Author | Chai Xuchen Editor | Zhou Zhiyu Faced with the trend of new energy electrification and the loss of market share under price wars, joint venture car companies have been "Renovating" their famous cars in an attempt to mount a strong counterattack. On May 30, SAIC Volkswagen's Touareg L Pro was launched. The car, which is said to be "the smartest gasoline car", had been preheated for nearly two months prior to its launch. The launch invited representatives from DJI Car and Tencent Travel, as well as the person in charge of iFLYTEK, all of whom attended in person to demonstrate the strength of its smart driving and smart cabin. As a "meritorious model" of SAIC Volkswagen, Touareg has been synonymous with Volkswagen SUVs for the past 15 years and was once the best-selling joint venture SUV. With a monthly sales volume of nearly 20,000 units for a long time, it occupies a 20% share of SAIC Volkswagen. SAIC Volkswagen hopes that the new Touareg will become a disruptor in the current market, from gasoline car intelligence to a stable price system with value-added buyback policy. In the view of Yu Jingmin, Vice President of Sales and Marketing of SAIC Volkswagen, new energy vehicles still have range anxiety and gasoline cars have an advantage that needs no explanation, but the biggest difference between them and electric vehicles lies mainly in their appearance and intelligence. After fulfilling the core needs of contemporary consumers, this once "famous car" seems to be reborn. Thus, from DJI's advanced intelligent driving solution to iFLYTEK's smart cabin voice assistant, this 200,000 yuan-level SUV brings together the strengths of various parties, aiming to break through the industry's perception that gasoline cars are less intelligent than electric vehicles. The launch of the new Touareg marks the beginning of SAIC Volkswagen's counterattack. In a post-event interview, Yu Jingmin mentioned several times that due to external cooperation and the accumulation of joint venture partners, SAIC Volkswagen's technology center is actually ahead of many independent brands, but unfortunately the rhythm is too slow. The company will now accelerate its efforts to catch up and even surpass in electric, hybrid or gasoline cars. Yu Jingmin revealed to Wall Street News that the new Touareg is the first gasoline car product in the Pro series, which is focused on intelligence, and that the Passat and Touareg Pro versions will also be introduced within the year. While polishing its technology, it is also preparing for the intelligence of its A-class cars. A counteroffensive war ignited by a gasoline fueled chariot seems to be brewing rapidly. But to be fair, SAIC Volkswagen's intelligence still lags far behind new forces such as Huawei, Xiaopeng, and Ideal. At the same time, in the current context where BBA is crazy about price cuts and the BMW electric car at over 180,000 yuan is setting a new industry low price, the 236,800 yuan Touareg L Pro seems somewhat out of step and the counterattack is difficult to achieve. In response to the challenge, SAIC Volkswagen has given a three-year 20% discount buyback plan. Users no longer need to worry about the fluctuation of vehicle purchase costs and second-hand car prices. SAIC Volkswagen locks in the difference between the purchase and final selling prices of users' vehicles, in a move to crack the price war. This also buys precious time for SAIC Volkswagen to speed up product and intelligence catch-up. This is the backdrop of the efforts to win back the former "king" of the Chinese car market.

In today's weather is good. Today's weather is good.

After ten years, as one of the first new forces in the domestic autos industry, NIO has passed an important milestone.

On November 25, NIO's founder and director Li Bin released a letter to all employees titled "Keeping the Original Intention, Focusing on Action", expressing that NIO has caught up with the once-in-a-century transformation of the auto industry, and step by step is achieving its original vision through laying out supplementary energy infrastructure and developing a global user community.

After ten years of growth, NIO, which has been on the brink several times, now occupies over 40% of the high-end pure electric market above 0.3 million yuan, securing its own place.

In Li Bin's view, the foundation of NIO has been established, but he sounded the alarm again internally, stating, "We are still far from excellence and outstanding performance, and we must recognize that users, partners, and investors have higher expectations of us." Li Bin bluntly stated that NIO is currently in the most intense and brutal stage of the qualification competition for the asia vets electric vehicle industry, where only a few excellent companies will survive in two to three years.

Although we have experienced many dark moments in the past decade, what lies ahead is a competition of a higher dimension. There can be no weaknesses, and quick victories are not possible. Li Bin stated that NIO needs to accelerate in the current volatile economic situation and increasingly competitive market, returning value to investors and users.

To win qualification for the finals, Li Bin proposed two new requirements to the team: "stay true to our original intention and focus on action."

