Everything is man-made, and in this era of pervasive Internet, the human factor plays a more important role.

To this end, Beiqing Automobile has also selected ten "autobots" worthy of record in the development of the automobile industry in 2021.

Where there are people, there are rivers and lakes, where there are rivers and lakes, there are heroes who sympathize with each other, and there are those who suffer from the same disease.

Beiqing Automobile organized ten Autobots "CP" into five groups.

These five groups of characters, both proud and unhappy, are behind all kinds of extraordinary things in the auto industry in 2021.

  CP1

  Change the car from the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain

  ●Ningde era Zeng Yuqun

  In 2021, the new energy vehicle industry chain's ability to "create wealth" will become stronger and stronger. CATL, a leading power battery company, has achieved an annual increase of 67.55%, putting its chairman Zeng Yuqun at the top of various wealth lists.

  According to estimates, the equity value of Ningde era held by Zeng Yuqun is more than 300 billion yuan, and the same value is the huge influence of Ningde era in the field of new energy vehicles.

In the power battery sector, as of November 2021, CATL has occupied 31.8% of the global power battery market.

  The CATL era, which has established itself as a core supplier, is also continuously infiltrating downstream of the industrial chain.

In May 2021, Ningde Times invested in Aiways Auto through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Wending Investment Co., Ltd., accounting for 0.3% of the shares; in August, Ningde Times also led the Pre-A round of financing for Geely's Jikr Automobile.

In November, CATL invested 770 million yuan in Changan Automobile's high-end electrified brand Avita, becoming its second largest shareholder in one fell swoop.

  In addition, at the beginning of 2022, Ningde Times has released EVOGO, a battery swap brand based on rapid energy replenishment of electric vehicles, entering this market that has been dominated by electric vehicle manufacturers before as a power battery manufacturer.

Taking into account the Ningde era's share of more than 50% in the domestic market, "Ning Wang" raised his arms and the power exchange market is about to take off.

  ●Xiaomi Lei Jun

  "Xiaomi has a cash reserve of 108 billion yuan." In order to build a car, Lei Jun, CEO of Xiaomi Technology, has a simple and direct approach.

  At the Xiaomi spring new product launch conference on March 30 last year, Lei Jun announced that Xiaomi will enter the field of smart electric vehicles.

And the official said that a wholly-owned subsidiary will be established to be responsible for the smart electric vehicle business, led by Lei Jun personally, with an initial investment of 10 billion yuan, and plans to invest 10 billion US dollars in the next ten years.

As a result, Xiaomi officially entered the field of car manufacturing.

  Neither as a supplier nor as an investor, Xiaomi entered the ranks of car manufacturers as a pure Internet company.

The most advantageous point is that it has a very complete ecological chain.

Shortly after the official announcement of the car, Lei Jun, chairman of Xiaomi, revealed in a live broadcast that Xiaomi's car will be equipped with Xiaomi's "family bucket", that is, Xiaomi's full set of intelligent configurations, such as air conditioners, purifiers, fresh air systems, humidifiers, Cooling water, etc., all come from the Xiaomi ecological chain.

It is conceivable that these elements will bring new ways of playing to Xiaomi's cars.

  CP2

  "Soul" car

  ●Huawei Yu Chengdong

  Although Huawei has repeatedly stated in public that it "does not build cars", in addition to a flagship folding phone, AITO was able to enjoy the "single link, single product" treatment at Huawei's winter new product launch conference on December 23 last year. The brand's first new car is the M5.

  It was Yu Chengdong, the executive director of Huawei who introduced the M5 to the audience, who is also Huawei's "spokesperson" in the automotive industry.

In May 2021, Huawei released Yu Chengdong's latest titles: Managing Director, Consumer BG CEO, and Smart Car Solutions BU CEO.

For the next six months, Yu Chengdong became a frequent visitor on behalf of Huawei to partners in the automotive industry.

  From the Extreme Fox S Huawei HI version to the Avita 11, Huawei made frequent moves in the automotive field last year, and Yu Chengdong continued to "voice" Huawei in the automotive industry in various ways.

  In contrast, the Wenjie M5 can be regarded as Huawei's "heart". This extended-range electric SUV has a pre-sale price range of 250,000-320,000 yuan.

Yu Chengdong personally appeared and introduced the new car to the audience: "The chassis of our car is a high-end million-dollar car chassis" "Its front suspension is a double wishbone independent suspension. We have seen many cars in order to reduce costs. The McPherson suspension is used, and the driving experience is unacceptable.” “Our cruising range is basically three times that of normal electric vehicles, killing a lot of pure electric vehicles.” I have to say that Yu Chengdong, who first introduced automobile products These remarks were full of offensiveness and caused a lot of heated discussions, but they also successfully brought the M5 into the focus of public opinion.

