What are the new moves of the new - force automakers in 2025?

At the beginning of 2025, the reflections on 2024 haven't ended yet, but they have been replaced by the tense situation of a new round of competition.

The Wuling Bingo SUV took the lead. It priced the long-range version with a CLTC cruising range of 510 kilometers at 88,900 yuan.

Li Auto, on the basis of offering an interest-free loan for three years, launched a cash replacement subsidy of 15,000 yuan as a guarantee. XPeng Motors provided a policy that gives points equivalent to the national subsidy for scrapped vehicles. They hope to maintain the sales peak before the Spring Festival with this policy.

However, whether it's the Wuling Bingo SUV that adopts the strategy of "using high-end products to compete in the low-end market", or Li Auto and XPeng Motors that use financial policy measures, the Chinese new energy vehicle market is currently in a preparatory stage before a major competition.

2025 is the starting year for the comprehensive competition in the Chinese new energy vehicle market.

This is especially obvious in BYD, which has just become the sales champion among Chinese automakers. All the new vehicles of BYD's Dynasty Network and Ocean Network in the latest batch of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's catalog have newly added the option of "installing a base for the interior rearview mirror". This indicates that BYD's latest generation of intelligent driving solutions will be fully rolled out in 2025.

For those new car manufacturers that are more specialized, their plans for 2025 are also moving in the direction of making up for their own deficiencies.

In 2025, what major measures will the six representative new car manufacturers, namely NIO, XPeng, Li Auto, Leapmotor, Xiaomi, and Zeekr, take?

They need to seize the increasingly shorter window of opportunity and show sufficient capabilities and sincerity.

NIO

In 2025, NIO is about to enter a stage of operating three brands simultaneously. Compared with the two sub-brands, the main brand NIO will face an important platform switching period this year.

In 2025, NIO will focus on stable development and switch to the NT3.0 platform.

The NT3.0 platform is equipped with a standard 925V system, and the intelligent operating system is called "Cedar". The central control screen adopts a horizontal screen design. It has made progress in aspects such as vehicle-end computing performance and overall vehicle redundant safety. Also, from the ET9 model, we can see that the conversion efficiency of the power battery, drive motor, and electronic control system (the three-electric system) of the NT3.0 platform has been significantly improved.

The cost and pricing of the new platform are also issues at present. It may not be easy to quickly apply the NT3.0 platform to models with high sales volumes.

In addition, during the group interview at the 2024 NIO Day, when asked about the reason why the ET9 doesn't have a five-seat version, NIO explained that if the ET9 had a five-seat version, it might conflict with the upcoming six-seat and seven-seat SUVs that will use the NT3.0 platform.

Judging from this response, among NIO's "stable" switching steps, SUVs with a higher positioning, such as the ES8, will switch to the NT3.0 platform earlier.

Some bloggers have guessed that NIO's "5566" models will use a horizontal screen and the Shenji chip in 2025, and will be built based on the NT2.5 platform, while the "78" models will use the NT3.0 platform.

On the one hand, as Li Bin said, the NT2.0 platform "is still the most leading platform in the current market... it is still very competitive now". On the other hand, the blogger also said that the models of the NT3.0 platform can only use the third and fourth-generation battery swap stations, and the convenience of getting energy replenishment is temporarily not as good as that of the NT2.5 platform models.

As for the camouflaged ET5T that was rumored a few days ago, currently, we can only see that the central control screen is a horizontal screen, and no more information has been released.

In terms of sub-brands, the Leduo brand will launch large five-seat and large six-seat SUVs in the third and fourth quarters of this year, and the Firefly model will be officially launched in April this year.

With new models ready to be launched, what results will the intelligent driving department, which was rumored to have experienced a major personnel change some time ago, achieve?

XPeng

In 2024, XPeng Motors blazed a trail in the face of a lot of negative comments. The success of the M03 and P7+ models has continuously pushed its monthly delivery volume to new highs. At the same time, it has also brought the main sales range of XPeng models to between 100,000 and 200,000 yuan.

