On January 5, 2024, the Geely Galaxy E8 was officially launched, with a price range of 17.58-22.88 million yuan. After the press conference, we conducted a media group interview with Geely Automobile Sales Company General Manager Fan Xiyi and Geely Brand Research Institute Deputy Director Yi Xinyu. Here is a summary of the interview questions.
Reporter: What will Galaxy E8 do next in terms of marketing and strategy for this level of electric car, besides product strength? Which type of market is more affected this year after the adjustment of purchase tax? What impact and changes will this have on the future layout of pure electric products? Fan: Here, on February 23, 2023, we launched the Galaxy new energy series. A user evaluation stated that within a year, the Galaxy series products have been on the table for the entire new energy industry. Within 7 months, sales reached nearly 100,000, only Geely achieved this and fulfilled the promise of “only making high-value new energy vehicles”.
The second point, all of Geely Galaxy’s channels are independently sold, with independent showrooms, providing users with independent, high-quality experiences. The third point, Geely Galaxy’s sales volume increases month by month, fundamentally due to quality, winning the hearts of users. After communicating with users, I feel that so far, Geely Galaxy has already made a good start in the entire Chinese new energy market. A good start in the first step, how to proceed in the second step? The reasons for this are some of the things we explored last year. The first step, we predicted that the start would definitely be good, which is consistent with the three points just mentioned by the user. I also believe that Galaxy will definitely make an impact and definitely be able to break into the first echelon of the entire Chinese new energy market. In the future, Geely Galaxy will first adhere to the strategy of developing hybrid and pure electric vehicles together. In addition to hybrid products, pure electric products will also continue to be strengthened. In 2024, we will also launch multiple pure electric and hybrid products. This is about the products. Secondly, in terms of technology, Geely Galaxy can reach where it is today due to several key points. First is the strong R&D capability of the entire Geely Group, and second is the manufacturing capability. Many companies have an advantage in quantity, producing multiple products in one manufacturing base, but they have a disadvantage in terms of quality control. Geely’s manufacturing base is spread across the country. Thirdly, in terms of safety, including many safety issues discussed today, Geely has always been committed to this, and today we also announced the Geely Safety Experiment Center, which will be open to the industry, sharing our technological achievements in the field of safety. Lastly, Geely has always insisted on walking with users, market-oriented, and user-centered. This is something Geely has been talking about for many years, and has already done so.
In fact, every product, whether before, during, or after development, cannot be separated from the user. Just as mentioned at the press conference, the Galaxy E8 starts from scratch and is the result of collaboration between multiple departments. We have disputes and collisions every time, such as whether the screen is 8K or 4K. The cost of 4K is definitely lower, and 8K is definitely higher. But the user’s experience is good. Just now, a picture with 2K, 4K, and 8K has a big difference in clarity. In the end, we decided to use 8K because users like it. Geely has always said that it wants to make smart quality cars for everyone, high-value quality cars. In the current era, if everyone pays attention to the price, they may be biased. What Geely wants to do is not price competition. A price war is completely contrary to us. We hope to provide mainstream, intelligent, and high-value cars to everyone in the mainstream segmented market and mainstream mass market. We have our own considerations for setting this price. We want to be the best in this level in China. This is my ambition. New energy companies in China are all facing this problem, but one thing is important: large-scale production is important. After everything is industrialized and scaled, costs will naturally come down. Just like when pricing, Mr. Yi said it was this price. I said no, Mr. Yi said yes, and I will see if there is a possibility of further reduction in technology. At the same time, we also have a good and huge procurement system. Because of the ability to purchase globally, and through L7 and L6, our suppliers believe that Geely Galaxy can be supplied in large quantities. The most important thing for suppliers is whether they can be supplied in large quantities. Selling a thousand