What was the hottest topic at the Beijing Auto Show some time ago?

New car? New technology? New concept? No, the hot searches have been dominated by some car company bosses, some of whom don’t even make cars. Looking at the attitude of new energy car companies towards traffic in recent times, and seeing the heads of car companies gradually become celebrities, looking back, and thinking about the recent experience of the number one public relations person in a certain Internet company, is the IPization of the personal image of the boss of a car company (that is, traffic) a good thing or a bad thing for the long-term development of the automotive industry?

The head of a car company has become a traffic star

Automobiles are a big business, so naturally they attract a lot of attention. Before the advent of the new energy era, many bigwigs in the automotive industry were creating all kinds of golden quotes and jokes. A typical example is what Geely Chairman Li Shufu once said: "A car is just four wheels and a few sofas."

Since the arrival of the new energy era, many car company bosses have frequently made golden remarks.

Last year, Wang Chuanfu called driverless cars "nonsense", and some bigwigs made remarks such as "under 5 million is best", "under 10 million is best", "sales of rival companies are just a drop in the bucket", and "it's hard to even crash into this car".

As a source of joy for the automotive industry, the existence of these remarks is an objective phenomenon. They cannot affect the development of the entire industry, nor will they have any impact on the business strategies of automakers. But in recent months, things have become a little bit different and sour.

The Beijing Auto Show at the end of April can be called a watershed.

In the past, all the remarks made by the bigwigs were basically related to the cars themselves; but now, the bigwigs have collectively turned into internet celebrities, and people are paying less and less attention to the vehicles themselves.

In fact, during this Beijing Auto Show, many important new technologies were released, such as Huawei's ADS 3.0 advanced intelligent driving assistance system, BYD's Yunnian Z chassis technology, etc., which are all top-notch industry information, but these seem to have been ignored. The online hot searches are more concerned about how many people came to a certain booth, what a certain boss was wearing, and even how a certain boss opened the car door. Even a certain boss being locked in a car has become a hot search.

Do you have this feeling? These car company bosses are becoming more and more like traffic stars. They rely not on their core technology but on some weird complaints, or non-professional news like how loving they are with their wives, whether they are the top scorers in the college entrance examination, or how much money they donated in a certain year.

To be frank, the current car industry has already clearly taken on some of the characteristics of the entertainment industry - beautiful eyes, charming smiles, all actions are for the purpose of attracting attention and pleasing the audience. A certain car company has a monthly sales volume of less than 10,000, but it has made a louder noise than Tesla and BYD. Does this scene resemble those young and handsome guys in the film and television industry who have no acting skills but countless fans?

Why is this trend occurring?

Normally speaking, automobile manufacturing is actually a very difficult job. Its industrial chain is very long, and the workers in the industry chain work relatively hard. Moreover, only the sales link needs to face consumers directly. Such an industry should not have so much traffic.

But it is different now. Even Wei Jianjun, the head of Great Wall Motors, who is over 60 years old, and Yin Tongyue, chairman of Chery, have to personally appear on the live broadcast. Other young people are constantly on Weibo. If a parameter is marked incorrectly at a press conference, there will be a big quarrel.

Why did this change happen? The key reason is still two words: traffic.

In fact, traffic is also very important in the era of fuel vehicles. There is a saying that good wine needs no bush, and there are many products that are well-received but not popular. Traffic is attention, and only with attention can there be sales, which is understandable. The difference is that the traffic in that era was generated by TV ads, newspaper ads, and outdoor ads, while now it is generated by Weibo, Xiaohongshu, and WeChat public accounts.

The development of new energy vehicles in China is actually very interesting. When the new energy vehicle industry was just starting a few years ago, the main promoters Tesla and domestic new car manufacturers all had obvious Internet genes, with BYD being the only exception.

These Internet professionals who have just started their careers are good at using Weibo to speak out, creating various concepts and exaggerating them. They can create a lot of public opinion in a short period of time and become the focus of many consumers. They have a shallow foundation in the manufacturing industry and do not have much technical accumulation, so they prefer to create traffic to let users know them.

Simply put, traditional car manufacturers pursue product performance and rely on product strength to stand out; while the Internet pursues traffic and the sales conversion rate after traffic.

For example, when you first heard a car company promote "1.6 billion driving modes", were you shocked? After being shocked, did you want to know what it was? If 10,000 people pay attention to its promotion and one person makes a final deal, the car company's goal is achieved.

However, apart from Lei Jun, the conversion rate of most traffic is actually pitifully low. However, even so, for those new forces with unstable foundations, this is already the "best life-saving straw" - if you can't compete in technology, then work hard on marketing.

This is actually the same as how things work in the entertainment industry: three minutes on stage requires ten years of hard work off stage. Improving acting skills is a very costly thing, but if you just want to increase traffic and rely on gossip to attract people, the cost will be much lower.

By the same token, research and development is also a tough job for car companies. Even if they spend money for ten years, they may not necessarily see any results. But if a big boss personally bends down to open the car door for a user, everyone will remember him immediately.

The car industry should have traffic, but it shouldn’t be this kind of traffic

Traffic, or what we used to call attention, is nothing wrong in itself. Many consumers are still not very convinced of new energy vehicles, so higher traffic and attention are actually a good thing.

But the traffic that China's automobile industry needs should be brought by technological progress, not gossip.

Imagine, can a big guy who opens the door for you personally really make a good car? In other words, is there any necessary connection between whether he is approachable or bows 90 degrees and whether the car he makes is good? If a car is on the best-selling list only by traffic and attention, it is likely to be a disaster for users.

In the current new energy vehicle circle, "traffic is king" has become increasingly distorted. Car companies are competing to create various hot searches, which will inevitably reduce investment in research and development. China's new energy vehicles have indeed achieved certain advantages, but they still need to continue to increase investment in research and development, rather than arguing about boring topics such as which car company boss is more people-friendly and which car company is cutting leeks.

China's new energy vehicle market should learn from the lessons of the entertainment industry. A car is always a car, and consumers should always put their most important demands first. As for those traffic that are not supported by product strength and technical strength, let it disappear as the popularity fades.

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.