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Yu Chengdong denies being ordered to ban the car from being sold: I don’t want to say those four words anymore. As long as an honest and upright person drives the QX9, they will say it’s a good car.

On July 29, at the ceremony of the 400,000th AITO M9 rolling off the assembly line, Yu Chengdong personally delivered the car to the 70,000th AITO M9 owner. Yu Chengdong also said in his speech: "Don't listen to the online trolls who deliberately slander us. Go drive it yourself, let professional drivers drive it, and you will know whether AITO is a good car." He also said: Anyone who is an honest, upright, and honest person will say that M9 is a good car as soon as you drive it.

At the same time, Yu Chengdong denied that he was ordered not to mention "far ahead" at the event. He said: "Those four words have been said too many times. I don't want to say them anymore. There is no fine." The "far ahead" hot topic popularized by Yu Chengdong once caused doubts and controversy. In April, a media article said that Ren Zhengfei had issued a "ban" to Yu Chengdong within Huawei, and he would be fined 10,000 yuan for each mention of "far ahead".

In addition, Yu Chengdong also said at the meeting that the M7 won the first place in the new energy vehicle market of 300,000 yuan, and the M9 won the first place in the market of 500,000 yuan. Today, the sales volume of the M7 reached 400,000 units in 28 months, and it is believed that it will reach 1 million units soon. "Let me add two sentences. Our car is indeed the safest car. Before, someone attacked us, so we strengthened the safety design in retaliation. In terms of safety, we have achieved those four words." Yu Chengdong said on the spot.

Industry News

INDUSTRY NEWS

EQE is no longer available at 60% off! Mercedes-Benz electric cars are clearing out their stock and will not accept reservations after they are sold out

On July 29, Mercedes-Benz changed its electric vehicle business policy. Currently, the brand's 4S stores are clearing out electric vehicle inventory. More importantly, all electric vehicles are only sold in stock, and reservations cannot be accepted after they are sold out. Salesmen at several Mercedes-Benz 4S stores in Guangzhou confirmed this statement. Currently, the 40% off Mercedes-Benz EQE is no longer available, but the EQB, EQS and other models in the store are all very discounted. The Mercedes-Benz EQB with a guide price of 350,000 yuan is quoted at 180,000 yuan in some stores. The sales said that as long as it is a car in stock in the store, discounts can be negotiated.

The salesperson also revealed that the price war of Mercedes-Benz electric vehicles some time ago was a clearance operation supported by the manufacturer. Mercedes-Benz EQE was unsalable after its launch, and a number of long-stocked models have accumulated in the market, so the discounts are huge. However, the car has been discontinued for a long time, and after the inventory is sold out, users who want to buy it cannot place an order. In addition, Mercedes-Benz has also lowered the sales target of Mercedes-Benz 4S stores. In the future, it may no longer require all 4S stores to sell electric vehicles. In each city, only some stores may be able to obtain the right to sell electric vehicles.

In the price war in the first half of this year, many Mercedes-Benz models have seen price cuts of more than 100,000 yuan compared to the suggested retail price, with the price cut generally being around 40%. However, due to the large price cuts, many Mercedes-Benz dealers have suffered operating losses. In order to stop the decline and recover the losses in time, Mercedes-Benz has begun to change its sales strategy in China and gradually recover the price discounts. As the model with the largest discount for the Mercedes-Benz brand, Mercedes-Benz is likely to make major adjustments to its electric vehicle sales policy in the future. (SUV Bigwig)

Chery Automobile launches 14-dimensional cost reduction measures

On July 29, Chery Automobile recently issued a 14-dimensional cost reduction initiative within the company, and simultaneously required suppliers to follow up, including design optimization to reduce the number of parts, use of integrated components, reduce unnecessary processing and transportation, improve the pass rate, use of new technologies, new materials and new processes, and the management of suppliers has been shifted from only managing first-tier suppliers to second-tier and third-tier suppliers, and vertical integration.

