Chapter 879: Absolute Leading Position, Huge Pressure From Chinese Car Companies

When the Future Car S9 was released, it was morning in America and everyone was busy at work.

However, when the press conference ended and Tesla China had preliminarily sorted out the information about S9, it was already eleven o'clock in the evening.

Of course, it was exactly eleven o'clock in the morning in America, which was just the right time for a meeting.

As the general manager of Tesla China, Zhu Yifan was used to having meetings with the headquarters in the middle of the night, and this was especially true today.

"Musco, everyone has seen the shape of the Future S9 before, and it is definitely very competitive."

"The key is that their performance in assisted driving and smart cockpit is very eye-catching, and the configuration in all aspects is much higher than our Model S."

"But the sales price in China is slightly lower than ours, with a starting price of only 699,900 yuan, which is almost 50,000 yuan lower than ours."

"Next, this car will be launched globally, and the sales price will definitely be similar to that in China, and it will not be sold more expensive than ours.

"In this way, our Model S has encountered the biggest challenge since its launch. "

Zhu Yifan reported the situation of the future S9 anxiously.

On the other side of the video conference, Musk's face was also heavy.

Because Tesla's stock price has fallen sharply this morning, opening 5.2% lower, and fell 11.3% before opening.

Since Tesla went public, such a sharp drop is very rare.

Even if there were news from time to time that some Tesla models caught fire after collisions, it only caused a small fluctuation in the stock price.

This kind of drop of more than double digits is very rare.

Capital information is often the most informed.

When the future car's S9 appeared at the Guangzhou Auto Show before, it had some impact on Tesla.

However, at that time, there was only the appearance, and not much information was released, so the big Everyone just keeps a high level of attention, and it is still unknown what the final impact will be.

Yesterday, the S9 launch event of Future Auto was live-broadcasted on the Internet.

In this case, the capital with intentions naturally arranged personnel to watch every move of S9.

When the various configurations of S9 were continuously announced, many people had bad expectations in their hearts.

Tesla's main feature is that its cars are more intelligent, and its performance in autonomous driving is world-leading.

As for configuration, it has never been their advantage.

In order to reduce costs, Musk even cancelled all configurations that were not very necessary.

This can maximize the cost competitiveness of Tesla's models.

And relying on the ultimate performance, even if the configuration is a little worse, consumers still recognize it.

Just like the Model 3. In addition to the performance related to intelligent driving, any domestic electric car with a price of more than 100,000 yuan will surpass it in other configurations.

But they can sell it at a price of more than 200,000 yuan, and they sell it much better than you.

Now the core competitiveness of Tesla's survival is facing the challenge of S9, no wonder it has a huge impact on the stock price.

Even Musk himself is aware of this problem.

"Try to buy a few S9s as soon as possible to confirm whether their intelligent driving performance is really as good as what was said at the press conference."

"It's also L2.9, which means they are infinitely close to the level of L3 autonomous driving."

"This kind of propaganda has a very obvious Nanshan Automobile Group style. ”

Tesla does not like to develop its own products based on a certain model.

What they want to do is to be the leader of the industry and develop something unique to themselves.

But after the appearance of S9, the situation naturally changed.

Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will win every battle.

Without clarifying the situation of S9, Musk does not know how to formulate countermeasures.

After all, the performance related to autonomous driving cannot be improved in a day or two.

This involves a whole set of systems, and all related parts must be technically upgraded to achieve it.

"According to the plan announced by Future Cars, it is now in the pre-sale stage, and the first batch of S9 will not be officially delivered until after the Spring Festival."

"However, before the Spring Festival, there should be a small batch of vehicles delivered to the 4S store as exhibition cars."

"During this process, there should be some media opportunities to participate in the test drive activities of S9."

"I will arrange personnel to follow up on this matter in person and obtain relevant information as soon as possible. ”

“However, the S9 uses Nanshan Semiconductor’s most advanced NS8155 smart cockpit chip, and the autonomous driving chip is estimated to use 14-nanometer process technology, which is absolutely leading in the industry.”

"Plus, the assisted driving functions of Nanshan Automobile Group's products in the past have also been good, and it is estimated that the performance of S9 in this regard will not be worse than Model S."

"The company may need to start considering upgrading Model S."

Zhu Yifan knows that this is not what everyone wants to hear, but he still has to say it.

