In April, the sales of new forces were announced, and Xiaomi's momentum overshadowed Wanjie and Ideal.

Major car companies have implemented the spirit of Labor Day, releasing their sales performance for April during the holiday. BYD undoubtedly took the top spot, delivering 313,245 vehicles in April, far exceeding other new energy brands. However, the competition within the new forces camp was particularly exciting.

In April, Ideal Car delivered 25,787 vehicles, surpassing Weimar's 25,086 deliveries and reclaiming the top spot in the new energy vehicle camp. Both NIO and Leapmotor, two new energy vehicle brands, achieved monthly sales of over 15,000 vehicles, while Xiaopeng and NIO slowed down their growth, with both recording sales of less than 10,000 vehicles in April.

Xiaomi's first-time release of monthly sales figures showed a contribution of 7,058 vehicles, which is quite impressive for a new energy vehicle brand that has just launched its first model.

Take another look at the new energy brands under the traditional group. Jike has surpassed NIO and Leapmotor, and Deep Blue has surpassed Xiaopeng and WM Motor. The growth rate of the two brands, Avita and Lantu, is relatively slow.

It has to be said that the new energy vehicle market in April did show a positive trend. Perhaps, in addition to benefiting from the high popularity of the Beijing Auto Show, the frequent appearances of top executives from major car companies also played a significant role.

Behind the positive trend in the automotive industry, there is actually an intensification of internal competition. New energy products tend to be homogeneous. In addition to striving to "squeeze toothpaste" in terms of technology, car companies must also adopt new marketing strategies such as adding traffic in order to seize market share.

Xiaomi's first-quarter results were announced as Ideal surpassed Weilai, and Xiaomi's first-quarter results were announced.

In April, Ideal delivered 25,787 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 0.4%, but there was a difference of more than 3,000 vehicles compared to the 28,984 vehicles delivered in March. Ideal plans to deliver 800,000 vehicles this year, but currently, only 106,187 vehicles have been delivered, with a completion rate of 13.27%. However, one-third of the year has already passed, and the situation is not optimistic.

To achieve this goal, it is deemed highly unlikely for the ideal to complete the task by delivering at least 86,726 units in the next few months. Based on the product positioning and current monthly sales data, it can almost be concluded that the ideal will have a hard time reaching the target.

In Xiaotong's view, the problem still lies in the excessive confidence the officials have in the Ideal MEGA, a purely electric MPV. The officials believe that the Ideal MEGA will become the sales champion of cars priced above 500,000 RMB. However, contrary to their wishes, the Ideal MEGA can only perform at the forefront of the purely electric MPV market. With the officials focusing on the Ideal MEGA, attention will inevitably shift away from the Ideal L series, the main revenue driver. Consequently, the Ideal stumbled in March.

Fortunately, the more consumer-friendly Ideal L6 was launched on April 18th and performed well. Data shows that despite only "working" for 12 days in April, the Ideal L6 still received over 20,000 orders, with over 2,000 deliveries within 6 days. This helped Ideal to solidify the sales performance of the L series, along with the official price reductions of other models, allowing Ideal to successfully surpass WENJIE.

As for WENJIE, they did not separately announce their sales figures. Hongmeng Zhihang only announced the total sales of WENJIE and ZHIJIE (29,632 units). This data seems to surpass Ideal, but if we exclude the 4,546 units contributed by ZHIJIE S7 in April, we can calculate that WENJIE delivered 25,086 units in April, 701 units less than Ideal. Overall, the sales were over 6,000 units less than in March, with the sales of the new M7 in WENJIE experiencing a significant decline, selling only 10,896 units in April, losing the momentum it had when it "challenged the Ideal L series with one car."

We may find the answer from the disclosed sales and order volume. As of April 30th, the cumulative delivery of Wanjie New M7 has exceeded 130,000 units, and the cumulative large orders have reached 180,000 units. Wanjie M9 delivered 13,400 units in April, with a cumulative large order of over 70,000 units; Wanjie New M5 received over 10,000 orders shortly after its launch.

