Source: Financial Investment News Reporter He Menglu Photo/Text Since the beginning of the year, Ideal Car has been performing well, with increasing sales, impressive performance, and new car releases. However, unexpectedly, a public opinion storm suddenly hit after the release of the first all-electric luxury MPV – MEGA. Ideal Car intended to use MEGA to open up a new market and become the next popular family-level vehicle, but the reality is maliciously photoshopped and a large number of cancellations. Undoubtedly, Ideal Car is now at the center of the storm.
Ideal car showroom in Taikoo Li, Chengdu Li Xiang counterattack On March 11, Li Xiang, Chairman and CEO of Ideal Car, made a positive response to the “MEGA Stigma Incident” for the first time in his circle of friends. In this long response, Li Xiang stated that after careful consideration, he decided to counterattack and use light to counter the darkness. He said: “For the organized illegal criminal acts in the event, we have been dealing with them through legal means.” Li Xiang’s response has received many voices of support He Xiaopeng, CEO of Xiaopeng Motors, Yu Chengdong, CEO of Huawei Terminal BG and Chairman of the Intelligent Car Solutions BU, Li Yunfei, brand and public relations manager of BYD Group, and Yang Xueliang, Senior Vice President of Geely Holding Group, all posted on social platforms to support Ideal Car On the same evening, the official Weibo of JiKe also stated: “Car companies should bring more and better products and consumer experiences to consumers in a benign competition. JiKe resolutely opposes any immoral and unethical marketing that violates public order and good customs, and hopes that car companies and consumers can work together to maintain a good atmosphere for the sustainable development of China’s new energy vehicle industry.” “During the process of making cars, as long as it is independent innovation, it should be encouraged, and it should not be allowed to be trampled on by online violence to destroy the sustainability of benign market competition.” Shen Meng, director of Xiangsong Capital, told the Financial Investment News reporter. From a legal perspective, whether malicious photo editing constitutes infringement of Ideal Car and what legal responsibilities it needs to bear, Lawyer Zhang Xiaoliang of Beijing Tianda Republic Law Firm believes: “Photo editing and false facts infringe on the legal personality rights that Ideal Car is entitled to by law. The infringer should bear the liability for infringement, and the forms of liability include stopping the infringement, restoring reputation, eliminating the impact, apologizing, and compensating for losses.” MEGA storm All of this stems from this MPV that focuses on many market highlights. After the launch of the new car MEGA, comments and images comparing it to a “coffin car” quickly spread online. The MPV was maliciously edited to look like a “coffin car” or “hearse” in the circulated photos. Due to the impact of online violence, MEGA’s cancellations have increased significantly, and the delivery volume is worrying. Ideal car stock prices have plummeted and market value has shrunk substantially. MEGA’s price of up to 559,800 yuan (77880$) has attracted industry attention. When compared with the existing L series prices, it once again sets a new record for the highest selling price of Ideal car models. Li Xiang introduced that MEGA adopts an 800V high-voltage platform and is equipped with the Kirin 5C battery pack jointly developed with CATL, with a battery capacity of 102.7 kWh. The range under CLTC conditions is 710 kilometers, and it can achieve a charging speed of 12 minutes for a 500-kilometer range. A financial investment report noticed that MEGA is of extraordinary significance to Ideal car. It is clear from the recent announcements and research that this year will be an unprecedented year for Ideal car products, and MEGA is the first “ace” thrown in response to the “pure electric” market. Li Xiang previously had high expectations for MEGA’s sales, stating, “MEGA will become Ideal’s next explosive product, and I am confident it will become the best-selling product for cars priced above 500,000 yuan (69560$).” There are reports that the large orders for the new pure electric car model MEGA have not exceeded 10,000, and the number of small orders converted to large orders is also limited. Within 72 hours of its launch, the large orders for this model were approximately 3,218, while the cancellations were as high as 10,297. As of the time of writing, Ideal car has not responded with specific order data after MEGA’s launch. It is worth mentioning that due to the negative news, Ideal’s stock price has continued to decline, and the market value has shrunk significantly. As of the close of trading on March 12, Ideal car’s stock price on the Hong Kong stock market was 147 Hong Kong dollars per share, up 1.94%. Since March 1st, the stock price of Li Xiang has been plummeting, with a market value evaporating nearly 60 billion Hong Kong dollars.
A corner of the ideal car showroom Industry insiders analyze that the cause of the sharp drop in the stock price of Ideal is not only the overvaluation of Ideal Cars by the market in the early stage, but more importantly, MEGA has not met its previous sales expectations. Ideal Cars may find it difficult to achieve a turnaround in the short term. Reporter’s Notes “It’s not just Ideal Cars that are hurt, it’s also a kind of harm to consumers” On February 26, Ideal Cars announced the most beautiful annual report data ever. The financial report shows that it achieved a revenue of 123.851 billion yuan in 2023, and a net profit of 11.809 billion yuan. As a result, Ideal Cars became the first domestic “new force in car manufacturing” to achieve an annual revenue of over 100 billion yuan. This set of impressive data reveals Ideal Cars’ position as a “top student” in the new energy vehicle market. In the midst of envy from others, Ideal Cars strides into the “pure electric” market, attempting to open a second growth curve, but the newly listed MEGA unexpectedly encountered online violence. “It’s not just Ideal Cars that are hurt, it’s also a kind of harm to consumer rights. Ideal Cars can be “not ideal,” MEGA can also “not sell well,” but what should defeat Ideal should be products that are more competitive in the market, not malicious competition that is fabricated, vilified, and suppressed. Looking at the new energy vehicle market, the pace of car companies’ transformation is accelerating. The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers announced sales data showing that in February, the domestic retail penetration rate of new energy vehicles was 35.8%, an increase of 3.8 percentage points from the 32% penetration rate in the same period last year, and an increase of 2.9 percentage points from the penetration rate in January. In the benign competition of “you chase me”, what should truly be tested is the hard strength of the car companies, not the malicious slander that has no basis.