Year-end sprint countdown Who can cross the line for autonomous car companies?

With less than half a month to go until 2022, what kind of answer sheet can independent car companies submit? On the whole, despite the dual impact of lack of core and the epidemic, the performance of independent brands is still remarkable. In November, the market share of independent brands increased to about 46.3%, an increase of 6.9% year-on-year.

According to the data of the Association, in the top ten list of brand sales in November, Geely, BYD, Great Wall, Changan and SAIC-GM-Wuling among independent brands were listed as two, five, seven, eight and nine. Judging from the sales volume of the first 11 months, Changan will be the first to achieve the annual target with a completion rate of 98%, and BYD and Chery are expected to achieve the annual target. At the same time, Geely and Great Wall have sold more than one million vehicles in the first 11 months, and the gap with mainstream joint venture brands has been further narrowed.

Chang'an is expected to be the first to cross the line

Geely Great Wall has more than one million vehicles

Changan Automobile's full-year target is 2.2 million units, and its cumulative production and sales in the first 11 months were 2.0872 million units and 2.1225 million units, respectively, and there is basically no suspense in achieving the target. Whether it is the overall sales, independent brands or passenger car sectors, Changan Automobile has surpassed the whole of last year, especially the independent brand passenger cars, with an increase of 26.7%.

BYD set a target of 750,000 units at the beginning of the year, and by November, the sales volume reached 645,000 vehicles, with a target completion rate of 86%, and the probability of completing the target in December is very high. It is worth noting that BYD's new energy vehicle business has increased significantly, with sales of about 510,000 vehicles in the first 11 months, an increase of 217% year-on-year. The reporter learned that in July and August this year, BYD has completed the sales target of hybrid models, and due to too many orders for new energy models, the production capacity has not been able to keep up.

Geely Automobile aims to sell 1.53 million units in 2021. Geely Automobile's announcement shows that in the first 11 months of this year, Geely Holding Group's cumulative sales of about 1.169 million vehicles, breaking through the million vehicle mark; of which, November sales of about 136,000 vehicles, an increase of 22% month-on-month, not only the overall performance outperformed the market, but also the original sales runner-up - SAIC Volkswagen was also replaced by Geely, which should also be the best place in the history of Chinese brands.

Great Wall Motor sold 1.119 million units in the first 11 months, up 16.3% year-on-year, surpassing the total sales volume of last year. At the same time, overseas sales continue to rise, which has become a new growth pole for Great Wall Motors. According to the data, Great Wall Motor's overseas sales reached 15,006 units in November this year, an increase of 61.3% year-on-year, a record high, and the proportion of sales continued to increase to 12.2%; from January to November, a total of 127026 vehicles were sold overseas, an increase of 106.3% year-on-year.

In addition to the first camp of independent brands, Chery Automobile has also shown a catch-up trend. At the beginning of the year, Jia Yaquan, general manager of Chery Marketing Company, mentioned in public that Chery will hit the annual sales target of 1 million vehicles in 2021. Although this is not an official statement, it almost represents the sales consensus that the entire Chery Group wants to reach in 2021. According to data from the China Automobile Association, chery Automobile's cumulative sales from January to November were 796,000 units, compared with the annual sales target of 1 million units, with a completion rate of 79.6%. Especially in the second half of the year, Chery began to exert significant strength, and since entering the top ten list of car companies in July this year, it has entered the list again in November. According to the data, Chery Holding Group's sales in November were about 110,000 units, an increase of 8.2% year-on-year; of which the sales of new energy vehicles were 15,330 units, an increase of 101.1% year-on-year.

"The industrial chain of the head enterprise of the independent brand is strong, effectively resolving the pressure of chip shortage, turning disadvantage into advantage, and obtaining a significant increase in the new energy market." Therefore, mainstream independent car companies showed high growth year-on-year. The multiplication association said.

A single brand appears dark horse

The Aian Red Flags lead the way

GAC Aeon can be described as the largest dark horse in this year's single independent brand. According to the data, GAC Aeon's sales in November were 15,035 vehicles, an increase of 109.1% year-on-year, and for the fifth consecutive month, the sales volume exceeded 15,000 vehicles, and achieved the performance of breaking 15,000 units for the first time; from January to November, GAC Aeon's cumulative sales exceeded 100,000 vehicles, reaching 105,700 vehicles, an increase of 102.3% year-on-year, and completing the annual sales target of 100,000 vehicles ahead of schedule. As we all know, the automotive industry is extremely sensitive to key sales nodes such as 50,000 vehicles and 100,000 vehicles, and being able to stand on the 50,000-vehicle mark basically means that the car company has gained a firm foothold, and breaking through 100,000 vehicles means that it has entered a benign development track.

At the end of last month, GAC Group issued an announcement that it will promote internal asset restructuring, the core of which is to integrate the R&D personnel in the field of pure electric new energy of the GAC Research Institute into GAC Aeon, and will also adopt measures including asset injection to deeply integrate its new energy business. With the integration of GAC Aeon's internal R&D resources, it is expected that it will usher in greater breakthroughs in the field of innovation, and also provide conditions for it to achieve breakthroughs in the capital market. It is reported that at present, the employee shareholding plan of GAC Aian has basically taken shape, and the first batch of strategic investors will be identified to complete the company's A round of financing. "The development process of GAC Aean can basically provide a model for some traditional car companies to transform and upgrade to the 'new four modernizations' - born from the company's own technological accumulation in the field of new energy, and then set up an independent company to operate the new energy business, and then inject the new energy-related business within the group, promote employee shareholding and introduce strategic investors, realize the listing in the capital market, and finally drive the transformation of the entire group through the success of the core business entity of new energy." Some insiders said.

FAW Hongqi, which has been soaring in the high-end market, sold more than 25,400 units in November, an increase of 1.5% year-on-year; cumulative sales from January to November exceeded 261,400 units, an increase of 46.7% year-on-year. Although there is a big gap from the target of 400,000 vehicles set at the beginning of the year, it has greatly exceeded the sales performance of 200,000 vehicles in 2020. Most importantly, Hongqi's voice in the second-tier luxury brand camp has become stronger and stronger.

Since 2020, Hongqi has surpassed competitors such as Volvo and Jaguar Land Rover and is at the forefront of the second-tier luxury camp, second only to Cadillac and Lexus at that time. Judging from the sales volume in the first 11 months of this year, Hongqi is expected to become the leader of the new second-tier luxury camp. According to the sales data of the first 10 months that have been released, the cumulative sales of Cadillac and Lexus from January to October this year are about 200,000 and 190,000 vehicles, respectively, and Volvo's cumulative sales in the first 11 months are only 156,800 units.

In 2021, independent brands showed tenacious vitality, and sales continued to maintain a trend of competing with joint ventures. Ouyang Minggao, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and vice chairman of the China Electric Vehicle 100 Association, pointed out that the joint ventures will collectively exert efforts in the next year, and the competition between Chinese and foreign brands will enter a fierce period in 2023, "Under the wave of the new round of electrification and intelligence, I am full of confidence that China's own brands will occupy a dominant position in the future automotive industry competition." There is a prediction that in 2030, independent brands in the Chinese auto market will account for 60% of the market share, I think it is similar to my judgment, I agree with this prediction. ”

Responsible Editor: Li Yan'an Editor-in-Chief: Yu Jianping