The 18th Shanghai international automobile industry exhibition (hereinafter referred to as the "2019 Shanghai auto show") with the theme of "create a better life together" will be held at the national exhibition centre (Shanghai) on April 18 to April 25.

It will focus on displaying the innovative development achievements of the world automobile industry. April 16th and 17th are media days, only receiving domestic and overseas news media. April 18th solstice 19th is professional audience day; Solstice on 20 April is the public day on 25 April.

According to the official website, the 2019 Shanghai auto show has attracted more than 1,000 well-known domestic and foreign enterprises from 20 countries and regions.

With a total exhibition area of more than 360,000 square meters, it has opened all 12 indoor pavilions of the national convention and exhibition centre (Shanghai), including 9 passenger car pavilions (1H, 2H, 4.1H, 5.1H, 6.1H, 7.1H, 7.2H, 8.1H and 8.2H). Commercial vehicle exhibition area and one pavilion in future travel area (3H); There are 2 pavilions in the auto parts exhibition area (5.2H and 6.2H).

In addition, interactive experience area, lounge, clinic and other functions and service areas are also set up in the pavilion.

China New Energy Vehicle Manufacturing Enterprises Show Their Models

In recent years, the new energy field has gradually become the focus of public attention. According to the official exhibition information, this Automobile Shanghai will also be the most complete exhibition for the newly built brands.

Among these companies, XPeng Motors and NIO have begun the transition from SUVs to sedans, but for most of the new car manufacturers, the main models that young consumers love are still SUVs.

EqualOcean has compiled a list of 10 new energy vehicle manufacturers that have received a lot of attention at this show, as well as their models on display.

NIO：

As one of the fastest growing new automobile manufacturers, NIO unveiled its third mass production model ET at the 18th Automobile Shanghai.

In addition, ES8, ES6 and EP9 will also be featured. In addition to the launch of new models, NIO also announced the latest research and development results of NIO Power's energy replenishment solutions and enterprise technologies. (See more in this article)

XPeng Motors:

After breaking into the market for electric SUVs, XPeng is getting into the sedan business.

XPeng unveiled its second model, the P7 at Automobile Shanghai. According to the company, the size of the P7’s body will be beyond the mainstream of medium-sized cars, wheelbase than the large car. In terms of range, the P7 will also be greatly improved, and the acceleration and handling performance of the new model will also be upgraded to the standard German luxury sports car.

WM Motor:

On the eve of the Automobile Shanghai, WM Motor held its brand night in Shanghai. In addition to the official launch of WM EX5 Zhixing 2.0 version, it also unveiled two other mass production models, EX5 Pro and EX6 Limited. Later, at the Automobile Shanghai, EX5 Pro of WM released its price and officially went on the market, and the mass production model of EX6 Limited was also officially unveiled.

LEAPMotor：

According to LEAPMotor, by the end of next year, all the three platforms of the enterprise, S, C and T, can realize sales of real vehicles.

At the Automobile Shanghai, the company unveiled its first SUV model, C-more, based on the C platform, and the C-more will be available by the end of next year. The C-more, as the flagship model of LEAPMotor in the SUV field, is positioned as a smart crossover pure electric SUV model with a range of More than 500km. However, the C-more will only be on display as a concept car, and the mass-produced version will be available by the end of 2020.

ENOVATE：

The ME7 model, ENOVATE's first luxury smart SUV, was unveiled at the Shanghai auto show. The new car is positioned at medium SUV. In terms of range, the new car offers two options of 350 km and 500 km NEDC.

HOZON：

HOZON brought three new models to the show, the second mass production U, the new concept Eureka 02 and the Nezha N01 2020. The new smart all-electric SUV, the U, was officially launched for pre-sale at the auto show. Based on the brand new pure electric exclusive HPC platform, the U has a wheelbase of 2750mm and a range of 500km in the NEDC comprehensive working condition.

BYTON：

BYTON's first production car will be an SUV based on its M-Byte concept, and its most notable feature will be a 48-inch oversize central control screen. In terms of power, the BYTON M-byte mass production car will provide two types of rear-drive version and four-drive version.

