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Two months ago, Xu Yin was transferred from Thailand back to China, taking up the new position of Deputy General Manager of IM Motors. He met with core dealers across the country and obtained two sets of data: in the first half of the year, 527 new car models were launched domestically; from January to July, the entire market declined by 20%.
"The Thailand market itself was very competitive, but after coming back, I found the domestic market even more competitive, and the pace is also faster." Xu Yin summarized.
IM Motors Deputy General Manager Xu Yin
Faced with a red sea where over 500 new models were launched in half a year and the overall market declined by 20%, IM Motors' solution seemed somewhat counter-intuitive — standardize wire-controlled chassis across all models of the 200,000 yuan sedan class, invite a haute couture shoe master to create a limited edition, and then affix a label: Not For Everyone.
This was also a term repeatedly mentioned by IM Motors Brand and User Senior Director Qiao Qiao at the group interview scene.
This is a very catchy slogan. In the current automotive market, almost every new car launch claims to be "for young people" or "born for family travel", essentially all attempting to cover as many people as possible.
IM L6's choice is exactly the opposite — it actively draws a smaller circle for itself.
"A car cannot express everyone's personality at the same time." Qiao Qiao said.
IM Motors Brand and User Senior Director Qiao Qiao
However, defining "the majority" has been the mainstream logic in the automotive industry in recent years. Successful models almost all followed a principle: add functions on functions, broaden the target audience. The key to this mindset lies in the belief that "being liked by everyone" and "being deeply loved by some", in the current environment, the latter's commercial value may be higher. In the exclusive interview, Xu Yin had a statement: "Don't just talk about parameters all the time, such as 2.74 seconds, 800V, 850km, but think more about what emotional value you can provide to users."
The Jimmy Choo collaboration version is the ultimate expression of emotional value. Crystal decoration, exclusive blue, haute couture texture — these elements are often categorized as "niche aesthetics" in traditional automotive marketing. But Qiao Qiao revealed that they found many male users also felt it was nice, and some wanted to buy it as a gift. "In terms of looks, it appeals to both men and women, just aesthetically closer to female preferences."
If Jimmy Choo represents the soft line of "emotional value", then standardizing wire-controlled chassis across the full range is IM L6's hard card.
At the group interview, Xu Yin defined the "New Three Major Parts" as: wire-controlled chassis, 800V ultra-high voltage fast charging, and advanced intelligence. He believes consumers should step out of the old narrative of "TVs, refrigerators, and large sofas" and focus on true technological gaps.
Wire-controlled chassis is the hardest card among them. One month ago, the new national standard for wire-controlled steering was officially implemented. Suppliers such as Bosch and ZF had just begun to roll out capacity, while IM L6 was the first in the 200,000 yuan sedan market to standardize across the range. Before this, this configuration mainly appeared in million-yuan luxury cars or high-spec versions of flagship products like IM LS9 Hyper.
But he also frankly admitted that cost pressure does exist. "Current market competition is very intense, we must bring out the most sincere products", "The configuration of wire-controlled chassis, cost considerations, and the sincere price finally given, these three will jointly determine our subsequent sales and market performance."
Standardizing B&O audio across the full range is a more microscopic game sample. Qiao Qiao revealed that the team was "struggling for a long time" on whether B&O should be an option or a standard configuration. "After multiple rounds of cost calculations, we deeply know that standardizing B&O across the full range will bear huge cost pressure, but in the end, we bore the pressure and decided to standardize B&O across the full range."
This pressure came not only from internal costs but also from the macro environment mentioned at the beginning. Xu Yin provided a very pragmatic perspective in the group interview. He observed that the pure electric market is still growing, while the range-extended and fuel markets are declining. IM Motors chose to focus efforts in the pure electric track, launching three new products consecutively in the second half of the year, which is "going with the trend".
On the other hand of "going with the trend" is "playing cards against the trend". When most brands fight for price-performance in the stock market, IM Motors tries to build barriers in two ways: at the technical level, standardize wire-controlled chassis, 800V super charging, and advanced intelligent driving to make it difficult for competitors to follow up in the short term; at the brand level, establish aesthetic barriers with cross-border collaborations like Jimmy Choo, turning "aesthetics online" from user evaluation into brand assets.
Xu Yin's answer to sales expectations also revealed his train of thought: "Right now I care more about: whether consumers are satisfied with every detail we present, whether the service capability at the dealer end is improving, and whether every user who gets the car truly recognizes it. If these can be done, with such great sincerity, so many configurations, and such competitive prices, sales will naturally come as the water completes the channel."
