Young people, can you swallow the promises made by He Xiaopeng and the MONA M03?
Recently, the XPeng MONA M03 had its global debut, but after watching the live stream, I couldn't help but think of "Kong Yiji" by Lu Xun:
When XPeng arrives at the store, everyone drinking would look at him and laugh. Someone would shout, "Half a year has passed, and XPeng, why have you only achieved less than 20% of your annual goal?" He doesn't respond and instead tells the clerk, "Put the global debut of the MONA M03 on the trending list."
Someone deliberately raises their voice, "Have you finally come to your senses and are ready to scale up in the B2B market?" XPeng widens his eyes and says, "How can you slander me like this..."
"What slander? I saw you sign a betting agreement with Didi," XPeng's face flushes, veins bulging on his forehead, as he argues, "Matters of tech companies, can that be called scaling up? It's about ecosystems and breaking barriers."
Then come more incomprehensible phrases like "strong alliances," "visual driving," "urban NOA," "flying cars," and so on, which make everyone burst into laughter. The store is filled with an air of amusement.
Who is the MONA M03 actually going to be sold to?
In this global debut, the MONA M03 basically focused on two words: "looks good," almost like a design analysis session. As one netizen summarized, "An hour and a half of the launch event just talked about the exterior, the air intake grille, and the tailgate," essentially a waste of time.
Although there was a lack of substantive content, XPeng Motors still painted a lot of big promises, like "the most advanced intelligent driving capability in its class" and "no taxi version of the M03 will be launched." From the overall presentation and He Xiaopeng’s remarks, it's clear that the MONA brand has grand ambitions. It aims to be compatible with XPeng's existing users, penetrate the B2B market, and simultaneously attract C2C consumers—a typical attempt to be all things to all people.
Ten years ago, the MONA brand's approach might have been feasible, but today, even though I don't doubt Didi's ability to sell cars, it still seems extremely challenging.
Looking at the betting agreement between XPeng and Didi, Didi is required to help the MONA brand achieve sales of at least 100.000 units to gain more shares from XPeng. Therefore, the bulk of this car’s sales will most likely be in the B2B market. However, the logic behind B2B products is different from that of C2C products. The more personalized and unbalanced the product, the harder it is to sell.
So, even though this launch event talked a lot about "AI quantified aesthetics," the MONA M03 is actually a typical commercial design product. The front end borrows heavily from luxury brands, such as the dual kidney grilles at the bottom and the T-shaped headlights on either side. The car also uses more rounded lines to make it more appealing to the general public, returning to the essence of a streetcar.
The key is XPeng Motors' claim of "the most advanced intelligent driving capability in its class." As we all know, a product primarily targeting the B2B market typically adheres to a cost-first principle. Therefore, features that are likely to increase the product’s price, such as intelligent driving configurations, are often offered as optional extras. However, this approach, due to the lack of economies of scale, usually results in higher prices for optional features, which is very unfriendly to C2C users and can significantly increase the cost of purchasing the vehicle.
Thus, from the global debut, it’s clear that XPeng's MONA brand has been trying to appeal to C2C consumers, with claims like "no taxi version" and "the most advanced intelligent driving," attempting to spark private consumer interest. But a product primarily designed and sold for the B2B market will inevitably have significant shortcomings for C2C consumers, such as in cost-effectiveness, overall capability, quality, and the price differences that C2C users care about most.
For example, in terms of cost-effectiveness, the MONA M03. as a compact car, does not have a price advantage compared to other products like Changan SL03. Chery A07. BYD Destroyer, and Qin PLUS, and is even at a disadvantage. In terms of quality, the MONA M03. as the first car developed under Didi’s "Da Vinci" project, has high trial-and-error costs and lacks any reputation backing.
In my view, it will be hard for young people to swallow the promises made by MONA M03.
Can a car truly cater to both B2B and C2C markets?
XPeng Motors' Chairman and CEO He Xiaopeng once publicly stated, "We will achieve success in both the B2C and B2B sectors. I have great confidence in the competitiveness of this product’s sales, with a conservative sales target of over 100.000 units per year, and my expectations are far beyond this number."
It now seems that the product he was referring to is likely the MONA M03.
Regarding this car, there’s not much left to say. What’s important to discuss now is why XPeng Motors insists on pursuing this path despite knowing the difficulties, and whether it's possible to cater to both the B2B and C2C markets.
Let’s look at the first question. The reason why He Xiaopeng himself is supporting the MONA M03 isn’t hard to see—it’s to stabilize XPeng’s existing users. Although the MONA M03 may not be very cost-effective, it is certainly a lower-end replacement compared to XPeng’s current products. And right now, what XPeng can boast about are its heavily promoted urban NOA function and the brand's intelligent driving capabilities.
It’s obvious that if the MONA M03 were to be marketed mainly towards the B2B sector, it would certainly face opposition and skepticism from existing XPeng owners. "Why should the MONA brand enjoy the same technology at wholesale prices?" This question would add to the struggles XPeng is already facing in the market.
Now, let's look at whether a product can cater to both B2B and C2C markets. The issue of industry-wide competition is well understood, so there's no need to elaborate further. The only point worth noting is that "the essence of competition is an oversupply." Behind the oversupply are factors like the increase in market competitors, the shrinking of blue oceans, the reduction in information asymmetry, and the test of companies' and products' vertical capabilities.
The reason why it was possible to cater to both markets in the past was due to limited choices in the market, and users lacked deep understanding of products due to restricted information flow. But now, whether in the B2B or C2C market, there are plenty of specialized products. A product that spans multiple fields will inevitably face competition from more specialized and distinctive players in each field.
Haval H6 is a typical example. In the past, Haval H6 differentiated itself with red and blue labels to cover both the family and youth markets. However, after 2021. with the surge of new energy vehicles, Haval H6 was targeted by products in both the energy efficiency and performance segments in terms of energy saving, efficiency, performance, and design. Behind this is the awakening of user demand and the sharpening of product categories in the context of oversupply.
To sum up, professional tasks should be handled by professionals. Sticking to a "mixed strategy" will inevitably lead to offending consumers in multiple fields, and the only path for the MONA brand is, and can only be, through Didi's platform.
As some say:
Of course, we cannot rule out the possibility that XPeng Motors is trying to save face. After all, as a company that once stood on equal footing with NIO and Li Auto, it’s now struggling to even rank among the top ten in the new energy vehicle market. When considering all new energy brands, XPeng’s situation is even tougher. But as a brand committed to "flying cars" and "visual solutions," XPeng Motors is unlikely to stoop to solely targeting the B2B market.
In summary, when watching a launch event, especially from a new force brand, you can't think too deeply, but you also can’t just take it at face value. Otherwise, you'll either lose hope or become the next gullible consumer.
