E'an accelerates to surpass Tesla.

Author | Cao Anxun

As the king of global electric cars, Tesla is like a big flag planted on the city wall, attracting new forces to charge forward. However, there is only one like EA that challenges with such high-profile and urgency.

From last year to now, EA has repeatedly stated that Tesla is not unbeatable. At the end of last year, EA's first mass-produced car under the Hao Bo brand, the Hyper GT, made its debut and directly competed with the Model 3, claiming that although it is more expensive than the Model 3, more people will choose the Hyper GT.

The next third model of Hao Bo will also target the Model Y.

Derived from GAC GROUP, EA hopes to surpass Tesla comprehensively in terms of products, pricing, and sales through the dual-brand strategy of EA and Hao Bo.

On June 16th, at the Greater Bay Area Auto Show, Hao Bo announced that the pre-orders for the Hyper GT had exceeded 10,000 in two months, and the new car will be officially launched and delivered on July 3rd. "We have the confidence and ability to rank among the top three in the high-end pure electric sedan market."

Hao Bo bears the responsibility of leading the company's brand to surpass Tesla comprehensively. The most intuitive aspect is that the listing of Hao Bo will narrow the gap with Tesla in terms of price.

Currently, the main price range of the EA brand is between 150,000 and 200,000 yuan, focusing on durability. Hao Bo, on the other hand, will focus on cars priced above 200,000 yuan, attracting high-end consumers and maintaining differentiation in sales channels and product design.

Hao Bo stated that it is actively expanding its exclusive channels and plans to establish 350 stores by the end of this year, covering first-tier cities and strong second-tier cities nationwide, as well as high-end shopping malls and high-net-worth individuals' frequent places.

Hao Bo is also deploying a large number of supercharging stations to improve the charging network. It plans to build 180 supercharging and battery swapping stations by the end of this year and a total of more than 2,000 by 2025, creating a 5km charging circle in urban areas.

However, the high-end new energy track is currently experiencing intense competition. On the one hand, traditional luxury car brands such as BBA and Lotus are accelerating electrification, while on the other hand, BYD, Geely, and FAW are leveraging their new energy sub-brands to make a breakthrough. Meanwhile, Ideal, the representative of new forces in the high-end segment, has made a significant sales breakthrough in the first half of the year, and Chairman Li Xiang recently declared that they will surpass BBA.

For Hao Bo, which started relatively late, it is not an easy task to gain a share in the high-end market, even to erode Tesla's market share.

Zhang Xiang, a guest professor at Yellow River Technology Institute, said that rumors of Tesla's redesign and possible price reduction for the Model 3 have created a strong market wait-and-see sentiment in recent months, which has affected Tesla's sales. However, it is expected that as uncertainties are eliminated in the future, the pressure of competition between EA and Tesla will further increase.

Based on the data from the first five months, in the Chinese market, EA is already extremely close to Tesla.

According to the data from the China Passenger Car Association, in April and May, GAC EA has surpassed Tesla China in monthly sales for two consecutive months, ranking second among new energy vehicle companies, second only to BYD.

From January to May this year, GAC EA's cumulative sales reached 166,323 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 119%, while Tesla's cumulative sales in China were 219,893 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 83.8%. According to insiders from Aiways, they are confident in achieving the annual sales target of 500,000 vehicles by 2023, and the internal target is actually higher.

Among them, the relatively mature Aiways brand will undoubtedly bear the majority of the sales responsibility, while Haobuo will serve as a "weapon" to further narrow the gap with Tesla in the long term.

In addition, Aiways' capital operation is also accelerating. On June 27th, GAC GROUP revealed that Guangzhou Aiways is actively promoting its IPO. In the second half of last year, GAC completed a Series A financing of 18.3 billion yuan, with a post-investment valuation of over 100 billion yuan, setting the highest valuation for the domestic new energy vehicle industry before the IPO.

A rare "national team" new energy seed star is rising in the capital market, and it will compete with Tesla and BYD in the future.

The battle between this "new force leader" and the first-generation electric car champion not only represents the rise of Chinese new energy vehicle brands, but also reflects the intense competition among new forces in the current market.

Currently, the top three new energy vehicle companies, BYD, Guangzhou Aiways, and Tesla, have formed the BAT camp, with a growth rate far exceeding that of most other new energy vehicle companies, intensifying the phenomenon of the strong getting stronger.

At the same time, some new forces such as WM Motor, AiChi Auto, and Zhiyoujia have collapsed and suffered setbacks, being left behind by the current trend.

Perhaps, as Gu Huinan, the general manager of Guangzhou Aiways, said, 2023 will be a year of elimination and a turning point, an opportunity period for the polarization and scissor gap of new energy vehicle companies.

This also means that an unprecedented industry reshuffle is gradually reaching its climax. In the rise and fall, and the process of mergers and acquisitions, even larger giants will emerge from this bloodbath.