapping.

NIO’s sales have been stable at over 20,000 for three consecutive months, and the industry generally believes that its long-planned battery-swap route is about to complete a closed loop.

Cooperating with the already established NIO Energy is another decision made by Aion to unite public charging piles and power grids.

Of course, not everyone can unite with friendly competitors.

04.

Old Rivals

Cooperating with NIO Energy, which has already established a system, is Aion’s

After talking about friendly competitors, let’s talk about opponents, or the oldest ones.

Two days after the launch of the Aian Tyrannosaurus, the 2025BYD SongL DM-i and 2025 modelsSong PLUS DM-iOfficially launched, including those that have been launched beforeSong Pro DM-iThe BYD Song series formed the "Song Three Sisters" of L/PLUS/Pro.

The new "Song-Song" models are both equipped with BYD's fifth-generation DM technology, and are available in five configurations, with a price range of 135,800-175,800 yuan, which is within the pricing range of the second-generation AION V.

The new design language and body size are different from the AION V.Song L The appearance of DM-i adopts the Dynasty family style design, and the appearance of PLUS is the same as the previous model. BYD does not focus much on the appearance, and the product center is obviously placed on the power system and intelligent driving configuration.

In terms of intelligence, the new "Song-Song" are both equipped with BYD's current flagship DiLink 100 smart cockpit and DiPilot intelligent driving assistance system, but its intelligent driving hardware does not provide laser radar.

In terms of power system, the new "Song-Song" has launched three versions with pure electric range of 75km, 112km and 160km, and five models. The official NEDC fuel consumption per 100km is only 3.9L, which is significantly lower than the previous generation. The comprehensive range of "Song-Song" is 1,500km with full fuel and full charge.

Of course, comparing the battery life with that of hybrid vehicles is a bit silly, but the purchasing power of the new energy market is limited. BYD has already made its move. If Aion Tyrannosaurus wants to be the leader in pure electric A-class SUVs, it can only CALL BACK to the energy replenishment link and continue to build charging piles.

What's more, the EV version of BYD Song is still being sold at a price range of 149,800 to 189,800 yuan.

Before attending the press conference, I, who always likes to watch the fun, was actually more curious about whether Sima Nan, who holds the title of "Chief Experience Officer", would be present, rather than the products.

It is a bit "regrettable" that this teacher did not show up, and Aion officials did not continue to promote his identity as the "Chief Experience Officer".

▲Source: Internet

Although this celebrity will bring huge traffic to AION V, GAC, and even all the media present, the author is still glad that he did not come.

Perhaps Aion’s leaders, who were originally immersed in B-side business relationships, are gradually understanding this more personalized online world.

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