We often believe that technological innovation is the key to a car brand's success.
Interestingly, there is a car company that seems to ignore this logic and frequently ranks high on sales charts — that company is "Li Auto."
Although many people criticize it for having "no core technology" and "just reusing designs," its sales performance is impressive. Why is this?
After consulting some industry insiders, they offered three key viewpoints on why Li Auto is successful.
Upon reflection, these viewpoints really make sense and are hard to ignore!
Firstly, they believe Li Auto rarely indulges in self-satisfaction, which is quite rare.
Although in the past two years, the company has become somewhat arrogant with its Li Auto Mega, almost losing its original spirit, it remains one of the few in the market that truly focuses on what consumers want without any sense of "shame."
This might sound like an insult, but it isn’t: for a company to reach this level of complete consumer focus is truly difficult.
After all, not every car company has the courage to frequently reuse designs; they care about external opinions and public criticism.
The result is frequent “bad moves”!
For example, XPeng Motors is a typical case. The P7 and G9 are well-designed, but they introduced the G6. which is very unattractive — what’s the point?
It would be better to continue using the G9’s exterior and interior design but with fewer features; this could significantly boost sales, potentially increasing them by at least 1.5 times!
The same principle applies elsewhere — car manufacturing shouldn’t be about self-satisfaction!
Is it shameful to make refrigerators, color TVs, and large sofas? It’s not! Consumers clearly like them, so why not produce them?
Many car companies fail to grasp this, still thinking it’s decades ago and trying to teach users how to drive!
But do users buy it? They don’t, leading to a significant drop in sales.
The lesson is: car manufacturing shouldn’t be about self-satisfaction. If you only focus on how great you are, consumers will definitely teach you to “start over”!
Secondly, Li Auto excels in handling details.
After all, the points mentioned above aren’t groundbreaking and aren’t without imitation from other car companies.
Yet, their sales haven’t improved. Why? Because few brands pay attention to details.
To put it bluntly, some companies also imitate refrigerators, color TVs, and large sofas, but their efforts are inadequate:
For example, with seats, while they use Napa leather like others, their implementation seems flawed, resulting in seats that are short and uncomfortable.
I am a victim myself and can hardly complain anymore.
These issues alone are bad enough, but what’s more, other aspects are also neglected: despite using good materials, poor attention to detail diminishes the luxury feel.
From my observations of various car companies, uneven seams, rough window trims, and large gaps are common issues.
These aren’t difficult problems to solve but are often overlooked.
Moreover, many car screens I’ve compared are rarely as clear and high-resolution as Li Auto’s — the experience isn’t just slightly better but significantly so.
Is it that these companies can’t achieve these standards? I don’t think so!
A major reason might be their arrogance and disregard for users.
This isn’t baseless; it’s evident from the behavior of many car company executives.
For example, if they were to learn from Lei Jun (founder of Xiaomi) about opening doors for users, they’d fail miserably, exuding a strong sense of arrogance.
As one netizen put it: “Lei Jun genuinely loves what he does; even opening a door is done with the care of a driver. Other car company bosses seem to be on a poverty alleviation mission — the difference is stark!”
Lastly, their marketing is highly effective.
I don’t need to elaborate much on this. For example, the marketing strategy for Li Auto Mega is well-paced, which many people can see.
Unfortunately, if the product strength, design, and pricing were better, it might have become a huge hit.
Compared to other car companies, Li Auto’s marketing communication is very clear.
By comparing many car companies’ websites, it’s evident that they effectively combine features with scenarios, showcasing how Li Auto meets everyday needs like family trips and shopping.
This lifestyle-oriented marketing strategy quickly informs consumers about the car’s features and how it meets their needs.
Unlike many companies that use a lot of technical jargon, leaving consumers confused about the functionality and significance of the features.
The result is a significant difference in sales!
Including recent product price reductions and compensation for existing customers, Li Auto has surpassed many car companies.
In summary, it’s not that Li Auto is exceptionally outstanding, but rather that current car companies are too arrogant.
Indeed, they have extensive experience in car manufacturing and their philosophy tells them: “We should build a good car this way or that way.”
But they often forget that a good car isn’t necessarily what consumers need.
The essence of car manufacturing isn’t about piling on features and technologies but providing the most suitable and thoughtful solutions based on consumers’ real needs, isn’t it?
In this regard, these companies really need to learn from Li Auto and Xiaomi!
