Rebirth 99 to become a car giant

In 2013, Masco's popularity in China was far from as high as it would be ten years later.

However, as the president of the world's first listed electric vehicle company and the founder of Space Exploration Technologies, the world's leading private rocket company, Musko's popularity is actually not very low.

Today's event was hosted by Zhu Yifan, and Masco personally took the stage to communicate with various Chinese media.

Unlike ordinary business people who like to appear in suits, Masco was wearing jeans and a POLO shirt today, standing on the stage looking quite casual.

"I started researching and investing in electric vehicles in 2004, and finally founded Tesla in 2008."

"I hope that through Tesla we can break the shackles of the traditional automobile industry and make electric vehicles mainstream."

"Tesla's entrepreneurial journey has not been smooth sailing. At the beginning of the company's establishment, we faced huge financial pressure and technical challenges."

"We need to continue to raise funds to support the company's development and continue to improve battery technology and vehicle design."

"After going through many difficulties, I obtained loans and investments in 2010 and was able to move on..."

When big guys like Musk come on stage, they must first talk about their feelings with everyone and introduce to everyone the background of Tesla's establishment and the process of their efforts.

This is also what many heads of start-up companies will say when they take the stage.

Masco is no exception.

"Tesla's design and technological innovation allow our Model S to stand out in the fiercely competitive automobile market..."

"It can travel more than 600 kilometers on a single charge."

"It can increase the speed from 0 to 100 kilometers per hour in three seconds."

"The emergence of this car has successfully proved that electric vehicles can have the same performance as traditional fuel vehicles."

"Last year, we delivered 2,650 Model S units. Although this number is relatively small, it is already a good start for an emerging electric vehicle company."

“What’s even more exciting is that our sales in the first quarter of this year have exceeded our sales in the whole of last year…”

Masco did not take the manuscript, but stood on the stage and spoke eloquently for almost half an hour.

I have to say that his eloquence is still very good.

Many media outlets at the scene were recording and writing articles quickly.

They prefer this kind of speech, because it is easy to compile an article that has content, netizens like to read it, and is not boring.

"Mr. Yu, this Masco is quite eloquent."

"I feel that Tesla is likely to become the electric vehicle company second only to Future Cars in the future, and we need to pay attention to their developments in a timely manner."

He Ling felt a hint of crisis from Masco's speech.

As an old person from a car home, she naturally knows the positioning of her website.

Serving Nanshan Automobile Group is their core responsibility, and everything else serves this purpose.

Other media may be very excited and happy after hearing Masco's speech.

But Autohome is different.

"It really needs attention. When the time comes, we will sort out the information and report it to Nanshan Automobile Group."

"Especially for future cars, the positioning is very close to Tesla. I will have a good chat with Zeng Tingting when the time comes."

"I guess she must have noticed Tesla's high-profile entry into the Chinese market."

Yu Yu looked at Masco who was happily dancing with his hands and feet on the stage, and quickly thought about how he should make some meaningful suggestions to Nanshan Automobile Group.

She had gone to get to know Masco specifically.

This person is really not simple and cannot be treated with common sense.

Maybe Tesla can do something different in his hands.

At least in the American market, she firmly believes that Tesla can make a splash.

"I just saw that Tesla has also used large-scale integrated die-casting technology. In my impression, their die-casting equipment seems to be sold by Nanshan Equipment?"

He Ling mentioned a rather embarrassing topic.

She felt that if Pan Jinxing of Nanshan Equipment saw today's situation, he would probably regret it.

"It is indeed sold by Nanshan Equipment, but I don't think it's anything."

"After all, even if Nanshan equipment is not sold, other equipment manufacturers will find ways to enter this market."

"At that time, I won't get any benefits at all."

"Look at ASML. They tried to jam us on the lithography machine before, but in the end they were forced into a corner by Nanshan Equipment."

Yu Yu looks at the problem from a higher perspective. She has different thoughts on the same situation.

"That's true. A company like Tesla, which comes from a non-traditional automotive industry, will have slightly different technical ideas in all aspects."

"The communication architecture of those domain controllers is also very different from traditional automobile companies."

"At that time, I think I can consider buying one and dismantling it and analyzing it carefully."

