Introduction: When the domestic new energy vehicle market and independent brands stride forward arm in arm, the joint venture camp seems to have become an outsider. In 2021, Volkswagen's ID series has finally made a qualitative breakthrough in the market, will this be the clarion call for the joint venture camp to catch up?
(Text/Lou Bing, Yu Waijun Editor/Lou Bing) No car company in the world will turn a blind eye to the "infinite potential of the new energy vehicle market". However, each other has their own judgments about the acceleration of this process. There are many variables that affect the conclusions of car companies, such as the comprehensive situation of their own business in the world, the policies and regulations of different regional markets in the world, and their own technical reserves.
But one thing is almost certain, that is, the car giants with global titles have underestimated China's determination and speed to develop the new energy vehicle market. Until 2020, in the majeure that affected the shrinking of global automobile sales, the sales of new energy vehicles in the Chinese auto market were overwhelming, making them determined to change.
Car companies around the world are tacit: the location of the weather vane must change. If we still want to maintain market share and market position in China, then accelerating the layout and weight of the new energy vehicle business in the Chinese automotive market must become the highest priority task.
I have to mention Volkswagen, the global car company that relies most on the Chinese auto market is facing the greatest pressure and test. The old product system and strategic layout can no longer ensure that this giant ship continues its strong performance in the past. The new energy vehicle business has become the most effective means to reverse its predicament.
Entering 2021, Volkswagen has successively introduced three pure electric vehicles based on the MEB pure electric platform into the market through its two joint ventures in China.
ID.：I Do，I Did
In March 2021, Volkswagen ID.4 entered China and was included in the product catalogs of its two joint ventures in China. As a pioneer of Volkswagen in China's new energy market, ID.4 is highly expected by Volkswagen. However, the initial performance of ID.4 in the new energy market was far lower than expected, and sales hovered around 1,000 vehicles.
In May, the total sales of the ID.4 X and ID.4 Crozz models were only 1213 units; in June, 3415 units, and in July, 5810 units. With the launch of ID.6, doubts about the ID series began to appear.
Stephan W llenstein, CEO of Volkswagen Group China, told the media in July that "China is definitely the most competitive electric vehicle market in the world," acknowledging that the start was doomed to be difficult, adding: "It means that it takes 6 to 8 months for a new model to open up in terms of sales." This is the law of the industry's new car sales trend, and it is also the source of Feng Sihan's confidence.
Time to August, volkswagen ID. series in China's new energy vehicle market reached a new high, sales reached 7023 vehicles, in September, that is, the shortest 6 months in Feng Sihan's mouth, ID. series sales exceeded 10,000, reaching 10,126 vehicles, and the production line tracks are still accelerating, by November, sales have reached 14,167 vehicles.
This is undoubtedly the best public opinion fire extinguisher. For a moment, all the skeptical mouths closed and turned into spectators, quietly observing how long the rise of the ID. series could last.
Obviously, Volkswagen's warm-up preparations in the new energy vehicle market have ended. Judging from the results of the opening, it is acceptable and convincing.
Chapter 2 of China's New Energy Market
Over the past three decades, even three days and three nights of arguing about "who is the most successful car company/brand in the world" may not have a convincing answer for most people. But if you ask "who is the most successful car company/brand in China", then the answer is none other than Volkswagen.
From the first modern joint venture plant to one-third of global sales, Volkswagen's rise has been closely linked to the Chinese market. Volkswagen is a model student on the road of China's automobile industry development.
Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess told the media ahead of the IAA Mobility in Munich in September that the company's transition to electric vehicles was "impossible" to accelerate. When Greenpeace and Deutsche Umwelthilfe claimed to take legal action against Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, which were too slow to transition to new energy, Diess responded with such a cautionary response.
The starting point and criticism of environmentalists may be reasonable, but for the public, to some extent, it is indeed biased, at least at this stage, Dies is sincere and objective.
