Tesla in the eyes of Wei Lai plans to enter the United States in 2020

What will happen to the future of Wei Lai? Weilai CFO believes that one of the advantages of Weilai Automobile is government support, which is a local advantage. And believe that the future with Tesla is more advantageous, Wei Lai will plan to enter the US market in 2020.

As the world's largest auto market, China is undoubtedly the battleground for the auto giants. On the occasion of the electric age, Tesla has stepped up its footsteps in China. It has to bring its production line to China and win the hearts of Chinese consumers with the cost-effective Tesla model. However, in the face of Tesla CEO Elon Musk's super aura, Tesla's Chinese rival, Nilai Motors (NIO), is clearly not afraid, and it is ready to fight with the American electric giant.

Not long ago, Louis Hsieh, CFO of Weilai Automobile, firmly stated in an interview with CNBC that he believes Wei has the ability to cope with the challenges brought by Tesla.

The Chinese market has always been a big and attractive piece of cake: there are a large number of potential consumers, so no one can dare to neglect. Tesla is no exception. Last year, it finally got a paper agreement and was approved to set up a factory in China.

When asked if Tesla is a major threat to Wei Lai, Xie Dongying responded: "It is a wise move to choose to build a factory in China, which will greatly reduce Tesla's manufacturing and delivery costs. In our opinion China will become a highly competitive market in the future, but since it is also the world's largest market, Tesla will not come. The company of Musk is definitely our threat, but it is capable of coping with the challenge."

Weilai Auto has announced their next plans to investors. In the first three quarters of 2018, Weilai will set a target sales of 20,000-30,000 units. From now on, this startup has gradually got on the right track. Xie Dongying said that the first batch of 10,000 ES8 pure electric vehicles have been sold out. It is worth mentioning that the ES8 was officially released on December 16 last year.

Compared with Tesla, one of the advantages of Weilai Automobile is government support. Xie Dongying said that Tesla has been seeking subsidies or tariff reductions from the Chinese government, but he expects Musk to be difficult to do so.

According to the reporter, at present, each car of Weilai Automobile can receive the government subsidy of RMB 48,000 (RMB), and different cities have their own subsidy policies.

CNBC also asked about the profitability of Weilai Automobile. Xie Dongying responded: "From the perspective of gross profit, our vehicles can be profitable." "We will make a profit, and Wei will not make a loss." Xie Dongying added.

However, Wei Lai is still more pragmatic, and Xie Dongying said that Wei Lai may take several years to truly achieve profitability. Part of the Weilai car's bottom gas comes from the price of the product. The ES8 for the Tesla Model X is only half the price of the opponent.

In addition to the electric upstarts such as Weilai and Tesla, traditional giants such as GM, Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes-Benz are also targeting the Chinese electric vehicle market with great potential. Coupled with a large number of Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers, a fierce electric war is inevitable.

Xie Dongying believes that traditional auto giants may eventually become Wei's competitors, but the threat they pose is now only at the theoretical stage.

"Of course, they will also join the electric car battle, but you better ask me this question after a year or two, because I have not seen their electric car." Xie Dongying said. “Every manufacturer is releasing new models, but no one except Tesla really puts electric cars on the market, and hopes that this will change in the coming months.”

In an interview with Xie Dongying, another Chinese startup, Baiteng, announced its high-profile entry into the electric vehicle market. Its electric SUV with a 49-inch large screen attracted a lot of attention at CES. However, Xie Dongying is not optimistic about the ambition of Baiteng. He said that the goal of bringing electric vehicles to the market in 2019 may eventually jump.

In an interview, Xie Dongying also talked about the company's future and emphasized Wei's plan to enter the US market in 2020.

"At that time we may have released the third model, and Weilai plans to push a new car every year." Xie Dongying said. In addition, he also said that the company will set "Wei Lai" in December of each year and release new cars on the same day.

Finally, CNBC also talked about the rumored Weilai IPO matters in the United States, but Xie Dongying declined to comment on the matter.

PS: In the past 10 months, the reporter team has visited hundreds of intelligent driving technology teams in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Silicon Valley and other places. After an interview, research and hands-on experience, they have combed and selected 13 in 2 months. The key technology companies in the key segment of the nearly 100 smart driving industry chain, the "China-US Smart Driving White Paper" finalized.

We hope that this white paper will show you the market status of China-US smart driving, the development and landing of key technology links, help you to understand the industry opportunities and challenges, and see the details of the autopilot industry chain in the next 3 to 5 years. Opportunities and trends that may arise from sub-links.