Autohome's current organizational structure is actually quite large. It not only covers the business and promotion aspects of the game section, but also has a dedicated technical department and disassembly department to do various tasks such as dismantling and testing some models on the market. .

The reports they output can be formed into some articles or special reports for external sales.

Cars like Tesla's Model S are still valuable for dismantling and comparison.

As for the cost of dismantling it, it is estimated that it will be sold back through selling reports.

And when the time comes, the dismantled car will not be scrapped directly.

"Well, we can work with Future Auto to do this disassembly and benchmarking, and then we can talk about it after the situation is clarified."

There are already many domestic car companies producing new energy vehicles, and there are more than a dozen electric vehicles currently being mass-produced and sold.

But other models cannot pose a threat to the W7/W8/W9 of future cars. Tesla is a little different.

Both Yu Yu and He Ling felt that the other party was menacing, and this intuition was often very accurate.

While He Ling and Yu Yu were communicating about this matter, Masco on the stage also began to introduce the price issue that everyone was most concerned about.

"As just introduced to you, our Model S is a luxury electric vehicle with more outstanding performance than the flagship sedan of a traditional luxury brand."

"Its lowest starting price is only 739,900 yuan, and different configurations are..."

As soon as Masco’s price was announced, the media below exploded.

With a starting price of 734,000 yuan, it really sells itself as a luxury car.

This price is almost the same as the W8 and W9 that are larger in size and have higher configurations.

It can be said that this car has no value for money.

However, Cao Yang, who was watching the live broadcast on the Autohome website with Zeng Tingting, had a slightly different idea.

"Model S is just an electric car brought over by Tesla to test the waters in the Chinese market. Its sales in China are destined to be relatively limited."

"Through this car, they have established their high-end brand image. When they launch other models later, the pricing range will be very flexible."

"At that time, people will even be able to sell cars that cost 200,000 yuan for 30,000 to 40,000 yuan, and many people will think that their purchase is worth it."

When Cao Yang said this, Zeng Tingting's attention immediately increased.

This style of play is very different from ordinary independent brands.

Considering Tesla's excellent performance in the United States, it seems that I need to pay more attention to it.

"Mr. Cao, do you think the main cars Tesla wants to sell in the future are mid-range models?"

"The current promotion is completely aimed at the BMW 7 Series and Mercedes-Benz S Series. It seems to be taking a luxury route."

People like Zeng Tingting definitely don’t see Tesla as clearly and thoroughly as Cao Yang does.

Tesla's first car was a sports car, and its second car, the Model S, was a high-priced coupe-style model.

Therefore, it is not surprising that everyone thinks Tesla is a luxury brand model that takes a high-end route.

But this is where Tesla’s power lies.

When electric vehicles first began to develop, there was a high probability that sales would not increase.

At this time, we will develop some niche and high-priced models to improve the brand positioning.

Later, relatively affordable models were launched, which made people feel that the price-performance ratio was very high, and sales exploded immediately.

At that time, it was not so difficult for the company to make a profit.

On the other hand, if Tesla first launches models like Model 3 and then produces high-end models such as S and X, then the final sales performance is estimated to be completely different.

"Masco hopes to subvert the traditional fuel vehicle market by developing electric vehicles. To achieve this goal, it must be based on volume."

"Taking the high-end luxury route is destined to be impossible to achieve particularly large sales, so Tesla will eventually launch a relatively low-priced electric vehicle."

Cao Yang gave his reply very definitely.

After all, these are the roads that people have walked before, and he can answer them without thinking.

"Then, do we need to consider making any adjustments to the brand positioning of our future cars?"

"After all, our prices are set relatively high now and the brand is built to be relatively high-end, but the sales volume will definitely not be particularly high."

Drawing inferences from one instance, Zeng Tingting raised her own questions.

In her mind, she may already regard Tesla as the main competitor of future cars.

"Our situation is different from Tesla. The entire Nanshan Automobile Group has several brands including Xingchen Motors, Future Motors and Jaguar Land Rover. At the same time, we also have a joint venture like Nanshan Hongqi, and we also have cooperation with Yangcheng Aian, Changan Automobile, etc. Many independent brands have very in-depth cooperation."

