Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

According to news on October 12, Xilai hopes to achieve success in European and global markets in the next few years, but there is still a long way to go to achieve this goal, as the company is still losing money. However, in a recent interview with German car magazine Heise Autos, Li Bin, chief executive, was confident about the company's future and said it was expected to become one of the world's top five carmakers by 2030. In addition, Li Bin also talked about his views on Tesla and his chief executive, Elon Musk, and said there were many differences between him and Musk, and between Weilai and Tesla.

The following is a summary of the interview:

Q: what's the difference between you and Musk?

Li Bin: I write a post on App, hoping to communicate directly with our users, not just make a public statement on Twitter. Besides, I dance better.

Q: what do you think of Tesla?

Li Bin: Tesla is a respected carmaker. We have learned a lot from them, such as direct selling and how to improve efficiency by cutting production. But Weilai and Tesla are two very different companies: Tesla focuses on technology and efficiency. Technology is also important to us, but we are more concerned about users.

Q: for Weilai, is Tesla a help or a hindrance, because it is always compared with Tesla?

Li Bin: Tesla has played an important role in promoting the transformation of the automobile industry to electric vehicles. Despite this, Tesla is still under pressure. If they fail to improve their products or provide good services fast enough, they may soon be driven out of the market.

Q: can you explain this in detail?

Li Bin: if you want to succeed in the automobile industry, you need perseverance. It's like running a marathon. Staying ahead after the start of the race doesn't mean winning. You need to guarantee victory in the last few kilometers. Our game has just begun, and it will be ten years before we know if we will really succeed.

Q: why did you wait so long?

Li Bin: there will be three technological leaps in the next ten years. If you succeed, it will make a big difference. You can even decide whether you succeed or fail. That's why we respect German automakers very much because they have been successful over the years.

Q: why did Weilai enter the German market now?

Li Bin: this is because we are ready both technically and strategically. We want to be a global brand. In order to achieve this goal, we need to provide customers with suitable products. Norway was our first stop, and now we are in Germany because we have an ET7 for German users, which is based on our new NT2.0 platform.

Q: how is Weilai different from other automakers?

Li Bin: we are younger than other companies. This is a joke, of course, but apart from that, we actually have a lot of unique advantages. First of all, our products are developed for the future. For example, ET7, lidar and other sensors are clearly visible, and the interior is also in line with the concept of mobile living space. Secondly, we also offer a full range of free packages, including battery replacement stations. We are more than just a carmaker. We have established our own community in China, and now we want to build the same community in Europe.

Q: what can you learn from German automakers?

Li Bin: compared with these established manufacturers, Weilai is still a young and small company. If you look at global sales, you will find that their car sales are 20 times that of ours. These German companies have a wealth of experience in developing cars, with mature supply chains and dense dealer networks. In short: they know how to make cars, and we can learn a lot from them.

Q: do you still think Weilai is a start-up?

Li Bin: although Weilai has been established for nearly eight years, we only started to deliver cars four years ago. In this sense, we are still quite young. We are growing rapidly, but I have always stressed that we still maintain the mentality of a start-up and that kind of flexibility.

Q: how do you define the premium?

Li Bin: to me, premium is not a simple static phrase, but a concept that will change over time. For some people, it's about the quality of the car, while for others, it's about power. But for us, it's about two things right now: on the one hand, technology, just like Apple is focused on high technology; on the other hand, we want to provide additional services to our customers. The world is changing very fast, so flexibility will represent a new premium factor, which is what our subscription model can provide.

Q: if Weilai wants to succeed globally, there is no way to bypass the US market.

Li Bin: only when we have suitable products and services in this area can we become active in the market. We plan to enter the American market by the end of 2025. But the US government recently passed a bill to reduce inflation, making it harder for foreign carmakers to produce products and enter the market. Therefore, we will closely monitor the development of the situation.

Q: what will Weilai do next?

Li Bin: at present, there is a great demand for SUV, but we also see a surge in demand for small cars. To this end, Weilai will launch sub-brands, whose models will be designed mainly for the global mass market and will be cheaper.

Q: when will these models be available?

Li Bin: about two years. At that time, the number of cars we sell will increase rapidly, and we hope to become one of the top five automakers in the world by 2030.

Q: Weilai is currently in a state of lossmaking. When will it be able to break even?

Li Bin: as a start-up, it takes a while to make a profit. We have invested a lot of money in developing cars and building infrastructure, all in preparation for the future. We have carefully worked out a plan to achieve our profit target step by step. It took Tesla 16 years to start making a profit, and Weilai is likely to be much faster.

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