Per reporter: Dong Tianyi Per reporter Per editor: Sun Lei
According to the data of the Association, in November, domestic MPV sales were about 84,000 units, down 24.8% year-on-year and down 3.7% month-on-month; from January to November this year, the cumulative sales of domestic MPVs were 982,000 units, an increase of 3.1% year-on-year, ranking at the bottom in various market segments.
From the perspective of market share, from January to November this year, domestic MPV sales accounted for only 5.4% of the total sales of the domestic narrow passenger car market, compared with 5.7% market share in 2020, another 0.3 percentage point decline, which means that in the context of the overall pre-increase in automobile sales this year, the domestic MPV market is still shrinking.
Unusually, the sluggish growth of the MPV market has attracted a number of joint venture brand models such as GAC Toyota Xena, Beijing Hyundai Kustu, and Dongfeng Yueda Kia Kahua this year. Even the new energy brand Lantu has MPV as its second mass production model. The MPV models such as buick GL8, GAC Trumpchi M8, GAC Honda Odyssey and other MPV models that ranked in the forefront of sales have been iterated successively to consolidate their market position. Why is the seemingly marginalized domestic MPV market suddenly buzzing?
Sales of low- and mid-range models accelerated
In fact, the shrinking overall market space and the upgrading and transformation of the sales structure brought about by the upgrading of automobile consumption have indeed caused the domestic MPV market share to decline year after year, but after several years of adjustment, its structural trends and market laws have become more and more clear.
Image source: Daily Economic News Liu Guomei photo (data map)
On the one hand, the sales of low-end models represented by Wuling Hongguang and Baojun 730 are accelerating their decline, which is also the main reason why the domestic MPV market share has continued to shrink in recent years. According to the data of the Association, in November this year, the retail sales volume of domestic A0-level MPV fell by 7% month-on-month and 29% year-on-year, far exceeding the overall decline in the MPV market. Among them, Wuling Hongguang sold about 16,000 vehicles in November, down 32.5% year-on-year; the cumulative sales from January to November were about 226,000 units, down 9.7% year-on-year, down nearly 70% compared with the highlight moment when it sold 650,000 vehicles in 2016.
Sales of models such as Fengxing, Ruifeng and Baojun 730, which also belong to the low-end market, also fell significantly. According to the data of the Association, from January to November this year, the cumulative sales of Fengxing, Ruifeng and Baojun 730 were 47,000, 30,000 and 29,000 units, respectively, down 13.4%, 0.7% and 42.3% year-on-year.
In addition to the above models, from January to November this year, the cumulative sales of the remaining models on the list showed a year-on-year increase. Among them, buick GL8 has accumulated sales of about 147,000 units from January to November this year, an increase of 8.2% year-on-year, ranking second in the list. Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the National Passenger Car Market Information Joint Association, believes that although the current domestic automobile market has entered the stock stage, due to the "three-child policy" and other factors, there is still room for the household MPV market segment to rise. This may be one of the reasons why many car companies are scrambling to enter the domestic MPV market.
"Blockbuster Thinking" does not apply to MPV?
In addition, "blockbuster thinking" is also not applicable in the MPV market. Compared with trying to create a "breaking point" on the product side, the MPV market needs car companies to clarify their product positioning in a targeted manner and cultivate it deeply, and establish a word-of-mouth foundation through the "tempering" of the market. Taking GAC Trumpchi M8 as an example, its predecessor Trumpchi GM8 was listed in early 2017, with an average monthly sales volume of less than 1,000 vehicles in the first three months, but it has always aimed at the high-end business travel field and followed up the upgrade iteration due to the situation, and has now gained a firm foothold in the domestic MPV market. According to the data of the Association, from January to November this year, GAC Trumpchi M8 sold about 65,000 units, an increase of 124.2% year-on-year, ranking among the top three in the domestic MPV market.
Image source: Per reporter Zhang Jian photographed (data map)
On the contrary, as one of the first models in China to target the "100,000-class" household MPV market, BYD Song MAX sold nearly 140,000 vehicles in 2018, successfully surpassing the Buick GL8 to become the third in the domestic MPV market sales at that time. However, the eye-catching results have not accelerated the market follow-up speed of Song MAX, and the sales of BYD Song MAX, which has lost control of the trend, have also declined year by year, and the cumulative sales ranking in 2020 has withdrawn from the top ten of the list, and in this year's sales list, the figure of BYD Song MAX has completely disappeared.
On the whole, the MPV market dominated by rigid consumption has a successful path and survival rules that are different from other market segments, and does not rely too much on the market characteristics of brand effect, providing a relatively fair stage for all car companies, but the small market capacity, as well as too high market concentration, also means that the development of the MPV market needs to have a "long-term" strategy and perspective, and any entrant must be prepared for "long-distance running", not only the need for ability, but also the need for patience.
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