Chery Automobile also requires in the document that while reducing costs, quality requirements should not be relaxed. In addition, Chery Automobile is also actively studying second- and third-tier components, and through the comparison and confirmation of actual material consumption and design data, it ensures product quality and consistency and looks for optimization opportunities. If Chery Automobile finds a second- and third-tier component supplier with a cheaper quote or cheaper materials and processes, it will ask the first-tier supplier to switch.

A supplier said that Chery's move is "generally benign" to force suppliers to pursue higher efficiency and quality, thereby systematically improving efficiency and reducing costs. However, some dimensions are more "taken for granted", such as the reuse of waste materials. The industry has long had regulations on how to use waste materials, and it is unlikely to have a greater breakthrough.

The supplier said that due to the "price war" in the whole vehicle industry, all companies are studying how to reduce costs. Some companies have adopted methods such as reducing the amount of materials used and reducing some process flows, but this has led to quality problems in some models. "The price war can force the entire industry chain to optimize the previous working model, but it cannot break the bottom line of quality and safety." (Yicai)

The auto giant announced a massive layoff of 14,000 people, and the CEO spoke out

On July 28, according to AFP, German auto parts giant ZF Group announced that it will lay off about 14,000 employees in the next few years. The company said that this move is to cope with the rapid changes in the automotive industry, especially in the field of electrification. ZF plans to gradually reduce the number of domestic employees by 2028, with the ultimate goal of reducing 11,000 to 14,000 jobs, accounting for about a quarter of the total number of 54,000 employees.

ZF CEO Holger Klein admitted that the decision was not easy to make, but stressed that it was a key step to ensure the company remains competitive in an increasingly competitive market. He said the restructuring will enhance ZF's competitiveness and consolidate its position as one of the world's largest parts suppliers.

In addition to ZF, automotive parts suppliers such as Freya Group, Continental, and Bosch have also announced layoffs. On February 14 this year, Continental announced a series of new measures aimed at enhancing the competitiveness of the automotive group's business and officially launched a layoff plan. Continental announced that the automotive business will eliminate 1,750 R&D positions and optimize approximately 5,400 administrative positions, with a total of approximately 7,150 layoffs, which will be completed by the end of 2025 at the latest. Industry insiders pointed out that due to the lower-than-expected growth in the electric vehicle market and the historical low in car sales, parts suppliers have made huge investments in the transition to electrification, but are now facing market shocks.

Breaking news: SAIC Volkswagen raises prices for all its models: 3,000-10,000 yuan in the first round, 2,000 yuan in the second round

Recently, a price increase notice issued by SAIC Volkswagen has been widely circulated online. The screenshot shows that according to the notice from SAIC Volkswagen, in order to ease the operating pressure of dealers, the terminal retail prices of all models will be adjusted from August 1st, and the terminal discount will be reduced. The preliminary adjustment plan is as follows:

The first stage of price increase (August 1, 2024 - August 11, 2024): Starting from August 1, 2024, the price of all models will be recovered, and the price increase will be between 3,000 yuan and 10,000 yuan per unit. The second stage of price increase (from August 12, 2024): Starting from August 12, 2024, the price of all models will be recovered again, and the advance notice is that the price increase will be 2,000 yuan per unit based on the first stage.

The notice also stated that the above policy recovery and adjustments are unified actions across the city. It is recommended that you make an order immediately and take advantage of this month's "Guangwei 40 Years Big Discount 40 Million, 2024 10th Guangwei Car Buying Festival" event to seize the strongest policies and maximize your benefits.

A woman bought a Jiyue 01 and the trunk could not be closed the next day. The staff said: It was a historical fault.

On July 29, according to the "1818 Golden Eye" report, Ms. Xiong bought a Jiyue 01 in a store in Ningbo, spending nearly 220,000 yuan, saying that she was mainly attracted by the smartness of the car. As a result, the trunk could not be closed the next day after picking up the car. The video provided by Ms. Xiong showed that the Jiyue after-sales staff did not recommend her to take a video during the inspection, citing "company confidentiality." When connected to the computer, Ms. Xiong saw a lot of fault information displayed. The staff said "these are all historical faults." Ms. Xiong questioned why the car was sold even though it had a fault. The staff changed their words and said that this was not a fault, but might not be cleared after the version upgrade.

