Cyrus’ user mindset and Zhang Xinghai’s ＂awe＂ and ＂optimism＂

"It is only with the support of the vast number of users that China’s automobile has the scale of the world’s No. 1 today, and China’s new energy vehicle is the world’s No. 1." This is a sentence said by Zhang Xinghai, chairperson (founder) of Cyrus Group, when attending the 2024 China Auto Chongqing Forum.

This sentence sheds light on the characteristics of the current new energy market. Compared with traditional fuel vehicles, which place greater emphasis on industrial attributes, smart vehicles prioritize consumption attributes. Therefore, for new energy vehicle companies, users can enjoy a larger market.

At present, not only new car manufacturers, but also traditional car companies such as Cyrus, BYD, and Changan, have begun to bring user service to the forefront in addition to making continuous breakthroughs in new car product capabilities.

As Zhang Xinghai said, as an automaker, we must "pay tribute to users and fear consumers". In fact, since the transformation, Sailis has always put users first in the development of the enterprise, and under the tenet of "wholeheartedly serving users", it has created luxury intelligent networked new energy vehicles.

In the new energy vehicle market, there are not a few companies that claim to be "user-centric", but there are very few companies that can truly draw strength from users.

However, the strong growth in sales volume means that the trust between Cyrus and its users has gradually deepened, which has promoted the development of Cyrus. It achieved double growth in revenue and net profit in Quarter 1 in 2024, with a gross profit margin of 21.5%, far exceeding the average level of 10% in China’s automotive industry and even exceeding most new energy vehicle companies.

But from another perspective, New Eye believes that when a new energy vehicle company chooses to treat "users" as the bedrock of its business, it must mean that the automaker has gone through a long process of accumulation to explosion, which must also be full of challenges and competition.

Nowadays, Cyrus has successfully reached the stage and formed a virtuous circle with users. Perhaps as a typical case, it is now possible to trace every step taken by Cyrus in the past.

01

"User-centric" is a challenge and a change

"Our country currently has about 300 million existing users, and 30 million new users are added every year, including 20 million existing users of new energy vehicles." In his speech, Zhang Xinghai gave such a set of data.

This set of data indicates that new energy vehicle users are becoming a key driving force in China’s automotive market.

At the same time, compared with traditional vehicles, new energy vehicles are transcending traditional tool attributes and becoming products that users can express their individuality. Nowadays, users place greater emphasis on the full life cycle high-value experience of products than on the product itself.

Under such a change, the interaction logic between automobile companies and users will be fundamentally changed. Roland Berger mentioned that a specific car company will adjust its user operation strategy focus accordingly at different stages of brand development.

Therefore, the current automotive industry is actively exploring a shift from "product-centric" to "user-centric", driven by user requests, and conducting positive development. Since its establishment, Cyrus has regarded users as the most important "partner" in its development. For the automotive market and users, Zhang Xinghai led Cyrus and always maintained "awe".

As Zhang Xinghai said, Cyrus insists on "serving users wholeheartedly", takes "user pride and user safety" as its corporate mission, and builds a safety system for users throughout the product life cycle. Cyrus, which regards "user-centered" as its standard, has always focused on users.

Different from the "user-centric" logic of other car companies, the service experience built by Cyrus covers the entire life cycle of the car. Through the combination of "visible" hardware matching and "invisible" service system, the whole process of "car viewing, car selection, car purchase, car use, and car maintenance" products has been optimized and innovated.

Specifically, in terms of products, the QIJI M5 series, QIJI M7 series, and QIJI M9 series have enriched the AITO QIJI product matrix and provided users with richer choices. At the same time, Cyrus is equipped with the HarmonyOS smart ecosystem, which directly enhances the user experience from the intelligent use of products.

In terms of delivery cycle, Cyrus has actually maintained a high level of service. In order to meet users’ demand for fast pickup, Wenjie has continuously increased production capacity and greatly shortened the delivery cycle of Wenjie M5, new M7 and other models.

In terms of after-sales services, according to new eyes, AITO has established a huge after-sales services network across the country, which can provide users with timely and professional services. Whether it is pre-sales consultation, car purchase service or after-sales repair and maintenance support, Cyrus Automobile can respond quickly and actively deal with it.

The personal experience of a recent M9 owner is enough to illustrate. The owner posted on social media that the owner’s family was traveling near the border with Inner Mongolia when the vehicle accidentally overturned a ravine. After the accident, the customer service of Cyrus Automobile immediately called to inform the vehicle that there was a suspected accident, and instructed the owner who was far away to get in touch with the family through the SOS emergency phone in the car. Subsequently, the after-sales coordination technician gave a precise location, and the user service center at the scene also received feedback and immediately arranged for the carousel to go to the rescue.

The car owner said afterwards, "It is the greatest luxury to explain what safety is!"

02

To "bring doctrine", but also to "surpass innovation"

China’s new energy vehicle penetration rate exceeds 30%, the war is entering the intelligent second half, and the intelligent level is a key part of the user experience, and it can even be said that the current intelligent driving has become the basic configuration of new energy vehicle users.

