Xiaopeng Motors has been controversial recently. A year after its debut, Xiaopeng's most important flagship model, Xiaopeng G9, finally arrived late. At the press conference, the Xiaopeng G9 was called "the best SUV within 500,000" and will take over Porsche as the benchmark, wit

Xiaopeng Motors has been controversial recently.

A year after its debut, the most important flagship model of Xiaopeng , Xiaopeng G9, finally arrived late. At the press conference, Xiaopeng G9 was called "the best SUV within 500,000" and will take over , Porsche as the benchmark, and sales will surpass Audi Q5 next year.

However, it has been criticized for its configuration selection.

In the end, Xiaopeng changed its configuration, price, option package, and even changed its logic of model naming. Compared with the press conference, the modified model is equivalent to a disguised price reduction of 20,000 yuan.

At the same time, the stock price also fluctuated violently.

On September 21, Xiaopeng Motors (9868.HK) fell 11.55%; as of October 4, Xiaopeng Motors' stock price fell from US$74.49 to US$11.98, a cumulative decline of 83.92%, and its market value evaporated by more than US$53 billion.

Under this pressure, the chairman of Xiaopeng Motors could no longer sit still.

For Xiaopeng Motors, there are several problems that need to be solved urgently.

First, engineer thinking rather than user thinking.

At the Xiaopeng Motors press conference, it focused on displaying functions such as "5D music cockpit, XNGP assisted driving, 800V ultra-fast charging"; in addition, dual-cavity air suspension is also one of its major selling points.

However, all the above selling points need to be optional.

As we all know, Xiaopeng Motors' intelligent capabilities rank among the top in China, but judging from the press conference, this selling point is not obviously prominent. On the contrary, in the eyes of many people, the "5D music cockpit" is a bit exaggerated and cumbersome, and the "800V ultra-fast charging" is only available in the top-end configuration, and this technology is very likely to be popularized in 2023.

International Investment Bank UBS said bluntly:

"The high-end versions equipped with NGO, music cockpit and 4C fast charging are priced at up to RMB 460,000, or you need to choose optional packages for additional payments, which is understood as the company's compromise between price competitiveness and potential profits. Compared with peer models, Xiaopeng G9 has no obvious competitive advantage."

This reminds many people of Xiaopeng P5.

First of all, Xiaopeng P5 focuses on "dual lidar ", but the delivery process has been out of stock; secondly, the "entertainment scenes" and "sleep scenes" that Xiaopeng P5 focuses on are also criticized by users for being unpractical.

data won't lie.

In September this year, Xiaopeng P5 sales volume was 2,417 units, a decline of three consecutive months; and in December last year, Xiaopeng P5 sold more than 5,000 units in the month. Obviously, the P5 car failed to meet the official expected goals.

Second, Xiaopeng Motors "brand is upward, configuration is downward".

On September 23, the president of Xiaopeng Motors said in an interview:

"has made diversified arrangements for battery suppliers, and CATL is no longer the largest supplier. At present, Xiaopeng has cooperated with several battery suppliers including 10,0014.SZ and China Innovation Airlines."

has thus attracted market doubts.

On the one hand, Xiaopeng Motors is getting more and more expensive, and she shouted "The best SUV within 500,000", but consumers buy second- and third-tier battery brands; on the other hand, changing suppliers means that Xiaopeng Motors' battery safety level has dropped from "PPB" to "PPM", that is, the defect rate has increased by one billion to one million.

This reminds many people of the WM Motor , which was once in the first camp of new car manufacturing forces, caused frequent accidents due to the replacement of suppliers, which eventually led to a significant damage to the brand image.

Third, the competition for new energy vehicles is becoming increasingly fierce, and Xiaopeng Motors, which urgently needs to increase gross profit margin, is cast a shadow.

Unlike two years ago, the new energy vehicle market is becoming crowded today. Taking Xiaopeng G9 as an example, competitors include Tesla 's Model y, NIO (9866.HK)'s ET5, Ideal (2015.HK)'s L8, and Huawei's M7.In addition, newly established sub-brands of traditional car companies, such as Avita under Changan Automobile (000625.SZ), Zeikr under , etc., are all focusing on the high-end market with a total of more than 300,000 yuan. In the market below 200,000, Xiaopeng Motors is inevitably squeezed by BYD (002594.SZ).

Under such a background, Xiaopeng Motors must not only achieve the goal of brand upward, but also achieve a rebound in gross profit margin, laying the foundation for turning losses into profits. But the fact is that in the first half of this year, Xiaopeng Motors' gross profit margin was 11.6%, roughly the same as in 2021. Among them, the gross profit margin of automobiles is 9.7%, even lower than in 2021.

On the one hand, among the new forces in car manufacturing, Xiaopeng has the lowest gross profit margin; on the other hand, Xiaopeng's next "may launch at least one product every quarter", which means that the company's capital expenditure will increase significantly and the company's financial pressure will be greater.