news

Text/Miao Qi, commentator of Jiupai News

After two model changes in half a year, the launch of the new Zeekr car has caused controversy among old car owners, and some car owners’ rights protection has even become a hot topic.

According to reports, on August 13, Zeekr released the 2025 Zeekr 001 and Zeekr 007. Among them, Zeekr 001 is Zeekr's flagship model. The 2024 model was just released in February this year. However, in less than half a year, Zeekr quickly launched the 2025 model with a new intelligent driving solution, which made many old car owners feel "backstabbed". Two model changes in half a year and last month's rumor that there would be no new models were still being refuted. This operation has been controversial in the market.

In addition to old Zeekr car owners, many consumers feel that they have been "stabbed in the back". In many consumer fields, the rapid iteration and update of products and price adjustments have made consumers who dared to consume and were willing to consume feel that they have been taken advantage of. This phenomenon is not uncommon. Nowadays, more and more products have become "fast-moving consumer goods" like mobile phones. The dazzling upgrades and replacements have led to a new trend of consumption upgrades on the one hand, but on the other hand, they have also reduced consumers' "sense of gain", making it difficult for product brand loyalty and market reputation to stabilize, bringing chaos to the market environment.

Objectively speaking, the modification and upgrading of automobile products, especially new energy vehicles, is relatively rapid. Moreover, the annual modification, mid-term modification, and replacement of automobiles have their basic business logic. A product always strives to present its most competitive appearance to consumers and bring consumers a better experience. As Zeekr responded: In the era of rapid development of new energy vehicles in China, the continuous advancement and iteration of technology is a must for all participating brands.

However, product iteration and update cannot be a game of metaphysics with consumers. Business logic cannot become a business routine, or even a game that is ugly and designed to cheat consumers. In the process of "continuous progress and iteration", some products cater to consumers' demand for novelty and difference on the one hand, but on the other hand, they also take advantage of this psychology of consumers, turning iteration and update into a game of hide-and-seek with consumers, and pursuing maximum benefits in pricing strategies. There is an old Chinese saying that the buyer is not as smart as the seller, and the information between buyers and sellers in the transaction process is naturally asymmetric. If merchants use this asymmetry to create mystery for consumers, and let consumers make decisions in a blind man touching an elephant in the fantasy price routine, then it will be a huge damage to the brand reputation of the product, the market price order, and the consumer environment.

Of course, "continuous technological progress and iteration are a must for all participating brands." But how come technological progress and iteration are so fast that consumers can realize progress and iteration right after they buy a car? Is technological progress and iteration based on the toothpaste squeezing strategy of business routines, or is it based on the laws of technological research and development? Or, is the so-called technological progress and iteration here just the result of inefficient and repetitive industry competition under the "Internet thinking car manufacturing" that seeks speed and innovation? Technological progress and iteration is a process of continuous accumulation, and also a process of establishing mutual trust with consumers. As consumers, everyone hopes that a brand will maintain continuous output in technology and give people continuous and stable consumption expectations in terms of price.

In today's industry, the new energy vehicle industry is the most prominent example of inefficient and repetitive competition. Thanks to technological progress and industrial policies, new energy vehicles have achieved rapid growth, which has also greatly increased the confidence of more and more consumers in domestic automobile brands. However, the more vigorous the rise, the more we should know how to respect consumers. Fierce price wars, crazy sales comparisons, and lightning-fast upgrades will eventually become a coercion for consumers and bring chaos to the industry. Whether it is the automotive industry or other industries, what is ultimately needed is to follow the laws of the industry and the market, turn technological progress and product iterations into a continuous and unremitting pursuit of quality, and continuously protect consumer expectations and confidence.

[Source: Jiupai News]