Does Zeekr want to change the history of the automobile industry? Is it called new energy if it changes models faster than mobile phones?｜Hot Finance
2024-08-17
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It is said that in the new energy era, cars will have a short lifespan like electronic products, but I never thought it could be so short. These days, Zeekr is very annoyed. Public opinion is relentless. Old car owners feel unhappy, and new car owners dare not place orders - they are afraid that they will be eliminated and cut off soon.
Recently, Zeekr launched the 2025 Zeekr 001 car, priced at 259,000-329,000 yuan. In January this year, Zeekr was still selling the 2023 model, and in February it launched the 2024 001 car, priced at 269,000-329,000 yuan. Now it has launched the 2025 model again. The two iterations were only half a year apart, and the key is the major replacement of hardware and batteries, even the smart driving chip has changed, and the computing power has increased tenfold. In the end, many old car owners on the Internet expressed dissatisfaction, and Zeekr's official Weibo opened a selection of comments, and car owners even went offline to defend their rights.
On the evening of August 14, the legal department of Zeekr issued a statement on Weibo, saying that in response to the launch of Zeekr's 2025 new products, a large number of organized rumors, photoshopped images, fabricated personal attacks and other false information have appeared on the Internet platform recently. The company has collected relevant evidence and reported to the police, and will severely investigate the legal responsibilities of all rumor makers in accordance with the law.
One netizen commented: As an old car owner, Zeekr provided a car purchase voucher worth 10,000 yuan. It has become an old model just a few months after purchase. Is it a good idea to exchange it for a new one with the voucher? This wave of compensation is not smart and it angered old users. But I don’t understand the car owner. Isn’t it a bit too much to protect rights? Are you not allowed to reduce the price of everything you sell in the future? Are you not allowed to release new models? Can I make a fuss when my iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 come out? You bought the car yourself, so you are responsible for your own behavior. The market economy does not allow such nonsense.
"So, in my opinion, this farce is a lose-lose situation and fatal to the establishment of the brand. If a company does not cherish old customers, how can potential customers feel at ease to become its customers? Cars are not like mobile phones. The value ratio of them is dozens or even hundreds of times higher. You cannot expect car customers to change cars as frequently as mobile phone customers." said a netizen on Weibo.
In the era of fuel vehicles, there are minor changes every year, and a generation change every four or five years. The generation change is a big change, and all of this is predictable. There is also enough time and space to reduce prices when the model change is approaching. But in the era of electric vehicles, the rules of the game have completely changed. Yesterday, you could still refute the rumor that there would be no new models, but today a new model may be launched immediately, leaving those who bought the car yesterday in tears. This rhythm, like taking drugs, may indeed be difficult for car owners to swallow, because it is not a matter of price reduction or price increase, but a direct hopelessness of instant value preservation and direct despair.
After Zeekr played this game, I believe the automotive industry will be terrified. I thought that fast iteration would lead to a leading position and defeat the industry. Anyway, this is the law of the market, and there is nothing to complain about. I didn't expect that it might have damaged its image and made it look like a "big-headed Buddha". It no longer matters who benefits from price cuts or who benefits from additional configurations. Companies must start again with user thinking and think about where users come from.
New users who have received a major upgrade will be suspicious of the new model and will not be complacent because they have bought the latest model. We only hear the newcomers laugh, but never the old ones cry. The rapid cycle of the old and the new will inevitably strengthen the image of a brand as rash and leaping. Because technological progress cannot make two leaps in half a year, and the rapid leap does not give people a sense of leading, but a sense of conspiracy.
Zeekr's performance is well known, and it is also a wonder of local electrification. The Internet celebrity car 001 is indeed good. I hope that the company can learn from the lesson. Revolutionary innovation is acceptable, but back-stabbing reversals are avoided, otherwise it will make it impossible to build confidence.
Text｜Reporter Qi YaoqiPicture｜Internet screenshot
