The automotive market is ever-changing, allowing high achievers to navigate smoothly between the market and end users, while many ordinary players can only serve as stepping stones for these top contenders.
Zeekr 001 Launches Three Models in One Year, Triggering User Rights Protection
Event Overview: On August 13, Zeekr officially launched and began nationwide deliveries of the 2025 Zeekr 001 and Zeekr 007 models. Thus far, the Zeekr 001 has introduced three models in less than a year: the 2023 model 001, the 2024 model 001, and the 2025 model 001.
This move has led to dissatisfaction among existing car owners, as the 2024 model was just released in February of this year. Following this, owners initiated a collective rights protection effort.
On June 7, 2024, at the Shanghai International Low Carbon Smart Travel Exhibition (GSA2024), the all-new Zeekr 001 was showcased.
In response, Zeekr offered a solution: By 8 PM on August 13, all users who had not yet received production schedules for the 2024 models of the Zeekr 001 and 007 could upgrade to the corresponding 2025 models. Configuration selection and confirmation needed to be completed by midnight on August 16. Customers who had already received their cars would not benefit from this upgrade policy.
Zeekr's CEO, An Conghui, stated: "We didn't communicate in advance. In the future, we will release product announcements ahead of time. Currently, the hardware has been upgraded, and we will focus on software iteration and upgrades over an extended period."
Commentary: After reviewing a significant number of media reports, opinions on this matter have polarized. Supporters of the car owners argue that Zeekr has compromised its standards for the sake of sales, releasing immature products that leave consumers to foot the bill; on the other hand, supporters of the manufacturer believe that consumers are being unreasonable, asserting that technological advancements naturally accelerate product iterations, and to enjoy the latest technology, consumers must accept being "chopped leeks."
This clearly reflects a "bipolar mentality."
In my view, it's important to note that consumers protesting outside Zeekr's headquarters, holding banners, is not an ideal approach. Even though there have been precedents of consumers using public opinion to press manufacturers to meet their demands, such actions shouldn't be the primary or major method of asserting consumer rights. One should always believe in the fairness of the law.
Now let's look at Zeekr. The frequent release of "new models" stems from one underlying logic: the belief that the current products have no advantages compared to their competitors. Comparing the 2023, 2024, and 2025 models of the Zeekr 001 reveals that the 2024 model upgraded to an 800V architecture across the board, with iterations in motors and batteries, standard laser radar across the entire series, and a significant price reduction, yet it continues to utilize Israel's Mobileye smart driving technology, which has only 48 TOPs of computing power. As a result, it can only accommodate high-speed NZP and no urban NZP (in addition, consumer feedback on the experience has been below average).
The 2025 model 001 released on August 13 features mainstream dual Orin X smart driving chips with a computing power of 508 TOPs, matching the standard of Xiaomi's SU7, and supports urban NZP.
So, why release the 2025 models now? Because both Zeekr and Geely find Xiaomi "not pleasing," an issue that will be elaborated on later. Furthermore, the appearance of the SU7 has captured a large segment of the market. Recent data from July show that SU7 is the top-selling pure electric sedan, reaching 13,120 units sold, while the combined total for both the 001 and 007 models is only 12,833 units.
Why couldn't they compete? One core reason is that the Mobileye smart driving chip in the 2024 model is far behind the mainstream level, leading to an urgent response with the switch to the Orin X chip for the 2025 model.
Zeekr's updates can't be described as anything other than rapid; however, consider a scenario where a consumer purchases the 2023 all-wheel-drive version for 300,000 yuan at the beginning of 2024 and receives a dual motor with 400kW, a CLTC range of 546km, an 86kWh battery, a 48 TOPs smart driving chip, and no laser radar or urban NZP.
When the 2024 model was released at the end of February, there was some disappointment since only a month had passed before the 800V architecture came out, yet they still tolerated it, as the New Year brought expected launches.
However, less than six months later, on August 13, the 2025 model arrived, and for just 299,000 yuan, consumers could buy the near-top model: dual motors with 580kW power, a 100kWh "brick" battery with a CLTC range of 705 km, 508 TOPs dual Orin X smart driving with laser radar, urban NZP, and standard dual-chamber air suspension.
Moreover, Zeekr officially offered a "generous" compensation program for previous car owners: those purchasing the new model could receive a 10,000 yuan voucher. At this point, how could consumers not feel frustrated?
