Source of this article: Times Finance, Author: Cao Yu
In the first half of this year, the automobile market competition was intense, and the price war was spread to a number of automakers. In this context, according to the 2023 semi-annual report performance forecast disclosed by Sailis, its net profit attributable to the parent company improved by 20% -28% year-on-year, and the company’s business progress continued to improve.
Zhang Xinghai, chairperson (founder) of Cyrus Automobile, said: "In January this year, new energy vehicles fired the first shot in the price war, and then fuel vehicles also launched the market defense war. It can be said that the wind and waves are high and the waves are stormy!"
In the new energy vehicle market pattern of sudden change and accelerated reshuffle, Sailis maintained its resolve. At the end of May this year, AITO’s 100,000 new car was officially rolled off the production line, achieving a breakthrough from 0 to 1. It took only 15 months to become the fastest new energy vehicle brand to reach this milestone, setting an industry record again. Adhering to the "software-defined car" strategy, Sailis’s new energy vehicle business has been steady, the product matrix has been continuously expanded and enriched, the iterative upgrade and delivery speed have been accelerated, and the service system has been comprehensively renewed.
Image source: Cyrus Automotive
Product matrix expansion, launched within M9
In the first half of this year, Cyrus unlocked a number of achievements.
Sailis Automobile and Huawei jointly designed the AITO M5 Smart Driving Edition and the AITO M5 Standard Edition, which were released one after another; at the end of May, the 100,000 car in the AITO world went offline, and the 100,000 cars went offline in only 15 months, becoming the fastest growing new energy vehicle brand.
Image source: Cyrus Automotive
It is worth mentioning that the 100,000 new car off the assembly line is the AITO M5 smart driving version, which was delivered nationwide in June.
As the first "Double Smart Ceiling" model equipped with "Intelligent Driving Ceiling" HUAWEI ADS 2.0 Huawei high-end intelligent driving system and "Intelligent Cockpit Ceiling" Hongmeng intelligent cockpit 3.0, the AITO M5 smart driving version represents the industry’s electrification and intelligence benchmark, which can realize high-speed, urban high-level intelligent driving functions that do not rely on high-precision maps, and realize a high-level intelligent driving experience that is infinitely close to L3. At the same time, the new car has also been greatly upgraded in terms of vehicle appearance, interior, technology and comfort configuration.
Hard power is inseparable from cooperation. Both parties give full play to their respective advantages and conduct in-depth cooperation in core areas: Sailis Automobile is responsible for the research and development of new cars, intelligent manufacturing, services, and the creation of a full life cycle car experience. As an important integrator of software products in the Sailis Automobile Industry Chain, Huawei empowers core software and hardware technologies such as electrification and intelligent parts. The two sides integrate and win-win, and join hands to refresh the industry record.
At the same time, the new energy vehicle product matrix of Cyrus continues to expand, and the Panorama Smart flagship SUV Q-M9 will be launched in the fourth quarter of this year. The AITO Q-M9 has not been officially launched, but it has been generally optimistic about the market. The industry believes that with the successive launch of new products, the growth expectation of Cyrus is expected to be further enhanced.
The product force needs time to settle, and Sailis Automobile is gradually accumulating potential energy. After obtaining the recognition of 100,000 + users, Sailis rolls to the service.
Zhang Xinghai believes that the user service in the new energy era is no longer the same as the service in the fuel vehicle era. With the development and popularization of new energy vehicles, software-defined vehicles will be the general trend, so user services must also revolve around software.
"AITO is a cutting-edge brand in the new energy vehicle industry, and attaches great importance to improving the user service experience." Kang Bo, vice-president of Cyrus Automotive, said: At a time when the global service concept has jumped to’software-based ‘active services, AITO will lead everyone into the era of smart vehicle service 3.0. "
Under the "Software Defined Car" strategy, Cyrus Automotive has launched a new CARE service strategy to provide users with a safer, more convenient and worry-free smart driving experience. The four values of CARE represent "user-centric", proactive service, respect and digitalization.
At the same time, in order to support the deeper and closer development of the joint business, at the end of June, Sailis Automotive and Huawei established the "AITO Joint Working Group" to be responsible for the end-to-end closed-loop management of marketing, sales, delivery, service, channels and other businesses.
