The ideal book cash is 70 billion! Next goal: spend money?

China Auto News WeChat WeChat official account news, "There are more than 70 billion cash on the account, and it is necessary to turn it into sustainable competitiveness." According to media reports, at the recent autumn strategy meeting held in LI, the top management reached a unanimous understanding, that is, "spending money". It is nothing new that LI has money in his account. In August this year, the data of the second quarter financial report released by LI showed that the operating income of LI in the second quarter was as high as 28.65 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 228.1%, a record high. The company’s free cash flow has reached 73.77 billion yuan, an increase of 42.8% from the previous month.

The ideal of "stingy"?

Although it is much richer than before, the ideal spending has always been known as "stingy", and it is one of the most "provincial" enterprises in all automobile enterprises, and even the R&D strength is questioned by the outside world because of the "low" investment in R&D expenses.

The data shows that its R&D investment in 2018, 2019 and 2020 is 790 million, 1.17 billion and 1.1 billion respectively; In the same period, Weilai’s R&D investment was 3.997 billion yuan, 4.43 billion yuan and 2.487 billion yuan respectively; In the same period, the R&D investment in Tucki was 1.05 billion, 2.07 billion and 1.726 billion respectively. Obviously, the ideal investment in early research and development is indeed significantly less than that of peers.

In 2021 and 2022, LI increased its R&D investment, with an investment of 3.29 billion and 6.78 billion respectively, but it was still not as good as Weilai’s 4.591 billion and 10.84 billion, and only surpassed Xpeng Motors’s 5.21 billion in 2022.

However, in the case that R&D investment is not as good as that of its main competitors, LI has abruptly come from behind. I have to say that LI is the most willing to spend money to live among all the new car-making forces and even all the automobile enterprises.

Li Xiang, the founder, has clarified the problem of low R&D investment: the absolute value of R&D investment for a single model in LI is the highest among China brands (neither multi-brand nor multi-model is done well). In the direct marketing system, sales and management fee rate are the least among China brands, far below the R&D expense ratio. Among the directly operated enterprises, the research and development of each car has the highest gold content, and the marketing proportion is the lowest.

Where will the money be spent?

However, the people who eat melons are still curious. What is the reason why such a "stingy" enterprise suddenly decided to spend a lot of money? It is reported that under the grand strategy of strengthening investment, the theme of the strategic meeting involves speeding up intelligent driving, product rhythm, R&D investment, timing of going to sea and so on.

Among them, intelligent driving has been mentioned to an unprecedented height. It is reported that the ideal strategy will spend a day alone to discuss how to invest in intelligent driving. Li Xiang even reflected on himself at the strategy meeting, saying that intellectual driving should be fully invested six months in advance, that is, it began to increase in intensity from the middle of last year, not the beginning of this year.

It can be seen that it is not that LI is unwilling to spend money, but that he had a poor family in the early days and had to save money to live. Now it is time to spend a lot of money, especially in the field of intelligent driving, and he must increase investment.

Li Xiang is very clear that intelligent driving determines the end of this round of automobile revolution. Huawei, Tucki and other competitors’ intelligent driving technical strength is ideal at present. If they don’t exert their efforts at this time, they may be beaten behind in the future.

Where does the target point?

It is reported that at this strategic meeting, the management of LI focused on how to deal with Huawei. Some people think that the company even intends to send relevant high-voltage signals to the middle and high levels, "to make some people who didn’t understand Huawei and didn’t pay attention to Huawei nervous."

In terms of intelligent driving, Huawei, the main competitor, has continued to invest heavily. Yu Chengdong, managing director of Huawei, CEO of terminal BG and chairman of smart car solutions, previously said: "In the era of smart cars, we insist on using digital technologies of’ software, hardware, core and cloud’ to empower the development of electric networked cars. In this field, Huawei directly invests more than 10 billion in R&D every year, and the number of direct R&D personnel reaches 7,000, not including indirect R&D investment. We also apply the accumulated ICT technology to vehicles. "

As far as the current situation is concerned, LI really needs to catch up with smart driving, and it has been recruiting on a large scale. On October 10th, LI recruited WeChat official account to release a special edition on the recruitment of intelligent driving team, and opened 50 social recruitment posts in algorithm engineer, large model engineer, software and hardware engineer, test engineer and operation class.

