Guided by the "hot product methodology", iCAR's brand upgrade is "quite interesting"

Today's new energy vehicle sector seems to be following a development trajectory similar to that of smartphones. As more and more companies shift their focus from product perspectives to user perspectives, an inevitable development collision has officially begun...

Recently, at the brand night of Chery Group's new force iCAR brand, Dr. Su Jun, CEO of Zhimi Technology and Chief Product Officer of iCAR brand, made a public appearance and said that he would bring rich experience in definition design, product definition and marketing, relying on Chery's technological heritage, to help iCAR brand upgrade and create "the first car for young people".

Su Jun truly focuses on "user needs" and gives the underlying logic of iCAR's dimensional upgrade

In fact, as early as 2021, Dr. Su Jun planned and started to assemble his own car-making team. Most of the team members have work backgrounds in the Internet or large automobile companies, covering many aspects such as industrial design, engineering research and development, and new marketing. Most importantly, the entire team has mastered the experience and methodology of Xiaomi's ecological chain.

So what does this do for car manufacturing?

In Su Jun's view, the current new energy market is developing very well, but such "good" is achieved at the cost of consumers' "compromise", especially the young group who have aspirations but limited budgets. Although traditional car companies have a mature car manufacturing system, they have not yet broken away from the shackles of product thinking of "researching technology-making good cars-selling". This is exactly what Su Jun is good at - his rich rice ecological background makes him deeply aware of the mentality and product demands of young people. Defining "now" from the perspective of "future" is what Dr. Su Jun wants to do.

After joining hands with Chery and quickly integrating, Dr. Su Jun figured out the underlying logic of iCAR's dimensional development: First, he had insight into the real demands of young people, that is, young people do not pursue "the cheapest" and are willing to pay for exquisite aesthetics. High appearance, practicality, and cost-effectiveness are enough to stimulate their consumption desire; second, with the support of Xiaomi's ecological chain and having made many popular products including air purifiers, Su Jun believes that products can reject large and comprehensive redundant functions, and transfer the concept of "single model, fine product, massive, and long cycle" to new energy vehicles, realize the implementation of the concept of "affordable and high quality", and create cool and valuable cars for young people; third, the team's industrial design, popular product methodology and Chery's technical treasure box complement each other's advantages, which can quickly achieve brand dimensionality.

Based on a meticulous thinking framework, iCAR after the integration of Zhimi's entrepreneurial team into Chery carries more expectations than other brands - when both teams were independent, they were independent industry leaders and they must achieve the value of 1+1>2.

"We give young people what they want", V23 has become a "pledge of allegiance"

Unexpectedly, relying on the explosive product methodology, their approach is so rational and pragmatic.

At the Brand Night event, Dr. Su Jun and his best CP, Zhang Hongyu, Vice General Manager of Chery Automobile Co., Ltd. and General Manager of iCAR Brand Division, brought users the first new car after the team integration - V23.

It is reported that this car is positioned as a "style off-road electric city SUV". According to Su Jun, the "square box" shape of this car pays tribute to the classics and awakens the yearning for off-road in the genes of the user group; whether it is the four-wheel four-corner design or the ultra-short front and rear overhangs and large wheelbase, it gives people a sense of "high posture" and leaves consumers with considerable space inside the car.

Of course, there are many other things that can showcase and express the brand's intentions, but we focus on a few small details: buttons that are comparable to the sophistication of 3C digital products, a "small backpack" design at the rear that is comparable to an external plug-in, and technical considerations such as the integration of the air conditioner into the front cabin.

Although Su Jun said at the scene, "This is not a new product launch conference", and he himself did not elaborate on the details of the smart car, the geek team is undoubtedly the best endorsement of the cockpit experience. We may really believe that this car is really implementing the three practical directions of "tools, props, and big toys".

During the event, the brand also displayed a "new species", the X25, which is positioned as a medium-to-large off-road style MPV. The official said that this is iCAR's innovative work for the future new energy era, full of future technology. So far, the brand's upgraded new series matrix has also been unveiled: the 0 series representing exquisite technology; the V series featuring off-road style and the X series with a new label of "single compartment car".

The release of this information may convey three meanings of iCAR. First, the integration of Zhimi's entrepreneurial team into iCAR is not a joke, and there will be a detailed and clear future development plan after the brand upgrade. Second, iCAR will continue to pay attention to user needs based on the methodology of explosive products. Whether it is pursuing technological equality or yearning for personalized off-road, or even newcomers who are willing to try new species, iCAR can satisfy them all; third, the brand upgrade has come up with a sincere work like V23, and has made plans for the future. "Our pace is not only not slow, but always ahead."

The "explosive product strategy" has taken effect, where is the industry going?

In fact, there have been many doubts about the cooperation between Zhimi's entrepreneurial team and Chery to achieve the upgrade of iCAR, such as "it's good to lean on Chery's big tree for shade" and "it's obvious that they are just designing the car's shape". If Su Jun's explosive product methodology, design concept and pragmatic approach are not enough to answer these questions, let's take a look at what Chery has done.

Yin Tongyue, the group boss who has been deeply involved in the automotive field for half his life, said at the scene that he would provide unlimited support for iCAR, including but not limited to the core technologies such as Mars architecture, Kunpeng power, Lion Smart Cabin, Dazhuo Intelligent Driving, Galaxy Ecology, etc., as well as the already built Yaoguang Laboratory, R&D team, and major industry giants that have reached cooperation with Chery. At the event, the CEO of CATL chose to set up a booth for iCAR and said that iCAR can choose the latest technology. All these aspects actually represent the industry's willingness to support emerging brands to run at their own pace.

The launch of the "explosive product strategy" not only brings high discussion, high expectations and strong support, but also "volumes" for industry transformation. First, the mindset, traditional car companies must speed up the transformation and update product definitions with user thinking. After all, iCAR's new car has been made, and the pace of friendly competitors needs to be accelerated; second, the design volume, the new energy track may have fewer "squinty eyes" and "flat lines" in the future, and more efforts should be made on individual elements; third, the technology volume, backed by the technology treasure box, iCAR will inevitably bring down the price of new energy vehicles in the future, which will inevitably affect the original market segmentation, and the industry will soon and must face a new round of technology competition.

Summarize:

The methodology of hot-selling products is actually a very hot topic recently. How to reverse the product manufacturing based on user needs is something that all walks of life are trying to do, but iCAR has made it the first move.

To borrow the comments of a media friend: Su Jun's entry may mean that the industry is entering the era of super product managers. I hope iCAR will bring a new "development collision" to the industry. After all, the beneficiaries are all young people now and in the future.

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.