Xiaotong believes that the main reason for the decline in sales of Wanjie New M7 is still the limited production capacity. With the continued popularity of Wanjie M9 and Wanjie New M5, in order to ensure timely delivery of each model, the manufacturer naturally cannot allocate all production capacity to Wanjie New M7.

Xiaomi's car, which has released its monthly sales figures for the first time, is finally going to compete with Huawei in the automotive industry. It has to be said that Xiaomi delivered 7,058 vehicles in its first complete month of delivery, which is already considered a "good start." It is worth noting that the monthly sales of some high-end new energy brands under certain traditional independent groups are only maintained at the level of 4,000 vehicles.

In the short term, Xiaomi's Mi Car, limited by production capacity and having only one model, does have impressive sales performance comparable to Harmony OS Smart Mobility. Lei Jun revealed that Xiaomi's Mi Car is collaborating with the supply chain to increase production capacity, setting a sales target of delivering 100,000 cars in 2024, and planning to launch an SUV model in the future. It is certain that the current stage is not the peak of Xiaomi's Mi Car. Let's wait and see.

Xpeng and NIO are far more anxious than NIO and Leapmotor.

Looking at other new entrants, NIO and Leapmotor have similar sales levels, while Xpeng and NIO are at the same sales level.

Both focusing solely on producing electric vehicles, Xpeng is much more anxious than NIO. Although NIO only released the ET7 in April, through promotion strategies such as reducing the monthly fee for BaaS and offering zero down payment purchase plans, sales have consistently remained at a relatively high level. What's more important is the forthcoming new sub-brand from NIO, Alp, expected to be launched in mid-May, with a price expected to be around 200,000, the more affordable price is likely to bring more optimistic sales figures.

Xpeng Motors has shown a certain degree of year-on-year growth in the first four months of this year, but the monthly delivery volume has always been difficult to break through the 10,000 mark, even though official discounts have been offered several times. In addition, at the beginning of last year, Xpeng was still in internal adjustment, and the sales data did not show much improvement. This predicament was not resolved until the launch of the Xpeng G6.

In the 2024 commencement internal memo, He Xiaopeng's anxiety is exposed in full swing. "Thirty models planned within three years" and "launching the new brand MONA" are the main methods for promoting Xiaopeng Motors. However, how to keep the main products such as G6, G9, P7i, and X9 competitive in the market is the main problem that Xiaopeng urgently needs to solve at this stage.

Nezha, which follows the cost-effective route, is far less anxious than Zeropao. Nezha's main sales force has always been the Nezha AYA, Nezha X, and Nezha S, and these three models themselves are positioned as high cost-effective. Faced with a price war in the car market, Nezha Motors has limited room for price reduction and can only face the decline in sales calmly.

Fortunately, Nezha launched the Nezha L on April 22nd and has already received over 15,000 orders. The company plans to deliver a large batch in May, and it is believed that Nezha's sales performance in May will be considerably better. However, it is important to note that the price war shows no sign of stopping. The "hot sales upon launch" of Nezha L may just be a "bubble." Judging from Zhou Hongyi's criticism of Nezha, it is clear that the company needs to catch up in terms of marketing, which is their biggest weakness.

Although Lixiang is also focused on cost-effectiveness, unlike Nezha, its newly launched products are moving towards the high-end market. "Car Circle Xiaomi" has also begun to make moves in the high-end market. The combined delivery volume of Lixiang C11 and Lixiang C10 has exceeded 10,000 units, becoming the main sales models for Lixiang. Currently, there are few new energy SUVs with a price tag below 200,000 yuan, and Lixiang has found this niche, quickly seizing the market through differentiation in intelligence.

