With the gradual maturity of the automobile market, the demand for cars in the market is no longer limited to the traditional styles of sedan SUVs, including pickup trucks and MPVs, which have gradually entered the field of vision of mass consumers, and sales have gradually risen. At the same time, some personalized models have also slowly developed, such as two-seat pickup trucks and four-seater MPVs. This has to be put in the past, manufacturers will certainly not develop, because this is a fairly niche market demand. And now the niche market demand also has a huge market size, what is the reason for this?
[1] The modularization of the module makes it not a big burden for manufacturers to launch personalized cars
Niche models have existed since the birth of the automobile, such as station wagons, such as coupes, but in the past these models were often designed and developed separately. Even BMW will launch a small sports car such as the Z4, it takes a lot of time and energy to develop individually, although these niche models are very individual, but once they sell badly, then the manufacturer first cut off this product line.
Many of today's cars are modular platformized, such as the recent great wall gun pickup truck derived from the locomotive gun. It features a single-row seat design, leaving a very long cargo box structure to store your motorcycle. In addition, a slide rail and a fixed winch are also set up separately in the cargo box to facilitate the fixing of the motorcycle to the vehicle.
There are also some MPV, such as trumpchi M8 launched a four-seat MPV, four-seat royal version. He was also developed on the basis of the Trumpchi M8. Therefore, in this way, for automobile manufacturers, the cost of research and development is greatly reduced. So it's a niche model, and it may not sell so much, but manufacturers can afford it.
[2] Increasing demand for play models
The second reason I think is that as the market matures and the purchasing power of users increases, the demand for niche models continues unabated. At present, most of our cars on the market are mainly based on transportation. However, in the future, in order to meet the needs of users to have fun, more and more cars will be born. For example, some station wagons, and some hardcore off-road vehicles, such as the tank 300, which is very popular in 2021, I think it is a car built for users to travel more easily.
There is also the fact that the Wuling Hongguang mini EV is going to launch a convertible version of the car, which is also a very niche and very personalized car. I think users are willing to buy a convertible version of the Wuling Hongguang Ice System, just to buy a big toy. So behind this is the increase in the purchasing power of users.
[3] Niche models are overtaking in the corners of the joint venture autonomously
The third reason is, of course, the rise of its own brands, because joint venture car brands have long firmly occupied compact cars, mid-size cars, these market segments. Then for independent brand manufacturers, if they want to achieve cornering overtaking and want to get a lot of sales in the market, they can only find another way and launch some models that the joint venture brand does not have to occupy a more segmented market. Joint venture brands often disdain or despise the niche auto market because they think sales are not large. However, for independent brands, this is a good opportunity, without the competition of joint venture brands, independent brands are more at ease.
Therefore, there is also a large market for niche cars, and I believe that there will be more and more personalized niche cars in the future.