At present, Volkswagen has invested 35 billion euros in the development of electric vehicles, and according to the plan, Volkswagen will continue to launch dozens of dedicated electric vehicles in the next 10 years.
Dees said: "Can we be faster? No. We're really fast now..." He added: "Because this transition is very complex and requires huge investments." Not only constraints on capital allocation, but also constraints on building factories to expand battery production capacity. ”
Volkswagen is already doing everything in its power to move this process forward. The Chinese market is a microcosm.
From the time the ID. series entered the factories of two joint ventures in China, the matching distribution model was launched simultaneously. Channel level, ID. The family's current sales model in China is an agency system between traditional 4S stores and brand direct stores, and its advantage is that the price is transparent and unified, and it can be directly connected with consumers.
Up to now, the number of SAIC Volkswagen and FAW-Volkswagen agents in the country has exceeded 700. This speed is undoubtedly amazing.
On December 15, Guoxuan Hi-Tech also completed the registration of new shares and officially listed the new shares to Volkswagen (China) Investment Co., Ltd. in a non-public offering, and Volkswagen China officially became the controlling shareholder of Guoxuan Hi-Tech. This move means that the Volkswagen Group has further expanded its electrification layout in China, gaining support in terms of battery technology reserves, batteries and raw material supply.
According to the Volkswagen Group's plan, the standard battery cell will enter the product introduction stage in 2023, covering 80% of the Volkswagen Group's electric vehicle models by 2030. Guoxuan Hi-Tech has become the first designated developer to obtain a standard cell research and development contract, and its subsidiary's power battery production base in Hefei has officially started construction, with an annual production capacity of 50GWh.
Starting from the most core parts battery, to its best product platform, model, and distribution network, Volkswagen has a complete new energy vehicle industry chain.
When the fastest- and hardest-working player in this market is still the model student, it's obviously not good news for its competitors.
Although GM, Toyota, Honda, and Ford have also said that they want to accelerate the electrification transformation in China, the distance between them and Volkswagen is obviously continuing to widen, both in terms of scale and speed. But there is no doubt that the choices of the masses today are destined to be their common choices tomorrow.
While it is impossible to define how far this tomorrow will be, one thing is for sure, the second chapter of China's new energy vehicle market has been inked.
Synchronized inner volumes
While the domestic new energy vehicle market is booming, there is one detail that cannot be ignored: the world's largest automobile market has announced a new normal of stock competition 3 years ago. The size of the cake has been finalized, which means that the vast majority of new energy vehicle sales are alternatives to traditional fuel vehicles.
At present, in the domestic new energy vehicle market, independent brands have become the tide of this market segment. According to the data, as of the end of October this year, the cumulative wholesale sales of new energy passenger vehicles were about 2.3785 million units. Among them, the sales volume of new energy of independent brands is about 1.8067 million units, accounting for 75.96%; the sales volume of mainstream joint venture brand new energy is about 157,000 units, accounting for about 6.6%.
Can such a high market share of independent brands be sustained? The answer is clearly no. The higher the market share of independent brands, the more turbulent the future counterattack will be. Ouyang Minggao, vice chairman of the China Electric Vehicle 100 Association, said. "Joint venture car companies will collectively exert their efforts in the next year, and the competition for New Energy Vehicles of Chinese and Foreign Brands will enter a fierce period in 2023."
At the same time, the elimination process of car companies in the Chinese auto market is also destined to be accelerated.
As the joint venture brand continues to improve the layout of China's new energy vehicle market, the competition and inner volume of the new energy market segment will be inevitable. In this fierce knockout match, the eliminated people will no longer have factions, and independent brands and joint venture brands that cannot keep up with the pace of development of the times will face the fate of being eliminated.
Today, Volkswagen ID has sounded the clarion call for joint venture brands to counterattack in the field of new energy. It is foreseeable that the competition pattern of China's new energy market will usher in a very cruel reshuffle in the next few years. At that time, what kind of offensive and defensive battle will be staged between independent brands and joint venture brands in this market segment?
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