news

한어Русский языкEnglishFrançaisIndonesianSanskrit日本語DeutschPortuguêsΕλληνικάespañolItalianoSuomalainenLatina

it has to be said that in this era of information fragmentation, we are always inadvertently "led by the rhythm" and lose the ability to think independently.

because more and more people ignore the causes and consequences of events and make decisions based on one side of the story. for example, recently, yuan xiaolin, global senior vice president of volvo car group and president and ceo of volvo car asia pacific, publicly "complained" about the intelligent voice control function of cars. he gave an example, saying that when a user issues a command "please open the sunroof", it takes about 4 seconds for the voice system to respond and open the sunroof, while the physical button only takes 1 second to achieve the effect. "what is the meaning of such a design?"

yuan xiaolin's remarks sparked widespread discussion in the industry. internet celebrity zhou hongyi also took advantage of this wave of popularity and commented on it, saying that cars should not be viewed as mechanical products, but as electronic products, internet products, and smart hardware.

it is certainly biased to comment only on yuan xiaolin's words. the example of the sunroof he cited is to illustrate that electrification and intelligence are very certain trends. however, when making any innovation, companies should consider three questions: does it solve the real needs of consumers? does it bring a better experience? does it bring positive significance to the development and progress of this society? a serious and complete concept is alienated, simplified, and arbitrarily labeled just because someone wants to attract traffic. it has to be said that it is a very helpless thing.

he also had further opinions in the media interview - for a product like automobiles that is directly related to people's life safety and quality of life, some core standards and requirements cannot be compromised or changed; truly excellent companies should pursue electrification and intelligence under high standards in quality, safety and health, otherwise it will be difficult to sustain; everything created in the car itself should conform to the logic of the automotive industry, as well as safety.

but with the promotion of short videos and the influx of internet trolls, no one seems to "care" anymore.

in the distorted melee of the auto market, traffic seems to have become the greatest "justice". auto products that are safer, have better performance and better quality control are constantly attacked by "water armies" in the market. this reversal of priorities has become the biggest magic of chinese cars.

it’s time for everyone to get rid of the obsession with traffic. after all, there are not many car companies that can stick to their original intention of making cars.

beware the trap of too much innovation

gartner, an american consulting firm, has released a technology maturity curve called "gartner technology maturity curve" to illustrate the value that technology and technological innovation bring to people. at a certain time, people will be overly optimistic about new technologies, overestimate their practicality, and ignore their limitations and weaknesses, which will lead to excessive expectations and overinvestment in new technologies, resulting in a lot of waste.

the current wave of car manufacturing seems to be at this curve stage.

some oems have integrated all kinds of dazzling functions into their cars, making contemporary cars a "tech box" that integrates various technologies. the so-called "black technology" such as the single-pedal mode, hidden door handles, half-width steering wheels, etc. commonly seen in cars are very eye-catching, but in terms of practicality they may affect driving safety.

yuan xiaolin's original intention for the car's intelligent voice control function is that when the ai ​​recognition is wrong, it is far less efficient than the one-second manual control. it does not mean that there will be no voice control, but it is certainly not a matter of pride to completely eliminate physical buttons in the cockpit.

this pathological car-making thinking and innovation model not only leads to chaos in the automotive industry, but is also bound to make consumers feel confused and uneasy when buying a car.

automobile innovation must start from the "user" perspective - whether it solves their real needs, whether it brings them a better experience, and whether it brings positive significance to the development and progress of the industry and society. especially in the era of automobile electrification, good innovation in the automobile industry must be based on people's driving habits, so that people can obtain the comfort and intelligence brought by technological progress under the premise of safety.

especially in the pure electric era, safety is definitely not weakened, but more important.

the development of automobile intelligence should be a long process. innovative design must put "safety" first and find a balance between innovation and user experience. for example, when highly automated driving becomes a reality, whoever is the first to pull people out of tension and anxiety will be the first to complete market education on the safety of electric vehicles.

and this is not an operation that can be accomplished by actions such as "canceling physical buttons".

volvo is not bad in intelligence

if the situation of pursuing cool technology without considering safety lasts long enough, the achievements made in the history of automobile development may be gradually weakened or even regressed. yuan xiaolin has had similar concerns for a long time.

the reason for the concern is that yuan xiaolin and volvo have always believed that all technologies related to "safety" must be handled with extreme caution, and it is not what some people think, that traditional car companies cannot keep up with the intelligence.