Without upgrading, Tesla will lose its competitiveness.

Although it will not fall, it will be difficult to become the leader of the industry.

Many times, the first and second in the industry, although the ranking is only one place different, the influence in various aspects is very different.

For example, Olympic champions, many people may have heard the name of the gold medalist, but the silver medalist is probably unknown.

For example, in the Internet industry, the first chat software is Penguin, who is the second?

Zhu Yifan hopes that Tesla can become the first in the electric vehicle industry.

However, it is not so easy to achieve this goal.

"Zhu, we have organized people to develop a new generation of autonomous driving chips, and like Nanshan Semiconductor, it is developed based on the 14-nanometer process."

"It is expected that the development will be completed in three months, and then we will contact chip foundries such as Samsung or TSMC."

"At that time, their 14-nanometer chip production line should be put into production soon, which is just right for us to do foundry."

"But even at this speed, our new generation of chips will be officially installed and used by the end of this year or the first half of next year."

As the head of research and development at Tesla, Max is also under great pressure at this time.

Unlike ordinary car companies, Tesla has developed many core parts by itself.

Some parts, even if they are purchased from outside at the beginning, have to be developed by themselves later.

For example, some core chips, as well as key parts of electric vehicles such as motors and electronic controls.

Even batteries are jointly developed by the joint venture company established by Tesla and Panasonic.

This approach of mastering the technology of core parts in one's own hands can naturally better promote the development of the whole vehicle, but the pressure on research and development is also relatively large.

"It will be available for use by the end of this year, which is a relatively fast speed."

"But what I am worried about is that after Nanshan Semiconductor's NS8155 goes into mass production, many electric vehicle companies in China will start to consider using it."

"By then, we will not only not be the first electric vehicle company to use 14nm process chip technology, but we may not even be the third or fourth."

Zhu Yifan's words directly silenced a group of people.

Although this situation is something that no one wants to see, it is very likely to happen.

According to the information they have learned, BMW and Volkswagen are considering using the latest generation of chips such as Nanshan Semiconductor's NS8155.

As for the electric vehicle companies in China, there are even more actions.

Even if the assisted driving function they finally developed is not as good as Tesla's in actual experience, it can't withstand their publicity advantages.

After all, the computing power is there, and you insist on saying that your performance is better than others even if your computing power is lower.

This possibility is not impossible, but it is obviously difficult to make consumers believe it.

Zhu Yifan, Max, and Musk are all quite clear about this.

"Our Model X will be launched soon, and the new Model 3 is also under development."

"At that time, we can rely on the relatively superior performance and the continuously lowering product prices to achieve a comprehensive balance."

"At least in the American market, we can do this."

"As for the Chinese market, even General Motors and Ford have been driven out. We are already struggling to develop there. If the situation does not ease, I think we can temporarily give up."

Max broke the silence of the meeting.

The American market is Tesla's base, and the sales in China are basically negligible now.

When we just entered, the monthly sales were still a few hundred.

But since the United States has fully suppressed Nanshan companies, not only the sales of Shanghai GM and Changan Ford have plummeted, but Tesla's sales have also dropped sharply.

Now Tesla's flagship store in Shanghai may not be able to sell a car a day.

It can be said that this store is more of a showroom than a sales store.

In this case, temporarily giving up the Chinese market is not unacceptable.

Masco is naturally aware of this.

But this is definitely not suitable for him to say.

Before there is a better way, this is obviously an acceptable way in practice.

And he hopes that the relevant capital can also recognize this.

The appearance of Future Car S9 will not have any significant impact on Tesla's basic market.

After all, Future Car's products cannot be sold in the United States.

In the end, this report ended a bit anticlimactic.

And Tesla is obviously not the only one who is also worried about the launch of S9.

"He Ling, Mr. Cao hopes to make Future S9 a hit model, and all aspects of publicity must be done well."

"Future Car has prepared some soft articles for us, and we just need to release them step by step."

"But these publicity work cannot be done in the next two days. It needs to be regarded as a continuous work and promoted as the most important task in the next six months."

Yu Yu's awareness is still very high. Naturally, she also attended the new car launch event of Future Car today.

She even took the opportunity to communicate with Cao Yang.

Although the press conference is over, Yu Yu took the team back to Autohome and prepared to work all night.

On the one hand, we want to release all kinds of news as quickly as possible, and on the other hand, we want to control public opinion and comments on the Internet.