  Although he reiterated that Huawei "does not build cars", judging from Yu Chengdong's busyness and investment in the past year, Huawei, which "does not build cars", has been "infinitely close" to building cars.

  ●SAIC·Chen Hong

  As the head of China's most profitable listed car company, Chen Hong, chairman of SAIC Motor, has never lacked attention.

But in 2021, Chen Hong's most "hot" appearance was actually related to Huawei.

  On June 30, 2021, at the SAIC Shareholders' Meeting, when faced with a question from shareholders "whether SAIC will consider cooperating with third-party companies such as Huawei in terms of autonomous driving", Chen Hong, who has just re-elected as chairman of SAIC, said: "We will cooperate with Huawei. Such a third-party company cooperates with autonomous driving, and SAIC cannot accept it. In this way, it becomes the soul, and SAIC becomes the body. SAIC must take the soul into its own hands.”

  This was the "soul theory" that sparked heated discussions at the time.

There is no doubt that the size of the SAIC Group must be in control of the core technology. This is the case with the engine, gearbox and chassis of the year, and the future of autonomous driving and intelligent networking will also be the same.

  So from a certain point of view, SAIC's rejection of Huawei is not without reason.

The reason why Chen Hong is under pressure because of the "soul theory" is more because SAIC Group, especially SAIC's own brands, have rarely been "outstanding" in the field of autonomous driving and intelligent networking in the past two years.

The original industry-leading "Zebra" smart car system was shot down in a "back wave".

Critics are not questioning "SAIC should take the soul into its own hands", but worry about where SAIC's "soul" is.

  When the "Soul Theory" came out, Chen Hong had just been renewed.

In the following six months, SAIC's R car was renamed Feifan and officially entered the market, and Zhiji's first product, L7, also started road testing.

I wonder if SAIC can find a new "soul" this time.

  CP3

  High-endization leads to the same goal

  ●Geely Li Shufu

  Among Chinese automakers, who has gone the furthest on the road to high-end development is Li Shufu, chairman of Geely Holding Group and chairman of Volvo Car Group.

The much-anticipated acquisition that year brought Li Shufu's Geely to the high-end road. In the next few years, the Geely brand became the "first brother" of its own brand, and the Lynk & Co brand gradually gained a firm foothold in the high-end market. Volvo Cars It has also achieved independent listing.

  In April last year, with the release of the new high-end electrified brand Jikr, Li Shufu had another high-end ace in his hand and a new title: Chairman of Jikr Intelligent Technology.

  On the surface, it was born out of Lynk & Co’s electrified model plan, but it is actually the product of the vast structure built by Geely.

The Jikr brand is not only a business unit of Geely focusing on high-end electrification, but also an attempt to operate users that traditional car companies are not good at.

On the basis of the Lynk & Co model, Jikr has established a nanny-style user operation system similar to the new force. From the user community to car booking, delivery, car use and energy replenishment, the Jikr brand is small, but it helps Geely Group has entered a new field of high-end development.

  ●The Great Wall · Wei Jianjun

  At the beginning of the year, the tank brand became independent. At the end of the year, a new car was unveiled in the salon. Wei brand opened a "cafe", and Euler raised a lot of "cats"... In the past year, Wei Jianjun, chairman of Great Wall Motors, saw that the company he built by himself was completed. A new look."

  No matter how people comment on Great Wall Motor's multi-brand and multi-category strategy, and what comments they have on the various names and shapes, it is undeniable that Great Wall Motor has become "interesting".

  Of course higher end.

The models of the Tank brand have achieved high premiums by virtue of the positioning of "hard-core off-road". With the support of a series of hybrid "coffee" models, the pricing range of the Wei brand is also increasing.

As for the salon that came the latest and also "goes the furthest", it directly entered the price range of 500,000 yuan.

  Now Wei Jianjun no longer needs to be the platform for many products under Great Wall as before, but needs to consider more far-reaching issues.

At the Great Wall Motor Technology Festival in June last year, Wei Jianjun proposed the goal of "selling 4 million vehicles in 2025, of which the sales of new energy vehicles will account for more than 80%, and the operating income will exceed 600 billion yuan". "Can Great Wall Motors survive next year?" The soul question is less than a year old.

  CP4

  rubbing the boss's traffic

  ●NIO · Li Bin

  "Why do people still buy gas cars?" During the NIO DAY 2021 event in December last year, Li Bin, chairman of NIO, raised a proud question.

  Someone immediately thought of another scene more than 1,000 years ago: hearing the news of the famine, Emperor Hui of Jin Sima Zhong asked his ministers: "Why not eat minced meat?"

  Although the annual sales of 3 million vehicles will be exceeded in 2021, the limitations of the popularity of new energy vehicles, especially pure electric vehicles, are still there.