It is worth noting that the topic of LI’s strategic discussion has even been extended to 2028. LI believes that the penetration rate of new energy vehicles in China can reach 90% at that time. If only four or five companies will remain in the industry, BYD, Tesla and Huawei will all be among them. Ideally, if they want to stay at the poker table, they will sell more than 3 million vehicles at least in 2028, which is double the original target of selling 1.6 million vehicles in 2025.

Correspondingly, LI’s product SOP plan has also been achieved in 2027. During this period, its technology platform will also be iterated. It is expected that by 2026, a new generation of technology platform will be launched, which will have fully automatic driving capability.

At present, Ideality has achieved profitability for three consecutive quarters. If all goes well, LI is expected to achieve the goal of turning losses into profits in 2023 and become the first new car-making force to successfully "land". However, judging from the information revealed at this strategic meeting, achieving profitability is no longer an ideal goal, and it has targeted the top positions in the industry, and may even be the first. Next, it depends on whether Ideality can continue to spend money on the cutting edge.

Original title: The ideal book cash is 70 billion! Next goal: spend money?

Chongqing accelerates the construction of a world-class intelligent networked new energy automobile industry cluster.

  Holding a mobile phone is like playing a game. With just one button, an unmanned vehicle loaded with an intelligent "brain" can automatically find a parking space and automatically park in a nearby parking space.

  In the smart factory, automobile production has tended to be unmanned, only to see the mechanical arm waving back and forth, running at high speed, and automatic robots shuttling back and forth to transport materials.

  In the park, cleaning vehicles automatically run on the road, vending machines come and go at any time, and shuttle buses no longer need to be driven by people … …

  This kind of scene makes the reporters of the Chongqing interview group dazzled by the online theme of "Going into the region to see the development and a new chapter of Sichuan and Chongqing".

  The application of new energy vehicles is no longer limited to transportation. It can not only become our smart partner and provide us with thoughtful and caring services, but also become an intelligent mobile space and create new value for us. At present, the automobile industry is undergoing profound changes, and intelligent networked new energy vehicles have become the general trend. As an important automobile production base in China, Chongqing is accelerating the construction of a world-class intelligent networked new energy automobile industry cluster.

  Master the core technology

  "The new car in the future is no longer a simple means of transportation, but will gradually evolve into a ‘ with similar human wisdom and emotion; Intelligent automobile robot ’ 。” Han Sanchu, chief software architect of Changan Automobile, said in an interview with Chongqing interview group.

  This idea has taken shape in the Deep Blue SL03 independently developed by Changan Automobile and the Aouita 11/011 jointly built by Changan Automobile, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited and Huawei based on CHN platform. Among them, AVATRUST extrasensory system, which comes standard in Aouita 11, includes three laser radars, six millimeter-wave radars, 12 ultrasonic radars and 13 high-definition cameras, which are jointly defined and developed by Aouita and Huawei, with a total of 34 intelligent driving sensors, which makes it the leader among new energy vehicles.

  In January this year, the sales of Changan Deep Blue SL03 and Aouita 11 ushered in a "good start". The monthly sales of Changan Deep Blue reached 6,137 vehicles, ranking second in the domestic new energy vehicle delivery list only with a difference of 200 vehicles. Aouita Science and Technology announced on February 5th that its delivery has exceeded 2,000 units. At this time, it was only 38 days since its delivery.

Changan automobile staff demonstrated automatic parking technology. People's Daily Online Hu Hongshe

Changan automobile staff demonstrated automatic parking technology. People’s Daily Online Hu Hongshe

  The popularity of "Made in Chongqing" new energy vehicles is largely due to mastering the core technology.

  For example, Changan Automobile Global R&D Center located in Liangjiang New Area has seven functions such as design, test and management, 12 fields such as simulation analysis, noise and vibration, passive safety, 180 laboratories such as hybrid power, air conditioning system and nonmetallic materials, and a world-leading data center built by cloud technology, and is setting up a software development team of 2,000 people and a new energy R&D team of 2,500 people. This indicates that Changan Automobile has entered the R&D 4.0 era of "independent innovation and global collaboration".

  Starting the third venture since 2017 — — Since the innovation and entrepreneurship plan, Changan Automobile has achieved breakthroughs in two major areas: new energy and intelligence. Up to now, Changan Automobile has mastered more than 600 intelligent low-carbon core technologies; "Zero-fire" batteries and "seven-in-one" smart cores have all reached the leading level in the industry; The number of patent applications reached 4,745 in 2022 alone; The "National Key Laboratory of Intelligent Vehicle Safety Technology" jointly established with China Automobile Research Institute and Zhongke Xin was approved by the state, which is one of the only two national key laboratories in the automotive field.