In an internal letter, Li Bin emphasized the importance of staying true to our original intention, saying, "Every time we manage to overcome difficulties, it is because we return to our original intention and correct our deviation from NIO's value system."

He urged the team to continuously strengthen system capability building and improve operational efficiency, stating, "Good ideas become empty talk without execution; long-termism should not be an excuse for not doing well in short-term execution."

Li Bin set a Flag, committing to continuously launch competitive new products, consistently improve operational efficiency in the next crucial two years, doubling sales next year, and achieving profitability by 2026, saying, "This is a task that must not fail."

The following is the original text of Li Bin's internal letter titled "Stay True to Our Original Intention, Focus on Action":

Dear colleagues:

Today, we celebrate NIO's tenth anniversary. At this special moment, I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to each partner. Thank you all for being on this journey together, making our shared vision gradually become a reality.

NIO is fortunate to have been founded during a once-in-a-century transformation in the auto industry. Starting from the mission of Blue Sky Coming, we are steadfastly advancing on the path to becoming a leading user enterprise in technology and experience. Over the past ten years, we have completed a full-stack technology layout with 12 categories, and have filed over 9,300 patents; our products have gained user recognition, holding more than 40% market share in China's pure electric market with a transaction average price above 0.3 million; we have built 2,750 battery swap stations and over 24,200 charging stations in China and Europe, and our efforts in building charging and battery swap infrastructure have been affirmed by users and peers; we uphold the concept of a user enterprise, uniting with over 0.62 million users to create a unique global user community that transcends cultures and grows together.

Thanks to everyone's hard work, these achievements have laid a solid foundation for our development. At the same time, we must recognize that users, partners, and investors have higher expectations of us, and we are still far from excellence. In the face of an increasingly challenging global economic environment, intensifying market competition, and increasingly strong excellent peers, we need to double our efforts to improve ourselves as soon as possible to repay the support and trust of our users, partners, and investors.

Dear colleagues, we are currently in the most intense and brutal phase of the qualification round for the smart electric vehicle industry. In two to three years, only a few outstanding enterprises will survive. Although we have experienced many dark moments in the past decade, what lies ahead is competition at a higher dimension, and we cannot afford any shortcomings, nor can we achieve swift victories. To qualify for the finals, we must work together to accomplish the following two points:

Stay true to the original intention. In a market environment full of uncertainties and increasingly focused on short-term benefits, we still firmly believe that starting from the interests of users and creating value through technological innovation for products, services, and communities is a common sense approach aligned with commercial rationality. Shared values will reduce internal resistance, increase efficiency, and naturally enhance market competitiveness. Over the past decade, we have experienced many ups and downs. We have learned profound lessons multiple times; at NIO, whenever we stray from our original intention, initial results may look promising, but they are unsustainable and will quickly be punished by the market. Each time we have been able to emerge from adversity, it is because we returned to our original intention and corrected practices that deviated from NIO's value system. This year, we updated our value system to 3.0, and I hope everyone can return to the principles we collectively recognize to think and act when you encounter difficulties or dilemmas at work, speak what you believe, and do what you believe in.

Focus on action. Vision and Action together form the essence of the NIO brand. Good ideas without execution are just empty talk, and long-termism should not be an excuse for poorly managed short-term execution. After ten years of development, we have initially formed a business framework around smart electric vehicle technology products, services, and communities; however, the bottom-up capability building urgently needs to be strengthened, and operational efficiency requires significant improvement. Capability building should start from the essential logic of core businesses, focusing on basic operational units, such as each R&D project, each car, each component, each store, each charging and battery swap station, each battery, each frontline colleague, each marketing activity, etc. Improving the operational efficiency of these basic units will certainly enhance the overall operational efficiency of the company. Clear operational, cost, and return-on-investment goals should be established around these basic operational units, along with specific execution plans, and timely reviews of operational results for continuous improvement. Capability building is the core work of enhancing the company's execution capacity; it must be carefully constructed, and we must work diligently, progressing step by step, for long-term success.

Dear colleagues, the next two years are crucial years; continuously launching competitive new products, consistently improving operational efficiency, doubling sales next year, and achieving company profitability in 2026 are essential tasks that cannot be neglected. Let's give our all!

Our journey is a marathon on a muddy road, which has not been smooth since day one. Without dwelling on the past or fearing the future, ten years is just a beginning; the road ahead is still very long. In the future N decades, we will continue to move forward together, charging ahead, and co-creating a sustainable and better future!

Li Bin