“The first two cars are quite large cars, which fit pretty well in China but not necessarily elsewhere around the world,” he reasoned.
Drawing on experience from his time at JLR, Stanton compared HiPhi’s ambitions to that of the Range Rover line-up, noting in particular that the entry-level Evoque has been a “pretty damn successful product for Land Rover” and is thus a “good example of how you can take that top-end Range Rover and bring it down into a mid-sized premium vehicle”.
Similarly, HiPhi will look to equip its new entry-level model with the stand-out design cues, premium conception, advanced technology and engaging driving characteristics that have defined its products so far.
“Not one brand has all four of those attributes,” Stanton said. “Most brands have at best three, some of them only one.”
He didn’t confirm specifically whether the Y will feature the Z’s projector headlights (which can show films and directional arrows), its centre-mounted robotic arm or its 5G connectivity functions but said it will “still deliver a very competitive level of premiumness”, adding that a lot of the technology featured on other HiPhi cars is software-based and so not prohibitively expensive to roll out to cheaper models.
Once the new car is unwrapped, HiPhi will shift focus to starting sales in markets outside China, with a launch in Europe set to be announced “very shortly”. Cars will be left-hand-drive initially, but production of right-hookers for the UK (“an attractive market”) will follow soon after.
Stanton reaffirmed HiPhi’s commitment to its premium billing, clarifying that global expansion doesn’t mean the brand will “start to sell hundreds of thousands or tens of thousands of cars”, explaining: “Our whole approach is one small step at a time, not to overstretch ourselves and overdo too many things.”
Q&A, Mark Stanton, chief technology officer, HiPhi
How do HiPhi customers react to driver monitoring technology?