In the field of ultra luxury cars, the penetration rate of new energy has not met our expectations. Our expectation for the penetration rate of ultra luxury electric vehicles is 20%, but in reality it is only about 10%, which is twice the expected data. "Recently, Lotus Group CEO Feng Qingfeng said in an interview with First Financial Journalist.
According to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, the domestic retail penetration rate of new energy vehicles reached 52.9% in October this year, surpassing gasoline vehicles for three consecutive months. Fuel powered cars have become a true "minority", but why is it still difficult for electric cars to penetrate the ultra luxury car market priced at over $80000 (approximately RMB 580000)?
In this regard, Feng Qingfeng believes that the user group of ultra luxury cars is quite special, and they have a strong preference for gasoline cars. This is partly because they have already had a sufficient experience of high-performance gasoline cars, and their perception of the breakthrough in vehicle performance brought by electric cars is not obvious; On the other hand, there is still no significant contrast in the intelligence capabilities between electric and gasoline vehicles, and these user groups have not yet experienced the convenience of life brought by intelligence.
Recently, Lotus, which focuses on the ultra luxury electric vehicle market, released its Q3 2024 financial report. The data shows that from January to September 2024, Lotus' total revenue was $653 million, a year-on-year increase of 105%; Service revenue was 29 million US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 129%; The total delivery volume was 7617 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 136%.
Although the growth momentum is good, Lotus still only achieved 63% of this year's sales target of 12000 vehicles against the backdrop of weak trends in its segmented market.
In order to accelerate the penetration of new energy vehicles in the ultra luxury market, Lotus has recently abandoned the pure electric route and announced the launch of the super hybrid technology brand "Luyao". The hybrid technology is in the development stage and will be applied to multiple Lotus products.
Previously, new car making forces such as Xiaopeng, Zero Run, Avita, etc. have abandoned the pure electric single route and turned to the extended range and plug-in hybrid route. Recently, it was reported that NIO also plans to launch its first hybrid model in 2026, but it will only be sold in overseas markets.
Nowadays, electric vehicles do have some pain points, with a long tail effect. For example, China has the highest coverage and largest number of charging stations in the world, but there are still many inaccessible areas. In the global market, this imbalance in development is even more evident. Feng Qingfeng said that based on this, hybrid electricity is also the direction of electrification, but Lotus has always emphasized not doing range extension because the range extension technology route has poor power loss performance.
In addition to promoting hybrid technology, Lotus believes that intelligence is a major turning point for ultra luxury electric vehicles. Unlike the mid to low end market, relying solely on the performance degradation impact of electrification on fuel vehicles of the same level can usher in a turning point. Ultra luxury requires intelligence to fully transform the driving experience before the turning point will appear.
2025 will become a huge watershed for intelligent driving, and the experience of NOA (Navigation Assistance Function) in cities will continue to improve. Feng Qingfeng said that the turning point of ultra luxury electric vehicles will emerge at that time.