The 21st Guangzhou International Automobile Exhibition officially opened on November 17th. The development of smart cars and new energy vehicles is not only a revolution in transportation, but also a change in lifestyle and mindset. With the continuous upgrading of competition in new energy vehicles, more new products and technologies will appear before the public. This year’s Guangzhou Auto Show will be themed “New Technology, New Life,” showcasing the latest technological achievements brought about by the development of smart cars and the new changes it brings to consumers. In response to this, different executives have expressed their views. Li Tong, the public relations director of SmartCar, stated that from the cooperation between Audi and SmartCar, it can be seen that Audi’s positioning and SmartCar’s positioning in pure electric vehicles are quite similar. We also hope that each party can take advantage of their strengths to provide users with better products and experiences. I think it is a state of mutual progress.
The following is a transcript of an interview: Sina Auto: We found that the Zhiji LS6 has attracted many female users, possibly including you. What do you think are the aspects of this car that attract female users? Li Tong: I might need to talk about a few aspects. First, the exterior, then the interior. In terms of the exterior, if you look at the streamlined design of the entire car, it’s actually more rounded, with a design concept similar to a pebble. It’s more rounded and softer, looking quite elegant. The appearance is not too techy or too hard, so we aim to appeal to female tastes in terms of the exterior. Another aspect is the interior, which is also softer, with more rounded and smooth lines, as well as our POPO Sofa cloud-like seats. The overall padding and comfort are very good, so in these aspects, women also tend to like it. Another aspect is our full-frame digital cockpit screen. When you sit in it, it feels very high-tech, and the visibility is quite broad. So I think this is a highlight. Then, in terms of intelligence, even though I’ve been driving for a long time, if you really make me parallel park, I might need a lot of tries. But after we added functions like one-touch parallel parking and one-touch escape, it’s actually much more convenient. You don’t have to worry about scratching the tires or curbs anymore. Just press a button, and the car will take care of it for you. These intelligent functions are all very good. Another thing that left a deep impression on me is when a friend of mine bought a new car, her husband kept nagging her, asking why she wasn’t using the rearview mirror, and so on. She said, “I can’t even see what’s in front of me, and you want me to look at the rearview mirror too?” At that moment, I realized that our product is very useful because we cover the blind spots on both sides, all of which can be seen on the middle screen. You really don’t have to look around anymore, just focus on the screen in front of you. You can clearly see what’s in your blind spots on the left and right. These features are quite popular with girls, or new drivers. Sina Auto: You just said that the appearance is very round. We saw that Weibo netizens may use the metaphor of a round duck to describe it. Do you think this is a commendation for our product, or is the cute and naive temperament more in line with the user mentality we want? Li Tong: Yes, I think it’s a matter of opinion. Why do I say this? The round duck may represent cuteness or gentleness, it is a more relaxed state and everyone’s reaction to it is cute and comfortable. This is enough. On the other hand, if a male sees the round duck logo, he may also consider the personality of the boy or his understanding of the round duck. Sina Auto: We invited Jin Chen as our spokesperson. What considerations did she have and how does she fit with our product? Li Tong: That’s a great question. I quite like Jin Chen. She is from Jinan, Shandong, and we are from the same hometown. She is also a dancer, and she has transitioned to an actress. She is actually a very powerful actress. From a dancer to the entertainment industry, to an actress, I believe she is also versatile or even a powerful figure. She is also a versatile person, just like our LS6. It is also a versatile player, with great looks and intelligence, as it has many intelligent functions and great performance. For example, it can accelerate in 3.48 seconds and reach a top speed of 305 km/h. So we are also versatile players. Including Jin Chen’s high looks, our car represents both women and high looks, so I think it’s quite fitting. Sina Auto: I understand. You mentioned the one-click function twice just now. Actually, this thing started from the Internet era, from 360’s one-click something. I think this is a particularly convenient thing. Maybe the past experience with 360 wasn’t very good, but the shortest path to do something is one-click. We already have the one-click edge sticking, and in the future, will there be more one-click functions? Li Tong: Of course there will be. Sina Auto: Can you reveal some of the convenience? Li Tong: Sure, because now we have achieved its entire unified function, called “One-click AI Driving”. Since we mentioned driving, we actually have many scenes of driving. Now we are considering a few of the highest frequency, maybe there will also be a one-click narrow road passage. I believe there will be, because sometimes non-motorized vehicles either park randomly or are in narrow alleys. For example, one time I was driving on a narrow road with small stones on both sides, and I didn’t dare to pass. I may not be very accurate in measuring the distance on the left and right. At this time, the one-click narrow road passage is very useful. Another example is in intelligent driving, in fully AI intelligent driving, we will also have these small one-click functions for new research and development. But now I may just spoil a little. Sina Auto: If we have more one-click functions, will they be arranged separately at the same level or will they be grouped into a folder? Li Tong: There are currently four one-click functions. It’s quite OK to put them on the entire interactive interface. I’m also thinking that when we have more one-click functions in the future, it’s very likely that one-click will become a small folder. After opening it, there may be different interactions according to different scenes. Sina Auto: Let’s talk about something else. Besides the product, our Intelligent LS6 is currently in a hot selling state. What is the delivery rhythm like now, and what measures have we taken to meet customer interactions? Li Tong: If we deliver, we can basically guarantee 1200 units per week. Our goal for this month is definitely to reach 6000. Last week, we also won the champion of the large and medium-sized pure electric SUV weekly ranking. We are almost able to deliver 200 units every day. In order to deliver, we have put all the resources of the group into the Zhiyi LS6, such as the production line. We may have implemented double shifts in the factory, from 11 hours to 22 hours. Another point is that our group has called on all party members in various positions to take their responsibilities for the high-quality delivery of LS6. Our entire supply chain resources are also very advantageous, so we will not have a shortage of parts. In terms of transportation, we will also provide subsidies to logistics companies for fast transportation. From production to supply chain to logistics, we will match a lot of resources to Zhiyi LS6 because we have the backing of a large factory. Sina Auto: Our last question, we have heard some voices saying that Audi’s cooperation with SAIC will turn Audi into a rebadged Zhiyi. Do you have anything to say about this? Li Tong: In fact, we are all working together on the development. Audi’s employees also come to our Zhiyi for joint research and development. On the one hand, some of our employees are doing joint research and development at Zhiyi. On the other hand, Audi is using Zhiyi’s entire architecture, whether it’s its electrification or intelligent content, which will be applied to Audi’s vehicles. This is also a collaboration between strong companies, because Audi’s positioning and Zhiyi’s positioning in pure electric vehicles are quite similar. We also hope that everyone can take advantage of their strengths to provide users with better products and experiences. I think it is a state of mutual progress. Sina Auto: Okay, we’ll stop here today. Li Tong: Thank you.