Shenlan's goals for 2023 include selling 200,000 vehicles and making both the SL03 and S7 hot sellers, the brand's CEO said.
(Image credit: CnEVPost)
Shenlan, Changan Automobile's new energy vehicle (NEV) brand, aims to sell 200,000 vehicles this year, becoming the latest to reveal aggressive plans.
Shenlan's goals for 2023 include selling 200,000 vehicles and making both the SL03 and S7 hot-sellers, the brand's CEO Deng Chenghao said in an interview with Auto Home, according to the text of the interview released yesterday.
The Shenlan brand, which was officially launched by Changan on April 13 last year, unveiled the Shenlan SL03 electric sedan on July 25, another strong competitor to the Tesla Model 3.
The brand unveiled its first SUV, the Shenlan S7, a similar model to the Tesla Model Y crossover, on March 5, with pricing information yet to be announced.
(Image credit: CnEVPost)
Shenlan began deliveries of the SL03 in late August 2022 and has accumulated nearly 50,000 deliveries through the end of March this year, including 8,568 units in March.
Deng did not disclose how Shenlan will meet its goal of selling 200,000 vehicles this year, and the brand offered up to 42,000 yuan ($6,090) in purchase discounts during last month's price war in the Chinese auto industry. The offer was valid from March 10 to March 31 and was limited to 10,000 units.
The price war was a short-term behavior, automakers ultimately need to compete with product competitiveness, technology, brand, channels, and service capabilities, Deng said in the interview.
"I think the whole industry will be sustainable only if there is a value war," he said.
Deng believes that the current trend of electrification in China's auto industry is very clear, and that the penetration rate of electric vehicles (EVs) will exceed 50 percent in the next three years, with EVs becoming absolutely mainstream.
As the primary adopters of EVs shift from tastemakers to the average consumer, the product definition, research and development of vehicles will need to be able to address consumer anxiety and meet demand, he said.
Consumer anxiety is not about the amount of infrastructure or the range of EVs, but about the time it takes to replenish energy, according to Deng.
There is still a long way to go in terms of technology to get charging times from 0.5-1 hour to 5-10 minutes, he said, adding that this anxiety will be there for another 5-10 years.
($1= RMB 6.8930)
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