Walking around the auto show in low spirits, I saw some things that were not noticed｜Third Party Observation

At 11:37 in the morning, this Shanghai Auto Show was the latest time I arrived at the show among all the previous auto shows I have attended.

▲I arrived at the exhibition at nearly 12 o’clock, and the entrance was already empty

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I got lost in the Magic City for too long the night before and got up late. In fact, I was there on the 18th. The genius arrived in Shanghai. Compared with the media friends who arrived in Shanghai two or three days in advance to participate in various brand nights, my pace can be said to be quite amateurish.

The original plan was to have another day if one day was not enough. Anyway, the second media day without the interference of various press conferences is actually more friendly to media people who just look at cars. But what I didn’t expect was that I I didn’t officially enter the first exhibition hall until after 12 noon, and by 5 p.m., before the booths were closed, I had already finished shopping (I even took a nap in the lounge for half an hour).

Is it because I am getting old, my body can no longer support the high-intensity exhibition visit, or my interest in new cars has become lower, or is there just too little that attracts me at this auto show? After thinking about it for a while, I really came up with two reasons. Behind the scenes is the current situation of the entire industry, which is very different from the last Shanghai Auto Show.

The first and most direct reason is that there are fewer exhibitors.

As the first major event in the automobile industry after the end of three years of strict epidemic control, the Shanghai Auto Show should be extremely attractive to various manufacturers. In the past few days, there have been a lot of launches, pre-sales, and debuts. New cars also reflect this. But to my surprise, in the Shanghai International Exhibition Center, which is composed of "8 petals", I saw that at least three petals of the exhibition hall were vacant. This was basically the case in the previous auto shows in Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai. Never seen it.

▲In just two years, Hengchi has stopped racing

Without detailed statistics, just based on impressions, Tesla is almost half as powerful as the one that once dominated. None of the Hengchis in the exhibition hall came - of course the reasons for their absence were completely different. Weimar, which has had bad luck in recent years, did not appear at the exhibition this time.

In addition, Peugeot and Citro?n from the French camp are here, but the exhibition hall area is basically the smallest unit of the vehicle manufacturer, and it is still the booth layout of Yunyi and Tianyi in the new car period. Much worse.

Of course, there are some new brands and new booths, but they are mainly newly developed brands from strong manufacturers. After several rounds of screening in the market, many new and old forces have been gradually screened out, and the industry The overall agglomeration effect has been highlighted.

The second reason is that there is not much desire to stop and watch new traditional fuel-powered cars.

At the previous major auto shows, the scale of new fuel-powered heavyweight cars was comparable to that of new forces. But this time when I visited the Shanghai Auto Show, apart from taking a brief glance at it when I passed by, I basically didn’t look at it. The door of any fuel vehicle.

▲Products that affect the survival of Dongfeng Peugeot, small transparency in the eyes of media people

The new generation of Accord, Ruijie L, Hongqi H6, Peugeot 408X, Mazda CX50/CX-90, etc. Basically, they are the key fuel vehicles in this auto show. They are also considered blockbuster products of their respective brands. However, from the perspective of the industry, their importance in this auto show is basically not ranked high. Moreover, for old media people, In other words, even without looking at the actual cars, you know that these models don’t have many new features worth experiencing.

There is little interest in fuel vehicles, and there are basically only half of the new cars that I am interested in seeing. Previously, whether it was leading manufacturers such as Volkswagen, Toyota and Geely, or waist brands such as Jietu and Changan Auchan, the launch of new models could attract a lot of attention. However, when everyone's attention is focused on the new energy category, If it weren't for being extremely blockbuster, it would be difficult for new fuel-powered cars to be popular.

In terms of market share, pure electric vehicles, PHEV hybrids and extended-range models together account for less than half, but their topicality and attention in the media may already be as high as 89% . In the near future, the remaining attention of fuel vehicles will gradually be eroded.

In fact, even in the field of new energy, I only experienced some of the products this time. In addition to the less outstanding ones that were selectively ignored, there were also booths such as U8 and Denza N7 that were too popular. The top class who couldn't squeeze in. However, after walking around for an afternoon, I still had some feelings worth talking about outside the focus areas that everyone focused on.

1. Some new electric cars from traditional forces are still not liberal enough.

This is my feeling when I experience the Buick E5. As a medium-to-large pure electric SUV, the price is more than 208,900-278,900, and the main version with a 620-kilometer range remains at a low price of more than 222,900. The sincerity is really enough. In Buick's own product system, the price of the E5 is already lower than that of the similar Envision Plus. When it comes to the new energy market in the industry, whether it is Volkswagen's ID.6 or BYD's Tang EV, the guide price is higher than that of the Buick E5. Quite a few.

In terms of the overall design, the new front face, new lines, and new taillight shapes create a new refreshing and concise temperament. In addition, the same Cadillac Ruige model on the center console With its large curved screen, as Buick’s first pure electric SUV based on the Alton pure electric platform, the E5 indeed shows a brand new image, which is what attracted me to get into this car.