It is understood that Ms. Xiong bought this car because of its intelligence. She picked up the car on July 20, but problems occurred the next afternoon. She said that she used the mobile phone app to open the trunk, and then could not close it again. She tried many methods but to no avail. Later, the after-sales staff closed the tailgate with force, but it could not be opened again after closing it. Her request to the media was to return the car.

The response from the Jiyue store was that the user's vehicle was purchased after all functions were checked and found to be normal, and the vehicle had no maintenance records. The user's feedback that the trunk could not be opened was an occasional individual phenomenon, and a professional service team had been sent to actively communicate with the user. Later, Ms. Xiong responded to the media that they had reached an agreement on the matter, but she refused to disclose the specific plan. (1818 Golden Eye)

Xiaomi Motors acquires land in Beijing, and the second phase of factory construction is about to start

Recently, Xiaomi Jingxi Technology Co., Ltd. successfully won the industrial project use rights of the 0106 plot of land in the YZ00-0606 area of ​​Beijing Yizhuang New Town for 842 million yuan. The land area of ​​the plot is 531,130 square meters and the transfer period is 50 years. The land plot won this time is adjacent to the Xiaomi automobile factory and is located to the west of the Majuqiao Intelligent Manufacturing Base in Yizhuang New Town. It is planned to be used for the development of high-end automobiles and new energy smart car industries.

According to the listing documents, the fixed asset investment of the project is no less than 2.6 billion yuan, and the annual output value is expected to be no less than 16 billion yuan. Since the launch of Xiaomi SU7, the first mass-produced car of Xiaomi Motors, on March 28, 30,000 units have been delivered by the end of June. Currently, Xiaomi Motors is facing a delivery target of at least 100,000 units this year, and a final target of 120,000 units, which places high demands on the company's production capacity and delivery capabilities.

Industry insiders believe that although the acquisition of land by Xiaomi has limited effect on the production capacity of Xiaomi SU7, it is mainly to prepare for the mass production of the second and third mass-produced vehicles. Xiaomi Auto's second mass-produced vehicle is a coupe SUV, internally codenamed MX11, which is expected to be launched in the first half of next year. In addition, Xiaomi Auto has independently completed the name change of the production company, providing legal and technical dual guarantees for its manufacturing and sales of vehicles. Xiaomi Auto's goal is to become one of the top five automakers in the world, which requires the company to continue to make large-scale investments in technological innovation and production capacity. With the gradual increase in Xiaomi Auto's production capacity and the launch of new models, it is expected to further consolidate its position in the new energy vehicle market.

A blogger apologized to Seres: Malicious splicing caused a car accident

On July 29, a blogger named “Tianhe Auto” issued an apology statement saying that he had posted false information involving Wenjie Auto on multiple social platforms, maliciously edited and spliced ​​Wenjie Auto accidents, disrupted the audience’s perception and misled the public.

The blogger said that he had caused serious adverse effects on the Seres and Wenjie brands, and apologized to Seres and Wenjie users. At present, the relevant false content has been deleted from all platforms. He also promised that such things would not happen again in the future and would resolutely not publish any content that might affect the brand image and reputation of Seres and Wenjie or hurt the feelings of Wenjie car owners.

Leapmotor responds to rumors of reclaiming rights to some models: verification in progress

Recently, a PPT suspected to be from Leapmotor circulated on the Internet reads: "In the heat of the automobile price war, Leapmotor has also become a highly watched participant. Starting from August 1, Leapmotor will make major strategic adjustments and recover the rights and interests of some models. This decision is not a follow-up move, but a well-thought-out strategic layout. Under the fierce competition of the price war, Leapmotor has always been seeking a balance, both to meet consumers' expectations for cost-effectiveness and to ensure the sustainable development of the company and the quality of its products."

