Nothing happened but sales collapsed, with monthly sales of LS6 falling below 500 units. What exactly happened to Zhiji?

How long does it take for a car to go from being popular to being ignored? The answer from Zhiji LS6 is: half a year.

This car was launched in October last year. By December, the monthly sales had reached 9,878 units, basically reaching the qualified line of domestic new energy vehicles. However, after entering 2024, its sales fell sharply, plummeting to 483 units in May, and was completely marginalized.

In just half a year, why did Zhiji's stock price suddenly plummet to the point where almost no one cares about it?

There is no harm without comparison, and there would be no loneliness now without the past glory. The monthly sales of 9,878 units at its peak proved that Zhiji LS6 was recognized by some users. So why did this car experience a free fall in 2024?

Is it because the price is too high? No, the official guide price of Zhiji LS6 is 229,900-291,900 yuan, and there are discounts of more than 10,000 yuan in many regions. As a medium-to-large SUV, this price is still very competitive even after half a year.

Is it because of the poor product performance? It seems not. If the product performance is really a mess, it would not have been possible to create last year's sales peak.

Zhiji LS6 has a good appearance and supports high-speed elevated NOA in more than 20 cities across the country. The maximum total system power can reach 579kW and the maximum cruising range can reach 760km. It also supports 800V high-voltage fast charging, and charging for 15 minutes can increase the cruising range by 500km.

In the past six months, competition in China's new energy market has become increasingly fierce. It is normal for the performance that was considered advanced at the beginning to become outdated six months later. However, compared with the current mainstream pure electric medium and large SUVs, its performance is not backward. Even if it no longer has an advantage, it will not cause a model with monthly sales of nearly 10,000 to suddenly collapse.

So, what exactly is the problem with Zhiji LS6?

First of all, the current sales of new energy vehicles can be artificially "manufactured" to a certain extent. The skyrocketing sales in the short term does not necessarily mean that it is popular in the market. Many brands of new cars will use various means to lure consumers to place orders and lock in orders when they are first launched, with the aim of creating the appearance of hot sales in the short term.

Zhiji LS6 has more or less this meaning. This car was launched in October last year, and it also came with a large number of benefits, including an instant cash discount of 12,000 yuan, a 2,000 yuan deposit off a 5,000 yuan car payment, etc. Users only need to pay the car price within 2023 to enjoy this benefit.

At the same time, Zhiji officials also stated that old Zhiji car owners can enjoy a discount of 10,000 yuan for additional trade-ins. Nowadays, marketing in the automotive industry is increasingly dependent on traffic and is becoming more and more like an Internet company. Zhiji only needs to invest a lot of money to make it an Internet celebrity car, then attract 10,000 or 20,000 orders from a large number of potential users, and then push some goods to dealers, and it will not be difficult to create a sales peak in a short period of time.

This method is very familiar to new car manufacturers. The popular Xiaomi is also using this method. Whether its sales can be maintained at a high level for a long time will take several months to know.

Secondly, after the first wave of new cars are delivered, Zhiji LS6 needs to "practice what it preaches", that is, to ensure that users' actual car-using experience is consistent with the level stated in the promotion. Only in this way can it gain long-term recognition from users.

But it seems that it has not done so. In January this year, the problem of vehicle system failure broke out. In May, an accident of automatic parking scratching a pillar broke out, which once again aroused consumers' doubts.

In fact, these problems are not as serious as imagined, but Zhiji’s brand influence is average. Similar accidents, if placed on BYD and Tesla, would not be enough to affect the overall brand image, but Zhiji The wound on the body is often fatal.

Any brand will encounter occasional quality problems. If new orders can be obtained quickly, these problems will soon pass. However, after entering 2024, Zhiji has shown a clear lack of successors.

The “failure in exposure” in sales is related to the positioning of the vehicle itself.

In fact, pure electric medium and large SUVs have never been very popular. No matter how manufacturers promote them, the fact that this type of vehicle generally has range anxiety cannot be changed. There are more than 40 pure electric medium and large SUVs on the market, but none of them can maintain monthly sales of more than 3,000 units for a long time.

Zhiji LS6 is all-electric, which is like adding a buff to itself - the price is indeed attractive, but most users still prefer extended-range or plug-in hybrid models that do not have range anxiety. The popularity of models such as the M7, the entire Ideal series, and the M9 all have one common reason: they do not have range anxiety.

In addition, its sales decline is also affected by the brand. Zhiji, a brand, debuted not too late, but it seems to have never been on the right track.

When you think of the Zhiji brand, what is the first thing that comes to your mind? It seems that there is nothing. It does not have a special strong point. In terms of product design, it still remains at the level of "piling up materials".

In terms of key sales networks, Zhiji is also obviously a step behind. According to Zhiji's official statement, by the end of 2023, Zhiji will have about 270 stores across the country, while the number of stores of new forces such as NIO, Ideal, and Xpeng are all around 500.

The sales network is in direct contact with end customers, and it represents delivery capabilities, customer acquisition capabilities, and after-sales service levels. Zhiji's lagging behind in channel construction has seriously dragged down sales growth, and its models will inevitably be affected.

It can be said that Zhiji LS6 did not make any serious mistakes after its launch, but its sales continued to decline, which is the result of the combined effect of multiple unfavorable factors.

This also reminds consumers that the current new energy market is too impetuous and too chaotic. It is not difficult for some manufacturers with super marketing capabilities to create a "false prosperity" in the short term. If you don't need it urgently, you should observe for a few months before buying a car to avoid falling into a trap.

Zhiji needs to adjust its development strategy as soon as possible and come up with its real selling point. For example, if you can do 700km, it can do 750km. There is no real difference between them. They will eventually converge. Therefore, simply piling up materials is meaningless. Only those things that you can do and your competitors cannot do in the short term can make a new energy brand truly gain a foothold in the market.

Moreover, the Zhiji brand should not stick to the so-called "soul theory" like its parent company, SAIC Motors. It should cooperate when it is necessary, go down to lower-tier markets when it is necessary, and try extended-range and plug-in hybrid models when it is necessary. A small brand that cannot even guarantee its survival should not talk about strategy or be blinded by fancy concepts. Providing consumers with what they really need is what we should do most.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.