"We can all benefit from the development of the electric vehicle industry, whether it is an increase in sales of high-end vehicles or changes in sales of mid- to low-end vehicles."

"So in the future, cars can continue to take the mid-to-high-end route."

"Blindly cutting prices may not be a good thing."

Although Tesla was very successful in its previous life, the situation has changed now.

With the emergence of Nanshan Automobile Group, both China's automobile industry and the global automobile industry have undergone considerable changes.

In the future, cars will not need to expand sales by launching low-priced models, as that may not necessarily make more money.

After all, Nanshan Automobile Group is not only the largest automobile in China, but also the largest parts supplier.

Sometimes the money earned from Sanden parts is not necessarily less than the money earned from the complete vehicle.

"That's true, our situation is quite different from Tesla's."

Zeng Tingting thought for a moment and felt that what Cao Yang said was very reasonable.

While the two of them were discussing Tesla, Musko, who had finished announcing the price, did not finish his speech.

"Cars have been around for hundreds of years. During these hundreds of years, many innovative technologies have been applied to cars."

"But in the past ten years, traditional fuel vehicles have evolved very slowly, and there are few innovations that make everyone shine."

"Every model we design at Tesla is intended to subvert the traditional industry structure and bring everyone a completely different experience."

"Whether it's integrated die-casting technology, disruptive domain control design, or the integration of various parts, Tesla is doing much better than traditional companies."

"In the global automotive industry, I have only seen similar designs on future cars owned by Nanshan Automobile Group."

"It can be said that Future Auto and Tesla will lead the next round of changes in the automotive industry."

Focusing on hot topics is not something only Chinese independent brand car companies do.

Obviously, Tesla is also preparing to take advantage of the hot spots this time.

Future Auto is a unique entity among Chinese electric vehicle companies. With its three SUV models, its monthly sales have reached the 20,000 mark.

For a model with a price of 500,000 to 1 million, it is already very impressive to be able to sell 20,000 units in a month.

Even if this sales volume is global, it cannot be underestimated.

Before Tesla entered China, it must have done various research on the Chinese market.

The only thing that can enter Musko's vision is the future car.

“I think many of Cao Yang’s ideas, the founder of Future Auto, have come to mind with me.”

“In the United States, in addition to Tesla, I also own Space Exploration Technology Company. Like Venus Technology, it researches and produces its own launch rockets and is committed to exploring the vast space for mankind. In the future, it will prepare to send humans to Mars. Life."

The more Musk talked, the more excited he became, constantly benchmarking his company against Daystar and Future Auto.

This kind of hot-button behavior was done smoothly by him, and it was not against the rules at all.

Both Tesla and SpaceX have their own core technologies and are leaders in their respective countries' industries.

Therefore, the form of their hot spot this time is a bit different from that of other companies.

In other words, this is a mutually reinforcing hot spot.

Tesla can promote it in China in this way, and future cars can adopt similar methods in overseas markets such as the United States.

Anyway, everyone is taking advantage of each other.

…

"Mr. Lu, in Tesla's activities, Musk always talks about Cao Yang and Future Auto. Isn't it too strange?"

At Qiantu Motor, Qin Lihong and Lu Bing put down their work and watched Tesla's live broadcast of this event in the conference room.

Although Tesla was not well-known in China before, as the number one electric vehicle company in the United States, it is definitely worthy of everyone's attention.

Any company that can become the number one in the industry in the two huge markets of China or the United States must have its own uniqueness.

This is understood by people from Qiantu Motor and other electric vehicle companies.

"This guy is very smart. He must have done in-depth research on the Chinese market."

"Don't you think that with Masco's speech, various media outlets have a lot more material for articles to write about?"

"The publicity effect for Tesla will definitely be greater than many advertising dollars."

Lu Bing didn't think there was anything strange about Masco's speech at all.

He is even thinking about how to market Qiantu Motor's new products, how to publicize them, and what he should say when they launch new products in the future.

Is it also possible to benchmark several models of future cars and make good use of them?

Anyway, the integrated die-casting technology is also used by Qiantu Motor.

They are more or less doing the integration of components such as three-in-one motors.

