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January 9, 2021: “I have everything Tesla has, and I have things Tesla doesn’t have.” April 16, 2023: “Testing smart driving in the United States, far ahead of Tesla.” November 1, 2024: “Although the configuration is higher than Tesla, we still need to learn from Tesla.”
1. In 2021, a certain car brand claimed, “I have everything Tesla has, and I have things Tesla doesn’t have,” focusing on differentiating WEINAI’s high-end positioning and user ecosystem. This statement emphasizes battery swapping technology and premium user services (such as N H community operations) to distinguish itself from Tesla, attempting to shift the competitive focus from product parameters to brand tone. However, this move carries inherent risks: on one hand, WEINAI’s average selling price is 150,000 yuan higher than Tesla’s, yet it is constrained by Tesla’s cost advantage in large-scale competition; on the other hand, its leader has repeatedly publicly belittled Tesla (such as claiming the Model Y’s competitiveness is declining and that Tesla’s patents have limited impact on domestic car companies), which, while boosting the brand, may touch the compliance red line of “denigrating competitors” in the Advertising Law. WEINAI’s bottom line lies in supporting its premium pricing with technological uniqueness, but it must balance aggressive rhetoric with business ethics.
________________________________________ 2. In 2023, Y stated that WEIHUA’s intelligent driving is “far ahead of Tesla,” which essentially combines technological confidence with market positioning. WEIHUA chose to test its intelligent driving system in Tesla’s home turf (the United States), both to validate the generalization capability of its technology and to capture user attention through high-profile publicity. However, expressions like “far ahead” may violate the Advertising Law’s prohibition on extreme language. Previously, WEIHUA’s press conference had proactively removed sensitive terms to avoid risks, indicating its navigation between marketing effectiveness and legal boundaries. WEIHUA’s bottom line is to replace subjective evaluations with technical parameters (such as ADS 2.0 architecture performance), but the aggressive style of executive statements may still provoke regulatory disputes. Although friends who drive the M9 say it’s good, which is indisputable, exaggerating the facts would be inappropriate.
________________________________________ 3. In 2024, L stated, “The configuration is higher than Tesla’s, but we need to learn from Tesla,” reflecting a pragmatic competitive strategy: emphasizing MIMI’s hardware advantages (such as range and intelligent cockpit) while acknowledging Tesla’s accumulation in core areas like energy consumption control and supply chain efficiency. This “humble benchmarking” avoids the risk of directly belittling competitors while extending the competitive dimension from parameter stacking to long-term technological accumulation. MIMI’s bottom line is to enter the market with cost-effectiveness while avoiding getting caught in a technical mudslinging match. Its strategy aligns more with regulatory requirements for advertising to be “objective and truthful,” but it must also be wary of excessive reliance on Tesla’s brand endorsement leading to innovation ambiguity.
In summary, the statements of the three companies reflect different competitive philosophies: WEINAI focuses on differentiation, WEIHUA pursues a narrative of technological hegemony, and MIMI opts for pragmatic following. Their common bottom line is to maximize communication volume within a compliance framework, but L’s “aggressive comparisons” and Y’s “extreme expressions” still need to be cautious of legal risks, while L’s balanced strategy may be more suitable for the increasingly stringent regulatory environment.
Postscript: The advertising ecosystem we should learn from: Volvo Trucks’ classic advertisement featuring Jean-Claude Van Damme’s epic split performance. This advertisement primarily showcases the reliability of Volvo’s Dynamic Steering System (VDS – VOLVO Dynamic Steering), which is based on a hydraulic steering mechanism and adds an electric component to provide steering torque overlay, making it an active steering system (hydraulic power steering + steering torque overlay). This system offers perfect stability at high speeds and comprehensive control at low speeds.
The author purchased a GAC Aion electric vehicle in 2021, which has a range of 500 kilometers, can run 350 kilometers on a single charge, and still has 70-80 kilometers left before needing to recharge. This car company does not have flashy advertisements or sensational quotes; instead, it applies its technology to the ride-hailing market, allowing everyone to see the brand’s positioning, which is clear and has its own flavor, and that is enough. The fact that three car companies always compare themselves to Tesla indicates that Tesla is a good car. At least, a colleague who lives in Luohu and works in Nanshan sold his Lynk & Co after three years and decisively bought a Maodou 3+, sharing with me that its high-end energy consumption of 9.6 kWh is impressive, and Tesla is indeed good. There are no flashy advertisements; instead, there is no advertisement at all, relying on word of mouth to carry the brand forward.
