In addition to the wailing of the old car owners 249,800 what else can the new M7 bring to AITO？

On September 12, 2023, AITO asked the world M7 smart driving version announced the listing, the manufacturer’s guide price 24.98-32 9,800 yuan, of which the price of the five-seat model is 24.98-30 9,800 yuan, and the six-seat model is 26.98-32 9,800 yuan. Compared with the previous pre-sale price of 258,000 yuan at the Chengdu Auto Show, the price has been reduced by 8,200 yuan. For new intended customers, it may be worth celebrating, but for old users, there is a word popular on the Internet called "backstab"!

The upgrade of 5 "small goals", how can the old car owners feel?

The more critical issue is that according to Yu Chengdong’s statement, the mid-term reform of the M7 has invested more than 500 million yuan, and the new car body has been re-opened, structural upgrade, and the welding production line has been re-transformed. The material has also been upgraded, saying that new high-strength steel and composite body materials have been used.

Of course, this is the invisible place. In the visible place, the new Q Jie M7 has also been upgraded. The biggest concern is the addition of the HUAWEI ADS 2.0 intelligent driving system. With the blessing of 27 sensors in 1 lidar, 3 millimeter wave radars, 11 high definition visual perception cameras and 12 ultrasonic radars, the new car can cover the NCA function of urban areas across the country. According to public information, the intelligent pilot function of the HUAWEI ADS 2.0 intelligent driving system does not require high-precision maps. I don’t know how users who only support L2-level intelligent driving assistance feel about this.

In addition, among the 500 million upgrade costs, Yu Chengdong mentioned that he spent 100 million on the upgrade of the interior and exterior trims, but whether it really cost 100 million remains to be seen, after all, from the perspective of interior and exterior design, the changes are minimal. The exterior level only adds a lidar to the roof, from a design point of view, this should not cost, because it is just copied from the plan of the peers, of course, there are slight adjustments in the forward air barrier; and the interior part, only a five-seat version was added. Yu Chengdong said at the press conference that the new seat has a 10-layer comfortable cushion design and the seat softness has been improved by 10%, so maybe the development of the new seat does require a certain cost, but does it need a "small goal"?

No matter whether the cost mentioned by Yu Chengdong is true or not, only from the price of the new car and the new ADS 2.0 intelligent driving system, the old car owners should also be more chilled, especially the first batch of top car owners cost as much as 379,800 yuan, and since August 24, 2022, the batch delivery has been launched, and it has not been more than a year. This also reminds the editor that Yu Chengdong said in the M7 listing, "The biggest problem with this car is that it is too cheap"!

After a significant price reduction, it remains a formidable enemy

No matter how indignant the old car owners are, the past has passed. For the wold-be user, the most practical point is whether the seemingly advanced new car is worth considering.

In the current market, the competitive pressure of the M7 is not small, and there are too many competitors at the same price. Among the veterans, BYD Tang DM-p, who has been in the market for many years, and the rookie Lynk & Co 08 new energy, which has just been listed, is also a strong competitor. Going up a little, the strength and cost performance of the newly listed Avita 11 Hongmeng Edition are also good.

Perhaps some people will question, in terms of positioning, whether the M7 is a medium-sized and large-scale extended-range SUV, while the Tang DM-p and Lynk & Co 08 new energy are both medium-sized SUVs. How are they comparable?

The fact is that, despite the fact that the M7 has a higher positioning, it has only a good three-dimensional, while the wheelbase is only 2820mm, which is extremely rare among medium and large SUVs, and even inferior to the 2880mm wheelbase of its compatriot, the M5.

In terms of the theory that the wheelbase determines the longitudinal riding space, the space performance of the Q-Jie M7 is unsatisfactory. For example, among the models of the same medium and large new energy SUV, the Avita 11 wheelbase is 2975mm. Compared with the BYD Tang DM-p and Lynk & Co 08 new energy, the Q-Jie M7 is only equal to the 2820mm wheelbase of the Tang DM-p at most, and there is still a gap with the 2848mm wheelbase of the Lynk & Co 08 new energy. Therefore, the wheelbase is similar, the price overlaps in a wide range, and it is also a new energy, but the difference between plug-in and range extension, naturally some people will compare them.

In addition to space, there is also power. The Qjie M7 provides two driving forms of 200kW single motor and 330kW dual motor. The former has a maximum horsepower of 272 horsepower and a maximum torque of 360N · m, and the latter has a maximum horsepower of 449 horsepower and a maximum torque of 660N · m. Official data show that the acceleration of 100 kilometers is 7.8 seconds and 4.8 seconds respectively.