In 2026, when the flood of cars strategy has completely failed, IM L6 chose a different path: use hard core technology as the base, use emotional value as the top, and leave the middle for the "Not For Everyone" crowd. This may not be a strategy that everyone can understand, but as Qiao Qiao said: "Everyone can see that the Prof. JimmyChoo Haute Couture Limited Edition model has hardly produced similar products in the previous automotive industry."
In a market with 500 new cars in half a year, "unprecedented" itself might be the biggest competitiveness.
Below are the core content of the interview, which we organized and edited without changing the original meaning.
The interviewees are:
IM Motors Deputy General Manager Xu Yin
IM Motors Brand and User Senior Director Qiao Qiao
Question: How did this cooperation with Jimmy Choo start?
Xu Yin: I only returned to China this June. As everyone knows, the launch cycle of a car cannot be just one or two months, so when I intervened in this project, the work had already progressed to the middle and late stages. Combining with my experience, I would like to summarize this cross-border cooperation in three words.
First is style. Everyone can intuitively feel the unique style and texture from today's product presentation of the all-new IM L6 and the on-site layout of this event. All design details are to endow this car with unique fashion style.
Second is breaking the circle. Currently the automotive market homogenization is serious, the audience circles of most models are relatively fixed, brands and products are easily limited within existing circles. We have been thinking about how to break industry boundaries, reach more diversified user groups, and this cooperation with international haute couture master Prof. JimmyChoo is indeed an important attempt for us to break the circle.
Third is resonance and mutual effort. Mr. Prof. JimmyChoo expressed high recognition of the overall vehicle shape, interior texture, and body lines upon his first contact with this car. Because of mutual aesthetic alignment and concept interchange, both parties clicked and reached a consensus quickly, jointly promoting the development of this car.
Qiao Qiao: When we first proposed the cross-border cooperation creative concept with Prof. JimmyChoo, many people actually felt it was quite bold, even somewhat imaginative. There are rarely car companies that deeply link with international haute couture fashion masters, let alone brands that land fashion haute couture design on mass production models, most of which stay at the superficial level of promotional co-branding and limited edition cooperation. Honestly, at first we were also unsure in our hearts. On the basis of IM L6, we hope to use top-level fashion design empowerment to take product texture and brand tone to another level. For this reason, our team repeatedly pondered the plan and polished design details, just like what Mr. Xu and Mr. Prof. JimmyChoo shared at the press conference, traveling back and forth from London to Shanghai multiple times, just to make the details perfect. Slowly, we found that this car really changed. On the basis of the IM L6 which was already very beautiful, it became even more stunning, and at this time we had full confidence.
Nowadays the new generation of consumers often say a word called "aesthetics online". Everyone has been evaluating IM Motors' aesthetics as unique and always online, we hope to continue this characteristic on this car. Now the domestic market has 200+ sedans launching densely, we hope to launch a new model that can truly stun everyone, letting users feel that this brand understands my aesthetics.
Question: What is the sales expectation for this car? What core dimensions will the new model further move the target consumer group from?
Xu Yin: We were indeed very sincere this time: First, adopted a new powertrain system; Second, standardized wire-controlled chassis across the full range, this configuration usually only appears on million-yuan luxury cars, there should be no similar configuration currently in sold sedans; Third, upgraded AI Agent intelligent driving experience across the full range.
In addition, there is a series of comfort configuration upgrades, all of which explain one thing — this L6 has no shortcomings, only strengths, and the strengths are very prominent, we use this to re-enter the sedan market.
You mentioned comparison with competitors just now, I admit the head aggregation effect of this niche market is very obvious, this point must be faced squarely. I spent a lot of time paying attention to users' real feelings, including feedback everyone sees when looking at this car. Compared to the previous generation L6, we standardized more new configurations and did many upgrades, just hoping consumers can get more substantial things. Including appearance design, and many new elements integrated into the haute couture limited edition, we hope everyone can feel our sincerity.
Question: Such a distinct style, will it rather limit the user group? What target audience does this generation L6 actually want to sell to? Behind this cooperation, what social trends did we observe?
Qiao Qiao: We stated at the opening of the press conference that we do not want it to become a car that is "for everyone" on the surface. Because this comes from real user needs, this is not that we don't want to sell cars, but this car truly represents unique personality. We believe a car cannot express everyone's personality at the same time, but can come one by one.
Mr. Xu has always told us not to just talk about parameters all the time, such as 2.74 seconds, 800V, 850km, but think more about what emotional value you can provide to users. Why does some cars' heat drop after selling for two or three months? Because the product is still that product, but consumers' aesthetics and taste are changing, if you don't keep up, you will be neglected.
