Choosing cars by quality： Can Chery iCAR 03 lead the new trend？

ICAR brand, which is independent of Chery New Energy, is specially designed for young people who pursue independence, self-creation and freedom. Its first model, Chery iCAR 03, adopts an unusual "square box" shape and locates a "tidal box electric SUV", which brings a completely different visual experience from the mainstream pure electric SUV. In addition to the excellent face value, what are the highlights of Chery iCAR 03 in terms of core power and intelligence? What is the future market trend? This issue of "Quality Car Selection" will be explained in detail for everyone.

I. Basic Information and Product Highlights

The above manufacturer’s guide price only represents the price on March 22, 2024. If there is any change, please take official website as the standard.

Chery iCAR 03 has launched six models with the price range of 1098-169800 yuan. Based on the new energy architecture of i-MS multi-element Rubik’s Cube, the new car adopts the unique i-BOX box design aesthetics, and is equipped with a pure electric drive system, providing two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive modes to achieve a balance between performance and energy consumption.

Chery iCAR 03 is equipped with a unique i-ROAD electric four-wheel drive system, which can realize intelligent switching between two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive and real-time distribution of dynamic torque. With the chassis structure of H-arm multi-link rear suspension and hydraulic bushing, as well as 8+X all-road driving mode and three extreme conquest modes, Chery iCAR 03 has all-terrain adaptability and can easily conquer different road conditions.

Chery iCAR 03 is equipped with i-VA four-tone intelligent voice control system, which supports full-scene voice control, navigation, multimedia, car control and other voice commands of about 500+ words. It can be said that the interactive experience is more outstanding. The new car is also equipped with the latest generation of pure vision scheme of DJI in-vehicle intelligent driving. It has a forward-looking 800W binocular camera, does not rely on laser radar and high-precision maps, has the ability to identify any kind of obstacles and road perception without learning in advance, and can realize high-order auxiliary driving functions such as high-speed NOA, urban memory driving, cross-layer memory parking, and tracking and reversing.

Chery iCAR 03 adopts the original all-aluminum multi-cavity cage body design, and the key parts are integrated die-casting structure. The torsional stiffness of the car body reaches 25804 N m/deg, which is 30% higher than that of the traditional steel car body. The battery is made of lithium iron phosphate battery with high energy density, 10mm battery protective armor with sandwich structure, 1000°C ultra-high temperature mica protective upper cover and 6 series aviation aluminum alloy lower shell, which can resist sudden dangers such as stone impact and vertical extrusion of objects. Full-time thermal runaway of BMS can be monitored and warned in real time, and alarm can be given within 5 minutes after thermal runaway to ensure the safety of occupants in the car.

Second, product competitiveness analysis

The above manufacturer’s guide price only represents the price on March 22, 2024. If there is any change, please take official website as the standard.

Because Chery iCAR 03 adopts a unique "square box" shape and is equipped with a pure electric power system, there are not many models that can directly compete with it at present. With reference to its starting price of 100,000 yuan, looking at the pure electric compact SUV market segment, this paper selects BYD PLUS Glory Edition and AION Y Plus to compare with Chery iCAR 03.

From the price point of view, the entry-level model of Chery iCAR 03 is slightly higher than AION Y PLUS, but lower than BYD Yuan Plus Glory Edition. In terms of the highest selling price, Chery iCAR 03 is also between BYD Yuan PLUS Glory Edition and AION Y Plus. Chery iCAR 03 offers six models with different configurations, including single-motor and dual-motor power. Although the number of models is less than that of AION Y PLUS, it is more than the glory version of BYD Plus, and the power types are more abundant than the other two cars.

Configure the comparison link, and try to select three models with similar prices for comparison. Except Chery iCAR 03 equipped with dual-motor four-wheel drive system, the other two models are single-motor configuration, and their performance is slightly inferior. At the same time, the CLTC pure electric cruising range of the three models has not widened. In terms of other configurations, Chery iCAR 03 is only equipped with basic active and passive safety configuration, and does not provide assisted driving function, while the other two models are equipped with L2-class assisted driving system. Comparatively speaking, Chery iCAR 03 has obvious advantages in convenient configuration and vehicle functions, equipped with electric suction tailgate and keyless entry function for the whole vehicle, and provided four-zone voice wake-up recognition, which is more convenient for daily use.

Third, product quality & service trend analysis

As the first model of a brand-new brand, will Chery iCAR 03 have hidden quality problems? In this regard, we will start with the failure problems of Chery New Energy’s models in the past year, and through the analysis of the failure problems, we will preliminarily predict the development trend of new car quality problems in the future.

According to the data of Chezhi. com, the number of quality complaint fault points of Chery New Energy’s models in the past year is relatively large, mainly from small ant models. Because Chery iCAR 03 is built on the new energy architecture of i-MS multi-element Rubik’s Cube and equipped with the latest pure electric drive system, it can be considered that the probability of the above problems is low for the time being, and the specific situation will not be conclusive until it is used for a period of time.

With the continuous development of China’s automobile market, the level of brand pre-sales/after-sales service and the quality of purchase experience have gradually become an important factor affecting consumers’ final purchase. Therefore, based on the big data of car quality network, we will analyze the common service problems of brands in the past year to provide more objective reference for consumers to buy models.

From the point of service complaints, the number of complaints about "no spare parts" and "selling defective cars" is relatively high. Through further analysis, we can see that these problems mainly come from QQ ice cream and Little Ant.

In terms of measuring the after-sales service reputation of new cars, we will analyze the response of enterprises to complaints from car owners, and relatively objectively predict the future after-sales service reputation of new cars. According to the data of Chezhi. com, the response rate of Chery’s new energy complaints in the past year was 89.2%, ranking in the middle and upper reaches of independent brands in the same period. It can be seen that manufacturers pay more attention to the demands of car owners.

Four, after-sales service policy and network distribution

In terms of after-sales service policy, you can enjoy the lifetime vehicle warranty+lifetime three-electricity warranty+lifetime free rescue (the first private user), and you can also enjoy the free original charging pile+free installation service. (Please consult your local dealer for details)

After the vehicle is purchased, it is bound to involve the daily maintenance of the vehicle. At this time, the number and distribution of brand dealer stores are very important, and even have a certain impact on whether consumers buy the brand model. According to the statistics of Chezhi. com, Chery New Energy currently has 161 dealer stores in China, covering 27 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government, with a relatively large number of dealers in Shandong, Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces.

Summary:

As the first model of independent brand iCAR under Chery New Energy, Chery iCAR 03 has successfully attracted the attention of young consumers with its unique "square box" design and perfect intelligent configuration. In the face of fierce competition in the domestic new energy vehicle market, Chery iCAR 03, which focuses on young and personalized positioning, cleverly avoids the encirclement of potential competitors, opens up a unique market segment, and is expected to lead pure electric SUVs to the new trend.