Big talks from Chinese company LeEco executives, "Our products are not upgraded from those that already exist. They are revolutionary ... products that never existed before".
Can they deliver ?
Quote:
Tomorrow's cars will be all-electric, self-driving, connected to high-speed communications networks ... and free.
And probably Chinese.
That, at least, is the vision of Jia Yueting, a billionaire entrepreneur and one of a new breed of Chinese who see their technology expertise re-engineering the automobile industry, and usurping Tesla Motors, a U.S. pioneer in premium electric vehicle (EV) making.
"Tesla's a great company and has taken the global car industry to the EV era," Jia said in an interview at the Beijing headquarters of his Le Holdings Co, or LeEco. "But we're not just building a car. We consider the car a smart mobile device on four wheels, essentially no different to a cellphone or tablet".
Quote:
As a sign of intent, 43-year-old Jia last week unveiled the LeSEE electric concept supercar, a rival to Tesla's Model S. The "smart, connected and self-driving" car will be displayed at this week's Beijing autoshow.
"People questioned our idea, a small IT company building a car to compete with the BMWs and Teslas of the world, and laughed at us. It wasn't easy, but here we are," Jia told Reuters.
The web-connected electric cars will have a "disruptive" pricing model similar to phones and TV sets LeEco markets in China, Jia says. His company, often called China's Netflix, will sell movies, TV shows, music and other content and services to drivers of its cars. That's why he says "one day our cars will be free." Nearer-term, the disruption is more likely to be "double the performance at half the price."
Quote:
Beyond LeEco, Chinese tech heavyweights including Baidu , Alibaba, Tencent and Xiaomi have funded more than half a dozen EV start-ups, such as NextEV and CH-Auto. It's widely expected China's bus, taxi and courier firms will be encouraged to go electric.
"We define our car in a whole new way ... instead of copying Apple and Tesla," LeEco co-founder and vice chairman Hank Liu told Reuters. "Our products are not upgraded from those that already exist. They are revolutionary ... products that never existed before."
Quote:
While the entry barrier has been lowered as electric cars are, mechanically, relatively simpler to produce, sceptics query how China's start-ups will fund and make tens of thousands of industry-changing EVs - from design through to procuring the 10,000 or so parts and systems needed for the finished product.
Daimler said Hubertus Troska, head of its Greater China business, was invited to LeEco last month to get to know the company and its business model.
"I told Mr. Troska we're going to redefine the car," Liu told Reuters. "EVs for us are just another screen. We see cars in the future as an extension of the Internet, another entry point for us to sell web-based content and services."
Quote:
Ding Lei, LeEco's auto chief and a former top official at General Motors' China venture with SAIC Motor , says part of LeEco's advantage in tomorrow's auto industry is that it carries no baggage from today's. Traditional automakers are too wedded to combustion engine technology to quickly jump to electric technology, he reckons.
"Look, this disruption can't come from traditional OEMs (automakers). But a company like us, we can go directly to pure electric cars."
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/taking-tes...4--finance.html
Can they deliver ?
Quote:
Tomorrow's cars will be all-electric, self-driving, connected to high-speed communications networks ... and free.
And probably Chinese.
That, at least, is the vision of Jia Yueting, a billionaire entrepreneur and one of a new breed of Chinese who see their technology expertise re-engineering the automobile industry, and usurping Tesla Motors, a U.S. pioneer in premium electric vehicle (EV) making.
"Tesla's a great company and has taken the global car industry to the EV era," Jia said in an interview at the Beijing headquarters of his Le Holdings Co, or LeEco. "But we're not just building a car. We consider the car a smart mobile device on four wheels, essentially no different to a cellphone or tablet".
Quote:
As a sign of intent, 43-year-old Jia last week unveiled the LeSEE electric concept supercar, a rival to Tesla's Model S. The "smart, connected and self-driving" car will be displayed at this week's Beijing autoshow.
"People questioned our idea, a small IT company building a car to compete with the BMWs and Teslas of the world, and laughed at us. It wasn't easy, but here we are," Jia told Reuters.
The web-connected electric cars will have a "disruptive" pricing model similar to phones and TV sets LeEco markets in China, Jia says. His company, often called China's Netflix, will sell movies, TV shows, music and other content and services to drivers of its cars. That's why he says "one day our cars will be free." Nearer-term, the disruption is more likely to be "double the performance at half the price."
Quote:
Beyond LeEco, Chinese tech heavyweights including Baidu , Alibaba, Tencent and Xiaomi have funded more than half a dozen EV start-ups, such as NextEV and CH-Auto. It's widely expected China's bus, taxi and courier firms will be encouraged to go electric.
"We define our car in a whole new way ... instead of copying Apple and Tesla," LeEco co-founder and vice chairman Hank Liu told Reuters. "Our products are not upgraded from those that already exist. They are revolutionary ... products that never existed before."
Quote:
While the entry barrier has been lowered as electric cars are, mechanically, relatively simpler to produce, sceptics query how China's start-ups will fund and make tens of thousands of industry-changing EVs - from design through to procuring the 10,000 or so parts and systems needed for the finished product.
Daimler said Hubertus Troska, head of its Greater China business, was invited to LeEco last month to get to know the company and its business model.
"I told Mr. Troska we're going to redefine the car," Liu told Reuters. "EVs for us are just another screen. We see cars in the future as an extension of the Internet, another entry point for us to sell web-based content and services."
Quote:
Ding Lei, LeEco's auto chief and a former top official at General Motors' China venture with SAIC Motor , says part of LeEco's advantage in tomorrow's auto industry is that it carries no baggage from today's. Traditional automakers are too wedded to combustion engine technology to quickly jump to electric technology, he reckons.
"Look, this disruption can't come from traditional OEMs (automakers). But a company like us, we can go directly to pure electric cars."
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/taking-tes...4--finance.html
