Recently, gac-e’an released the modified aion LX plus in 2022 for its flagship SUV aion LX. After the new car subsidy, the price is 286600 yuan – 459600 yuan. GAC ea’an has become another brand among the “new forces of car making” to launch an impact on 400000 yuan.
Previously, only a few brands such as Gaohe and Weilai sold for more than 400000 yuan in the industry. Other brands, such as Dongfeng lantu, Geely krypton and ideal, mainly attack the market of more than 300000 yuan. As a traditional car company, GAC ea’an, which has always focused on the range of 100000-200000 yuan, why can it sell at a high price of 400000 yuan? This has triggered a lot of discussion in the industry.
From the aion LX itself, it was born in 2019. Previously, the price of the entry-level model was 229600 yuan, and the highest price was 349600 yuan. The entry price of the new car was raised to 286600 yuan, an increase of nearly 60000 yuan. The highest selling price reached 459600 yuan, a straight-line increase of 120000 yuan. Such a pricing strategy does not seem to be “rational”.
On the other hand, aion LX has sold very little since it was listed for more than two years. In the sales structure of GAC EA, aion s and aion y are mainly relied on. Sohu automobile data show that in 2021, the sales volume of all models of GAC ea’an was 123700, of which the sales volume of aion s was 69200, accounting for more than 56%; Aion y sold 32100 vehicles, accounting for about 26%. The annual sales volume of aion LX is only more than 1000.
However, GAC EA has its own reasons. According to its introduction, aion LX plus has many highlights: 1008km long CLTC comprehensive working condition endurance, as a pure electric vehicle, the endurance is close to the ideal one (NEDC comprehensive working condition endurance 1080km); Equipped with three second-generation intelligent zoom lidars to enhance vehicle safety and reliability of auxiliary driving function; In terms of performance, the acceleration of 2.9s is also quite amazing.
Among the highlights of these products, 1008km endurance is undoubtedly the most eye-catching. In the current pure electric vehicle market, the mainstream range is more than 600 kilometers. GAC aion LX plus became the first 1000 km endurance pure electric vehicle to achieve mass production in the industry.
According to GAC AIAN, the reason why aion LX plus can reach 1000 km endurance is due to the “sponge silicon negative electrode battery technology”. The whole package energy density of aion LX plus battery reaches more than 205wh / kg, realizing 144.4kwh super large battery power, and making the endurance mileage of aion LX plus CLTC under comprehensive working conditions reach 1008km.
However, it is worth noting that as a new technology, the performance of sponge silicon negative electrode battery technology in practical use and whether the resulting high price will be accepted by consumers will test GAC AEAN.
In recent years, gac-e’an has promoted technological innovation in the field of power batteries around the “pain points” of three users: high safety, ultra fast charging and long endurance. In March 2021, gac-e’an released the safety technology of magazine battery system (hereinafter referred to as “magazine battery”), which claims that the whole package of ternary lithium battery will not catch fire for the first time. At the end of August, gac-e’an released the super speed battery technology that can realize “charging for 5 minutes and endurance of 200km” and the overcharge pile with charging power of 480kw.
In addition to the thousand kilometer endurance, the highlight of aion LX plus is also reflected in the carrying of three second-generation lidars. According to the introduction, aion LX plus has the only urban NDA intelligent piloting assistant driving function at the same level with 35 high-performance sensing hardware and high computing power intelligent driving computing platform, which can realize high-speed and full scene coverage in urban areas.
Thousand kilometer endurance and three second-generation lidars are the two main reasons why the price of aion LX plus exceeds 400000 yuan. In fact, the analysis of several models with different configurations of this car will find that in addition to the two versions with a price of more than 400000 yuan, the price of several other main models is still about 300000 yuan. Therefore, aion LX plus will compete with Weilai es8, ideal one, lantu free, extreme krypton 001 and other products.
GAC AEAN was founded in 2017 and announced its brand independence at the end of 2020. According to the data of 2021, the annual cumulative sales volume of gac-e safety is 123600 vehicles, an increase of 119% over the same period in 2020. It is one of the rare “new forces of car making” with a total sales volume of more than 100000 vehicles in the current industry.
However, GAC AEAN has not been able to effectively break through the 300000 yuan range market. An important mission of aion LX plus this time will be to drive the brand to achieve a high-end breakthrough and break the previous market positioning of aion brand. This is undoubtedly a major challenge. At present, the brand with higher price represented by Weilai and ideal has entered the era of annual sales of 100000 vehicles. GAC ea’an is actually catching up.
Compared with other brands, relying on Guangzhou Automobile Group Co.Ltd(601238) resources and having a certain user group and brand reputation in the market will be the competitive advantage of GAC EA. It is understood that Guangzhou Automobile Group Co.Ltd(601238) recently said that it has completed the asset restructuring of GAC EA, laying a foundation for EA to promote the reform of mixed ownership and introduce strategic investors.
From this perspective, whether the 2022 aion LX plus can gain a firm foothold in the high-end electric market is not only related to the upward breakthrough of GAC AIAN brand, but also the key to its smooth introduction of strategic investment and eventual listing in the future.