The delegation visited Changan Automobile Global R&D Center. People's Daily Online Hu Hongshe

The delegation visited Changan Automobile Global R&D Center. People’s Daily Online Hu Hongshe

  In the past five years, Changan Automobile has invested a total of 57 billion yuan, and has built a global R&D layout of "six countries and ten places", and its R&D strength has been ranked in the forefront of China automobile industry for six consecutive years. At the same time, in recent years, Changan Automobile has seized a great opportunity to build a twin-city economic circle in Chengdu-Chongqing area, and intensified its supply chain layout in Sichuan and Chongqing. The supporting rate of enterprises in Sichuan and Chongqing is increasing year by year.

  "This year, Changan Automobile will successively launch heavy products such as Deep Blue S7, C236, Browser EV and Aouita E12. More than 10 new products have been planned. Strive to exceed 2.8 million units in production and sales to ensure that the scale growth is more than 10 percentage points higher than the industry. " Wang Xiaofei, vice president of Changan Automobile, said.

  Building a smart factory

  Sailisi Liangjiang Smart Factory is the production base of M5 and M7 in AITO. As a leading private automobile enterprise in Chongqing, Cyrus has taken the initiative to change since 2016, started to develop new energy vehicles, and upgraded its products by relying on technological innovation.

  Walking into the Sailisi Smart Factory in Liangjiang New District of Chongqing, the mechanical arm is telescopic and rotating, more than 1,000 robots cooperate in an orderly manner, and laser welding runs at high speed. Here, it takes only 5 seconds to punch a set of automobile parts.

  Among them, stamping is the first process of making a car. The stamping workshop here has advanced technologies and equipment such as dust prevention and noise reduction, automatic packing, AGV automatic transmission, one-button die change, etc. It takes only 5 seconds to punch a part in a fully enclosed high-speed synchronous mechanical stamping line. At the same time, the stamping workshop is equipped with the most advanced blue light detection system in the world at present, the detection efficiency is 3 -5 times that of the traditional three-coordinate detection in the automobile factory, and the detection accuracy is 0.05 mm, which is thinner than a hair, which is an accuracy that cannot be achieved by manual operation.

The machinery in Sailisi Liangjiang Smart Factory works in an orderly manner. People's Daily Online Hu Hongshe

The machinery in Sailisi Liangjiang Smart Factory works in an orderly manner. People’s Daily Online Hu Hongshe

  In the welding workshop, it is more like a kingdom of robots, with more than 300 robots waving their "arms" constantly. The seemingly rugged and powerful "arm" can actually "embroider". Thanks to the advanced laser remote flying welding technology, flying welding can realize rapid welding by increasing laser energy and adjusting assembly gap without touching parts. "The thinnest part can reach 0.08mm, and its automation rate can reach 100%." The staff of Sailis Smart Factory introduced.

  The production line of the workshop adopts the adaptive welding controller from Bosch, which can automatically monitor the change of solder joint material and environment, and automatically adjust the whole welding parameters to ensure that each solder joint can meet the quality requirements. It is worth mentioning that this technology is only used in high-end automobile manufacturing at present, but it can be found in the factory of Sailis.

  A large number of seven-axis spraying robot arms are used in the painting workshop, which is the first automobile production line in China using seven-axis robot arms. Compared with the six-axis manipulator, the seven-axis manipulator is more flexible, which is convenient for the end effector to reach a specific position. Even in the dead corner of the car body, the seven-axis manipulator can paint with ease.

  It was put into production in 2019, and the factory was built according to the standard of Industry 4.0. It has five process workshops: stamping, welding, painting, final assembly and battery PACK. At the same time, more than 1,000 robots work together to achieve a high degree of automation, and 100% automation is achieved in key processes, and online inspection is carried out 24 hours a day, which not only effectively reduces labor costs, but also makes manufacturing more accurate.

  In September 2022, Liangjiang New Area signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Sailisi Group. According to the agreement, Celestial Wenjie New Energy Vehicle Upgrade Project will be located in Longxing Intelligent Networked New Energy Vehicle Industrial Park in Liangjiang New District, helping Chongqing to build a world-class intelligent networked new energy vehicle industrial cluster.