While China’s new energy manufacturers are fully committed to intelligence, starting in 2024, Musk has also been hinting at the possibility of FSD entering the Chinese market, first replying to comments from netizens that FSD will be brought to China as soon as possible, and then suddenly visiting Beijing. The market believes that the main purpose is to further promote the implementation of FSD in China.

As one of Tesla’s core technologies, FSD has leading advantages in hardware self-development, software algorithms, data closed-loop capabilities, and mass production scale, and has increased the upper limit of its model capabilities with end-to-end technology.

It can be said that once the entry of FSD into China has a self-evident impact on the domestic autonomous driving field, New Eyes believes that Tesla FSD will be a catfish, intensifying autonomous driving competition, but it will also further promote the development of the domestic autonomous driving industry.

Zhang Xinghai maintained an optimistic attitude towards the entry of FSD into China. He said that the introduction of Tesla FSD is not only a challenge to the existing landscape, but also a major opportunity for China’s intelligent and connected new energy vehicle industry. It will promote the transition of China’s intelligent and connected new energy vehicles from intelligent driving to autonomous driving.

Just as five years ago, Zhang Xinghai was equally optimistic that Tesla, which entered the Chinese market for the first time, not only introduced advanced technologies and concepts, but also provided impetus for the improvement of China’s new energy vehicle industry chain, which in turn promoted consumers’ awareness and acceptance of new energy vehicles.

And this is indeed the case. It is important to know that technological breakthroughs are often based on the previous generation of technology. Tesla’s FSD entry into China is a challenge for new energy vehicle companies, but it is also an opportunity. As Zhang Xinghai said, open competition will bring about a virtuous circle. But this does not mean that Chinese new energy vehicle companies can wait for change.

Zhang Xinghai’s optimism comes from the strength accumulated by Cyrus’s technical capabilities, and Cyrus has always adhered to the concept of "software-defined cars". In addition to investing more than 10% of sales revenue in innovation and R & D every year, it also has in-depth cross-border cooperation with Huawei, based on the intelligent network technology developed by Hongmeng Operating System (HarmonyOS), to elevate the "software-defined car" to a new height.

In the future, based on the application of Tesla FSD, China’s new energy vehicles will have the opportunity to promote the transition from intelligent driving to autonomous driving in China’s intelligent networked new energy vehicles under the premise of continuous innovation.

According to Lee Simpson, head of European hardware technology research at Morgan Stanley, intelligent connected vehicles will account for 90% of total vehicle production by 2029, driven by features such as navigation, infotainment, and comfort, which coincides with Zhang Xinghai’s judgment.

03

To become a new force in China’s automotive industry

China’s automotive industry is full of so-called market-for-technology memories, but today China’s automotive industry has become the largest automotive giant in the world.

There is no doubt that the construction of the Chinese path to modernization requires a strong Chinese automobile industry, and to promote the high-quality development of the automobile industry requires the cultivation of new productivity, and the new productivity with scientific and technological innovation as the core is promoting the breakthrough and leap-type development of China’s new energy vehicles.

In the context of the rapid development of new energy vehicles, more and more emerging forces have come to the fore, and Sailis is one of them. When looking back at Zhang Xinghai’s entrepreneurial journey in the past 40 years, it is also found that the strategy and spirit that Sailis has at the moment have been passed down in every stage of his entrepreneurial experience.

In 1986, at the age of 23, Zhang Xinghai founded Chongqing Baxian Phoenix Electrical Spring Factory, which mainly produces electrical springs and motorcycle shock absorbers. In 2002, Zhang Xinghai led the transformation of Cyrus into the manufacture and sales of motorcycles. Later, he joined forces with Dongfeng Motor in Hubei to cooperate on the minivan project. In 2003, Yuan Group and Dongfeng Motor officially merged, and Xiaokang Co., Ltd. was born as a vehicle manufacturer.

Every step of Zhang Xinghai is at the forefront of the development of the times and sets his sights farther. When new energy was just starting out, in 2016, Xiaokang went to the United States to establish Cyrus Automobile.

After eight years of new energy exploration, today’s Cyrus has been able to sit at the forefront of the new energy vehicle sales list. From January to May this year, Cyrus sold a total of 156,823 new energy vehicles, a significant increase of 342.35% year-on-year.

The current achievements of Cyrus can actually be traced back to its innovative and enterprising spirit, which is also the key to the rise of new forces in China’s automotive industry.

Today’s Sailis has dared to sign with Huawei the goal of 1 million units by 2026, and the market has gradually realized that this company, which has been dormant for nearly 40 years, has fully intelligent modern factories, management and sales technology in its perennial investment. Its strength is enough to be written in the long history of China’s automobile industry.

For the future of Cyrus, just as Zhang Xinghai started his business 40 years ago, it is bound to continue to explore and reform in the new energy vehicle market, and eventually stand at the commanding heights of the high-end new energy field of its own brand to achieve the revitalization and replacement of the national industry.