Reported by Pulsestacks on April 29
History tells us: it's not about whose era it is, but who stands out in the era.
During the transformative period of industry transition, fierce competition is inevitable, with the industry's internal strife intensifying, price wars looming large, and the battlefield of public opinion ablaze... 2024 is destined to be an unprecedented year of "internal strife" in the automotive industry, with countless ways to break this cycle, but ultimately, it all boils down to one thing: each doing their own thing.
For Polestar, 2024 is the "Year of Breakthrough in China" for the brand. Polestar Technology's Chairman and CEO, Shen Zi Yu, stated that the new Polestar Technology must have a very strong strategic determination. We need to increase investment as soon as possible, especially after Geely became a direct shareholder. We will fully utilize Geely's global innovation ecosystem resources to localize in China in terms of complete vehicle products, sales networks, channels, etc., and embark on a unique path of dual coordination between mobile consumer electronics and automotive electronics.
Shen Zi Yu's words imply that Polestar will usher in a new stage and chapter of development in the Chinese market. "Only by winning the Chinese market can we possibly become the leader in the global new energy vehicle field."
Left: Chen Siying, Chief Operating Officer of Polar Star Technology; Right: Huang Qing, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Pulsestacks
Impromptu Dialogue | Chen Siying: 2024, Polar Star's Counterattack (Source: Pulsestacks)
Easy to say, hard to do. For Polar Star Automotive, the road ahead is destined to be full of challenges. Can Polar Star successfully launch a counterattack this time?
Building cars is a marathon, requiring a stable brand core for support.
At the Polar Star Brand Night, the brand unveiled its new brand ambassadors - Zhou Xun and Chen Kun. Unlike other brands that prioritize popularity, Polar Star's choice of brand ambassadors involves deeper considerations.
Although fans' attention and purchasing power to some extent determine the upper limit of the commercial value of ambassadors, for Polar Star, the personal compatibility, reputation, and overall strength of the ambassadors are what the brand values most.
When considering how to quickly increase the brand awareness of Polestar, there have been many internal discussions. In terms of traffic and brand fit, we would rather choose brand fit over a traffic-oriented approach for brand enhancement. Polestar has a unique brand temperament, and we need to find individuals who resonate with the brand's characteristics, rather than simply following the mainstream trends.
According to Chen Siying, the Chief Operating Officer of Polestar Technology, despite being in the ever-changing entertainment industry, Zhou Xun and Chen Kun have remained dedicated for decades to honing their acting skills to perfection and quietly engaging in charitable activities. Compared to some young internet celebrities, their popularity may not be the highest, but it is the most resonant with the Polestar brand.
When the uncompromising and persistent Polestar, aiming to build a "global high-performance pure electric car brand," meets the calm and steady Zhou Xun and Chen Kun, the brand attitude of "still waters run deep, modest yet remarkable" emerges.
However, Chen Siying, who has been "battling" in the automotive marketing circle for many years, knows well that for Polestar, this is just the first step in enhancing brand strength. The future will test whether the brand can reach its target users through celebrity endorsements, improve through product experience and terminal behavior, and sustain this wave of attention.
It is well known that there are often followers in the market, always imitators, occasionally disruptors, but the hardest to find are the pioneers. For Polestar, a global high-performance pure electric car brand, how can they create a new chapter in China?
Chen Siying's answer is "to create differentiation."
"Design and technology are our two important wings. The high aesthetics of original design, the high technology of driver connectivity, and the sustainable and environmentally friendly product design concept originating from the Nordic region bring high value to customers, which I believe is the most important differentiation for the Polestar brand.
In June last year, at the signing ceremony between Polestar and Meizu, Li Shufu, Chairman of Geely Holding Group, said, 'The fusion of the two stars' is a key step for Polestar to seize the localization opportunity in China, achieve super integration of intelligent terminal ecosystem with Meizu, and advance into the track of innovative integration.