With excellent product quality and service experience, AITO has won a good reputation among users. According to statistics, the net promoter score (NPS) of AITO M5 reached 86.4%.
Cumulative intelligent first-mover advantage
In the era of software-defined cars, the cooperation between Cyrus Automobile and Huawei is a homeopathic move by both parties. The two sides promote the transition of AITO from 1 to N, bringing more value to the industry, users and market. Standing at a new starting point for 100,000 new cars to be rolled off the assembly line, Cyrus’s 20 years of car-making experience and technical advantages drive it to continue to accelerate in the new energy track.
In fact, Cyrus has been seeking innovation and continuous upgrading, accumulating more than 20 years of vehicle manufacturing experience and solid technical strength. In 2016, Cyrus began to transform the field of new energy vehicles and continued to deepen its efforts in intelligence.
The smart factory built by Sailis according to the Industry 4.0 standard and the requirements of the Industrial Internet, with digitalization, intelligence and the Internet of Things as the core, adopts advanced manufacturing operation management system and manufacturing process, and the key process is 100% automated production.
Image source: Cyrus Automotive
The intelligent manufacturing system created by Sailis Automobile is based on user request and data network intelligent platform, and realizes the full value chain coverage of research, production, supply, sales and service and the whole process intelligent operation of the factory.
At present, in the context of the rapid development of new energy, the competition of car companies is actually a competition of direction and speed, and the competition is who can judge the future more accurately and run faster. Looking forward to the next development of new energy vehicles, intelligence is gradually becoming the industry consensus in the second half.
In the view of Sailis, the competition of new energy vehicles must finally be the competition of technological innovation and intelligence. In the course of 37 years of development, Sailis has always emphasized cultivating core technologies and forming core competitiveness. In the past few years, Sailis has invested more than 20 billion yuan in the field of new energy vehicles, and AITO has invested more than 12 billion yuan in research and development.
Technology is the first moat. Relying on continuous high-intensity R & D investment, Sailis is in a leading position in three-power technology, range extension technology, electronic and electrical architecture and super electric drive intelligent technology platform (DE-i), and has achieved the results of AITO manufacturing three cars a year and the fastest 100,000 cars off the assembly line.
It is worth mentioning that the AITO M5 series smart driving version is almost the only car that can be bought on the market at present, and it is infinitely close to the L3 level. Cyrus may be the only car company that is expected to quickly and large-scale landing in L3. High-quality products + leading intelligent level are expected to help Cyrus win the second half of the competition.
Hongmeng Smart Cockpit 3.0 takes the intelligent experience of the car to a new height: the industry’s first HUD highly adaptive adjustment makes driving safer; the first "get on the bus" spatial audio technology allows users to visit the National Grand Theater as if they were in person; PC collaboration function can realize collaborative office in emergency situations; mobile phone ecology and car machine ecology are integrated and shared, supporting mobile phone car and machine hardware to call each other, bringing more new interactive experiences.
The first-mover advantage in technology has also motivated Cyrus to look overseas and further explore overseas markets.
New energy vehicle exports are experiencing explosive growth, and Cyrus is also actively leveraging the Western New Channel for globalization. Following the debut of the new energy vehicle high-end strategic model SERES 5 at the auto show at the beginning of the year, the first batch of users in Europe were delivered in June.
As of 2022, Cyrus has exported nearly 500,000 vehicles to more than 70 export markets. As one of China’s high-end smart new energy vehicle brands, Cyrus smart electric vehicles have been exported to Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy and other European countries.
The industry situation is changing rapidly. How can Cyrus break through?
Specifically, Sailis will further improve the quality of its operations and innovative business model, achieve the ultimate cost control from a strategic perspective, and improve production and operation efficiency. At the same time, it will continue to iterate and evolve existing models, improve product experience, and provide users with a smart electric vehicle travel experience that exceeds expectations. It plans to release a new platform and a flagship model equipped with the platform’s smart car full-stack technology solution within the year.
It is certain that no matter how the external situation changes, Cyrus will always pursue long-term sustainable and healthy development under the guidance of the development principle of "adhering to innovation-driven, long-term doctrine, and commercial success". In the future, with a firm new energy strategy, continuous R & D investment, and the support of partners, Cyrus Automobile will continue to drive into the new "fast lane" of new energy vehicles.