On March 21, Li Xiang issued a company-wide memo reflecting on the failures of the MEGA project, acknowledging his error in treating MEGA's "zero to one" phase (commercial validation) as a "one to 10" phase (rapid growth).
An excessive focus on sales and competition led the team to prioritize ambition over values, ultimately becoming the "people we hate."
Ultimately, a solution was provided, stating that they would patiently manage the L9 MEGA as a product from the ground up, focusing on the core user group and high-end urban markets with strong pure electric consumption capabilities. At the same time, they would reduce sales expectations and ambitions and return to healthy growth.
As of today, 20 days have passed since the MEGA's release, and many are still expecting a turnaround. However, Li Xiang has only released data once: after deliveries began on March 11th, deliveries exceeded one thousand in the first full delivery week.
This achievement is clearly modest. Within Li Xiang, the MEGA is intended to be a pillar product with sales exceeding 500,000 units, but news of over ten thousand cancellations came before Li Xiang could even release a battle report.
There are also a large number of users transferring their MEGA orders on second-hand trading platforms.
We chatted with these users who have canceled or intend to cancel their orders. Many of them are ardent supporters of Li Xiang himself, have even owned more than one Li Xiang vehicle, and expressed sympathy for the MEGA's situation. However, once someone's love has been exchanged for hard cash, careful consideration is required.
Especially since this car is still in the limelight, after weighing the pros and cons, they made their own decisions.
"I don't care about public opinion, but the interior and price make it hard to go all in without thinking."
The Li Xiang MEGA is the first pure electric car that Dong Wei has considered. He has previously only driven gasoline-powered vehicles.
Unlike Li Xiang's official family vehicle concept, he has a family of three. Although using such a large car is a bit wasteful for daily use, he was still attracted to the MEGA's product concept of "comfortable travel for the whole family."
In his opinion, the Li Xiang brand has developed quite well in recent years, and the extended-range L series has been very successful. It can be refueled or charged, and it is also well-equipped.
The reason he chose the MEGA is that there is a charging station near his home, and the product power and configuration have no obvious shortcomings.
"Besides, isn't this the trend on the Internet?"
In Dong Wei's opinion, as long as one person starts dissing it online, there will be several waves of followers who jump on the bandwagon. Nio and Xiaopeng have also been vilified before, "If that's the case, no product can be sold."
Compared to online gossip, Dong Wei cares more about the actual experience. When he went for a test drive offline, the experience was not as good as he had imagined. The actual car was somewhat different from what was said at the press conference, for example, the second row was said to have the space of a 7 Series, and the third row was said to have the space of a 5 Series, which he did not think was the case at all.
#董伟对MEGA的评价
董伟指出，MEGA的价格有点贵，落地价加上购置税接近60万。如果价格在50万左右，他就更能接受了。此外，MEGA的内饰也与L系列相差不大，因此他更倾向于选择L9。
董伟表示，他选择理想的车主要是认可理想的CEO李想。李想是一个营销高手，他的线上线下言论很容易让人热血沸腾。再加上李想的一些言论，比如“抄袭跳楼”、“光明反击黑暗”、“不做达斯·维达”，很多人一冲动就会为理想花钱。
目前看来，理想MEGA算是失败了。原因在于MEGA的“内饰和售价都很难让冲动的用户无脑买单”，远不如之前的其他产品受欢迎。
对于李想来说，纯电MPV的第一炮失利绝对不是一件好事。尽管理想的品牌口碑和销量一直不错，但董伟认为，李想所说的“理想MEGA将成为50万以上市场销量第一”基本不可能实现。
#老用户王升的体验
王升是理想的老用户，2020年买了一辆理想ONE后，就再也没考虑过其他品牌，成为了理想的忠实粉丝。
由于家里有充电桩，他已经5年没开燃油车了，“感觉开油车像开拖拉机”。
刚买理想ONE时，王升觉得除了操控性以外，理想ONE是他开过最好的车，舒适又轻快。他之前也买过BBA和特斯拉，但它们的舒适度都不如理想。
2022年，在理想ONE停产前，王升转手卖掉了，两年亏了6万块钱。但他认为，这样的保值率还是比较好的。
"I secured a blind order for the MEGA in November 2023 because I live in a household of seven, and its spacious interior and ultra-fast charging capabilities aligned perfectly with our needs."
Initially, he expected delivery by year-end and even sold his Ideal L8 to purchase the MEGA, envisioning family road trips during the holiday season. However, the car's arrival was delayed until March 2024.
