Li Chuanhai： Galaxy E8 has the ability to become a hit for Geely
[Autohome Industry] On November 17, the 21st Guangzhou International Automobile Exhibition officially opened. With the theme of "New Technology and New Life", this year’s auto show continued to play the role of "the vane of the development of China’s auto market". In this auto show, Autohome "Innovation Talk" invited senior executives to discuss the future of the auto market and the future of the industry. Among them, Li Chuanhai, vice president of Geely Automobile Group and president of Academia Sinica, had in-depth exchanges with Autohome.
In this year’s auto show, "smart" and "electric" are the two major labels on Geely’s booth. The official appearance of (|) shows these two labels quite thoroughly. As the first pure electric flagship sedan of the Galaxy series, the Galaxy E8 has a lot of out-of-the-loop places, such as the wind resistance as low as 0.199, such as the 800v supercharging system, such as the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8295 chip, such as the 45-inch 8K ultra-clear screen, etc. For this car, Geely Automobile has given great expectations.
Looking at the first few months of this year, Geely’s performance in the field of new energy is quite impressive. From January to September, Geely’s new energy product sales reached 360,000 units, and in October this year, it exceeded 60,000 units in a single month. Li Chuanhai believes that the rise in performance is closely related to the launch of Galaxy series products. By 2024, Geely Automobile will enter the product year, and there will be relevant layouts in pure electric, intelligent electric hybrid and other technical routes, as well as high-end.
The following is a transcript of the conversation:
Autohome: Thank you very much for having the time to participate in the Autohome interview. I would like to ask what new products and new technologies Geely has brought to you at this Guangzhou Auto Show? Can you briefly introduce any highlights?
Li Chuanhai: The main products we bring to the Guangzhou Auto Show this time are based on some of our smart electric products, as well as some technologies of our vehicle to everything. The main new products are the Galaxy series, the Galaxy E8 that will be released today, and the L6 and L7 new energy products, mainly China Star, Boyue series, and some brand new products of the Emgrand series. At the same time, there is our geometric series of Panda mini, and Geometry E. The technology is mainly something to show, Galaxy Smart Space, including the latest generation of Thor Electric Hybrid and some exhibits of 8848.
"Galaxy E8"
Autohome: Geely Galaxy E8 officially debuted with you today. What are your expectations for this new pure electric flagship product? What do you think its core competitiveness is?
Li Chuanhai: The entire Galaxy series is a blockbuster series of Geely’s new energy transformation. The Galaxy E8 is the first pure electric flagship car of the Galaxy series, and its positioning is our new generation of pure electric flagship in China. Some of its main highlights, there are several major aspects, the first is that we are based on the SEA architecture, which is the first car of Geely brand built on this architecture, because it is a pure electric platform. This architecture is known to everyone. In fact, we spent nearly 5 years and invested nearly 20 billion to create this pure electric architecture. And it is an industry-shared platform. So far, there should be more than 10 brands. Now there should be a total of about 20 cars in development and mass production. It can be said that this architecture should be the most important technology for our Galaxy E8.
In addition, it also has several major features. We think it is the most beautiful pure electric flagship car. First of all, it is the first mass-produced car in the world. Our integrated luminous front face should be one of our lowest drag coefficients so far, reaching 0.199. This should be the best in the industry. We also think it is the best car to drive, the best to drive a pure electric flagship. Why do you say that? First of all, it is based on the empowerment of our SEA architecture. At the same time, we also have the only chassis adjustment laboratory in the whole industry. On this basis, we can make our products tested in extremely fast elk, and its top speed can reach 82 kilometers per hour. This speed should still be relatively leading in the industry. At the same time, we are also equipped with an 800-volt supercharging system and our high-performance silicon carbide electric drive. Our four-wheel drive product can accelerate up to 100 kilometers in 3.49 seconds, in terms of acceleration performance.
"Galaxy E8"
In addition, we also believe that this car is the safest, because it is still based on the SEA architecture, and it has a good foundation. Through the launch of some of our models on the market in previous years, it should be said that it is the only brand in the industry that has never overheated the battery. At the same time, we also have the SHIELD battery safety system. Based on some of its structural designs, it should be said that we are also the safest in the same class. The body structure design, we believe, is also the safest. At the same time, because it is the longest, widest, most luxurious, and smartest flagship sedan in the same class, on the one hand, it is the largest 45-inch 8K ultra-clear large screen in our class so far, and at the same time, it uses our entire top-class Qualcomm Snapdragon 8295 chip. At the same time, it is also in the industry. The functions applied in artificial intelligence should be the most complete, because we have self-developed Geely, so far the largest parameter level, to the empowerment of intelligent voice of tens of billions of parameter-level large models, and the empowerment of some artificial intelligence products. Its rear row should be said to be the most spacious space in the same class, which constitutes some of the core product competitiveness of our Galaxy E8.