However, judging from the importance XPeng attaches to the promotion of the X9 model, it hasn't given up its pursuit of the high-end market. 2025 is a crucial starting year for XPeng to regain its market share in the price range above 200,000 yuan.

In 2025, XPeng will launch a new car every quarter. Currently, there are signs of a major facelift of the P7 model, the 2025 G6 model with an improved appearance, the 2025 G9 model without a lidar, and an extended-range vehicle based on the G9 model. 2025 can be regarded as a big year for XPeng's product launches.

It can be predicted that XPeng's new models will not be equipped with lidars, will be equipped with standard high-level intelligent driving functions, and the price may drop by up to 20,000 yuan compared with the current models.

In addition, Yuan Tingting, the senior director of autonomous driving at XPeng Motors, said at the end of 2024 that XPeng's intelligent driving will make great progress in 2025. The goal is to achieve an experience similar to Level 3 (L3) autonomous driving through a one-stage end-to-end system, with the number of takeovers less than once per 100 kilometers.

He Xiaopeng also once said that XPeng's intelligent driving will enter the stage of being "loved to use" from being "useful" in 2025.

According to the OTA (Over-The-Air) plan officially revealed by XPeng for 2025, all models under its brand will undergo at least one OTA upgrade in the first five months of this year, and the XOS 5.7.0 version will be launched.

The internal letter released by He Xiaopeng on the last day of 2024 was full of confidence. 2025 may be the year with the most products for XPeng in the next three years. After that, XPeng will focus more on a clear product lineup. At the same time, XPeng will also accelerate the promotion of its globalization strategy and recruit more than 6,000 employees in 2025.

Li Auto

One of the major highlights of Li Auto in 2025 is how it, which has been doing well in the extended-range vehicle track with its extended-range L series, will lead the pure electric i series to start.

The reflection on the failure of the MEGA model's launch made Li Auto not rush to introduce the pure electric series as planned in 2024. Instead, it promoted the construction of the energy replenishment network and the improvement of intelligent driving capabilities at the same time.

As of 9 pm on January 2, 2025, Li Auto has cumulatively built 1,729 5C supercharging stations and urban supercharging stations. Maybe we will soon see the completion of the 2,000th supercharging station.

In terms of intelligent driving capabilities, continuing the rapid improvement trend in 2024, Li Auto said that its intelligent driving capabilities will enter a new stage in 2025. The takeover frequency will change from once every 100 kilometers in 2024 to once every 500 kilometers in 2025.

With the basic guarantee of energy replenishment and the increasingly important improvement of intelligent driving capabilities, Li Auto has made sufficient preparations for the i series outside the vehicle. The spy photos of the new cars that have been leaked twice also show that there are some adjustments in the appearance.

The success of Li Auto has attracted many brands to join the extended-range SUV track. In 2025, a large number of models that are benchmarking or aiming to be alternatives to the Li Auto L9 will be launched intensively. Li Auto faces certain challenges in achieving sales growth, and the pure electric i series may be an important product for Li Auto to reach the next sales milestone.

How will Li Auto tell a good story about pure electric vehicles in 2025?

Leapmotor

Leapmotor, which achieved nearly 300,000 vehicle sales in 2024, has set a target of selling 500,000 vehicles in 2025.

The keyword for Leapmotor in 2025 may be "globalization".

Three models of the B series built based on the LEAP 3.5 technical architecture will be launched in 2025. This series of models mainly focuses on the market segment of 100,000 to 150,000 yuan. The high-end models will be equipped with lidars and high-computing-power chips.

The first global model B10, which has already been shown, is equipped with a lidar. It can provide the vehicle with high-speed and urban intelligent driving capabilities. It uses an 8295 chip, has a pure electric cruising range of more than 600 kilometers, and its chassis has been jointly tuned by the teams of Leapmotor and Maserati, which may improve the driving experience.

This car is planned to be officially launched in the first quarter of 2025.

In terms of expanding overseas markets, Leapmotor plans to achieve localized production in Europe by the end of 2025.