In response to this news, Leapmotor said that it was not aware of this and was in the process of internal verification. (Yicai Global)

Huawei's Yu Chengdong: AITO will usher in ADS 3.0 version in August, with integrated end-to-end capabilities

On July 29, at the AITO 400,000th new car roll-off ceremony, Huawei Executive Director, Chairman of the Terminal BG, and Chairman of the Intelligent Vehicle Solutions BU Richard Yu attended and delivered a speech. During the speech, he also mentioned Hongmeng Zhixing's next intelligent driving plan, for example, the AITO series of models will usher in the launch of Huawei Qiankun ADS3.0 version in August this year, and it is expected to start upgrading and pushing from August to September.

It is reported that the Huawei Qiankun ADS3.0 version has end-to-end integrated capabilities, and with the assistance of LiDAR, it will greatly enhance the intelligent driving capabilities. Prior to this, Avita, a high-end intelligent electric brand under Changan Automobile, has announced that it will become the first car brand equipped with Huawei Qiankun ADS3.0 high-end intelligent driving, and the Xiangjie S9, which will be released on August 6, will be the first to launch Huawei ADS3.0 intelligent driving. It is reported that ADS3.0 adopts a new end-to-end architecture of GOD (General Obstacle Recognition)/PDP (Predictive Decision Control), which can realize the parking space to parking space intelligent driving pilot NCA function, and at the same time upgrade the CAS3.0 omnidirectional collision system, which can cover emergency braking and lateral obstacle avoidance in more speed ranges.

Lei Jun: Xiaomi Motors aims to be among the top five in the world and will go global at the right time

On July 29, during the 2024 Paris Olympics, Lei Jun visited France as the first stop of his European research and communicated with local Mi fans. A fan asked if it was possible for Mi fans to buy the Xiaomi SU7 in France, perhaps before 2030? In response, Lei Jun said: "OK, our goal is to be in the top five in the world, so we must go global at the right time."

Lei Jun said at a press conference held in the middle of this month that Xiaomi's annual goal of 100,000 vehicles is expected to be achieved ahead of schedule in early November. With the increase in production capacity and accelerated delivery of Xiaomi SU7, more than 30,000 units have been delivered so far.

According to reports, Leapmotor's cumulative orders in July are expected to exceed 30,000, with nearly 8,000 new orders in a single week.

On July 29, according to blogger @孙少军09, Leapmotor received nearly 8,000 new orders last week, and the cumulative orders this month exceeded 30,000, "basically no problem". It is worth mentioning that Leapmotor delivered 20,116 units in June 2024, entering the "20,000 Club" for the first time, setting a record high, a year-on-year increase of 52.3% and a month-on-month increase of 10.7%. Leapmotor delivered 86,696 units in the first half of the year. If the news is true, Leapmotor will continue its strong performance.

Leapmotor just launched the C16 six-seater SUV on June 28, offering an extended-range/pure electric dual-power version, priced from 155,800 yuan. The Leapmotor C16 has a body size of 4915*1905*1770mm, a wheelbase of 2825mm, and is equipped with NVIDIA Orin-X chip + LiDAR. In terms of power, the car offers extended-range and pure electric dual-power versions, of which the pure electric version is standardly equipped with a full-domain 800V silicon carbide high-voltage platform, and 30%-80% in as fast as 15 minutes. The pure electric version of the car provides a 215kW drive motor, matched with a 67.7kWh battery, and a CLTC pure electric range of 520km; the extended-range version is equipped with a 28.4kWh battery, a CLTC pure electric range of 200km, and a CLTC comprehensive working condition range of 1095km.

BYD: The Fangchengbao brand will release new products every quarter starting from Q4 this year, including sedans based on sports cars.

On July 29, BYD Fangchengbao brand held a year-end communication meeting. General Manager Xiong Tianbo of Fangchengbao brand announced the release of the "Brand Renewal Strategy" on the first anniversary of the brand. In terms of new product planning, Fangchengbao will have a hard-core electric drive off-road SUV with a beam structure similar to Leopard 5 and Leopard 8 in the future, and will also launch a new hard-core SUV without a beam structure. At the same time, the brand will also expand a sedan line based on the sports car category, and will launch new products every quarter starting from the fourth quarter of this year.

