Three super dad cars fight against Lu Bu, Wenjie, Weipai and Yipai charge against Ideal L8

In May 2024, Ideal Auto's monthly deliveries exceeded 35,000 vehicles, which was the first time this year, proving that Ideal Auto has emerged from the shadow of the past two months.

Ideal's sales rebound is directly related to the strong performance of the L series. The positioning of "super dad car" has made Ideal a fish in water in the high-end family SUV market. Take Ideal L8 as an example. The price of this car is as high as 321,800-379,800 yuan, which is a standard high-end product. However, the delivery volume reached 100,000 units in less than a year after its launch, making it a well-deserved hot-selling model.

Competition in China's new energy market is fierce. Faced with the leading Ideal L8, there are many models that want to "replace it". Weilai Blue Mountain Plug-in Hybrid Edition (hereinafter referred to as Weilai), Wenjie M7, and Dongfeng Yipai 008 are all representative models.

Weipai is positioned as a medium-to-large SUV, with a price range of 273,800-308,800 yuan, which is several tens of thousands lower than the Ideal L8. At the same time, the body length of this car reaches 5156mm, the wheelbase reaches 3050mm, and the interior space is better than the Ideal L8. In order to be recognized by family users, a large space is a must.

So what else do high-end home users need besides a large space?

First of all, in terms of comfort, the entire Wei brand series is equipped with a panoramic sunroof, active noise reduction function, HUD head-up display, wireless charging for mobile phones in the front row, lumbar support for the driver and front passenger, heated, ventilated and massage front seats, second-row seat leg rests and lumbar adjustment, rear seat air outlets, car air purifiers, negative ion generators and other configurations as standard, and the comfort level is no less than that of Ideal L8.

At the same time, all Wei brand models are equipped with L2 level driving assistance functions as standard, including active braking, lane departure warning, lane keeping assist, etc. The high-end models further provide functions such as automatic parking and automatic driving on highways.

In addition, Weipai also has a good performance in intelligence. It provides high-level intelligent voice interaction functions, can realize continuous voice recognition and "see and speak" functions, and has reached a relatively high level in human-vehicle interaction.

Unlike Ideal L8, the entire Wei brand series uses a plug-in hybrid system and is equipped with a 1.5T engine. The dual-motor version has a maximum power of 350kW and a cruising range of more than 1,300km under CLTC conditions.

In other words, what Ideal L8 can do, Weipai can do, and it also has a clear price advantage, so it can attract those users who like the performance of Ideal L8 but have a low car purchase budget. However, Weipai's sales have continued to decline in recent years, and its popularity is lower, which is one of its shortcomings.

In terms of performance, Weipai can compete directly with Ideal L8, but not all medium and large SUVs can reach this level. So if you want to replace Ideal L8, there is another way of thinking: low price and low configuration, snatching some users who like medium and large SUVs but are short of money from Ideal L8.

Dongfeng Yipai 008 is the product of this idea. This car is currently in the pre-sale stage with a pre-sale price of 200,000-250,000 yuan. It is also a new energy medium and large SUV, but the starting price is more than 100,000 yuan lower than the Ideal L8. Users whose car purchase budget is just over 200,000 yuan may pay attention to this car.

In addition to the price, Yipai 008 has also put a lot of effort into the power system. It provides two power modes: extended-range and pure electric. It can not only solve the user's range anxiety, but also meet the needs of consumers who mainly move around in urban areas.

Of course, in order to offer such a low price, the configuration of Yipai must be reduced. Its sales volume is relatively small, and it is unlikely to achieve small profits but quick turnover, so it can only adopt a low-configuration and low-price model.

Taking the power system as an example, the extended-range version of this car has a maximum engine power of only 108kW, and a pure electric range of only 154km; the pure electric version uses a single motor with a maximum power of only 200kW and a range of only 636km. Compared with the Ideal L8, the gap is still quite obvious.

The internal configuration of Yipai has not been announced, but if nothing unexpected happens, its performance in terms of smart cockpit, smart driving, etc. will not be better than Ideal L8. After all, the price is there.

Like Ideal L8, Yipai also provides rear entertainment screen and car refrigerator. It wants to attract those family users who like large space, have certain requirements for comfort, and are not too sensitive to battery life and smart driving. It does not seek to defeat Ideal L8, as long as it can grab some users, it will be considered a success.

Weipai’s idea is to “compete on price with the same configuration”, while Yipai hopes to attract some users with a lower price. These are also two common competition strategies.

However, other manufacturers have come up with a third way, which is to attract users with stronger intelligent performance.

Intelligence is one of the four new trends in automobiles, and it is also a strategic high ground for major manufacturers to compete. In the current new energy vehicle market, there are not many brands that can beat their competitors by relying on their intelligence level. Wenjie is one of them, and its main model Wenjie M7 is a direct competitor of Ideal L8.

In terms of basic configuration, the Wenjie M7 does not have much advantage over the Ideal L8, and the two are basically at the same level. In terms of power, both the Wenjie M7 and the Ideal L8 are extended-range electric vehicles, and both are equipped with 1.5T engines as range extenders. The pure electric range and comprehensive range are also relatively close, and the basic performance has reached a relatively high level.

What the M7 is really good at is Huawei's Hongmeng smart cockpit and ADS2.0 advanced intelligent driving assistance system. Huawei's advantages in intelligent operating systems are needless to say. As the only domestic high-end mobile phone brand, it ranks first in terms of car-machine integration and intelligent voice.

In terms of intelligent driving, the M7 has been available nationwide, and Huawei itself is a leading brand in the field of domestic LiDAR. After the M7 was launched, various videos of intelligent driving tested by users continued to appear online, proving that Huawei is indeed superior in intelligent driving.

In addition, the starting price of M7 is only 249,800 yuan, which also has a relatively obvious price advantage. Since its launch, this car has become a competitor of Ideal L8, with monthly sales of nearly 30,000 units in January, almost exceeding the entire Ideal series. However, the sales of Wenjie M7 have been unstable in the past two months, falling back to the level of monthly sales of 10,000 units, which proves that intelligence does not seem to make this car rest assured.

Weipai Blue Mountain plug-in hybrid version, Dongfeng Yipai eπ 008 and Wenjie M7 have adopted different ways to encircle Ideal L8, but they each have their own problems. However, such healthy competition is undoubtedly a good thing for consumers. Next, it depends on their respective market performance.

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.