Can SAIC, which launched the Marvel X pure electric SUV priced at 300,000 yuan, succeed in its fight against new car-making forces?

Recently, Roewe officially announced the sales price of its pure electric SUV Marvel X. The rear-wheel drive version is priced at 268,800 yuan after subsidies, and the all-wheel drive version is priced at 308,800 yuan.

Before the price was released, many people praised Marvel X as a good car and had high expectations for it, but when the price was announced, the originally enthusiastic applause began to become sparse.

Marvel X is the limit of Roewe

Indeed, Marvel X is a carefully crafted product by SAIC Roewe.

As a pure electric SUV, Marvel X has the manufacturing reliability endorsement of SAIC, a mainstream automaker. This is not an advantage, but it has become the biggest advantage when new car manufacturers have repeatedly encountered quality problems and delivery problems.

In terms of the three core indicators of electric vehicles, MARVEL X has strong overall technology and balanced comprehensive performance. The acceleration performance is 4 seconds to break 100, the cruising range is 400+, and the fast charging function supports 80% full charge in 40 minutes. These are all at a very good level among domestic mainstream electric vehicles, without obvious shortcomings.

As a mid-size SUV, the power consumption of 14.2KWH per 100 kilometers is a highlight of Marvel X. This power consumption control is due to the good weight reduction design of Marvel X, which weighs only 1.7 tons. In addition, through the optimized design of door handles, rearview mirrors and other parts, the wind resistance of Marvel X is only 0.29cd.

Marvel X is also a smart car.

Marvel X integrates iFlytek's natural voice interaction technology to support voice control of the car. It also supports OTA upgrades, so the car system can be updated in real time like a mobile phone, and continuously optimized and enhanced.

The third generation of the Banma system is the most anticipated part of Marvel X. Previously, SAIC's Roewe RX5 equipped with the Banma Zhixing 2.0 version had a very good market performance. Citroen, Peugeot and Ford have successively planned to adopt the Banma system. This recognition from friendly companies reflects the strength of the Banma system.

The 19.4-inch large central control screen of Marvel X is comparable to that of Tesla. In many traditional automobile companies, the size of the central control screen is still around 10 inches.

Marvel X uses AR augmented reality technology in navigation, which can enhance the user's driving experience by projecting images through the dashboard behind the steering wheel; it has L2 level automatic driving assistance function, which further enhances the value of Marvel X.

Charging electric cars is a boring and time-consuming task for car owners. Wireless charging not only looks cool, but can also improve the user experience.

The principle of wireless charging is not complicated. It uses the underground transmitting coil and the receiving coil in the car to achieve energy exchange. However, the current wireless charging requires very high parking accuracy. Manual parking must be very careful, otherwise the accuracy will not meet the requirements of wireless charging.

In this case, the automatic parking function is very necessary. Automatic parking can not only facilitate users to park, but also improve parking accuracy and meet the parking accuracy requirements of wireless charging.

Marvel X not only has wireless charging function, its AI Pilot intelligent driving assistance system includes AI Parking full-function intelligent parking assistance, which can support fully automatic parking. This can bring great convenience to users.

Can the brand support the pricing?

The main sales area of ​​the Roewe brand is 100,000 to 150,000 units, and the market's perception of Roewe is that it is a local brand car within the 80,000 to 200,000 yuan range.

The official guide price of Roewe ERX5 is 271,800 yuan to 296,800 yuan, and after deducting subsidies, the price is as low as 198,800 yuan to 223,800 yuan. Roewe ERX5 is actually preparing for the brand to rise, and has achieved good sales results.

The price of Marvel X after subsidies of around 300,000 yuan is likely to be a risk for Roewe's brand power.

The price of Marvel X shows that SAIC wants to use the Roewe brand to enter the entry-level luxury car market. In terms of marketing, Marvel X has always been benchmarking Tesla.

"According to the plan, as long as models such as RX5 and i6 gain a foothold, Roewe will achieve brand upgrading. Our goal is very clear, which is to benchmark Tesla," said Zhang Liang, chief digital officer of SAIC Passenger Vehicle Company.

For most people, it is difficult to accept to buy a Roewe with 300,000 to 400,000 yuan. After all, there are many other options in the entry-level luxury car market at this price.

In my opinion, the product strength of Marvel X can support the price of 300,000 yuan. However, the inherent perception of the Roewe brand will greatly affect consumers' desire to buy Marvel X. Although Marvel X has a high configuration, consumers may not have the patience and interest to seriously understand it.

For most consumers of entry-level luxury cars, the specific configuration of the car is not the core factor in the car purchase. Instead, the face brought by the luxury brand is a factor that cannot be ignored. People's perception of Roewe is that it is an economical car with good quality, and they cannot associate Roewe with luxury cars.

In terms of appearance, Marvel X follows the consistent design style of the Roewe family. This is a safe approach with low market risk. However, it is not suitable for Marvel X, which is an entry-level luxury car.

Not being able to differentiate itself from the affordable car that preceded it actually hinders the Marvel X's entry into the entry-level luxury car market.

SAIC has the technology, the backing of a joint venture brand, and a large business with plenty of money, so it is fully capable of developing a high-end auto brand. When Great Wall and Geely were seeking to upgrade their brands, they both chose to create new brands. However, SAIC made it clear that there was no need to create a new brand.

Roewe's target is actually Lynk & Co.

At present, Geely's newly established high-end brand Lynk & Co has made good progress. Lynk & Co 01 and Lynk & Co 02 have both performed well in the market. The sales of Lynk & Co 02 are still in the climbing stage, and there is still a lot of room for growth in the future.

The success of Lynk & Co is inseparable from Geely's own technological accumulation and Volvo's brand endorsement. In fact, SAIC also has these conditions that Geely has. SAIC learned modular development from Volkswagen and the core technology of Powertrain from GM, and also has good technological accumulation. The hot sales of Roewe and MG brand models are a reflection of SAIC's strength.

If the company does not create a new brand and instead uses the Marvel X to push its brand up, it will inevitably be dragged down by its existing brand image. Moreover, the price increase of 100,000 yuan from the RX5 to the Marvel X seems a bit hasty, and it is still unknown whether the market can accept it.

The rise of the Roewe brand is somewhat similar to that of Haval. After Haval achieved very good sales results in the SUV market, Great Wall Motors launched high-end versions of Haval H8 and H9 to enhance its brand image. However, the market response to H8 and H9 was cold, and sales were still poor despite multiple price cuts. In addition to the large number of joint venture SUV models at the same price and fierce competition, an important reason is that Haval's own brand power cannot support the price.

However, compared with fuel vehicles, the rise of electric vehicles actually provides a rare opportunity for domestic brands to rise to the top. Especially in the current market, there are few high-end electric vehicle competitors and the market is almost undeveloped.

For those who don't want to buy a million-level Tesla, but whose spending power far exceeds 200,000 or 300,000 yuan, Marvel X will be a good choice. It is not impossible for domestic brand electric vehicles to sell for 300,000 to 400,000 yuan.

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.