As for domain control, the design of new cars is almost complete now. If it continues to change, it will probably be more troublesome. It can be left to the next model for improvement.

Qiantu Motor will first put some effort into the interior to give consumers a completely different experience.

For example, the seat design can be made softer.

Although there is not much difference in cost between softer and harder ones, and there are not many technical differences, the experience is very different.

With appropriate words, it may have unexpected effects.

These are all things that Qiantu Motor is considering.

"That's true. Originally, the Model S car was quite topical, and now there are so many topics between Future Auto and Cao Yang."

"When the time comes and the media can play their part, the effect will be even greater."

"I have to say that this event has indeed achieved its promotional purpose."

Qin Lihong thought for a while and felt that Lu Bing's analysis was quite reasonable.

It seems that my thinking is not broad enough.

…

Tesla is stepping on the Mercedes-Benz S and BMW 7 Series, but on the other hand it is bragging about future cars.

There may not be any big objections to this approach from Future Auto, but Mercedes-Benz and BMW will definitely be very dissatisfied.

"McTy, your sales department needs to take action and let Tesla know that the Model S is not a competitor to the BMW 7 Series at all."

"They can succeed in the American market because Tesla is an American company. It does not mean that their products can really compete with ours."

Early in the morning, Aimoha called Mikedy to him very unhappily.

Although he did not watch the live broadcast of Tesla's event yesterday, he obviously saw the relevant news reports later.

Then I found time to watch the event video again.

Seeing this, he naturally became angry.

Tesla obviously wants to climb up by stepping on BMW's shoulders.

How can this be tolerated?

In the United States, Tesla's sales can exceed the sales of the BMW 7 Series, but in China, Aimoha will never allow such a thing to happen.

Otherwise, cats and dogs will all have hot spots on BMW cars in the future, and all kinds of disgusting things will probably happen.

"I've also noticed this. Over in the United States, Tesla has always promoted it this way."

"Especially after their sales surpassed that of the 7 Series in the first quarter of this year, all American media are full of relevant news, making it seem as if Tesla is really more powerful and more luxurious than our BMW."

McTee obviously doesn't have a good impression of Tesla either.

No one wants others to step on them and climb up.

"As a brand new electric vehicle company, it will take time for Tesla to be fully recognized by Chinese consumers."

"I don't think Nanshan Automobile Group is necessarily willing to see the rise of Tesla. After all, several of their brands are taking the high-end route."

"The emergence of Tesla will have an impact on the sales of various brands of Nanshan Automobile Group to a certain extent."

"When you are working on a marketing plan, you can consider joining forces with Autohome to deal with Tesla."

Aimoha naturally knows the relationship between Autohome and Nanshan Automobile Group.

As long as BMW is willing to take the lead, he feels that Autohome will be happy to follow suit and deal with Tesla.

"Well, I will also communicate with Mercedes-Benz later. Tesla stepped on us and also stepped on the Mercedes-Benz S. I guess Mercedes-Benz is also very dissatisfied with Tesla."

Mercedes-Benz and BMW face relatively similar situations around the world, and their positioning is also very close.

When Tesla promotes its Model S, it also compares the Mercedes-Benz S and the BMW 7 Series.

Aimoha and Mikedy are relatively clear about these situations.

"Tesla is not a local company in China. Now that it has entered a brand new market, it will definitely face many problems."

"While they haven't gained a firm foothold, we need to give them some discomfort as soon as possible."

In Aimoha's view, car companies like Tesla that take the high-end luxury route must be cracked down on.

Especially when Tesla itself targets BMW, it’s even more damning.

"Several electric vehicle companies have been established in China in the past few years. Future Auto has been successful. If Tesla can also successfully gain a foothold in China, it will definitely stimulate more capital to enter the electric vehicle field. By then Those new power companies that do not build cars according to traditional rules are likely to have a very big impact on us."

"It will also make our career full of uncertainty."

"I am going to publicize this argument on the Chinese Internet. I can even accept interviews from some media and spread it through media channels."

McTee and Aimoha discussed in the office for half an hour and prepared several plans to deal with Tesla.

The entire automobile industry, to a certain extent, has entered a more critical period again.