on the contrary, volvo was the first luxury brand to announce a comprehensive electrification transformation. as early as 2017, it stated that it would make electrification the core of its future development. for example, the volvo em90 is also equipped with an intelligent voice control system that can independently recognize voice commands in six tone zones.

volvo cars has reached cooperation with google, nvidia, luminar, qualcomm and other companies around the world. in terms of software, zenseact, an autonomous driving software development company under volvo cars, is working with the development team from the technology company luminar within volvo cars to jointly develop and realize the vision of zero-collision travel.

it’s just that volvo has never promoted them in a big way. the only thing it mentions is the word “safety”.

having worked at volvo for a long time, yuan xiaolin shares the same temperament with volvo - in the long process of development, he always seems to be able to keep an appropriate distance from the hustle and bustle and impetuousness of the current industry, and remain cautious, so as to touch upon the most core and critical answers.

the ultimate respect for life and the ultimate pursuit of "safety" are also the key that distinguishes volvo from other brands.

since the brand was founded 97 years ago, volvo cars has always put safety first. in addition to the invention of the three-point seat belt, volvo is the first car company in the automotive industry to initiate and establish the official aed road messenger alliance, which aims to convey a sense of social responsibility rather than a simple commercial behavior. since its establishment, it has recruited and trained car owners in many cities, all in order to better protect everyone's "sense of security".

therefore, in order to maintain this sense of security, the technological innovations promoted by volvo in the era of electrification are all based on safety.

based on the pure electric platform, volvo has created the "world tree intelligent safety system safe space technology", which expands from traditional active and passive safety to four spaces: human-oriented, outside the vehicle, body, and inside the vehicle, with finer dimensions and more means.

for example, the volvo ex30 is equipped with volvo's latest intelligent safety system, which adopts higher testing standards than the industry in terms of manufacturing process, body collision, battery safety, intelligent safety, etc. in volvo's view, most accidents are caused by improper operation of the driver. the volvo ex90 has added a binocular camera dus driver perception system in the car to ensure that the driver's attention is not distracted at all times. the industry's first two 2-megapixel infrared cameras + capacitive steering wheel response, monitor eye movements at 60 frames per second, and use a progressive three-level reminder.

it is precisely based on the brand's safety core that volvo has successfully crossed countless cycles and has maintained its core and soul in the era of intelligence.

don’t lose your bottom line for traffic

in fact, after the traffic war in the first half of the year, the internet celebrities and traffic in the entire industry are now showing a trend of disenchantment.

for example, after the launch of great wall weipai's new blue mountain, a video blogger suggested that zhou hongyi take a test drive. wei jianjun directly refused: zhou hongyi is not needed to test drive, and traffic cannot represent the value of a product.

while major automakers and bigwigs are racking their brains to attract traffic, many brands that seem to be good at managing traffic or have gained high traffic have not achieved corresponding high sales.

take nezha auto as an example. zhou hongyi criticized and supported this "son" who "hated iron but failed to live up to his expectations", and brought traffic to nezha from time to time. however, in terms of sales, nezha auto was one of the few mainstream new forces that declined year-on-year in august, and it has been declining year-on-year for 6 consecutive months since february.

but on the contrary, volvo, which was said to have "turned over", did show steady progress in the first half of 2024.

despite fierce market competition, volvo cars' performance in the first half of the year remained stable. volvo cars' global sales in july increased by 6% year-on-year, and volvo cars' global sales from january to july were 445,500 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 13%; the chinese market remained stable despite the obvious pressure on luxury car sales, and the overall situation was in line with expectations.

among luxury brands, there are only three brands whose market share growth from january to july was non-negative, and volvo cars was one of them.

in a fierce market environment, volvo cars is still able to achieve a continuous increase in its brand market share. yu kexin, president of volvo cars greater china sales company, believes that this is because volvo cars is a luxury brand with safety, sustainability and personalization as its distinctive features. this brand core has spanned a century of development and has gone through large and small development cycles. "users also know us, trust us and choose us because of this.

"i watched him build a red building, and i watched it collapse. too many brands have given us such inspiration. but car companies such as volvo have been trying to explain that car manufacturing is more like a marathon. running fast at the beginning does not mean you can run to the finish line. especially in the "noisy era", adhering to long-termism and maintaining stability are the fundamentals to cross cycles and develop steadily.

"i hope that this industry will have more truth and less falsehood; more rationality and less misleading; more rigor and less exaggeration; more progress and less regression. don't let the noise wipe out the achievements made by the automobile industry over a hundred years of hard work." yuan xiaolin said.

because in the end, competition in the automotive industry will return to its essence and common sense.