In addition, during the Beijing Auto Show, Zero Run Auto unveiled the Zero Run C16. According to the official statement, the top configuration of this car will not exceed 200,000 yuan. It will also provide city high-end intelligent driving, the 8295 chip, 800V fast charging, and other configurations that are currently favored by consumers. It also adopts a six-seat layout. With this level of quality, the Zero Run C16 is considered to be the "successor" to the ideal L8. At first glance, the product does seem very competitive, and there is reason to believe that the Zero Run C16 will bring a significant increase in sales to the brand after its launch.

Is populism and diversification the future of high-end new energy?

Finally, looking at other new energy brands, JiKe set a new historical high, creating a significant gap with brands such as AVEVA and Lantu. It must be said that the all-new JiKe 001 and JiKe 007 contributed the majority of the sales, but JiKe seems not to be satisfied with this and released the all-new model JiKe MIX at the Beijing Auto Show, entering the household market.

Although the body shape of the Jike MIX is quite unique, perhaps due to its positioning in the household market, it has attracted a high level of attention at the auto show. Looking at the domestic market, many products themselves have household attributes, but so far, only the Jike Koala has been "specially designed for parent-child families." For the Jike MIX to be a bestseller, it not only needs to be reasonably priced, but also needs to use materials that are more appealing to attract more family users.

Avita and Lantu, two high-end new energy brands backed by traditional major factories, have both shown varying degrees of year-on-year growth, but such monthly sales figures are clearly still not satisfactory for the group. In fact, Avita and Lantu have the same problem. Lantu has been on the market for many years, only releasing three products, and monthly sales have not seen a significant increase. Coupled with its high-end positioning, it has always been difficult to capture market share.

Avita's net profits in 2022 and 2023 were -20.15 billion yuan and -36.93 billion yuan respectively, with a total loss of 57.08 billion yuan over the two years, which is higher than the total revenue of 56.73 billion yuan over the same period. However, compared to Lantu, Avita's situation is slightly better. Changan has stated that Avita has already received over 40,000 orders since the listing of the Avita 12 model, which should help further offset the brand's losses.

Nevertheless, Avita aims to challenge the annual sales target of 100,000 vehicles this year, but the cumulative sales in the first four months are only around 20,000 vehicles, with an achievement rate of only 20%, making it difficult for Avita to reach this goal.

In conclusion, as manufacturers focus on the Beijing Auto Show opening on April 25th, the automotive market has been less vibrant in the first half of April. Despite various price reduction measures taken by car companies, the effect has been minimal, given the approaching Beijing Auto Show and the strong consumer wait-and-see sentiment.

Looking back at this year's Beijing Auto Show, it's observed that almost all mainstream brands tend to focus on new energy vehicles as their main products. Not only have they launched a variety of new energy vehicles during the auto show, they also offer substantial discounts on new energy vehicles in conjunction with the Beijing Auto Show and the May Day holiday. Brands like Volkswagen, Nissan, and Leap Motor have announced relevant promotions.

According to the China Passenger Car Association's forecast, the retail volume of narrow passenger cars in April is expected to be 1.6 million units, with an estimated sale of 720,000 new energy vehicles, achieving a penetration rate of 45% for new energy vehicles. It is evident that the Beijing Auto Show has played a significant role in promoting sales this year. However, with no major auto shows in May, car companies will need to enhance their marketing capabilities to achieve favorable sales figures.

For most car companies, perhaps it's not so difficult to "copy homework," with figures such as Wei Jianjun from Great Wall, Lei Jun from Xiaomi, and the bosses of the three new forces being good role models for learning. However, the issues for individual car companies cannot be solved simply by copying homework or focusing on marketing efforts. For instance, An Conghui has explicitly stated that he will not become a "popular online celebrity manager," and Jike, which does not normally focus on internet marketing, has managed to lead in sales among the new forces.

In such a major trend, sticking to the original intention and focusing on product quality is the real panacea. Furthermore, what should car companies do when the trend of "executives becoming online celebrities" fades and the value of marketing no longer yields immediate returns?