The rear-drive version has the maximum power of 272 horsepower, the peak torque of 400 nm, the battery pack capacity of 71kWh, and the official range of 400km. The four-wheel drive has a maximum power of 350kW, peak torque of 710N·m, a battery pack capacity of 95kWh and an official range of 520km.

GYON：

At the 2019 Shanghai auto show, GYON, a new energy manufacturer, brought its first high-end concept vehicle -- GYON Matchless. The new car is positioned as the flagship model of GYON brand, and the overall design is inclined to the style of large four-door GT sedan.

In terms of power, no official announcement has been made yet, but GYON said at the brand launch event in Los Angeles last year that the first mass-produced model in the future would be a compact or mid-size car with a price range of CNY 100,000 to CNY 200,000 and a range of 580-600 kilometres.

BORDRIN：

The BORDRIN iV6 model was officially launched for pre-sale on Automobile Shanghai, with a price range (before the subsidy) of CNY 250,000 to CNY 350,000 and a pre-order amount of CNY 5,000. The car has a sliding back design, sporty appearance, and a comprehensive range of 550km.

CHJ：

On April 10, CHE Hejia announced the price of the LI ONE plug-in smart electric vehicle: a national unified retail price of CNY 328,000 after subsidies, which will be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2019.

In addition, Automobile Shanghai also set up a special "future travel exhibition area." Many well-known software and hardware suppliers, including continental AG, Bosch, ZF Friedrichshafen AG, Visteon, Valeo, Horizon, Harteau Technology, Velodyne, and LiangDao, will focus on displaying cutting-edge technologies and products in Internet of vehicles, chips, autonomous driving solutions, high-precision positioning and mapping, lidar and other segment solutions.

Autonomous Driving Technology is Important

Autonomous driving technology is undoubtedly one of the hottest topics in the current automobile industry and even the whole technology industry. In 2015, the state council issued "made in China 2025", which takes autonomous driving as an important direction for the future transformation and upgrading of the automobile industry, and clearly proposes to achieve L4 and L5 levels of autonomous driving by 2025.

From the perspective of the overall development of the self-driving industry, China is currently in the L2 stage, and some enterprises are trying to break through to L3. According to the information released by various new car manufacturers, currently some of them have L2 level autonomous driving ability, while XPeng Motors, LEAPMotor and others have L2.5 level autonomous driving ability, and Byton has trying to leapfrogged L2 to have L3 level autonomous driving ability.

In terms of planning progress, the common development progress plan of traditional automobile manufacturing enterprises is to achieve L3 level automatic driving in 2020. Some new car manufacturing enterprises are obviously planning faster, for example, NIO and Byton all plan to achieve L4 level automatic driving in 2020.

Autonomous driving technology is an important part of the development and competition between traditional and new automobile manufacturing enterprises, and it is precise because of the development of new technology that new automobile manufacturing enterprises have new possible opportunities.

The Market Will be the Ultimate Test

There are hundreds of new car manufacturers in China, with varying strengths. Zhangwei, chairman of Cornerstone capital, once published an article said that 2019 would be a backward year for new car manufacturers.

According to the 21st-century business herald, the financing scale of China's new automobile manufacturing enterprises has exceeded CNY 170 billion. NIO, WM, XPeng, Byton and other 10 well-known enterprises have raised more than CNY 100 billion in total.

There has been a steady stream of negative news about new automakers since 2019: NIO turned over its first post-IPO "report card" with a net loss of CNY 9.639 billion, up 92% year-on-year. After that, NIO was exposed that the delivery quantity was suspicious, and the company made a large number of layoffs and other negative news. Tesla sues XPeng Motors employee over alleged theft of its secrets and so on.

"None of the hundreds of new car manufacturers in China is worth investing in," he says bluntly. Citing NIO, WM Motor, XPeng Motors and other leading companies for raising prices in response to declining subsidies, Zhang said the current data showed that the unified feature of new car manufacturers is "burning money".

He xiaopeng, chairman of XPeng, said to Zhang bluntly, "you don't need to invest. It's easier to be a critic than a builder." Zhangwei's assessment may be a bit radical, but 2019 will be a tough year for new car makers, and market acceptance will be the test of success.

For companies without mass production deliveries, the chances of survival this year are slim. For enterprises that have delivered, it does take a long time to determine whether they are successful or not. After all, they still have at least two or three years to prove their product and business model.