The all-new IM L6 is in a sense like a "canvas". It is not just a simple upgraded model, today it has haute couture texture, tomorrow it can play mountain roads and drifts together, the day after tomorrow there may be more surprises waiting for everyone.
Back to the original question, L6 is not just for girls, but more for new generation consumers to express confidence and personality, it is a "Not For Everyone" car.
Question: Only the high-spec version of flagship model LS9 was equipped with wire-controlled steering, didn't expect this all-new IM L6 to standardize it across the full range. Why is IM Motors so obsessed with this technology?
Xu Yin: At the previous IM LS9 Hyper press conference, we proposed the concept of "New Three Major Parts". In the past, people buying cars looked at TVs, refrigerators, and large sofas, now we think consumers should pay attention to the new three major parts: First is wire-controlled chassis, Second is 800V ultra-high voltage fast charging, Third is advanced intelligence.
Our biggest sincerity this time is to fully move this configuration, which was only available in million-yuan luxury cars before, to the 200,000 yuan home sedan market, allowing ordinary consumers to experience top technology at a higher level. One month ago, the new national standard for wire-controlled steering was officially implemented. As the physical cornerstone of L3 and L4 level intelligent driving, I believe wire-controlled chassis will become the standard configuration for the next generation intelligent driving system.
Question: Now everyone in the industry uses CATL batteries, it is hard to make too much difference, models with energy consumption below 11 degrees have been out, where is the main differentiation of this generation's Three-Electric Architecture?
Xu Yin: First is the ultra-low 11.6 kWh energy consumption per 100km, able to maximize battery range capability;
Secondly, 800V ultra-fast charging solves refueling anxiety. Most high-rate fast charging models in the industry have extremely high requirements for charging pile specifications, many public piles and highway piles cannot charge at full power.
Third is safety, this is what I emphasized repeatedly today, all technology eventually revolves around safety. Three-electric safety, battery safety, if the high-voltage system appears abnormal smoking, we will directly cut off power protection.
Regarding battery selection, we cooperated with CATL, used a 93 kWh golden high-efficiency battery. This capacity was fully weighed, comprehensively considering body weight, energy consumption performance and charging efficiency, finally found the balance point that maximizes consumer benefits.
In addition, the comprehensive efficiency of the new electric drive improved by 2.8%, and weight was reduced by 8%. These two numbers don't sound big, but actually our motor efficiency was already very high, increasing 2.8% on such a high base is already a big breakthrough.
Question: L6 is equipped with B&O, how did IM Motors solve the cost control aspect, is there any behind-the-scenes story to share? In product definition, why does IM Motors insist on using B&O on this L6 car? Behind the higher pursuit of sound quality and physical sensation for users, what overall image and temperament does this car hope to convey to the outside world?
Qiao Qiao: Regarding the B&O cost issue, when we were discussing configurations at that time, we were always struggling on whether B&O should be an option or a standard configuration, this discussion lasted until near the pre-sale phase. After multiple rounds of cost calculations, we deeply know that standardizing B&O across the full range will bear huge cost pressure, but in the end, we bore the pressure and decided to standardize B&O across the full range.
Almost every user plays music when driving and traveling, exclusive driving BGM is the key to creating travel atmosphere and filling up emotional texture. The B&O audio installed on this L6 not only has sufficient hardware power, but is also customized tuned by B&O professional tuners for L6 exclusive cabin space and acoustic environment, sound effect adaptability and subtlety far exceed ordinary audio of the same level.
So no matter how big the pressure, how high the cost, we still insisted on installing a complete set of B&O audio for everyone, hoping our users can have high-end auditory enjoyment on every journey. From LS9 to LS8, then to L6, now even 200,000 yuan products are equipped, future full range new products will also continue to extend high-end audio configuration standards, giving everyone a very high-end audio experience, this point cannot be missing.
Question: IM Motors is going to focus energy in the second half of the year, can you share the upcoming product rhythm and planning?
Xu Yin: This year the overall market competition is fierce, the brand's annual sales are under pressure, so in the second half of the year we will intensively promote product iteration, go all out for the market, bring multiple upgraded new products, comprehensively strengthen product competitiveness. Today's all-new IM L6 is the first one, next in September the new generation LS6 will be launched, there will be big improvements in powertrain system, chassis, AI Agent, comfort configurations, everyone should pay attention. By October, LS8 will launch the pure electric version. Overall, the second half of the year will continue to focus on the pure electric market.
