On March 21st, Li Xiang, CEO of Ideal Automobile, issued an internal letter to review the company's recent business.
In an internal letter, Li Xiang reflected on the rhythm issue of Ideal MEGA, stating that he had misjudged the pure electric strategic rhythm. "We mistakenly treated Ideal MEGA's stage from 0 to 1 (commercial validation period) as operating from 1 to 10 (high-speed development period)," he said
He admitted that the problems with the Ideal MEGA have also affected the sales of the L-series models. "The chaotic pace of the Ideal MEGA has greatly reduced the time and energy for the sales team to serve L-series users. The main model, the Ideal L8, even has no space for store placement."
In response, Li Xiang also stated that he will adjust his sales strategy, abandon the comprehensive sales strategy, focus on large-scale retail centers in top cities for product experience and test drives, and accelerate the construction of overcharged stations in these cities. After effectively completing the phase from 0 to 1, promote to more cities and a larger user group.
Ideal MEGA is the flagship pure electric vehicle model under Ideal Automobile, and also the first product of Ideal Automobile entering the pure electric vehicle field. It was officially launched on March 1st and delivered on March 11th. However, MEGA encountered a cold reception after its launch, and its sales did not meet the expectations of Ideal Automotive.
At the same time, Li Xiang also mentioned the desire of Ideal Automobile to overly focus on sales.
He stated that he will reduce sales expectations and desires, return to healthy growth, "return to the enhancement of user value that we excel at, and return to the improvement of business efficiency that we excel at."
"Seeking truth from facts and correcting mistakes as soon as we know them, we are confident that through joint efforts, we will focus on user value, business efficiency, patiently control the pace, and provide long-term and healthy service to our users through down-to-earth problem-solving." Li Xiang added.
According to the 2023 financial report, Ideal Automobile achieved a total annual revenue of 123.85 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 173.5%, becoming the first new car manufacturing force in China to exceed 100 billion yuan in annual revenue; The annual net profit reached 11.81 billion yuan, achieving comprehensive profitability since delivery; The annual delivery volume was 376000 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 182.2%.
In January and February this year, Ideal Automobile delivered 31200 and 20300 vehicles respectively.