ID.4: Volkswagen is finally going head-on with Tesla.

Wen? |? Jiang Fugui

Unsurprisingly, the news that ID.4 was put into production in China made the public make headlines again.

October 27th? SAIC Volkswagen ID.4X was officially put into mass production. According to the original plan, this A-class SUV will be put into production after its first show in Shenzhen. Unfortunately, the typhoon weather postponed the first show from October 22 to November 3.

nevertheless, SAIC Volkswagen couldn't wait to put into production first, which also made everyone in SAIC Volkswagen Anting MEB factory take the lead in feasting their eyes. The yellow ID.4X, which slowly rolled off the production line, is not only the first pure electric SUV produced by SAIC Volkswagen, but also the 23 millionth complete vehicle produced by SAIC Volkswagen, which is quite memorable.

this also means that Volkswagen has planned a new energy strategy for a long time, and it is finally going to test the water in the market. China is undoubtedly its most important battlefield.

There is no need to go into details about Volkswagen's determination to transform itself. The industry generally thinks that it originated from the "emission gate" incident in 215. Because of cheating in the emission test, Volkswagen's share price plummeted by more than 4% in that year, and its market value decreased by several billion euros. Needless to say, this incident has become a permanent stain on the public brand. After a lapse of five years, Volkswagen has paid a fine of at least 9 million euros (about 71.15 million yuan).

You can say that this incident is an accelerator of mass transformation, and you can also regard it as a fuse of forced electrification. But at that time, the public really should move.

In that year, Tesla began to greatly expand the number of super charging stations-from 331 in early 215 to nearly 6; At the same time, it also pushed the 7. version of autopilot software to car owners all over the world, including functions such as active driving, automatic parking and automatic lane change.

even though there was only Model? S and Model? X two models are on sale, but Tesla is far ahead of other car companies in electrification and intelligence. In terms of sales volume, Tesla delivered more than 5, electric vehicles in 215, a year-on-year increase of 6%. Perhaps, this delivery volume is not enough to attract the attention of traditional car giants, but this rapid growth has attracted the attention of a group of Internet people on the other side of the ocean.

Around p>215, Weilai, Tucki, Ideality, Weimar and other car companies were established in China. Together with Tesla, they formed the "new domestic car-making forces" camp.

At this time, although the public was determined to transform, they were overwhelmed by the "emission gate" incident and did not make relevant plans. The German giant didn't expect that these "little sesame seeds" would later grow into their invisible rivals to promote electrification in China.

If today's Tesla scares the public, the new domestic car-making forces will keep the public anxious. The gap is gradually widening.

from p>216 to 217, Volkswagen group successively proposed "Together-Strategy? 225”、“Roadmap? E "strategic planning, the latter is more clear about its task in the field of new energy-in 225, all brands under the Group will launch more than 8 brand-new electric vehicles (5 pure electric vehicles and 3 plug-in hybrid vehicles), with an annual production and sales of 3 million vehicles.

at this time, Tesla has also launched a low-priced product Model? 3. Although it is deeply trapped in the productivity hell, the sales volume is still rising. In 217, it delivered more than 1, vehicles, twice as many as two years ago (215). At the end of the same year, Weilai launched its first electric vehicle ES8 in China. Most of Volkswagen's new energy products are "oil to electricity", which is also a common problem in the early days of traditional car companies taking the electrification route.

the wave of electrification is becoming more and more obvious, and Volkswagen has also accelerated its transformation from 218 to 219-finally launched the modular electric vehicle production platform MEB, which increased the investment amount of electrification to 33 billion euros (about 26.9 billion yuan) and refined the production target (in 225, 1 million electric vehicles will be produced based on MEB platform).

China has also been mentioned as a more important strategic position. During the 219 Shanghai Auto Show, audi ag CEO Feng Sihan said that by 228, the Group will produce 11.6 million pure electric vehicles in China together with three joint venture partners, including FAW, SAIC and Jianghuai, accounting for more than half of the global sales target.

In the same year, ID series products based on MEB platform were released one after another, and this year, ID.3 was delivered in Europe and ID.4 was put into production in China. Until now, Volkswagen has completely stuffed one foot into the field of electrification.

but compared with five years ago, the new energy market has changed dramatically. Especially in the China market, which is most valued by the public, during its absence for several years, Tesla quickly built a super factory in Shanghai to realize localization, and in the past two years, it has continuously reduced prices and harvested a large number of China users.

the new domestic car-making forces are also rising rapidly. Weilai, Tucki and Ideality, three new head forces, have landed in the capital market one after another, and at the same time, they are carving up the few remaining new energy market shares in China.

Not to mention the "Tesla Terminator" in many media. With the reputation of domestic new car manufacturers getting better and better, I'm afraid it will take a little effort for the belated ID.4 to climb the name of "new power Killer".

the public has seriously thought about it. The first ID. model of Anting MEB factory rolled off the assembly line in 219 was ID.3. The reason why I chose to put ID.4 into production at this time was because Volkswagen took a fancy to the rising market share of compact SUVs.

the production of ID.4 in China means that Volkswagen wants to cooperate with domestic Model? 3 the front is just. In the past September, Model? The delivery volume in China exceeded 1, units, which was before the price reduction in October.

Volkswagen chose to step through this muddy water and produce compact SUVs in China first? ID.4。 According to the available information, the price of ID.4 should not exceed 3, yuan. At present, in China, there is no particularly powerful compact pure electric SUV product between 2, yuan and 3, yuan, and the emergence of ID.4 can just seize the market.

although this compact SUV is the fastest-growing car segment market in the world, Volkswagen may not be able to take advantage of it. the key point lies in its intelligence. According to the plan, Volkswagen ID.4 will be listed in Q1, 221, which is far from Model? Y localization is not far off.

according to Tesla's crazy price reduction routine, it's hard to say Model? Whether y can be reduced to less than 3 thousand within one year of localization. If Volkswagen can't win the hearts of users as much as possible within this time difference, this part of the market will have to be returned to Tesla.

the battery life of 55km is pure, and the battery performance is too low. Judging from the existing information, the intelligent functions of ID.4 are rarely disclosed, and the intelligent functions such as central control screen, augmented reality HUD and voice assistant are too "universal" and have limited competitiveness.

referring to the previous news, the delivery of ID.3 has been delayed repeatedly, so it must be that Volkswagen is not going smoothly in terms of intelligence. This is a common problem of traditional car giants, especially for German car companies, which have always been known for their rigor. The manufacturing attitude formed in the past 1 years is difficult to change in a short period of time. The cumbersome departmental relationship hinders innovation and the heavy historical burden suppresses transformation ... Diss, CEO of Volkswagen Group, said frankly: "Repairing the instability of software is indeed a challenge."

however, this is indeed the key to the success of future cars.

for today's public, the manufacturing process, even electrification, is not a problem. But in terms of intelligence, how can this elephant make up for the missing years?

This article comes from the author of Chejia, car home, and does not represent car home's standpoint.