  The Sailisi new energy vehicle upgrade project is another intelligent production base driven by digitalization and intelligence, combined with new technologies such as big data and Internet of Things, and built by using digital twin technology. According to the plan, the project will be completed in the fourth quarter of 2023. After completion, the overall intelligent level will reach the international advanced and domestic leading level, and it will become another benchmark project for intelligent manufacturing of new energy vehicle enterprises in China.

  Investment continues to increase.

  As the "main battlefield" of Chongqing’s automobile industry, the automobile industry in Liangjiang New Area accounts for 70% of Chongqing. According to statistics, up to now, there are 64 high-end R&D platforms in Liangjiang New Area, including China Automobile Research Institute, German Mainland and France, with a total investment of 6.5 billion yuan in recent years, which has spawned a large number of new technologies and applications.

  In terms of intelligent networked vehicles, the district has gathered 6 enterprises producing intelligent networked vehicles and 18 enterprises related to other links in the industrial chain, which are mainly distributed in the fields of chips, millimeter-wave radars, operating systems, intelligent driving systems, unmanned solutions for specific scenes, positioning communication, central controller, intelligent cockpit, computing resources, vehicle-road coordination and intelligent transportation.

Changan Global R&D Center located in Liangjiang New District of Chongqing. Photo courtesy of Liangjiang New Area

Changan Global R&D Center located in Liangjiang New District of Chongqing. Photo courtesy of Liangjiang New Area

  In addition, Liangjiang New District is building a national-level pilot area for vehicle networking, and has built a 128-kilometer two-way demonstration road of Shiyu Expressway, a nearly 100-kilometer urban demonstration road (including intelligent networking test road), and built pilot demonstration areas such as Jialijia Smart Park and Liangjiang Collaborative Innovation Zone. Up to now, more than 500 sets of RSUs have been installed and more than 250 OBU vehicles have been installed.

  A single flower does not make a spring. While creating the leading effect of automobiles in Liangjiang New District, all districts and counties are also aiming at Chongqing to accelerate the goal of building a world-class intelligent networked new energy automobile industry cluster with a trillion-dollar level.

  On February 8th, jiangjin district Municipal People’s Government and Dongfeng Xiaokang Automobile Co., Ltd. formally signed a contract on the intelligent networked new energy vehicle project, with a total investment of 3.2 billion yuan, which was settled in Jiangjin District of Science City (Shuang Fu Industrial Park).

  In the field of intelligent networked new energy vehicles, Shapingba District has made great efforts to build a new track, with Cyrus as the leader, continuously attracting "left and right generals", speeding up the construction of high-end supporting projects such as Topp and Wencan, strengthening the chain, deepening the development model of "faucet+supporting+platform+key technology+scene", and promoting the deep integration of the industrial chain, value chain and "three chains" of intelligent networked new energy vehicles.

  The continuous overweight of car companies and the continuous efforts of various districts and counties have given Chongqing more confidence in building a world-class intelligent networked new energy automobile industry cluster.

  "The development of intelligent networked new energy automobile industry is not only the main direction to promote the high-quality development of the automobile industry in the future, but also the key task to improve the mobile travel of the automobile industry and the construction of its social ecosystem." Zhou Qing, deputy secretary-general of Chongqing Municipal Government, said that Chongqing has the ability and responsibility to build a world-class intelligent networked new energy automobile industry cluster.

  On August 19th, 2022, the Chongqing Municipal Government issued the Development Plan for Building a World-class Intelligent Networked New Energy Automobile Industry Cluster in Chongqing (2022-2030).

  According to the plan, by 2025, the production and sales of new energy vehicles in Chongqing Intelligent Networking will account for more than 10% of the national total. By 2030, Chongqing will build a world-class intelligent networked new energy automobile industry cluster, and the industrial scale will reach the world-class level; Build one or two world-class intelligent networked new energy automobile enterprises and brands, form a world-class intelligent networked new energy automobile industrial chain ecology, and build a world-class intelligent networked new energy automobile experience capital. The intelligent networked new energy automobile industrial chain, supply chain and innovation chain have strong international radiation capabilities.

  At present, Chongqing has formulated an action plan for intelligent networked new energy auto parts system, an action plan for innovative application of autonomous driving and car networking, an action plan for application of automotive software and artificial intelligence, and an action plan for infrastructure and services to ensure the implementation and completion of the "planning".