Fangchengbao currently implements a "2+X" product lineup, where "2" refers to the off-road line and sports car line, and "X" refers to personalized products in other segments. Xiong Tianbo said that Fangchengbao was a little slow in launching products in the past. According to reports, the upcoming Fangchengbaobao 8 will not only bring DMO technical architecture and the blessing of the "Yun Ni" system, but will also bring surprises in the intelligent driving experience, and pricing will adopt a more flexible operation method "according to market needs." (36Kr)

BMW R 1300 GS motorcycle will be launched in China tomorrow with a pre-sale price of RMB 228,000

On July 29, BMW Motorrad announced that it will hold a launch event for the BMW R 1300 GS "New World" at the BMW Motorcycle Riding Park in Qionglai, Sichuan on July 30. The pre-sale of this new product has already started, with a pre-sale price range of 228,000 to 268,000 yuan.

Pre-sale information shows that the BMW R 1300 GS motorcycle adopts a simpler body structure, bringing a smoother shape than before, reducing the weight of the whole vehicle by 12KG, and equipped with a new matrix headlight that subverts the design of the GS family. In terms of power, the BMW R 1300 GS motorcycle is equipped with the "most powerful 1300cc boxer engine ever", with power increased to 107kW and torque 149Nm.

The BMW R 1300 GS's assisted driving system has been fully upgraded, supporting the ACC active cruise control system, which can always control the cruising speed and maintain the distance between vehicles; supporting the SWW lane change assistance system, which can observe blind spots in advance; and the R 1300 GS's exclusive FCW forward collision warning system, which can monitor the traffic ahead at any time and warn in advance. At the same time, the R1300 GS riding life package has been launched, including the BMW motorcycle legendary tour "Siguniang Mountain Line" and the "riding life accessory package", which provides black LED auxiliary headlights, silver engine protection cover, and gearbox. (IT Home)

Xiaopeng MONA M03 interior spy photos exposed, adopting a minimalist design

On July 29, spy photos of the interior of the Xiaopeng MONA M03 were exposed online. Although the car was released on July 3, the interior has been kept secret. The Xiaopeng MONA M03 is a pure electric compact car with a maximum range of 620 kilometers. The car will be launched in August.

From the exposed interior pictures, the overall style of the car's interior is simple and refreshing, similar to Tesla Model 3. The air outlet adopts a long integrated design, the center console is equipped with a large screen, and there are air-conditioning outlets below the screen. From the spy photos, there is no instrument panel or head-up display device inside, and it is expected that the vehicle driving information will be displayed on the large center console screen. It is worth noting that the central armrest only has a mobile phone wireless charging plate. (Autohome)

Industry attention

INDUSTRY FOCUS

Lamborghini grows against the trend: revenue in the first half of 2024 is 1.621 billion euros, a year-on-year increase of 14.1%, and operating profit hits a record

On July 29, data released by Lamborghini showed that 5,558 vehicles were delivered in the first half of 2024, a year-on-year increase of 4.1%; revenue reached 1.621 billion euros, a year-on-year increase of 14.1%, and operating profit increased to a record 458 million euros (about 3.61 billion yuan). Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann said in an interview that the company's ability to maintain full orders across the board is due to its "balanced" strategy on the road to electrification. He emphasized that the company will continue to focus on the performance and driving pleasure of internal combustion engines, while reducing emissions through hybrid technology, rather than rushing to switch to electric vehicles.

Currently, Lamborghini has achieved strong revenue and operating profits with just three models - the Urus SUV, the Huracán supercar and the Revuelto hybrid. The United States remains Lamborghini's largest market, with 1,621 vehicles delivered in the first half of this year, followed by Germany (595), the United Kingdom (514), Japan (354), mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau (337), and Italy (268). It is worth mentioning that orders for Lamborghini's three models are still hot. The estimated waiting time for the Revuelto is even more than two years, while the waiting time for the Urus SE hybrid SUV, which was unveiled at the Beijing Auto Show in April, is expected to be one year. (Cailian Press)

Volkswagen plans to adopt Rivian technology and software after 2025, including Porsche, Audi, Lamborghini and other brands

On July 29, German auto giant Volkswagen Group announced in June that it would invest $5 billion (about 36.339 billion yuan) in American electric vehicle startup Rivian Automotive and jointly establish a joint venture. The details of the cooperation between Volkswagen and Rivian have now been further revealed. The cooperation mainly focuses on software, domain control and network architecture. Volkswagen will switch to Rivian's technology and software from 2025 to 2030. Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe emphasized that other areas such as battery or electric drive technology are not within the scope of cooperation.