According to screenshots from owner WeChat groups circulating online, users had discussed back in May that they had heard rumors about a new smart driving solution for the 001 being launched around August, at which point Zeekr had told users, "I don’t even know about it as the model person-in-charge," and even asked the user who publicized this news to issue a public apology for allegedly spreading rumors about Zeekr.
On July 12, Zeekr's CMO, Guan Haitao, commented on Weibo, claiming that it was a misunderstanding, that the user had good intentions and was concerned about Zeekr, and was used by those with ulterior motives. He then shifted his tone to announce a reward of a Zeekr 7X for reporting such rumor-mongering behavior.
But on August 13, the 2025 model 001 really launched. So who exactly was spreading rumors, and who was lying?
Is the matter settled here? Not yet.
At the 2024 CES, Zeekr announced that in 2025 they would have models equipped with Nvidia's DRIVE Thor centralized vehicle computing platform, which will allow a qualitative leap in smart driving capabilities. If any Zeekr model is expected to be the first to adopt it, it will most likely be their flagship luxury model, the 001.
Now, online, some users have begun to "rumor" that a mid-cycle facelift for the 2025 model 001 will be released by the end of this year, featuring the Haohan 3.0 architecture, with significant changes to the rear. This leaves buyers of the 2025 model yet again labeled as "chopped leeks."
Given that An Conghui has already set the precedent by stating that future new products will be announced in advance, how will Zeekr respond to these "rumors" about the mid-cycle facelift of the 2025 model?
Tianji Automobile Files for Bankruptcy Liquidation
Event Overview: National corporate bankruptcy reorganization case information online shows that Tianji Automobile (Changsha) Group Co., Ltd. has applied for bankruptcy liquidation, with the applicant being Shen Yuqing and the managing court being Changsha Yuelu District People's Court.
On April 2, 2023, in Hangzhou, the downtown store of Tianji Automobile has been closed for several days.
Commentary: Established in June 2015, Tianji Automobile was one of the first new forces in the industry, debuting a month earlier than Li Auto and less than a year later than NIO and XPeng.
Tianji, formerly known as E-Car, mainly produced micro electric vehicles, with its main investor being LeEco's Jia Yueting. However, Jia's efforts to enter the automotive industry failed, leading him to flee to the United States and sell off his shares in E-Car. Subsequently, LeEco's CEO, Zhang Hailiang, took over E-Car with his team.
Zhang Hailiang, a former vice president of SAIC Motor Corporation, recruited numerous talents from SAIC and assembled an impressive team. Nonetheless, it became evident that talents from traditional automotive companies were facing challenges in launching successful vehicles on their own.
Building a car doesn't seem to be a process that simply relies on experience. From today's perspective, Tianji has explored every kind of hit model, but each time it was a case of being ahead of its time and misjudging the market rhythm.
In the early days, Tianji introduced a micro electric vehicle, the E-Car EV10, with a range of 300 kilometers at a post-subsidy price of around 60,000 yuan. However, during an era when everyone was focused on brand elevation, this type of micro electric vehicle seemed unfashionable. In contrast, the Wuling Mini EV later gained massive success, proving that the EV10 was ahead of its time.
In 2019, noticing that medium and large SUVs were selling well among new forces, Tianji pivoted to luxury large SUVs and launched the Tianji ME5, priced between 210,000 – 290,000 yuan. However, only a few months later, Tesla's Shanghai factory commenced production. At the same price range, with overwhelming product strength and brand recognition, the Tianji ME5 was crushed by the ES8 and faced harsh competition with Tesla.
In a desperate situation, when Wuling Hongguang Mini EV was selling like hotcakes, Tianji attempted to return to the micro electric vehicle segment. However, the funding situation could no longer support the development of a new vehicle. Instead, they introduced the ME7, which is smaller than the ME5. Most importantly, it has a range-extended powertrain. If it had been introduced in today's market, it might have seen significant success. But back then, range-extending technology was still controversial.
After all the ups and downs, Tianji found itself lacking any significant resources to stay in the game. In 2021 and 2022, Tianji managed to sell only 1,778 and 5,321 vehicles respectively. Following that, rumors about shutdowns, production halts, unpaid wages, and court-seized funds began to surface.
In reality, although the bankruptcy liquidation only recently occurred, Tianji Automobile has been fading from the scene for quite some time. For the market, it has long been a casualty in the tumultuous competition.