However, I can still feel some traces of the fuel era in the car, such as the grip of the steering wheel, the space in the back row, the feel and design of the seat leather, the shape of the sun visor, and the door handles. The design and operation of the window buttons and the settings of various fragmentary storage spaces are relatively close to the fuel vehicles we are familiar with. The most "electronic" thing in the Buick E5 is the curved screen, but in fact, the fuel category also has the Ford Mondeo's super giant screen across the center console.

It’s not that the “nostalgic” style of traditional car companies’ new energy products is not good, it’s just that you will feel a sense of freshness when you walk from the booths of Nezha, Aian, Weilai, Jikrypton, etc. The gap lacks some perceptual appeal to consumers in the electric era, so it unknowingly returns to the cost-effectiveness trade-off.

2. You have dug a high-end moat, but you still can’t make a seat?

Since the release of ET7, my personal view of NIO has begun to change. The subsequent sales performance of new cars such as ET5 and ES7 have also made people who once looked down on NIO (including me) no longer have much Reasons to question it. In 2023, Weilai’s anti-fans will indeed have no future.

In this case, if I say that NIO is not good at making a seat, doesn’t it feel like a low-end black color that “has no place to spray but forcefully sprays it”? But after riding in many new cars at the NIO booth, this is my true feeling from the bottom of my heart.

Let’s put it first: Weilai is currently the most successful high-end pure electric brand in China. A series of new cars after ET7 have excellent performance in design, quality, intelligent driving, service marketing, battery replacement technology and other fields. It has unique advantages and is one of the Chinese brands with the most anticipated future prospects.

Now that the statement is complete, you can talk about the problem. In fact, Weilai's first-generation ES8, ES6 and other models have been criticized for their seat comfort, but I really felt the seat problem starting with the ET7. As a mid-to-large luxury car, the ET7 does not have enough space in the rear to match its size and pure electric platform. The more obvious problem is that the backrest of the ET7's rear row cannot be adjusted, and the setting angle is too steep, making it difficult for passengers to stretch out when sitting in the rear row. Not surprisingly, this problem also extended to the later ET5.

▲The back row of Weilai ET7 is nice and easy to sit in.

If the ET5, which is positioned as a mid-sized car, is mainly for home use and there is no need to pay too much attention to comfort in the rear row, then the executive-level ET7 It is a flaw if it does not bring an excellent rear row experience. Today, the sales volume of ET7 is almost half of that of ES7 at the same price, which reflects this to some extent.

In fact, the rear seats of Weilai's new generation SUV are not without problems. Taking the ES7 as an example, its rear legs and head are wider, and the backrest also has a certain amount of adjustment space. However, No matter how you adjust it, the rear seats cannot be found to fit the body while keeping the body at a reasonable angle.

The space is really not small, but it is not comfortable enough

The back and neck cannot be pressed against the top of the backrest when sitting in a normal sitting position. The back is pushed up in the semi-lying position, causing the waist to hang in the air. . In addition, the ES7 seat padding does not have the layered feeling of hardness and softness of high-end models.

Personally, I think that if Weilai’s design quality is comparable to that of million-level luxury cars, the overall comfort of its seats may not be as good as many independent cars currently worth more than 100,000 yuan. Models of the brand (if Weilai can fit in his body, the seats of the 80,000-class Wuling Bingo are worthy of Li Bin's experience and learning). This kind of high-end moat has been dug, but it stumbles on the most basic seat comfort. It is unreasonable no matter how you look at it, but this is my true personal experience on NIO models.

3. What I hate to admit is that the thing that impressed me the most at the auto show was a Korean car.

From film and television to culture, and from digital to automobiles, no matter what level, I am not a fan of the Republic of Korea. Korean brands will not receive any brand-level bonus in my heart. But the only car at this auto show that impressed me with its quality was the GV60 of the Korean luxury brand Genesis.

In fact, when I was watching Geely’s Galaxy L7, two Koreans sat in the car (because I had watched some Korean movies, I could tell from their voices that they were speaking Korean), and there was another person standing in the car. Communicate with them outside the car. At that time, my inner thought was, "Today's Chinese brand cars, you can learn from them." I even almost asked them in English what they thought of this car.

After that, I walked to the Genesis booth and sat in the driver's seat of the GV60. I was a little lucky that I didn't talk to them at that time. From the innovation of the whole to the details, to the actual touch of the car, this car gives me a feeling of admiration rather than a bright spot.

▲The picture quality taken by mobile phones at the auto show is too bad, so let’s use the official picture.

The appearance of GV60 is somewhat alternative and even weird. It is not the kind of style that will surprise everyone at first glance. But if you accept this style, you will feel its integrated overall look, as well as the coordinated lines and proportions of each part, and there are many local details worth pondering.

The suspended dual screens in the cockpit are relatively conventional, and the large-area soft leather wrapping is not unusual for Chinese brand models, but in more details, this car is full of novel small details. design.

All buttons such as the steering wheel, armrest, and window controls are covered with metal or have a metal-like touch.

The headlights and sunroof control areas are full of details.

What impressed me the most were the two large knobs on the central console. The upper one is responsible for adjusting the car and machine. It supports handwriting input. The handwriting pad has a concave curved surface, and your fingers slide on it. The touch is wonderful, it's hard to describe, but in my memory, it's almost the most enjoyable object my fingers have ever touched. Same

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