With this belief, Polestar Technology created the Polestar OS intelligent cockpit system based on Flyme Auto in just 60 days, and installed it on the Polestar 4, achieving delivery and upgrade in one go."
However, in the eyes of Shen Ziyu, who holds multiple resources such as Xingji Meizu, Yikatong, and Jixing Motors, these are far from enough. Jixing wants to take user experience to the next level. Thus, a new "tentacle" has emerged in the integration of smart technology – the dual-star interconnection between Jixing Motors and smartphones.
As Shen Ziyu has mentioned multiple times, "We believe that the automotive industry will enter an era of super-coordination between consumer electronics and automotive electronics. This is the general trend," and "Automobile companies lacking the empowerment of mobile software will eventually be eliminated."
Although the necessity for car manufacturers to make phones has always been controversial within the industry, under the wave of intelligent new energy vehicles, the software ecosystem is becoming an important area for car companies to build differentiation advantages. The cross-border cooperation between car companies and mobile phone manufacturers has already become a new trend, posing a long-term strategic issue.
At this point, we might as well interpret from the perspective of "first principles" advocated by Musk. It encourages people to embrace a new way of thinking, extracting the most fundamental and essential elements from things, recombining them in a new way, and exploring a new path.
For example, with the rise of digital cameras, the once-thriving Fuji Film faced an unprecedented crisis. In search of a new way out, the leadership of Fuji Film posed a question: "What are our 'first principles'? In our core competencies, what can we develop in a new direction? Which industries can benefit from what we excel at?"
No one expected that Fuji Film's ultimate answer would be "skincare products." The antioxidants that protect film from UV damage also have the same effect on human skin. It was this unexpected decision that saved Fuji Film from crisis.
Therefore, for Polestar, maximizing the potential of the "twin stars" technology is one of the key factors determining the brand's success.
With the launch of Polestar's first AI flagship phone, the Polestar Phone, it will officially become the "sixth domain" of Polestar, enabling seamless connection between the phone and the car through Polestar Link, allowing for touchless connection, seamless handover, hardware collaboration, and shared computing power, providing users with a boundaryless cross-device intelligent ecosystem experience.
It is worth mentioning that in order to immediately enable users to enjoy the convenience of the full interconnection of the Polestar intelligent ecosystem, Polestar has also introduced the Polestar 4 Twin Star Interconnection Edition, aiming to turn smartphones into the best partners for smart cars, enhancing the efficiency of the intelligent ecosystem, and providing a more convenient and complete cross-device interaction experience.
The powerful technological momentum delivered by Polestar is now emerging.
"All of Polestar's products and designs come from our originality, so our Max (Polestar's Chief Car Designer) doesn't need to have a telepathic connection with Porsche's designers."
The most unexpected moment of the entire press conference was the usually low-key Shen Ziyu openly referencing a competitor, something rarely seen before.
However, such behavior is not hard to understand. After all, for a company like Polestar, with a CEO from a design background and a focus on "pure" automobiles in design, research, development, and manufacturing, design has become ingrained in the brand's DNA. Naturally, they do not appreciate others' opportunism.
This pure and non-conformist attitude is very Polestar.
"We hope to maintain our composure, uphold Polestar's insistence on certain brand principles, as well as some principles in product design, research, and manufacturing. We aim to be a breath of fresh air in the bustling automotive market."
In a conversation with pulsestacks, Chen Siying mentioned some questions and doubts from users about Polestar regarding branding, design, performance parameters, and more, with some sharp remarks:
"Why doesn't the Polestar 4 look like an SUV, yet it's officially called an SUV?"
"A 3.8-second 0-100 km/h acceleration is not exceptional in the era of electric vehicles, so why does the Polestar 4 claim to be high-performance?"
"Why is the storage position for phones in the Polestar 4 slanted, while other competitors have it the other way around?"
"Why does Polestar not have the highest performance parameters but still maintains its own pricing principles?"