units a month, five thousand units a month, and ten thousand units a month are completely different concepts. Our young people like Chinese culture, Chinese trends, and China’s confidence is increasing. At the time, I asked Mr. Yi if China’s culture could become a global trend, and Mr. Yi said it could. He brought several pictures, and I said at the time, “What is this world trend?” Later, after repeated polishing, this is the Chinese culture, Chinese confidence, and world trend, so we have the Galaxy E8 today. Yi Zong: Everyone can see that we haven’t shouted “subversion” for a long time, and today we mentioned “subversion” again. Why can we subvert? It means that this pure electric flagship has met the needs of this group of people. Users have made it clear that we must sell Chinese pure electric cars, without any imitation. We want to support Chinese brands, but in the end, it feels like imitation. This won’t work. We need to incorporate elements and connotations of Chinese culture into the design to achieve many of our ideas. It seems contradictory, but in reality, we can solve it with our technology, including vehicle height and space, as well as interior space. We co-create with users, and we insist on original design, giving users more cultural confidence. In addition, the Galaxy E8 not only embodies Chinese culture in its appearance, but also provides a global leading design with a 45-inch 8K borderless smart screen. Like the Apple concept car, it represents respect for flagship users, giving many middle-class people more reasons to buy a Chinese brand flagship car. Furthermore, we must ensure good driving. A pure electric flagship must be easy to drive. We want to make a comfortable 5-meter pure electric sedan, allowing the whole family to have a comfortable experience during the ride. We have achieved “synchronization of people and cars” without motion sickness, and the adjustment of the entire vehicle suspension is biased towards comfort. Today, we also demonstrated that safety is ingrained in Geely’s genes. When making flagship models, we prioritize safety. Many aspects must give way to safety, including the layout of the engine compartment, the strength of the door sill, the entire three-leaf clover structure, the safety of the battery, and the frame, all of which are about twice the national standard, showing our respect for flagship users.
Also intelligent, matched with the flagship Snapdragon 8295 cockpit chip from Qualcomm. Also a 45-inch 8K borderless smart screen, not just three screens connected together, we can achieve hundreds of screen splits and displays through some twisting and cross-screen applications, with full screen, half screen, three separate screens, and a central control screen, the width can be freely combined. According to everyone’s needs, we have done a lot of flexible designs to better meet everyone’s needs. This is a design original to Galaxy. Why do we dare to call it a subversion this time? Mr. Fan also made it very clear. We have now harvested a supply chain system that has developed together with Galaxy. Everyone can see Geely’s determination, and the previous products of Geely Galaxy have pioneered the entire industry, also knowing what Geely’s products are like. They are very willing to work with us to build a truly pure electric car for users and the market.
And this price is not just a subversion of the mainstream pure electric, but also a replacement for luxury oil vehicles, which is also one of our goals. Why has the market of over 150,000 and around 200,000 been dominated by Accord and Camry for a long time? There are still some reasons, but this time we have given the appearance, performance, intelligence, safety, and price, which is our confidence and backbone. Reporter: Talk about the impact of the changes in the purchase tax policy on sales. Fan: From the current overall environment, the market competition next year will be more intense. Everyone will bring out their own strengths. Our chairman also said that we must bring out our real kung fu. From the current pure electric market and the early booking situation, the East China, South China, and Central China are the largest in terms of sales volume. Southwest China is Chengdu and Chongqing, which are still focused on the mainstream market. After the purchase tax is levied next year, pure electric vehicles will definitely continue to develop, but the speed of development may not be so fast. At the same time, it has also given us a reminder because we are not walking on one leg, but on two legs. There is also the oil vehicle. Last month, we released the China Star Smart Propulsion dual flagship in Zhengzhou, which is also the main reason for the continuous increase in sales volume of the entire Geely Automobile Group. We believe that in the fuel