Leapmotor, which has adhered to the cost-effective route and achieved certain results, can the three B-class cars and the overseas market in 2025 help it achieve the goal of selling 500,000 vehicles annually? And how will it strive to keep up with other leading new forces in terms of intelligent driving?

Xiaomi

In 2024, Xiaomi Auto finally delivered more than 135,000 SU7 models. Xiaomi Auto, whose first car was launched on March 28, 2024, undoubtedly got off to a good start.

So, during the live broadcast on December 31, 2024, Lei Jun set a target of delivering 300,000 vehicles for Xiaomi Auto in 2025.

He also said, "Many automakers may not have exceeded 300,000 vehicles in sales even after operating for more than ten years. Even BYD, the most outstanding car manufacturer today, took 10 years to exceed 300,000 vehicles in sales, and it may have taken 19 years to reach 400,000 or 500,000 vehicles in sales."

However, this target, which is double the delivery volume in 2024, is still considered conservative by many people. There is a possibility that the delivery volume of Xiaomi Auto in 2025 will exceed 400,000 vehicles.

This confidence not only comes from the orders that have only been about half-delivered so far but also from Xiaomi Auto's first SUV, the Xiaomi YU7, which has already been included in the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's catalog.

The new car still performs outstandingly in terms of power. The peak powers of the two drive motors are 220 kW and 288 kW respectively, and the maximum speed can reach 253 km/h, which surpasses that of the Xiaomi SU7 Max.

Some people guess that the delivery volume of the Xiaomi YU7 in 2025 is expected to reach 150,000 vehicles. However, this car will be launched in June 2025. Under the pressure of production scheduling for the SU7 and considering the time factor, it may be difficult for the annual delivery volume of the YU7 to reach this number.

In addition to the Xiaomi YU7, the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra will also be launched in March this year. And the extended-range model that was widely rumored before the launch of the Xiaomi SU7, with its internal code name "Kunlun", is an extended-range SUV and may not be available until 2026.

In terms of intelligent driving, Xiaomi Auto will focus on the application and improvement of end-to-end full-scene intelligent driving capabilities in 2025 and strive to catch up to the L3 stage.

In 2024, Xiaomi Auto used the SU7 model to show people its determination, capabilities, and appeal. With such a good start, can the YU7 continue the success of the SU7?

Zeekr

In 2025, Zeekr will start its journey in the hybrid electric vehicle field.

According to a report by Caijing News Agency, An Conghui, the CEO of Zeekr Intelligent Technology, revealed during Geely Automobile's conference call that Zeekr will launch a new model in the second, third, and fourth quarters of this year respectively.

In the second quarter, it will be the shooting brake version of the Zeekr 007. In the third and fourth quarters, they will be a full-size flagship SUV and a mid-large luxury SUV with pure electric and super hybrid power forms respectively.

According to the previously circulated product planning diagram of Zeekr, the shooting brake version of the Zeekr 007 may be the model with the internal code name CC1E. Geely released a tender announcement for the modification project of the front and rear windshield and sunroof gluing equipment for this model in March 2024.

The full-size flagship SUV may be the SUV version of the Zeekr 009, with the internal code name EX1E. There are rumors that this car is the first model to be equipped with the NVIDIA Thor chip. Recent spy photos show that it is equipped with a lidar on the roof and has high-level intelligent driving functions.

Previously, there were rumors that the new car will be equipped with the Haohan intelligent driving system, and it will have single-motor and dual-motor versions, with a cruising range of more than 700 kilometers. It was originally planned to enter the VP (Verification Prototype) stage in September 2024.

The mid-large luxury SUV launched in the fourth quarter may be the SUV version of the Zeekr 001, with the internal code name DX1E, and currently, not much information about it has been released.

Models or brands such as the Li Auto L series, AITO, and Avatr have proven the market potential of extended-range SUVs. Can Zeekr, which is about to enter this field, create a new milestone with the help of the fuel tank?

(End)