On the other hand, BYD Tang DM-p full-series dual motors, with a total motor power of 360kW, equivalent to 489 horsepower, a maximum torque of 675N · m, and a 100-kilometer acceleration of 4.3 seconds; while Lynk & Co 08 also provides two drive layouts for single and double motors. Although a single motor has only 160kW of power, the torque can also reach 350N · m. Compared with the M7 single-motor model, there should be no obvious difference in the speed-up ability. The dual-motor model has a total motor power of 316kW, equivalent to 430 horsepower, and a maximum torque of 640N · m. Although the book parameters are slightly inferior to the 449 horsepower and 660N · m torque of the M7, its 100-kilometer acceleration is 4.6 seconds, faster than the 4.8 seconds of the M7 dual motor. Therefore, compared with the power, whether it is compared with BYD Tang DM-p or Lynk & Co 08 new energy, the new world M7 actually has no chance of winning.

Then there is the pure electric battery life. The new M7 CLTC pure electric battery life is 210km and 240km, and the WLTC battery life is 175km and 210km respectively. At this level, whether it is compared with BYD Tang DM-p or Lynk & Co 08 new energy, it can only be said that each has its own strengths and weaknesses. Lynk & Co 08 new energy CLTC pure electric battery life is 120km, 220km and 245km respectively, and the corresponding WLTC battery life is 102km, 185km and 205km respectively; BYD Tang DM-p has not officially announced CLTC battery life, only WLTC and NEDC battery life, the former is 189km, the latter is 215km.

In comparison, it will be found that only the lowest version of Lynk & Co 08 new energy has a slightly worse battery life. The battery life of medium and high-end models is not bad compared with that of the M7, while the Tang DM-P, which only provides a battery life version, also has 189km of CLTC battery life. Compared with the M7, it is also more than enough.

From the above point of view, the new world M7 seems to be positioned as a medium and large SUV, but in terms of wheelbase, power, battery life performance, and the price range of the main models, it is highly aligned with medium-sized SUVs such as BYD Tang DM-p and Lynk & Co 08 New Energy. Even in terms of price, Lynk & Co 08 New Energy is actually more competitive. More importantly, whether it is Tang DM-p or Lynk & Co 08 New Energy, both have a high market voice and good brand influence, but the AITO M7 may be relatively lacking in this level.

Of course, some people will say that the Xinwenjie M7 has the blessing of Huawei ADS 2.0 intelligent driving system, and the intelligent level is outstanding, and the Tang DM-p and Lynk & Co 08 new energy are incomparable. Although this is an undeniable fact, there are not many products equipped with Huawei ADS intelligent driving system, from the new HI version of Jinfu α coefficient S to Avita 11, but it does not seem to see hot sales. Can the Xinwenjie M7 break this deadlock?

It should also be emphasized that this set of intelligent driving system is not cheap, with four-wheel drive Plus version 5 seats and intelligent driving four-wheel drive Max version 5 seats, the price difference is 25,000 yuan, the main difference is a smart driving function, with the current degree of technical perfection and regulatory requirements, it will be the rigid needs of most people?

Nice start, but high and low

With the blessing of Huawei, AITO actually had a very good start. Yu Chengdong was proud to say that AITO’s first model, the M5, achieved a delivery record of over 10,000 in just 87 days, breaking the industry record. When the M5 was on the verge of breaking the bamboo, AITO launched the M7 while the iron was hot, and also achieved good results. It went on sale in July, started mass delivery in August, and sold nearly 5,000 vehicles in September. For the M7, which was priced at 31.98-37 9,800 yuan at the time, this is quite worth showing off.

However, the good times did not last long, and sales fell back in November. By 2023, they had bottomed out directly. According to the data, from January to August 2023, the cumulative retail sales of the AITO M7 were only 7,936 units, with an average monthly sales volume of less than 1,000 units.

But it is worth interesting that in July 2022, after the launch of the M7, AITO officially claimed that the 4-hour order broke 20,000, and the 72-hour order broke 60,000, but the data shows that in 2022, the cumulative sales of the M7 were 21,226 vehicles, which is about one-third of the "72-hour order broken 60,000". It has to be said that the conversion rate of this "order" to "order" is slightly lower. And this time, the official said that the order volume of the new M7 exceeded 15,000 units in less than 24 hours, so how much will be lost from order to order this time?

Electric EV: Bloom in an instant, how to "shake the lead"?

In 2022, AITO sold 75,000 cars in the whole year. For a new car-making force that has been established for just over a year, the results are quite good, but it is a bit like a short-lived flower. Although it is beautiful, it is only an instant bloom. Especially after Huawei once again emphasized that it does not build cars, AITO’s situation seems to have suddenly become difficult. Can the new world M7 turn the tide and achieve what Yu Chengdong said is "a shaky lead"?