vehicle market, the future development is hybrid technology. Now, in terms of performance, power, and fuel economy, users have begun to recognize it. Therefore, the impact of the purchase tax next year will not have a great impact on the overall sales volume of Geely. Reporter: Mr. Fan, how do you understand the word “roll”? How do you plan to roll out a moat for the galaxy? Fan: Geely will not engage in a price war, but it is not afraid of a price war. This is a point I have expressed in many occasions. Because if we only engage in a price war, the ultimate victim will definitely be the user. Second, why are we not afraid of a price war? The entire Geely Automobile Group has strong R&D capabilities, procurement capabilities, and channel capabilities, and can control costs. Therefore, we are not afraid of a price war. What we truly advocate is to fight a value war, a service war, and to fight a word-of-mouth war. After the arrival of the Galaxy L6, many teachers asked me, other brands have achieved 99,000, 89,000 for some hybrid products, Galaxy L6 started at more than 110,000, more than 120,000, how to compete with them. In the 130,000 to 150,000 hybrid car market, our sales are the top, I think the user’s reputation is the first, the user’s experience is also the first. Geely does not want to simply lower the price. If the product is over 80,000, 90,000, the product experience is not so good. This is definitely related to cost, and short-term losses can be accepted, but what if there are long-term losses? The current price is low, but we have not set the price of the car very low. The average selling price of the entire Galaxy is 160,000, so I think that going low must definitely be high value. Who provides more services and technical support for users, and provides more safety in these areas, it will definitely drive the common development of the entire new energy industry. If you only focus on lowering prices, today Company A goes bankrupt, and tomorrow Company B closes. It must be like this. If you cannot achieve the value, user experience, technology development, safety, and fast charging, urban NOA, Ai large models, smart manufacturing, etc., then I think there may be no future. This has always been my point of view. Positive reduction is power, and it is beneficial to “reduce”. Geely Galaxy products have high value, high technology, high experience, and can laugh to the end, while the Galaxy E8 is the “reduction king”. Reporter: What is the strategic significance of the Galaxy E8 for Geely Group, and what mission does it undertake? Mr. Fan: For the entire Geely Automobile Group, the Galaxy E8 is Geely’s first pure electric car, Geely’s first SEA architecture product, and Geely’s brand new pure electric flagship, which plays a leading role in the brand. Second, in terms of technology, many people say, since there is 800V, why not make it standard, because we want to meet the needs of mainstream users. In the mainstream user market, many people have performance needs, and many also have cost-effective needs to meet different users. The third, we first packaged the phone, drone, and satellite communication ecosystem, which will play a good role in the future for the customized “Meizu 21” phone for the Galaxy E8. By swiping the screen with three fingers, all the phone information is swiped onto this 45-inch 8K screen, instantly displayed, and feels very shocking and smooth. The second drone, in the future, can achieve the function of flying with the user. Some images taken by the drone can be automatically transmitted to this screen. Third, in the future, Geely will launch more satellites into the Galaxy E8. We have tried to connect the phone ecosystem, satellite ecosystem, and some products. Integrated with the latest technology such as Geely architecture, three-electric, and intelligent network connection, the Galaxy E8 is destined for success. It is a key model for Geely to accelerate its comprehensive new transformation and undertake the mission of opening up the B-level pure electric car market. Reporter: I would like to ask President Yi, in terms of the ecosystem, Huawei and Xiaomi have their own ecosystem layout. Where is the gap for Geely, and what kind of thinking is behind it? President Yi: Today’s “smart interconnection” allows cars to connect freely and easily with mobile phones, drones, smart homes, and even satellites. Only “Hua Xiao Mei” has the production capacity to integrate phones and cars. In terms of the ecosystem, we are more comprehensive and complete than them. The “Smart Geely 2025” strategy has been fully implemented on the Geely Galaxy, from the improvement of three-electric technology, energy replenishment system, self-developed chips, mass production of operating systems, satellite interconnection, and large models.