Autohome: Galaxy E8 actually sounds like there are still many bright spots. This year, Geely’s momentum in the new energy market is still very strong. In October, the new energy penetration rate has exceeded 34%. I would like to ask what is Geely’s secret to setting new highs in new energy?
Li Chuanhai: This year, Geely’s entire new energy series has been making great progress. Our entire new energy product reached 360,000 units from January to September, especially in October this year. Our new energy achieved more than 60,000 units, mainly due to the launch of our entire Galaxy series of these products. I think the most important cheats, in short, are two aspects. On the one hand, it is our entire product layout, because combined with Geely’s many years of new energy products, some forward-looking technologies and product layouts. So far, our Galaxy from 50,000 to 250,000 series has some layouts in intelligent hybrid and intelligent pure electric series products. In addition, we have been empowered by the technology we have accumulated over the years, such as our SEA architecture and e-CMA architecture, including the new generation of Raytheon Hybrid, as well as the Galaxy NOS intelligent operating system of our smart cockpit, including intelligent driving. We have also launched the leading NOA self-driving system in the same level. Of course, it also includes our layout in the field of artificial intelligence, including our Geely "heaven and earth integration" ecological layout. I think these are the foundations for the accumulation of Geely’s new energy.
"Galaxy E8"
Autohome: I would like to ask, from March to April this year, the trend of price cuts was still very fierce in the automotive industry. I would like to ask, what is the impact on the future layout of Geely products, including pricing, etc.?
Li Chuanhai: Because the development momentum of the new energy industry this year is also very strong, the entire industry has launched many products in terms of intelligent hybrid and intelligent pure electricity, but we always believe that the future competition in the industry mainly lies in the competition of value, not the competition of price. With the launch of Geely’s Galaxy series products, how can we fight brand wars, product wars, technology wars, service wars in the industry, and even the moral wars that our chairperson has been emphasizing with us? Through the launch of these high-value products, our brand value can continue to rise. Only by taking this path can the entire Chinese new energy brand have greater development space and opportunities.
Autohome: What is Geely’s future plan for the new products and technologies you mentioned just now?
Li Chuanhai: In terms of new products and new technologies, because Geely has invested nearly 100 billion yuan in R & D in the past 10 years, we always believe that the core technology is our brand strategy. We have formed a brand label for our new energy architecture in the aspects of intelligent pure electric architecture. At the same time, we also mentioned the new energy strategy earlier, as well as some foundations of Raytheon Electric Hybrid, and our 800-volt, silicon carbide high-performance electric drive. These aspects are also some of the core technical capabilities that we have to layout and develop for so many years in the new energy strategy. At the same time, Geely has also laid out a lot in the aspects of intelligent driving, which is cost-effective. We are positioned as a popularizer of high-level intelligent driving below the 200,000 concept, and we also have intelligent parking. In the past, we also have layouts in some high-level intelligent driving auxiliary features. Next year, these products will be launched one after another. At the same time, in the smart cockpit, it should be said that there are also a large number of ecological layouts. In artificial intelligence technology, the future will surprise the industry or our users. This may be our next secret weapon.
Autohome: In the field of intelligent driving, its input-output ratio will be relatively low from the market perspective. Will our investment in this area be doubted? Its input-output ratio is too low, and we feel that the effect is not good. We may be more cautious in this regard.
Li Chuanhai: This is the only way for the development of this industry, and it is also a law of it. Any new technology in the early stage, you just see the benefits and then make investment decisions, there may be problems. In fact, everyone agrees that in intelligent driving, this is the future direction. No matter what the input-output ratio of the entire industry in intelligent driving is today, Geely always believes that the future path is very clear, so in terms of investment in R & D resources, we are committed to this path at all costs.
Autohome: Now China’s high-end new energy products are becoming more and more abundant, and prices continue to rise. What plans does Geely have in this regard?
Li Chuanhai: Our Galaxy E8, our entire Galaxy series, the so-called pioneering work of Geely New Energy’s entire transformation, its positioning itself is the positioning of high-value new energy products. Galaxy E8 is our pure electric flagship car as Geely Galaxy. It is positioned as a new generation of pure electric flagship cars in China. We also have high hopes for this product. In the future, we will continue one after another, especially in 2024, which should also be our product year. In the future, there will be many pure electric, intelligent electric hybrid, and even some other products. In our brand upward and high-end, we have some product layouts.
Autohome: Last question, in the first three quarters of 2023, Chinese brands accounted for about 83% of the entire new energy market. Do you think Chinese brands will continue to have such a high market share in the later stage?
Li Chuanhai: This is an inevitable result of Chinese brands, and I feel that today is far from reaching its peak. Because the entire Chinese brand is working hard in the field of new energy, electrification, and intelligence, I think everyone has also launched many new technologies and new products. I believe that in the future, the entire Chinese brand will become the most powerful position in our Chinese auto market. I believe that in the future, including the Chinese market and even the international market, Chinese brands will achieve very good results.