Once there is content that is unfavorable to the future of S9, it can be dealt with as quickly as possible.

S9 has just been launched tonight, and the news tonight must be relatively chaotic.

This is also the time when things are most likely to go wrong.

Yu Yu is very clear about the status of this car in Cao Yang's heart, and naturally does not want it to have any problems.

"Mr. Yu, all publicity work is now being carried out as planned."

"The advantages of S9 are so obvious, and the price is also very sincere."

"Although it is impossible to become the sales champion of automobiles, it is absolutely no problem to become the sales champion of mid-to-high-end electric vehicles."

"Especially after a month, after S9 is launched in Europe, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and other countries, sales will be even more worth looking forward to."

He Ling is absolutely full of confidence in S9 now.

Nanshan products must be fine products.

For so many years, this sentence has not failed.

S9 is a car designed by Cao Yang himself, with a stunning appearance that is impeccable.

Their configurations are comparable to top luxury cars such as Mercedes-Benz S and BMW 7 Series, and they are almost leading in all aspects.

I have everything that others have.

Others may not have what I have.

If ordinary car companies were to do this, they would not necessarily pose any threat to Mercedes-Benz and BMW.

But the future cars are different, and Nanshan Automobile Group is different.

Their car models are originally high-end and have been recognized by the majority of consumers.

In this case, the appearance of S9 will definitely bring a relatively large impact to the luxury car market.

"If there are no accidents, it will be so naturally."

"But since Mr. Cao has positioned S9 as a hot-selling model of future cars, it is to be promoted as a business card."

"Then we must avoid any possible accidents to the greatest extent possible."

"At the same time, we must also fully identify the behavior of some car companies to take advantage of the hot spots."

"Any article that damages the image of S9 must reduce its display volume to the minimum to the greatest extent possible."

"In this regard, we have also launched a joint action with Weibo, and everyone will fight a coordinated battle together."

Although it was late at night, Yu Yu was not sleepy at all.

Internet practitioners like them are used to working in the middle of the night.

Although it is not necessary to be so busy every day, it is normal to stay up late every three or five days.

With the efforts of companies such as Autohome, Future Auto, and Weibo, the popularity of the future S9 is bound to remain high.

Anyone who opens the Internet can more or less see articles related to the future S9.

There are also many related discussions in various penguin groups.

The S9 has already done this.

"McTi, do you think that the S9 of Future Auto will have an impact on the sales of our 7 Series after it is launched?"

The entire Internet is full of news about the S9 of Future Auto. Amoha is not blind, so he naturally knows this situation.

In the North American market, the sales of Tesla Model S, which is benchmarked against BMW 7 Series and Mercedes-Benz S-Class, have risen.

Various media have reported the news that Model S's sales have exceeded BMW 7 Series and Mercedes-Benz S-Class.

In particular, the media controlled by capital that has invested in Tesla have spared no effort to promote Tesla.

This is also an important reason why Tesla's stock continued to rise last year.

Today, the Chinese market is also facing a similar situation. It would be a lie to say that Amoha is not worried at all.

Although the sales changes of the BMW 7 Series do not have much impact on the overall market share of BMW China, this is BMW's flagship model and represents the face of BMW.

Being pressed to the ground so quickly was obviously not what Amoha wanted to see.

"I don't think there is any need to worry too much. The Chinese market is different from the American market."

"The consumers who buy our cars are generally successful business people."

"The performance of the future S9 is very outstanding, but it is an electric car after all."

"In China, there is no atmosphere of driving electric cars in high-end business situations."

"So even if the performance of the future S9 is very outstanding and the configurations in all aspects are very good, I think it will attract more wealthy young people to buy it."

"After all, these consumers like to try new technologies and are not so loyal to traditional luxury brands."

As the sales director of BMW China, McTee has a very high understanding of Chinese consumers.

For so many years, McTee's position has not moved. This is also the reason why BMW hopes to deepen its presence in the Chinese market and does not want to bring unfavorable situations to sales after personnel changes.

McTee has become accustomed to life in China and has no objection to his continued service in China.

He even expressed on different occasions that he wanted to work in China until retirement.

"It's good that there is no impact. Otherwise, there would be so much news about S9 now. I'm really worried that the sales of 7 Series would drop sharply."

Amoha breathed a sigh of relief.