The problems of shrinking cruising range and insufficient charging facilities are all stubborn diseases that restrict consumers from purchasing pure electric vehicles.

  Of course, most of Weilai's users are not listed here, because Weilai has more charging points, and services such as one-click power-on and one-click battery replacement are available.

However, the average selling price of Weilai is 428,000 yuan. Based on the income and consumption level of residents in my country, most consumers cannot afford the selling price of Weilai, and naturally they are not connected with these fast service methods.

  But this is the real situation of most electric vehicle consumers. Regrettably, as the leader of the new domestic car-making force, Li Bin "doesn't understand".

Many young people once regarded Li Bin, the man who had the "worst life" but never gave up, as an inspirational idol. In the blink of an eye, if the same group of people found themselves the target of Li Bin's "taunting", I don't know how they would feel.

  "Why not eat minced meat?" The person who said this is said to have some brain problems.

Li Bin is a smart person. "Why do people still buy gas cars?" It is better to ask less questions.

  ●Ideal · Li Xiang

  Li Xiangai is notorious for publicly scolding people.

In the year of 2021 alone, the person in charge of Volkswagen China who "wishfully wished" the parties in the Mercury Incident "filled their heads with mercury", and later posted the ideal ONE sales "secretly" questioned the program-extended hybrid technology route. , If you count the group car network that announced the official announcement of the car a few days ago, the name of an expert in the car circle is even more real.

  It's a pity that Li Xiang, who loves to be rude, has also been portrayed by some people as an upright image of "going straight" and "talking when you have something to say".

But in fact, as the person in charge of a car company, Li Xiang has not been completely reasonable and has no manners.

The "Mercury Incident" has not yet been publicly concluded. As a vehicle manufacturer, the ideal is always lacking. The forcible comparison of sales is considered to be a lack of tolerance. is naming names.

  What's more interesting is that Li Xiang's "resentment" is not a matter of temperament, but a careful calculation.

At the Huawei's new product launch conference at the end of December last year, Yu Chengdong directly criticized the three-cylinder extended-range engine of a friend: "At least four cylinders are required, and you must not buy a three-cylinder engine when buying a car."

  This time, Li Xiang, who was dissed by his direct competitor, didn't say anything.

  CP5

  Front waves on the beach

  ●Evergrande · Dai Lei

  Evergrande's car-making thing, I'm afraid it will be yellow.

This is not unusual, but those who are familiar with the automobile circle will notice that this is another failure of Dai Lei, who has returned as the "Executive Vice President of Evergrande Automobile".

  From Infiniti to BMW, Dai Lei once had a smooth ride in the auto industry.

It is a pity that it is difficult for Dai Lei, who has embarked on the road of entrepreneurship, to continue his career.

Byton, which "lost" 8.4 billion yuan, is now in a mess, and Dai Lei has no choice but to leave and run away.

  Surprisingly, at the 2021 Shanghai Auto Show, Dai Lei returned to the public eye, and his new identity was the executive vice president of Evergrande.

It is a little embarrassing that Dai Lei, who has been in charge of the two luxury brands' business in China and joined the new car-making force first, can only be ranked in the second row in the introduction of Evergrande's executive team, and even his avatar is required. Small half size.

  What is even more embarrassing is that the "fence" behind Dai Lei fell down after "condescending" to stay on the fence for more than half a year.

  ●Weima·Shen Hui

  In 2021, the sales of new power car companies will generally increase.

When the heads of people are in great glory, Weimar and its founder Shen Hui are an exception.

  The originally rumored IPO in April failed to materialize, and the sales of several models also widened the gap with Wei Xiaoli, even not as good as the rookie Nezha and Leapmotor.

What's more serious is that in the past year, WM Motor has been on fire one after another: in September and October, there were 4 fires in succession; in December, another 3 vehicles caught fire.

  The "power lock" incident that followed was considered to be a confirmation that WM Motor's battery was defective: in the winter when the battery life was severely reduced, WM Motor limited the available battery power without notifying the user.

In some cases, vehicles with a nominal cruising range of 400 kilometers can only have a cruising range of more than 100 kilometers, resulting in a large number of user complaints.

  Industry insiders pointed out that "locking the electricity" is to protect the battery, and if the situation was not serious, WM would not have taken such a bad policy.

  Since the trial car fire incident in 2018, the issue of battery safety has been accompanied by WM Motor, and there have been no less than 10 fire incidents that have been documented, which has also made WM Motor one of the most “hot” new car manufacturers. .

  Shen Hui, who was born in a traditional automobile company and is well versed in the way of building cars, has not been able to completely solve this stubborn problem of Weimar for more than three years.

Text / Yang Zheng