Faced with these doubts, Chen Siying's approach differs from other automotive industry leaders. Not only did he select eight of the most representative questions to answer one by one at the press conference, but he also turned these questions into posters after the event for further dissemination.
The confidence behind such openness stems from Polestar's consistent pursuit of "purity" in performance and quality.
As for the issue of high product pricing raised by the public, Shen Ziyu calmly stated that instead of simply rolling back prices, it is better to focus on building the brand.
When a consumer faces a product, material factors come into play. However, when they begin to consider a brand, thoughts shift to its soul and spirit.
For a brand to be positioned as luxurious, it must have historical heritage and brand value as its foundation.
Polestar, originating from Volvo's high-performance racing division, was established in 2017 as a new independent luxury electric high-performance brand through a collaboration between Volvo Cars and Geely Group. Backed by Volvo and Geely, Polestar possesses a resource advantage that many new players in the industry cannot match. Data shows that Polestar has achieved a global cumulative sales volume of 177,700 vehicles, with the Polestar 2 accounting for 175,000 units of this total.
Perhaps it is the saying, "Only by winning the Chinese market can one possibly become the leader in the global new energy vehicle field," that led to the establishment of the joint venture company Polestar Technology in 2023, marking the "first year" of Polestar's development in the Chinese market.
It is worth mentioning that the current Chinese automotive market is no longer what it used to be. With Tesla leading the way, the new forces in car manufacturing are competing fiercely in terms of electric power, hardware, software, and pricing. Domestic new energy brands already dominate over 80% of the 100,000 to 500,000 new energy vehicle market. Polestar's ambition to create a new chapter in China indeed faces significant challenges.
As Polestar continues to enhance its product lineup, the responsibility of making Polestar more visible to a wider audience falls on the shoulders of the veteran in the automotive marketing industry, Chen Siying.
After just three months in office, Chen Siying, who took over as the new leader, swiftly restructured Polestar's marketing business system from the previous seven to eight departments into three major segments: user growth, user development, and user operations after conducting a comprehensive "check-up" on Polestar. Clearly, "users" will be the top priority in Polestar's upcoming marketing strategy.
"We have a lot of work ahead of us. On one hand, we must tell the story of this brand in China, including the brand's Nordic origins, values, and minimalist design. It's crucial for Chinese consumers to understand this. On the other hand, we need to focus on getting closer to the users in our organizational setup. I think we still have some distance to go in terms of proximity to the users."
In response, Polestar announced the launch of Polestar Care services, with three main touchpoints: power replenishment, travel, and lifestyle, to provide car owners with higher-quality services.
"Polestar Care will completely transform the current vehicle maintenance service chain, shifting from traditional passive response services to proactive nurturing services. In a nutshell: when you have a need, I happen to meet it.
In terms of charging infrastructure, the first Polestar-operated supercharging station was completed and put into operation in Guangzhou this year. In the future, there will be continuous expansion of self-operated charging stations, along with collaboration with Tesla China to initiate interconnected charging network cooperation.
As of now, the Polestar APP has connected to over 650,000 high-quality charging piles, covering 98% of urban areas. In the future, there will be interoperability with NIO Power to continuously empower users with charging solutions.
"As a car enthusiast, I believe that good products, good services, commitments, and care for customers are the most enduring aspects. I firmly believe that our products, brand essence, and persistence will lead us to where our users are."
In conclusion,
The current state of China's new energy vehicle industry, after undergoing a 'transformation,' has reached a global high point. For automotive brands, only by quickly adapting to the market, persisting in long-term strategies, and continuously breaking traditional mindsets can they avoid being phased out by the times.
2024 will be the 'breakthrough year' for Polestar in China, marking a decisive counterattack.
Although Chen Siying talks about 'rejecting the rat race,' Polestar's ultimate pursuit in design and technological configuration is perhaps another form of 'rat race.' For today's Polestar, achieving the KPI goal of 'China accounting for over 30% or even 40% of global sales' is definitely a significant challenge."