Huawei and Xiaomi are moving the tablet ecosystem into the car, while we rely more on the interaction of the 45-inch 8K borderless smart screen to make the ecosystem layout more complete than many competitors, and more in-depth. Our Galaxy Crystal Knob is very powerful, capable of comprehensive interaction, usually for volume. When you use voice activation, such as adjusting the air volume to 3, the knob can adjust the air volume. It is a multi-modal control, including one-touch access to 3D space by pressing it, as well as cinema and other ten major scenes that can be accessed with one touch. In addition, voice control, we have also achieved the industry’s first voice interactive AI model. Ask it some relevant questions, and it can respond quickly and intelligently, chat with you, provide proactive reminders, and support external voice control. Mr. Fan: Geely’s ecosystem is quite comprehensive, not only with its own Meizu, but also with Time and Space Dao Yu, which can be used for drones, satellites, etc. In addition, we have our own peripherals. For the entire ecosystem, cars are just one part of the entire life and entertainment circle. Just now, what Lao Yi said is very correct. The biggest difference between Geely’s ecosystem layout and others is that our layout is broader and reaches every aspect of users’ lives and work. There are drones for travel, and there may be more in the future. There is a lot of interaction in the car. Galaxy E8 has indeed brought me a lot of ecological thinking. Reporter: Two small questions. First, Galaxy E8 aims to subvert, what brand is it going to subvert? Is it to subvert some pure electric or joint venture brands, or entry-level luxury? What is the target sales volume? Mr. Fan: For the first question, I think the answer is “both.” Galaxy E8 aims to subvert the current mainstream pure electric market leader and become a super substitute for luxury joint venture fuel vehicles. This is the first one. Second, my goal is definitely to enter the first camp of the entire segmented market, or even the first position. I think it has the strength, and in terms of marketing layout, you can also see the determination of the entire Geely company. In less than a year, we built 650 stores, and next year the sales outlets will reach 800. With this speed, we can better serve our Galaxy users with services and experiences different from gasoline vehicles. Yi Zong: Every product of Galaxy is leading China’s new energy into a value-up “new stage”. The Galaxy series sets the benchmark for each segmented market. We want to do this market well, compete with endurance, and be very safe and well-controlled in all aspects, including safety protection, infrastructure investment, the ability of the Xingrui large model, and the 7X24-hour monitoring of the Geely Xingrui smart computing center. We have been leading the industry. So far, not a single car has caused overheating due to battery problems. We have reason to let everyone choose Galaxy in the new energy market. Believe in Galaxy. This is our goal. Reporter: I looked at Geely’s performance in 2023, and it’s not bad. What gives you the confidence to achieve the 1.9 million sales target in 2024? Fan Zong: In 2023, Geely’s brand made a double breakthrough in new and value-up, with record sales exceeding 1.68 million for the year, exceeding the annual sales target of 1.65 million. New energy repeatedly broke records, with over 60,000 in December, an increase of about 36% year-on-year, reaching record highs for 11 consecutive months. The annual sales of new energy vehicles reached 487,461 units, a strong increase of over 48%. There are several reasons for the overachievement. The first is that the sales of traditional cars have been maintained, ranking at the forefront of the entire segmented market. Second, the Galaxy L7 and L6 hybrids are an increase, with sales of 100,000 in seven months. Third, the positioning of the geometry products has changed, returning to their rightful position. We have launched the Panda and Firefly series, and made some adjustments to the positioning and models, which are currently selling well. The confidence to achieve 1.9 million vehicles this year also comes from the points just mentioned. However, there is one difference. The first one we can hold on to is because through the merger of the entire oil vehicle last year, the serialization of communication, including the creation of serialized products, 24 years still have to adhere to the entire oil vehicle, the series of products such as Dihao, Zhongguo Xing, and Bo series, these series have already risen, and when users choose independent brand fuel vehicles, these four series of products meet the needs of different segmented markets. For example, those who want to buy high-value fuel vehicles must choose the Zhongguo Xing series, as one of their options. For those who want to buy some entry-level or popular models, the Dihao series will definitely be one of their options. Those who want to buy slightly more mature, well-controlled SUV series must choose the Boyue series as one of their options. The creation of these series is very clear in each segment. I think that in 24 years, the oil vehicle’s market share has already been half successful. The sales volume of L6 and L7 is still steadily growing. Now the Galaxy E8 has arrived, bringing Eastern aesthetics, safety, supercar performance, and boundless intelligence to the mainstream market, becoming the first choice for users to buy mainstream pure electric vehicles. Soon, there will be other Galaxy products coming out, and Geely Galaxy will continue to bring innovative technology and products, such as the self-developed new generation 11-in-1 intelligent electric drive, as well as distributed wheel-side electric drive, allowing mainstream products to have “tank turn” capability, and the new generation of CTB technology, self-developed new formula batteries, and other cutting-edge new energy technologies, bringing high-value experience. So Galaxy will definitely grow. In addition to products, we will launch a new pure electric architecture, a new electric drive, self-developed batteries, Ai intelligent cockpit, urban commuting NOA, satellites, and other new three-electric and intelligent new technologies and achievements, with the confidence and ecological atmosphere brought by new technologies, including the shared group’s energy supplement ecology, and the improvement of Geely’s “integrated” intelligent travel ecosystem, continuously deepening the transformation of new energy and intelligence, accelerating globalization, and building a strong intelligent electrification system. So the goal of 1.9 million vehicles in sales, we will do our best to achieve it.