In the future, Rivian will provide software support for all Volkswagen brands, including Porsche, Audi, Lamborghini and other brands, which will use Rivian's standardized infrastructure, which will reduce the number of control units per vehicle from 70-80 to only 7. In addition, brands such as Porsche, Audi, Lamborghini, Bentley and Volkswagen will all use the same Rivian infrastructure. Scaringe explained: "A car can have two or even ten screens, which is easy to change. But everything at the bottom will be standardized." This means that Volkswagen will be responsible for developing the user interface in the future, and the underlying technology comes from the new joint venture established with Rivian and supports a certain degree of customization, which means that the internal capabilities of the Volkswagen Group will undergo a major transformation. (Interface News)

BMW 7 Series and other models add engine automatic start-stop function shutdown option

According to news on July 29, the BMW 7 Series that went into production in July this year (production month) will add an option to turn off the engine automatic start-stop function in the central control display, while the BMW 7 Series (G70) produced before this can obtain it through the RSU remote software upgrade function. According to reports, this option is located in Driving Settings-Drive System and Chassis-Engine Energy-Saving Start-Stop Settings, and can also be found by sliding down the top menu bar or the car icon next to the gear lever. Users can actively choose to turn it off once or turn it back on, but the function will be turned on by default the next time the vehicle is started.

After actual testing, the BMW X5 (G18) also obtained this option after updating to version 07/2024 through the RSU remote software upgrade function. It can be inferred that the practice of obtaining this new option through RSU will at least also apply to the BMW 5 Series, BMW X6 and BMW X7 equipped with iD8.5 car machine (BMW iDrive with the 8.5th generation operating system). (BMW customer)

Car manufacturers secretly sell driving data of car owners, US senators ask FTC to investigate

On July 29, according to the New York Times, two U.S. senators from Oregon and Massachusetts, Ron Wyden and Edward J. Markey, recently wrote to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to request a thorough investigation of automakers' data collection and sales practices. They believe that automakers use lower insurance premiums as bait to induce consumers to agree to share data, but in fact sell the data to third parties for profit.

The report pointed out that Hyundai Motor Company was the worst, forcing all new car users who activated the network function to join the driving scoring program and share the data with the data company Verisk. From 2018 to 2024, Hyundai Motor shared the data of 1.7 million cars with Verisk and earned $1,043,315.69 (about 7.569 million yuan), an average of 61 cents per car. Hyundai Motor did not obtain informed consent from consumers before sharing data.

GM and Honda, on the other hand, induced consumers to participate in the "safe driving" program in the name of "voluntary", but did not explicitly state that the data was only used to calculate insurance premiums. Senators believe that the automakers' move seriously violated consumer privacy and asked the FTC to hold the relevant companies and their executives accountable. They said that the problems currently exposed may be just the tip of the iceberg, and automakers should not sell consumer data without consent. Automakers argued that these were "opt-in" projects, but did not deny that the data was sold to third parties.

Xpeng Motors officially enters Singapore market

On July 29, Xpeng Motors announced that it has officially entered the Singapore market and opened a pop-up store in UOB Plaza, the heart of Singapore's Central Business District.

According to reports, Xpeng Motors also provides a test drive experience of the Xpeng G6 in the pop-up store, where the audience can personally experience the space, intelligent interaction, and intelligent driving system of the Xpeng G6. At the same time, Xpeng Motors has opened product pre-sales for Singaporean consumers. The Singapore market will become the first delivery location for the right-hand drive version of the Xpeng G6, along with Hong Kong and Macau in China.

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