On April 25th, the 18th Beijing International Automotive Exhibition officially opened. The domestic car market has gradually recovered from previous lows and uncertainties this year, welcoming new changes in industry structure, technological routes, and product forms: the momentum of intelligence and electrification continues to grow, and the iteration of brands and products accelerates. The theme of this year’s Beijing International Automotive Exhibition is “New Era, New Cars,” showcasing the latest technological achievements in intelligence, electrification, and other aspects of the automotive industry, as well as the new changes it brings to consumers. During interviews with Sina Auto, executives from different companies expressed their views. Jiyue Auto’s CFO Liu Jining said, “By 2024, when all kinds of devices around us gradually become intelligent, users naturally expect cars to be intelligent as well. It’s hard for everyone to tolerate being surrounded by smart environments and then finding the car not smart enough.”
Interview Transcript Sina Auto: Welcome, General Liu, to the 2024 Beijing Auto Show Sina Auto live broadcast room. We know Jiyue Auto is a highly anticipated brand. Can you share with our online friends what models Jiyue Auto has brought to this year’s auto show and what are the highlights? Liu Jining: Today we just unveiled our all-new electric sedan Jiyue 07, which will be launched this year. Today is a showcase of its appearance. Everyone can see that our car’s design is very original and beautiful. Not only does it look sporty and beautiful, but it also takes into account aerodynamics. The car’s overall drag coefficient has reached a historic low among similar sedans. It also has excellent space and interior. We will share more details about the interior and space before the car is officially released. This is a car that has attracted a lot of market attention this year and is worth waiting for. We hope everyone continues to follow it. Thank you. Sina Auto: Just as you mentioned the Jiyue 01, I heard from media friends that it is a very capable model. Can you provide more details about the main advantages of Jiyue 01? Liu Jining: We delivered the Jiyue 01 at the end of last year, and now it is available in the market for everyone to buy. It can be summarized in three simple points: good-looking, good to drive, and smart. Firstly, it looks good. Our car has a very sporty appearance and many innovative design elements. It has also received global recognition in three design aspects. Driving is easier to understand. I won’t list many parameters here. Our sibling is Jike 001, which has also received a lot of good feedback in terms of handling. Our hardware chassis is identical to our sibling models in many technical parameters. Through this model, everyone may understand the advantages of our car in terms of driving experience. The most important feature is intelligence. Our cars are equipped with advanced urban intelligent driving as standard. It can already achieve electric point-to-point assisted driving in five cities nationwide. It was announced at this morning’s press conference that in May, our entire user base will experience our urban intelligent driving in 100 cities nationwide. Next, in July, we will have 30 cities, and by the end of this year, the whole country will be able to experience it. This will be a major highlight for us in terms of intelligence. In addition to intelligent driving, our intelligent cockpit also provides a leading industry experience. In addition to our standard high-end 8295 chip, we have also incorporated many intelligent cockpit capabilities from Baidu, including voice, various first-class experiences, and the ability to fully experience Wenxin’s words when getting on board. Sina Auto: As you just mentioned, Jiyue has its unique features in intelligent driving. Besides that, when it comes to the Jiyue brand, I first think of intelligence. We have previously mentioned that Jiyue is positioned as a concept of automotive robots. In addition to what you just mentioned about intelligent driving and intelligent cockpit, what else do you think can be said about intelligence? Liu Jining: First, I think that by 2024, the configuration of single-screen hardware in the entire automobile market will not differ much. Recently, many industry insiders have a common view that in the first half, we are competing in electrification, and in the second half, we are competing in intelligence. Specifically in 2024, intelligence will be advanced intelligent driving, which must be plug and play, allowing users to use it with peace of mind. Our product must cover a certain number of cities and be ready by the end of the year. We must have enough capability, including obtaining L3 level city road testing in Wuhan, which demonstrates our ability. We use the world’s only pure visual technology, which does not rely on high-precision maps or LiDAR, to achieve excellent advanced intelligent driving. Through continuous iteration of our visual large models, we will push our intelligent driving capability to a higher level. In addition, we may be in the introductory period of a new intelligent product market, and there may be some confusion or doubt about the usability of these products. We have partnered with our insurance company partner Ping An to launch Smart Driving Insurance. In the event of minor scratches while using our urban advanced intelligent driving, there will be a separate insurance product to help users cover small property losses, making users feel more secure. Recently in the tech circle, the topic that everyone can’t avoid is large models. We have made a lot of efforts and breakthroughs in the field of large models. You can see this in our vehicles. With the rapid development of large model capabilities, we have also strengthened our software iteration capabilities. Within a few months of delivery, we have extensive OTA updates every month. The total number of OTA functions has exceeded many competitors. Our monthly update quantity surpasses the update capabilities of many competitors in a year or even longer. By combining our top-notch hardware capabilities with continuously iterating software capabilities to keep up with the technological development of large models, we allow users to experience new features every month and enjoy the best technology in new environments continuously.
Sina Auto: Just now, listening to your introduction of the Vanbo electric vehicle, we can see the confidence we have in our intelligent driving technology. At this auto show, the Vanbo 07 made its debut, known as the most beautiful 7 series. What are the design highlights of the Vanbo 07? Liu Jining: Our design is original, with many details in common with the first model. We insist on original family design to make it recognizable. We draw inspiration from the Venus sculpture for many design elements, achieving industry-leading depth in surface stamping. This not only brings a beautiful appearance but also benefits users in terms of energy efficiency and battery range. Sina Auto: As the first member of the intelligent driving team, what characteristics do you think the fuel car market and new energy car market have? What do you think their future development will be like, including your product planning for 2024? Liu Jining: By 2024, with everything becoming more intelligent, users will naturally demand intelligent cars. Whether fuel cars or electric cars, intelligence is an increasing demand. Users spend most of their time driving in cars, so intelligent driving will be the most important thing they feel directly. Not only does long-distance driving give users a sense of security, but it also saves users time and space. Users can enjoy the journey more easily while also ensuring their safety actively and passively. Sina Auto: What breakthroughs do you think car technology will have this year? Liu Jining: Looking back at the entire automotive industry, we have almost reached a limit in terms of thermal efficiency in the era of fuel cars after many years of development. With electric cars, there was initially a lot of anxiety about the efficiency of the three electric aspects, including range. With the introduction of large batteries, fast charging, and the popularization of high-voltage charging technology, we believe we will reach a stage peak. When we can already provide users with a good user experience in these areas, we believe that intelligence will be the next focus of pursuit. Compared to other engine technologies and three electric technologies, there is greater potential for growth in this area. Sina Auto: This is the strength of Jiuye Auto in this aspect. Liu Jining: This was also the industry trend we envisioned when our company was established three years ago. As we have developed to this day, we believe that the overall industry trend is still very consistent with our vision, which motivates us to persist in this trend. Sina Auto: We have one last question, which comes from netizens. You can take a look at the question board, where the top three topics most discussed by netizens on Weibo in the past six months are listed. You can choose one to express your opinion. Liu Jining: I will directly answer the most concerning and practical question, “Is 2024 a good time to buy a car?” I think 2024 is indeed a good time to buy a car. My reason is that we are currently in an AI era, a time when large models are on board and spread across various devices. So, the earlier you buy a car empowered by a large model, the more convenience you will enjoy in life. However, we need to pay attention. Although it is a good time to buy a car, we must choose a car with a lot of potential in intelligent hardware and ensure that the manufacturer can provide users with timely, fast, and efficient OTA upgrades in intelligent software. Sina Auto: Thank you, General Liu, for sharing your views with us. We wish Jiyue Auto continued success. Liu Jining: Thank you.