Question: Just transferred from Thailand back to China, how do you view the current phenomenon that new car hot sales periods are getting shorter?
Xu Yin: First respond to the first question. The Thailand market itself was very competitive, but after coming back found the domestic market even more competitive, and the pace is also faster. But objectively speaking, the Thailand market has changed greatly in these five or six years, all Chinese brands you can imagine are basically there, enough to show the intensity of competition there.
Back to these two months in China, I deeply felt the intensity of the Chinese market. Two weeks ago, I held a meeting with core dealer partners across the country to communicate second half plans. Several data shocked me: First,居然 there were 527 new car models launched in the first half of the year; Second, the entire market declined by 20% from January to July.
But at the same time, I also saw some growth signals — the pure electric market is growing, the main decline is in range-extended and fuel markets. This exactly fits the release rhythm of our three new generation pure electric cars starting today in the second half of the year.
Our idea is to actively respond to market changes, put our best pure electric products into competition.
The work idea in the second half of the year, although the overall market is falling, but our direction is clear: First is on products, the pure electric market is still rising, we go with the trend, launch three new pure electric products; Second is on terminal service capabilities, I hope when every user mentions our car they are satisfied. If users are satisfied, sales is a natural outcome. This is the direction I will focus on promoting in the second half of the year.
Question: Standardizing wire-controlled chassis across the full range, does it bring cost pressure? Will it affect vehicle overall profits?
Xu Yin: Qiao Qiao just mentioned, IM Motors relies on SAIC Group, having hard core technical reserves. Of course cost is indeed a consideration factor, but current market competition is very intense, we must bring out the most sincere products and the most leading technology, consumers will then pay. The configuration of wire-controlled chassis, cost considerations, and the sincere price finally given, these three will jointly determine our subsequent sales and market performance.
Question: Today this L6 is called "All-New Generation", why is it still called All-New Generation without appearance changes?
Qiao Qiao: We found that some classic designs, some designs already generally accepted by everyone, usually do not make big changes. In the current market environment, the concept of "All-New Generation" is not equivalent to changing a set of shells. More importantly, whether it fits current people's aesthetics, whether it satisfies everyone's expectation for future technology. So in design, we retained elements already recognized by the market, then cooperated with Prof. JimmyChoo team, jointly promoting its characteristics to be carried forward, making it more fitting international aesthetics.
On the basis of intelligentization, chassis, three-electric comprehensive innovation, I think such a car should be more called "All-New Generation", not just a simple annual update. In addition, everyone likes comfort configurations all available, B&O audio, adjustable light sunroof that female users like, high-spec seat configurations, and refrigerators that this level usually requires options, we equipped all for everyone. From configuration upgrade to technology iteration, to appearance more classic, more international aesthetics, I believe for everyone this car must be brand new.
Question: I would like you to talk about the specific situation of IM Motors in Thailand, and whether there is any new layout overseas especially in Southeast Asia in the future?
Xu Yin: Now going overseas is an unavoidable topic. Just like domestic cannot avoid intelligent driving, going overseas is a strategic direction all OEMs must face, IM Motors is no exception. Our Mr. Liu Tao currently specializes in overseas business operations. When I worked in Thailand, Thailand was the first stop for IM Motors going overseas.
LS6 and L6 models performed well in Thailand, last year sold about 1,700+ units, this year expected to exceed 2,000 units. Thailand overall market capacity is about 600,000 units, the volume is not big, this sales is already quite good performance.
Currently we are actively expanding the global market, mainly focusing on Europe, Southeast Asia, Middle East, Australia and New Zealand markets are also being explored simultaneously. IM Motors' layout overseas will accelerate, this is an unquestionable direction. Next LS8 will also go overseas, may include left-hand drive and right-hand drive versions, power forms mainly pure electric, some markets will also consider launching range-extended versions.
Question: In terms of tactics, who are our core competitors?
Qiao Qiao: There are indeed many excellent models in the market, but you will find, who is who's competitor, who is paying tribute to whom, who seems to be carved from the same mold as whom. And from the consumer's perspective, when they want to show their uniqueness, they are less willing to see other people's shadows.
So we didn't define this car from the "quantity" angle, but from the "person" angle, went to research our users. We hope to maximize personalization and emotional value on the basis of original design, so we found Prof. JimmyChoo. Everyone also saw, he clearly stated at the press conference, unwilling to have his name appear on those copy works. And this car, he felt there was space to play, he was willing to do a special version for it. This is mutual recognition. In the future, we hope not only through this cooperation, but have more imagination space, give to today's young consumer group a better, more unique, more not following the crowd choice.