Despite the higher-than-expected price, which he was willing to pay, Wang Sheng ultimately decided to cancel his order due to dissatisfaction with the early-adopter incentives, anticipating a potential price reduction in the future.
With a Tesla Model S and a NIO ET5 already in their possession, he felt the need for the MEGA was not pressing. "I'll wait until the second half of the year when there are more discounts."
Regarding the criticism of the MEGA's hearse-like appearance, Wang Sheng dismissed it, citing similar initial reactions to the Jikr 009, albeit less pronounced.
In his opinion, Ideal's cars consistently impress after a test drive. Their high-quality products, with no optional extras and a focus on standard features, retain their value in the used car market. "The limited number of SKUs also simplifies the decision-making process and improves production efficiency, reducing delivery wait times."
Wang Sheng's firsthand experience with the MEGA reinforced his positive impressions, finding it superior to any MPV he had previously driven in terms of space, comfort, and functionality. However, he noted that the interior lacked differentiation from Ideal's L series.
During his test drive at a dealership where queues formed, he observed that many of the current MEGA order cancellations are likely driven by anticipation of price reductions.
"The lower-than-expected demand for the MEGA stems from inflated expectations and Ideal's suboptimal pricing strategy."
In the current price war in the automotive industry, Wang Sheng believes that Ideal's pricing strategy lacks competitiveness and fails to recognize the needs of early adopters. Moreover, there remains a segment of consumers who doubt Ideal's ability to address range anxiety, limiting the MEGA's market potential.
Nevertheless, Wang Sheng remains optimistic about Ideal's ability to overcome these challenges. He suggests introducing lower-priced models, offering disguised price reductions, or providing incentives worth several thousand dollars to boost sales. Positive feedback from early adopters and the expansion of Ideal's service station network with ultra-fast charging should also contribute to increased demand.
"Many underestimate the MEGA's product strengths, seeing it as indistinguishable from other EVs. However, I anticipate that its unique qualities will become increasingly apparent over time. I believe the MEGA has the potential to achieve monthly sales exceeding 8,000 units and eventually become the sales leader in the 500,000 RMB+ segment."
"Interior refinements and price adjustments would undoubtedly boost demand"
With a family of six, Liu Nan holds a contrasting view to the online criticism of the MEGA's aesthetics. He was drawn to its design upon first sight and found it remarkably quiet and enjoyable to drive during his test drive.
Liu Nan placed a blind order at the launch event, which he later converted into a regular order. However, the price remains a concern. "It's too expensive. If they could reduce the price by 50,000 to 80,000 RMB, it would be an instant buy."
MEGA lacks rear-wheel steering, a feature available on the XPeng X9, which is nearly $200,000 cheaper. Liu Nan believes that this feature will be difficult to sell for over $500,000 given the limited availability of supercharging stations.
Liu Nan is anxious to sell his order before April, after which it will no longer be cancellable. However, he has not received many inquiries.
Like Liu Nan, Cheng Dong was drawn to MEGA's exterior design and ordered without hesitation.
After the March 1st launch event, he went for a test drive and found that the interior of the production car didn't quite justify the price tag of 600,000RMB (including purchase tax), considering how amazing the MEGA looked from the outside. He had high expectations for the MEGA, but the realization that its interior was merely a rehashed version of the existing L series was hard to swallow.
Another issue that rubbed him the wrong way was when an Ideal engineer at the 2023 Guangzhou Auto Show stated that the steel reinforcement in the A-pillar had a total strength of 3000MPa. However, during Cheng Dong's test drive, the salesperson claimed that "1 + 1 doesn't equal 3000, but it definitely exceeds 1500MPa." This response left him feeling bewildered.
Cheng Dong also found the MEGA's interior to be rather plain. In his opinion, for a 600,000RMB MPV, even with a focus on family use, the bland interior seemed mismatched with the flashy exterior.
When he visited XPeng and Zeekr MPV dealerships, he noticed a significant increase in the number of customers, many of whom had come from Ideal MEGA showrooms.
Of course, Cheng Dong believes that Ideal remains an excellent brand among new energy vehicle players. He's been following the brand since 2020, when he felt that the Ideal ONE offered superior features compared to both gasoline and electric vehicles on the market at the time.
When he decided to upgrade his car, Cheng Dong was initially drawn to the rugged and masculine styling of the Land Rover, but the Ideal ONE captured his heart. He visited the store twice before pulling the trigger, as the price point was also reasonable.
"For the MEGA to succeed, it needs either a price adjustment or an interior upgrade. With its current configuration, if the MEGA could match the L9's price, it would undoubtedly sell like hotcakes."