The relationship between BMW Huaxia and Nanshan Automobile Group is getting closer and closer. He certainly doesn't want the competition between the two to become more intense.

This will affect the next step of cooperation between the two sides, which is not what Amoha wants to see.

In the Huaxia automobile market, if you want to do well, you can't have a bad relationship with Nanshan Automobile Group.

Amoha has already experienced this.

"The luxury car market in Huaxia is constantly increasing, and S9 is occupying more of the new market."

"But in the European market, I think the situation may be more interesting."

"Sdel S is seizing the market. Tesla has always wanted to step on our 7 Series to move up, and now someone has finally stepped up to clean them up."

McTi has no good feelings towards Tesla.

When Tesla produced sports cars before, it had no influence in the industry, and no one took it seriously.

However, after the Model S was launched, in order to continuously demonstrate its luxury, Tesla adopted the plan of imitating the BMW 7 Series and Mercedes-Benz S-Class.

Thanks to some special advantages of electric vehicles themselves, the BMW 7 Series is definitely not as good as others in terms of acceleration performance and automatic driving.

So Tesla tried its best to promote these things.

Some consumers in the United States are really willing to believe these propaganda.

So the sales of Model S in the United States in the past year are very good.

They also began to officially enter the global market last year, and are preparing to make a big move in Europe and China.

However, the Chinese market has undergone major changes since October last year. It is estimated that it is unlikely that Tesla wants to make great achievements in China.

Then the European market has become the most important market for Tesla besides North America.

And the emergence of S9 in the future will definitely bring huge pressure to Tesla in the European market.

Both McTi and Amoha are relatively certain of this.

…

“Mr. Cao, we have already received over 20,000 orders, and everything is better than we thought.”

“I guess Tesla, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Porsche and Bentley are all nervous.”

The next morning, Zeng Tingting returned to the office and immediately confirmed the latest reservations, and then immediately went to report the good news to Cao Yang.

The launch of the Future S9 yesterday was undoubtedly very successful.

The comprehensive leadership in performance and configuration in all aspects has brought huge pressure to many car companies.

Although this is a high-end luxury car, it does not have much competition with many mainstream car companies.

But everyone still felt the chill.

When consumers buy cars, they will make all kinds of comparisons.

It is also assisted driving. If your function is too different from others, it is easy to be disliked.

As for the problem of various screen freezes in the car, everyone had similar situations in the past, and consumers may have just accepted it.

Now there are products that can be free of freezes, and this problem has been magnified immediately.

Some other situations are similar.

"Since we want to build the S9 as a hit model, it will inevitably be studied by many car companies."

"Although sales are important, there must be no problems with quality, otherwise it will easily have a big backlash."

Cao Yang does not want to be overjoyed.

Although the quality of Nanshan Automobile Group's products has always been very good.

But electric cars use a lot of new technologies after all.

As long as it is new technology, there will naturally be a relatively high probability of some problems.

This is almost impossible to avoid completely.

Cao Yang is not unacceptable to any problems, but he does not want a certain problem to become a major problem that restricts the development of S9.

Zeng Tingting is also very clear about this.

"In order to ensure quality, even if there are a large number of orders in hand, our production capacity ramp-up in the early stage of mass production is slow."

"It is to allow workers to have enough time to familiarize themselves with the various installation processes, so that the workers who supply parts can slowly adapt to the production rhythm."

"Our quality personnel will also conduct a comprehensive quality confirmation of S9 in the early stage of mass production to ensure that there are no problems with the products delivered to consumers."

Quality issues, even if Cao Yang does not remind her, Zeng Tingting also attaches great importance to it.

Now that Cao Yang specifically mentioned this topic, it is even more important.

Why was the reputation of China's independent brands not so good in the past?

After so many years of changes, it has slowly caught up.

The main reason is quality!

When everyone has no quality problems, quality may not be a critical factor.

But when everyone's quality level is quite different, it is very fatal.

"A quality problem may be only 1% or one thousandth of defective for us, but it is 100% defective for consumers."

"You should communicate well with Mr. Rao on this matter, and don't let others catch you."

The future S9 is ahead of the entire industry in performance and technology, which is definitely a very jealous thing.

Most car companies probably dare not deliberately make the future S9 in the Chinese market, but if the S9 itself does not live up to expectations, the situation will be completely different.

The horse stumbles before the horse, this thing can't happen to the future car.